Apocalypse Transmigration - The Card Captor System

He didn’t try to destroy them. He allowed them to exist... and then let them pass.

But when his thoughts became too loud to control, Leo opened his eyes. He glanced toward Gill.

"Any ideas?"

Gill stared at him. It didn’t speak. Instead, it pointed toward the darkness.

A new image appeared. A human figure stood beneath a waterfall. Heavy water crashed down upon the figure’s body, yet the figure remained perfectly motionless.

Leo studied the image. "You want me to remain still regardless of everything happening around me?"

Gill nodded.

Leo smiled faintly. "Not exactly a complicated lesson."

Gill’s crimson eyes narrowed.

Leo scrambled to correct himself. "I mean... a profound lesson."

Gill nodded in satisfaction.

Leo closed his eyes again. At first, it was difficult. Every thought demanded his attention. Every memory tried to drag him backward. But little by little, Leo learned to separate himself from the noise inside his own mind. He didn’t suppress his thoughts. He just stopped chasing them.

And gradually, silence emerged.

By the twentieth day, something shifted.

Leo sat cross-legged atop the crystal. His breathing was slow. Steady. Natural.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

For the first time, he wasn’t consciously controlling his breath. His body had memorized the rhythm.

Then—

Something brushed against his skin.

Leo’s eyebrows twitched. He ignored it.

Another sensation followed. This one was deeper. It wasn’t on his skin; it felt as though something unseen was moving through the empty space around him.

Leo’s breathing quickened. The sensation vanished.

His eyes opened. Nothing.

Leo looked toward Gill. The raven was already watching him.

Leo pointed at himself. "Did you feel that?"

Gill nodded.

Leo’s eyes brightened. "I sensed something!"

Gill raised one finger. Then, it shook its head.

Leo’s expression fell. "...That wasn’t Zen?"

Gill nodded.

Leo stared at it. "You could’ve just said no."

Gill’s crimson eyes remained unblinking and expressionless.

Leo sighed. "Right. You don’t talk."

The twenty-fifth day. The thirtieth. The thirty-fifth.

Leo stopped asking questions. He simply trained. The endless darkness became familiar. The black crystal became his world. His body remained motionless for hours at a time. His breathing grew deep and natural. Even his heartbeat synchronized with the technique.

And his perception began changing.

He started noticing things he couldn’t see before. Faint distortions. Tiny ripples. Invisible currents drifting through the dark. They were everywhere. But whenever he tried to grasp them... they faded.

Leo didn’t become frustrated. He tried again. And again. And again.

On the forty-eighth day, Leo sensed something entirely different.

He was sitting quietly when a strange feeling bloomed inside his chest. It wasn’t Aether. It wasn’t standard energy. It was something far more wild—something that felt as though it didn’t belong in an ordered world.

Leo’s heartbeat skipped. His eyes opened.

A faint black thread floated directly in front of him.

Leo stared. The thread twisted violently. It looked fragile, yet at the same time, Leo felt an inexplicable sense of danger radiating from it. Every instinct in his body screamed at him.

Don’t touch it.

Leo swallowed. "Is that..."

Gill materialized beside him. For the first time, the raven’s movements were a blur of speed. Its cane struck the crystal.

BOOM!

A massive black symbol flashed in front of Leo.

STOP.

Leo froze in place. "Okay!"

The symbol vanished. Gill pointed toward the black thread. Then pointed toward Leo. Then shook its head in a frenzy.

Leo understood. "Don’t absorb it yet."

Gill nodded.

Leo stared at the thread again. "So that’s Zen."

Gill nodded.

Leo couldn’t help smiling. "Finally."

Gill raised its cane.

Leo’s smile vanished. "Right. No celebrating."

Gill nodded.

Leo sighed. "You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?"

Gill’s crimson eyes narrowed.

Leo forced a cough. "I mean... You’re doing an excellent job."

Gill lowered the cane.

The fiftieth day. Leo successfully sensed Zen on command.

The fifty-third day. He could distinguish Zen from Aether.

The fifty-seventh day. He could maintain the Star Soul Breathing Technique while sensing the chaotic energy around him.

But he still couldn’t absorb it. Every attempt caused the Zen to violently reject his control. The first try nearly shook his soul apart. The second sent him tumbling across the crystal. The third left him gasping for air.

After the third failure, Leo lay flat on his back, staring up into the dark.

"I think Zen hates me."

Gill created an image. A tiny stick figure. Then a gigantic bird beating it with a cane.

Leo stared. "...That’s not what I meant."

Gill added another image. The stick figure pointed at Zen. Zen pointed at the stick figure. Then both pointed at each other.

Leo frowned. "What does that mean?"

Gill shrugged.

Leo glared at the raven. "...You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?"

Gill’s crimson eyes remained perfectly blank.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "I know you’re making fun of me."

The sixtieth day.

Leo sat on the black crystal once more. His eyes were closed. His breathing was steady. His mind was clear.

He no longer tried to force Zen into his body. He just observed it.

Inhale.

Exhale.

His consciousness followed the rhythm. A black thread drifted toward him. Leo didn’t reach for it. He didn’t chase it. He allowed it to approach on its own terms.

The thread brushed against his body.

Nothing happened. Leo’s breathing remained steady.

Then—

The Star Soul Breathing Technique flared to life. The chaotic thread slipped into his body.

Leo’s pupils contracted. A violent sensation ripped through his soul. Pain. Cold. Heat. Chaos. For a terrible moment, Leo felt as though his entire existence was being torn open. His fingers dug into the black crystal. He almost broke the breathing rhythm.

Then he remembered Gill’s lessons.

Don’t force it. Don’t control what you don’t understand. Let the energy move.

Leo forced his muscles to relax. The chaotic energy settled. A tiny strand of Zen circulated through his soul.

His eyes opened.

For the first time... a faint black glow appeared within his pupils.

Leo stared at his hands. He could feel it. A strange power was flowing through his veins. It was nothing like Aether. It was wild. Unpredictable.

Yet somehow... he could control it.

Leo smiled. "I did it."

Gill stepped in front of him. The raven stared at Leo, then raised its cane.

Leo’s smile dropped. "Wait."

Gill pointed toward the crystal. Then pointed toward Leo. It formed an image of a mountain. Then another. Then another.

Leo’s expression fell. "You want me to keep training?"

Gill nodded.

Leo sighed deep in his chest. "Of course." He closed his eyes again. "Two months just to learn the technique..." He muttered under his breath. "...and ten years to master it."

Gill tapped the cane against the crystal.

Tap.

Leo straightened his back. "Yes, yes. I’m training."

The black raven returned to its seat opposite him, crimson eyes watching without blinking.

The training continued. And for the first time... Leo was no longer merely learning how to use Zen. He had taken his first true step beyond the limits of humanity.