The Holy Throne And Shadow of Ashes

Creak. Slam.

The door of the old barn groaned open as Akushi stepped inside, a trail of dust kicking up with each footfall.

Light filtered through the broken slats in long streaks, casting golden lines across cracked wood and rusted tools. The air was stale — dry hay, old sweat, and faint rot. The perfect kind of silence.

Akushi took a slow breath.The muscles in his back were still sore from the firewood. But soreness was good. It meant he was alive. It meant he had a starting point.

"Alright… let's begin."

🪵 The First Day

There were no dumbbells. No iron plates. No rubber mats or smooth gym floors.

Just a crooked floor, some broken crates, and a pile of fallen branches in the corner.

He walked over and grabbed one of the thicker branches — maybe five kilos at best. His fingers dug into the bark. He planted his feet.

Deadlift. Down. Up. Down. Up.Over and over again.

At first, he could barely get through ten. His hands trembled. His knees buckled.

But he forced himself to do more.

Push-ups next. He dropped to the wooden floor.Crack. Splinters bit into his palms.

"One… two…"

By fifteen, his arms were jelly.By twenty, his body screamed.

Still, he went on.

Outside, the wind rustled the trees. Inside, Akushi sweat like a dog in a forge. Every muscle in his body begged for rest. But he didn't stop.

No one cheered for him. No one was watching.And that was the point.

🌫 Flashback – Tokyo, Years Ago

Smoke curled from the tip of a cheap cigarette.

A younger Akushi — maybe thirteen — leaned against a cracked concrete wall in an alley behind a convenience store. His school uniform was stained, shirt untucked, collar loose. His eyes were dark and hollow.

"Oi!"

The shout echoed from deeper in the alley.

He turned his head.

A man — drunk, slurring — was yelling at a woman. She flinched as he shoved her back against the wall. Her bag hit the ground. Something cracked.

She cried out.

Akushi didn't move.

He just stood there, watching.

Smoke poured from his lips.

His fingers trembled… but not from fear.From fury.

"It's not my problem," he muttered under his breath.

But the cigarette dropped from his hand.And his feet started walking forward.

💥 Back to the Barn

"AGH—!"

Akushi collapsed, his hands planted in the dirt.

The branch he'd been curling fell beside him with a soft thud.

His breath came in ragged bursts. Sweat dripped from his chin to the dusty floor.

His body was on fire. Every joint ached. His stomach twisted with nausea.

But in his eyes — that same fire. The fire from the alley. From years ago.

He wasn't doing this for applause.He wasn't doing it to prove something to Luca.He was doing it because deep down…

"This body will not control me.""I will control it."

Slowly, he pushed himself back to his feet.His arms shook. His legs nearly gave out.

But he stood.

And he walked over to the branch again.

🌓 Hours Later

The sun had shifted. Light hit the barn from a different angle now. Dust shimmered like ash in the air.

Akushi was lying on the ground, arms stretched out, eyes closed. His breath was slow. Rhythmic. Not peaceful — just exhausted.

His shirt was soaked. His skin was scratched and bruised. But somewhere under the soreness, there was a quiet satisfaction.

He had survived his first day.

And he would come back again tomorrow.

The Next Morning

The rooster hadn't even crowed yet.The moon still clung faintly to the sky.But Akushi was already awake.

No one stirred in the house. The fire wasn't lit. The cold bit into his skin. But his feet moved without hesitation.

Out of bed. Out the door. Into the darkness.

He tied a worn cloth around his forehead, rolled his sleeves up, and started to jog along the edge of the fields. His breath steamed in the cool morning air. His boots kicked up dew and dirt.

His lungs burned.His legs screamed.But he didn't stop.

He pushed on, circling the farmhouse twice, three times. Then dropped to the ground. Push-ups.

"One… two… three…"

At twenty, his arms shook.At thirty, they gave out.

But he gritted his teeth and crawled to a post, using it to pull himself back up.

The old barn door creaked open again.The same as yesterday.

Inside, the air still smelled of sweat and wood. The branches waited in the corner. The crates, the hay, the rusted tools.

He went straight to work.

Deadlifts.Squats.Push-ups again.Sit-ups with a heavy sack of grain tied to his chest.

Again and again. No breaks. No shortcuts.

🔄 Days Passed

Morning. Farm. Training. Night.Repeat.

Every single day, without fail.

Before the sun rose, Akushi would run and train in silence.During the day, he did his share of farm chores—barely able to keep up, but slowly… very slowly… he noticed something.

The log that once made his arms tremble?

Now he could lift it… even carry it across the yard.His back ached. His muscles throbbed. But he could do it.

When he hoed the fields, the tool didn't fall from his grip as often.

When he lifted the water pail, his hands didn't shake as much.

No one else noticed.But he did.

And that was enough.

🌒 Nightfall

At night, long after dinner, after his siblings had gone to bed, Akushi returned to the barn. Sometimes he brought a torch. Sometimes he trained in the dark.

He practiced his footwork — shadow boxing. Stretching. Holding painful stances for minutes. Controlling his breathing.

The body he was born into here was fragile.But it was his now.

And he would make it obey.

"This pain is nothing.""Compared to what I came from—this is peace."

His hands blistered.His knees bruised.But his mind — focused. Sharper than ever.

🔙 Flashback Fragment

A boy, younger Akushi, stood in the rain.Same alley. Same city. Tokyo.

His knuckles were red.A man — twice his size — was crumpled at his feet.

The woman had already run.The silence was thick.

Young Akushi stared at his hands.They shook. Not from fear.From something else.

"So this is what it takes."

🕛 Back to Aetherra – Midnight

Midnight.

Akushi collapsed in the barn. Face-up. Eyes half-closed. The stars peeked through cracks in the roof.

His shirt clung to his chest. His breath was slow. But steady.

He didn't feel strong. Not yet.

But he felt… alive.

"I don't know what fate brought me here.""But I'll earn my place in this world. Even if I have to break this body to rebuild it."

He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow would come early.And he'd be ready.