Alice didn't move forward immediately after speaking. She remained where she was for a brief moment, as if reorganizing everything within her own mind. Every newly learned movement, every fine adjustment to her body's mechanics, every variable observed during the previous confrontation was being recalculated in real time. There was no emotion in her expression—only absolute focus. When she finally took her first step, the ground beneath her feet trembled not from brute force, but from the precision with which her weight was distributed. She no longer moved like a mage. She moved like someone who understood exactly what each muscle should do before even acting.
Shura realized this instantly.
His smile returned, wider, more intense, filled with something bordering on enthusiasm.
"Now that's more like it…" he murmured.
And then the two disappeared.
The impact happened in the middle of the corridor.
Fist against fist.
