As Sonus woke up the next day, he felt as if the largest weight he had ever felt had just fallen off of his shoulder.

There was a gentle smile on his face for the first time in years, his gem-like eyes glistening with unconcealed joy. As Sonus fully awoke however, his demeanor shifted to one of focused determination.

Sonus began his day by doing some morning exercises. He had decided that it only made sense to train his body along with his new ability. After all, could he truly fight what was considered one of the three strongest Yokai of Japanese mythology with such an obvious and easily exploitable weakness?

After an hour of going through any workout he could think of that didn't require specialized equipment, Sonus finally stopped his exercise, a look of exhaustion covering his face. Yet, along with this exhaustion came a feeling of exhilaration that came with the feeling of gaining progress that slowly overcame him, no matter how slow.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Sonus took a five minute break before moving on to the next activity for the day, the one that had him spending the whole exercise nearly vibrating in excitement - Ability Training/Testing.

That's right, Sonus had decided that he should first test his ability before moving on to actually using it, having a solid idea of what could be done with his ability would be crucial to only getting into fights he could reasonably take after all.

Sonus hadn't needed to ask the system how to use his power, it was just as the system had said, his power was one that he already had an affinity for, the system just granted him the ability to use it.

Ever since he had gained the ability, Sonus could feel the pull from deep within himself, the urge to use the power he now had access to. And so, with a deep inhale, Sonus finally gave in to that urge.

Reaching deep within himself, Sonus grasped at that well of power that had been restlessly reaching out to him from deep within his body.

And with a sharp yank, that power seemed to almost leap to action, a feel of excitement overtaking him at the feel of it, it was almost intoxicating in its intensity.

Before Sonus could even think to wonder what his power actually did, he heard it. The soft sounds of music that seemed to grow louder and louder, seeming to be capable of actually effecting the physical world around him.

He could feel that he could control the music, decide what it played. Even more than that however, Sonus could feel that if he played the music himself, he could bring the full effect of his power out.

So, with trembling hands, Sonus reached under his bed and pulled out something he hadn't seen for five years, his eyes nearly tearing up as his hands trembled with it in his grasp.

Yet, even with trembling hands, the now revealed case showed no signs of Sonus' emotions, it remaining as stoic as ever. Sonus was extra careful to make sure the instrument wouldn't drop. The reason the thought of the instrument had brought about such strong emotions from Sonus was that this instrument was a present from his late father, a gift passed down within their family.

With hands still trembling with unsuppressed nerves, Sonus unzipped the case before slowly taking the harp out, his hands gliding over it as if it were an old lover.

The second his hands touched the strings, they stilled, his nerves seeming to have fled his body at the feel of them.

With gentle fingers, Sonus plucked at a string, the soft sound of music ringing out from the wizened old instrument. While playing an instrument that had been out of use for so long would typically illicit a rather ungodly sound, the harp within his grasp seemed to instead release the most beautiful note he had ever played.

Sonus could feel as his magic took hold of the harp, slowly changing it to the best it could be.

As Sonus played, a seemingly magical sight appeared before him. He could feel as his energy rushed through his body and into the instrument, with each note he played a visible note would flow out, melding with the world around it.

Sonus gently strummed the strings, not truly playing anything but rather just plucking the strings based on how he felt. Sonus could feel as the world around him reacted to the sound.

As Sonus played a gentle tune that seemed to convey the emotions of reminiscence he was currently feeling with the guitar within his hands, he could feel the emotions take hold of the world around him, slowly causing a calming effect to anything within earshot.

Ears perking up, Sonus noticed he could no longer hear the noise of dogs barking at one another, nor the sound of loud traffic and the honking of horns, the world around him seeming to reach a state of melancholy that could only be matched by his current emotions.

Within this environment, Sonus felt a soul-deep peace touch at his heart strings that he hadn't felt in years, his face splitting into a serene smile that could calm even the most troubled of souls as tears slowly fell from his closed eyes.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Like this, Sonus would spend the next few hours sitting there with the harp laid out before him, his fingers never once slowing in their movements. His face remained in a state of peace, a relief pouring over him that seemed to have washed away a large amount of the grief he had been repressing for the past five years.

After a couple hours, Sonus' closed eyes slowly opened, a brilliant light shining within them.

The past couple hours had caused a newfound determination to rise within him, his mind truly readied for the long journey he had ahead of him. As he slowly steadied himself, Sonus prepared himself for the next test after having established a very basic understanding of how his ability worked.

Next, Sonus decided he should test what effects different songs would have, as well as if different songs would have different levels of power.

