A sandalwood inse stick bureadily in the er of Jin Shu’s room, its delicate smoke curling like a dang so the air. But the st, meant to calm his nerves, only seemed to mock him.

  Seated cross-legged on the floor, his bare chest glistened with sweat as his mutterings filled the quiet room. “Power. I need more power,” his voice low and trembling.

  His fists ched tightly against his knees, frustration radiating from every fiber of his being. The storm in his chest wouldn’t still, the sense of helplessness gnawing at him.

  Nano, he called inwardly, his tone sharp, you uand the runes in the pendium better than I do, don’t you?

  “We do,” Nano replied, its voice calm aral as always.

  Then help me inscribe the most powerful ones.

  “Your body may not withstand the pain of higher-level runes,” Nano cautioned.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jin Shu hissed through gritted teeth. “Do it!”

  “You are reag irrationally, Nano observed. This is uncharacteristic.”

  Jin Shu stopped, his chest heaving. He dragged a hand through his hair, clutg at the long dark strands, his breath uneven. “You’re right… Something is wrong with me. Something deep inside. I ’t keep ign it.”

  “Do you know what’s causing this?”

  “Your heightened hormone levels suggest emotional instability,” Nano expined. “It is likely caused by the awakening of your past-life memories. The psyches of your two lives are g, creating an imbance.”

  Jin Shu froze. “You’re saying… I’m fighting myself?”

  “Precisely. The two psyches, soldier and young master, perceive themselves as separate entities, eawilling to yield to the other. This internal flict is tearing you apart.”

  His shoulders sagged, the weight of Nano’s words pressing down on him. “How do I stop it?”

  “front them directly. Show them the truth—that they are not separate. You have always beeity—Jin Shu!” Nano excimed in aing tohat Jin Shu hadn't heard before.

  He hesitated, the thought of delving into his fractured soul both terrifying aig. He lowered himself onto the bed, closing his eyes.

  “Help me, Nano,” he whispered. “If I’m going to face this, I need you to guide me.”

  “Uood,” Nano replied. “Initiating trance protocol.”

  The world around Jin Shu began to blur. The flickering dlelight dimmed, the st of sandalwood faded, and the tension in his body dissolved as if melting away. He felt himself falling, deeper and deeper, into the recesses of his mind.

  ***

  When Jin Shu opened his eyes, he stood in an infinite void, one different from the spa his earring. The air was heavy, thick with unspoken tension. Two figures materialized before him.

  The first was a man battered fatigues, his face weathered and hardened by years of battle. Scars lined his arms and torso, and his eyes held a deep wariness.

  The sed was a younger version of himself, his face smooth and untouched by hardship, draped in the opulent robes of a young master. His posture was stiff, his expression haughty.

  They gred at each other, the animosity between them palpable.

  “You’re ruining everything!” the younger Jin Shu spat, his voice trembling with anger. “Ever since you showed up, my life has been falling apart. You’re not me!”

  The soldier sneered. “Not you? I am you, boy. You’re the one who doesn’t belong here, living a life of luxury while the rest of us suffer and die.”

  “Shut up!” the young Jin Shu shouted, stepping forward he poked a fi the other’s chest. “You don’t get to judge me! You’re just some reli a past life!”

  “And you’re a spoiled brat who’s asted true hardship,” the soldier shot back. His voice was cold, his words cutting deep. “You’ve never known hunger, never cwed your way out of the gutters, never watched your rades fall one by oil you were the only o standing in a field of corpses.”

  The younger Jin Shu faltered, his fists trembling. “I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t want your memories, your pain! I just want to be me!”

  “You?” The soldier took a step closer, his eyes bzing. “You wouldn’t st a day in my world. You’re weak, and that weakness will get everyone you care about killed.”

  “Enough!” the younger Jin Shu shouted, his hand shing out and striking the soldier across the face.

  The soldier’s head so the side, his eyes narrowing in fury. Without hesitation, he lunged forward, tag the younger Jin Shu to the ground.

  They rolled across the void, fists flying and legs kig, their anger and fear erupting in a chaotic, desperate brawl.

  ***

  Jin Shu watched from the sidelines, his chest tightening. He felt every blow, every scream, every tear as if they were his own. Which, he supposed they were.

  “Stop it!” he shouted, his voice eg through the void.

  The two figures froze, their breaths ragged, their eyes wide with uears. Slowly, they turo face him.

  “Don’t you see?” Jin Shu said, stepping closer. “You’re not enemies. You’re me—both of you. The soldier, the young master… they’re just parts of the whole.”

  The soldier’s hardened expression softened, his shoulders sagging. The young master lowered his head, his defiance melting away.

  As Jin Shu extended his hands, the void shimmered with light. The two figures stepped toward him, their forms blurring and merging together.

  In that moment, Jin Shu glimpsed something—fragments of memories, vivid colors, and strange shapes swirling in his mind. They moved faster and faster, sketg the rough outline of a rune.

  The void brightened, and the three figures became one.

  ***

  Jin Shu’s eyes snapped open, his breath steady, his mind clearer than it had been in days.

  “Iion plete,” Nano said softly. “The flict between your psyches has been resolved. However, I must caution you: your hormone imbance is still present and will remain until your body naturally regutes itself.”

  Jin Shu exhaled deeply, a sense of unity settling over him. The storm inside was gone, repced by calm crity.

  “Thank you, Nano,” he said quietly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  It was your strength that made this possible, Nano replied. Now, you are whole. Draw upon both lives as one.

  Rising to his feet, Jin Shu moved to his desk. With steady hands, he pulled out a scroll and dipped a brush into ink.

  “I saw something… like a rune when I was in that pce,” he murmured. “I’ll call it the Rune of Unity. A reminder of this moment. A remihat I am not two, but one.”

  As the brush moved across the paper, the symbols seemed to glow faintly with an otherworldly power in the flickering dlelight.

  “Nano, is this rune in the pendium?” he asked, examining his work.

  “No,” Nano replied after a pause. “We have never seen such a rune.”

  “I don’t know why,” Jin Shu whispered, rolling the scroll up and tug it into a drawer, “but I feel a strong urge—no, a need—for this rune. I’m going to inscribe it on my body.”

  “That could prove dangerous,” Nano cautioned. “This rune is of unknown ins.”

  “I know,” Jin Shu said, his tone resolute. “But I have a feeling I’ll soon.”

  “It is your decision,” Nano replied. “We will intervene if necessary.”

  “Thank you, Nano.”

  Jin Shu began the inscribing process using his cultivation teique. His qi soon took on the heat of molten va c through his veins. This pain, onbearable, was now a familiar panion—one he had long growo.

  With precision and focus, he directed the flow of qi into the patterns of the new rune, burning bck lines into his skin. He had decided to pce this rune over his heart. As he worked, the pain intensified, far exceeding anything he had felt before. The molten qi scorched not only the surface of his chest but also the very tissue of his heart, carving the ruh outside and within his body.

  By the time Jin Shu finished, his body was drenched i, his limbs weak and trembling. He barely mao stumble to his bed before colpsing onto the mattress. Sleep cimed him almost instantly, dragging him into its f embrace.

  Tomorrow, his jouro the capital would begin. But tonight, he had already taken the first step toward being the man he o be.

  And in doing so, he had inscribed a rune he believed would prove pivotal in shaping his new life.