Riku has been wandering for quite some time now. He's saved a couple worlds, failed at saving another. But he's lost track of where he's at, wandering into an asteroid field surrounded by many suns.
His body shows a rare sign of hunger and he comes to realize he's been kept fed by his elements up until now.
With no live planets detectable in the immediate area, Riku is forced to take a break on one of the asteroid and work out a way to make food with what he has now.
He gets an idea to use his elements to convert the material of the asteroids into dirt, and then plant a seed with his nature powers, and grow a tree with water.
It takes him a few beginner attempts to get it all right, but once he does he's rewarded with some juicy, succulent apples.
It dawns on him now that he really doesn't have a great understanding of his elements and what all they can do. He's just been swinging them around to fight enemies.
So without any pressure on him from trauma, unconsciousness, or danger, Riku chooses to take a break and learn everything he can about his elements.
After creating a breathable atmosphere around the asteroid, Riku gets to work creating clones of himself that focus around a specific element.
He starts with Nature and finds himself learning quite a lot about how powerful it truly is. It can stop fire in some cases, has the ability to subdue enemies subtly, and can be deadly.
Once Riku has exhausted all he can learn from Nature, he spends the next couple of months learning about all the other basic elements. He finds their strengths and weaknesses, surprising himself a lot with how much depth laid under the surface.
Now feeling more confident in his abilities overall, Riku realized he still has to learn about Light and Darkness. But just thinking about what Darkness has done for him makes him realize something important...
He can't just let lives be lost in front of him again, because it can and WILL happen even if he's not careless. So to prevent another tragedy like Link from happening, he becomes determined to learn how to bring people back to life.
Riku toils hard against the passive nature of Light and the ferocity of Darkness. He's woefully naive about the true nature of their powers, and loses to both of them rather quickly.
He becomes frustrated with his inability to understand and push himself further, believing that he's only going to be stuck behind this wall, unable to do anything to save anyone.
Through frustration comes inspiration, however, as he recognizes a key aspect of both Light and Darkness: That they, together, complete the cycle of life AND death.
Its not a matter of learning how to master one element to bring the dead back to life, he has to somehow combine them both.
Thus, drawing his blade in deep concentration, he watches as Light and Darkness gather around the sword. And in the blink of an eye, something spectacular occurs, leaving him unconscious.
When he awakens, he does so to the sight of two dragons towering over him, one of black, another of white. They are Takashi and Sodenko, guardian spirits of Darkness and Light...So they claim anyways.
They are familiar with the Elemental Overlord, and perhaps a little too familiar with his successors, letting slip multiple times information Riku shouldn't be knowing about.
But more importantly, they bring attention to the fact that Riku has changed. His body now dons armor of Light AND Darkness combined, bringing forth the creation of a new form...Chaos Form.
It was the awakening of this new power that allowed Takashi and Sodenko to briefly take form in the physical plain and talk with Riku.
But not only that, because of what Riku has done, his thoughts, mind and flesh alike, are now one with Light and Darkness.
With his motivations laid bare to the two dragons, Riku asks if they know how to resurrect people, with Takashi making it none too obvious that they do. But he refuses to speak what he knows, for in his eyes Riku is just another blind fool.
So to make a point of how far he's come, Riku challenges the two dragons in his new form. But Takashi just laughs, drawing two titanic blades upon Riku while his "sister" Sodenko joins him at his side.
Takashi leaves nothing to chance, and commands Sodenko to "take that form". The two of them fuse into one being, an even bigger dragon known as the Lord of Chaos, whose name has been lost forever.
The Lord of Chaos thrashes Riku around the asteroid field with ease, with Riku believing that the dragon is dampening his powers throughout.
Riku loses the fight without ever landing a hit on the titanic dragon. Takashi splits off, disgusted at how weak and blind this "master" is supposed to be.
Riku is upset at Takashi for giving him no chance to prove himself, but Takashi retorts that its all in his head, and his ignorance holds him back.
Riku will never be worthy of the power of Chaos Form, because he refuses to learn, and refuses to accept his weakness.
Riku calls him ungrateful but Takashi returns to his cage, caring nothing for the barks of a pup...
Riku punches the asteroid he's on, letting out a yell of frustration as Sodenko tries and fails to console him.
He spends some time trying to find out the "truth" behind Chaos but keeps running into roadblocks. To try and help him along a little, Sodenko tells of a story of her past, how her and Takashi were two foolish children that tried to learn the truths of Light and Darkness.
But in going so far to learn the truth, they were sealed away and transformed into their current predicament. The Elemental Overlord had promised to free them, but couldn't manage before he was sealed away.
Takashi then emerges and yells at Sodenko, claiming she's been nothing but deceptive, just as before.
Despite Sodenko's efforts to hold Takashi's mouth still, Riku demands to hear the truth.
Takashi is allowed to explain the REAL story, how he was once a member of the Light Tribe while his sister was of the Dark Tribe. Sodenko wanted nothing but power, and the gods punished them for it.
Their fate is an ironic one, but clearly the years in imprisonment had done nothing to curb Sodenko's powerlust and love of deception.
Sodenko is miffed, but her attitude doesn't change as she calls her brother a fool.
Riku doesn't care about their bickering, having seemed to have gleamed something important from their story. He goes into Chaos Form despite Takashi's disgruntled remarks and wishes to challenge the Lord of Chaos one more time.
As the Lord of Chaos, Takashi vows that if Riku disappointments him again, death is what awaits him.
Riku now is able to use the power of Light and Darkness to their full potential, leaving the Lord of Chaos surprised.
Their battle gets dragged throughout the whole of the cosmos around them, leading to the Lord of Chaos consuming entire suns with his powers to fling them at Riku.
Riku eventually drags their fight towards the center of the universe, before the gaze of two strange spherical realms.
The Lord of Chaos brings the power of both realms to his aid to deliver one final judgment upon Riku. Riku survives it and with it, the truth is grasped.
The Lord of Chaos finally admits that Riku has proven worthy of the right to wield Light and Darkness, but inquires as to how he figured it out.
Riku says that Takashi's story gave him the answer. It showed him that Light and Darkness isn't as simple as what's on the surface. Evil people can wield Light, good people can use Darkness. Believing in just what's on the surface makes you blind.
Takashi is satisfied with the answer, and defers reverence to Riku at long last.
But Riku refuses his bow, saying that he'd just like to be friends. With his new power, Riku even undoes Takashi's binds.
He does not do the same for Sodenko, however, for she has not proven herself trustworthy in the slightest.
Given all this freedom at his disposal, Takashi chooses to stick by his sister's side, as he's already done so for this long. He at least, believe Sodenko can one day change.
Riku then is taught the secret of resurrection. To save a life, Riku has to barter something of equal value. Normally that'd be his own life essence, but he can compensate for some of that with the power of both Light AND Darkness, which together, acts as the equivalent to life energy.
Now feeling more confident in his abilities, Riku chooses to continue his adventure to save more worlds. Thus ending the first year of his journey, and in turn, his life.
Part 4 Interim END.