The first song Sonus decided to test was one that had been created around the time that humans began to go to war with the beings that came from the portals, a song meant to bring strength and courage to the humans who were fighting on the front lines.

This song had been given a name that represented what every person felt at that point in time, 'Hope.' After the Great Apocalypse of five years ago had finally ended, this song along with its composer, became some of the most well-regarded musician to ever live.

As Sonus began to play his harp, the notes flying together in a maelstrom of sound that beautifully composed itself into a song almost like the loud marching steps of soldiers, their heavy boots leaving deep indentations in the ground as they continued forward, their expressions ones of courage and vigor.

While the music rang out, Sonus noticed that his power seemed to be stirred to life, it releasing a wave of energy that seemed far, far stronger than what was released from the almost effortlessly strung together lyrics of the music Sonus had previously played.

His power seemed to be truly bringing the song to life. Yet, as the music continued to play, Sonus realized that his power seemed to almost be using the ethereal emotions that entered the creation of the song to power itself.

That's right, Sonus noticed that his power seemed to be somehow taking the feelings of hope that this song had been created with to strengthen the music, seemingly elevating it from simple music to something far more real.

And as this occurred, Sonus noticed that vague images of people began to appear around him, as if popping up from thin air.

And yet, as he continued to play, Sonus noticed that these seemingly ethereal energy beings seemed to become more and more real, their figures slowly morphing from the vague outline of a human to the shapes of men and women carrying weapons, their expressions severe. Looking at these people, Sonus had no doubt about who they were - soldiers.

As these beings seemed to come into existence, Sonus could feel a nearly suffocating aura radiating off of them, as if a real army of soldiers who had experienced countless years of bloodshed and death truly stood before him.

This aura was nearly suffocating in its intensity. As someone who had never even been in a real combat situation, Sonus could naturally not resist this pressure.

Before long, Sonus' fingers could no longer continue their movements, his entire body drenched in sweat as a fear he didn't even know possible slowly gripped him.

However, as soon as Sonus' fingers stopped moving, the figures of the soldiers slowly became ephemeral before disappearing altogether.

Sonus wiped the sweat from his brows, his face still containing a hint of the fear he had felt in the presence of these soldiers. With a deep inhalation, Sonus finally managed to fully calm his racing heart before he finally began to recall the events that had just occurred.

As Sonus recalled what the previous events entailed, his eyes that contained a sense of dread within them slowly cleared, replaced with a blinding light of excitement.

With this test, Sonus had just learned that his power was far more versatile than he had previously expected. Not only could it affect emotions, it could also create beings that could affect the real world.

Along with this, Sonus realized that his power seemed to be capable of taking the emotions that the creator of a song held for the music while creating it to empower it, this was the reason for the large disparity in strength from Sonus' song compared to 'Hope.'.

The more Sonus thought about how versatile and strong his ability truly was, the brighter the light in his eyes became. With this power, Sonus realized that he truly could become strong enough to defeat the seemingly unstoppable Shuten-doji.

This thought caused Sonus to once more begin his training, his previous fear and vigilance toward using the song 'Hope.' seeming to disappear.

As Sonus thought of this song, he realized that he could use this song to train his willpower, slowly training himself to resist the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the soldiers that appeared before him, as well as training his control over how his power manifested.

With this final thought, Sonus showed no hesitation in picking up his guitar and plucking at the strings, slowly starting to play the song of hope once more.

At this point, Sonus decided that it would be best to train his ability to control his power by summoning less soldiers, hopefully allowing himself the ability to resist their auras in stages rather than slamming face-first into the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the entire army.

Emerald eyes glittering with a light of determination, Sonus slowly grasped the ethereal feeling of the power held deep within himself, slowly trying to will only a small amount of it out.

However, as he tried to grasp this power, Sonus realized that this energy seemed to act as water, slowly flowing through the grasp he had on it, flowing out in a raging river just as mighty as before.

At this, Sonus could feel his hackles being raised at the feeling of helplessness he felt toward controlling his power, his desire to clamp down on this power rising even further.

As his emotions became stronger, Sonus subconsciously began to clamp down on his power with a might he previously didn't possess, his concentration seeming to reach an extreme degree.

With this, Sonus finally succeeded in turning the river of power that rushed out of his body into a stream.

However, Sonus had to put in his complete concentration to clamp down on this power, this meant that when the soldier that appeared finally released its aura, Sonus couldn't find the strength within himself to continue playing his harp.

This did not discourage Sonus however, rather it seemed to cause his determination to shine through even further.

With emerald orbs seemingly burning, Sonus delved deep into training his power, seemingly having forgotten the passage of time altogether.