The morning began quietly.
I woke before everyone else, as had been happening in the past few days. My body was already used to the rhythm of training. There was no pain, only that constant sense of alertness that had never gone away.
I went down to the garden and found Scarlet sitting on the stone bench, staring at nothing.
She didn't look distracted.
She looked like she was evaluating something only she could see.
"You're here early," I said.
"I never left," she replied.
I sat beside her.
The wind moved lightly through the trees. The house was still asleep. For the first time in a long while, there was no urgency to begin anything.
Scarlet turned her face toward me.
"The training is over."
I didn't respond immediately.
I knew that moment would come, but hearing it out loud carried a different weight.
"Why?"
"Because you no longer learn from me the same way."
I remained silent.
She continued.
"Before, you made obvious mistakes. You hesitated. You used too much force. You exposed yourself without realizing it. Now, you calculate. Observe. Wait. You fight while thinking."
I remembered the first times in the dungeon, her pointing out flaws I didn't even realize I was making.
"So that's it?"
"It is."
She stood up from the bench.
"If I continue, you'll start depending on my analysis. And that would be a mistake."
That made sense.
Training wasn't about becoming comfortable. It was about learning to walk on your own.
"You're ready to fight without someone watching," she added.
I stood as well.
"I wouldn't have gotten here without you."
Scarlet gave a short smile.
"You would have. It just would've taken much longer."
A few minutes later, the others began to appear in the garden. Liriel was the first, still adjusting her hair. Elara came right after, Vespera in silence, Rai'kanna last.
They sensed the different atmosphere.
"What happened?" Elara asked.
"The training is over," I replied.
Rai'kanna crossed her arms.
"Finally."
Scarlet looked at her.
"You should be grateful."
Rai'kanna raised an eyebrow.
"I give thanks when I see results."
"Then you can be grateful," Scarlet said calmly.
The atmosphere wasn't argumentative. It was conclusive.
Liriel stepped closer to me.
"And now?"
I thought for a moment before answering.
"Now I continue."
Scarlet nodded.
"Exactly."
Then she looked at me differently. More serious.
"But one thing is still missing."
I already knew what it was.
The agreement.
"The wish," I said.
She confirmed with a nod.
The others immediately became attentive.
Rai'kanna narrowed her eyes.
"What wish?"
Scarlet answered before I could speak.
"He offered me ten thousand coins to be his mentor."
Elara's eyes widened.
"Ten thousand?"
"I refused," Scarlet continued. "And accepted with one condition."
The silence grew heavier.
"What condition?" Vespera asked.
Scarlet looked directly at me.
"That when the training ended, he would grant one wish of mine."
Rai'kanna stepped forward.
"What kind of wish?"
Scarlet smiled slightly.
"I haven't said yet."
The atmosphere became strange. Not hostile, but charged.
I remained calm.
I had accepted it without thinking much at the time. I just wanted to train.
Now, I realized the weight of that promise was greater than it had seemed.
"When?" I asked.
"Tonight," Scarlet replied.
Rai'kanna didn't like that.
"Why tonight?"
"Because that's when I want it."
No one said anything else.
The subject ended there, but the tension remained in the air.
Scarlet began walking away through the garden.
Before entering the house, she stopped and looked at me.
"Don't be late."
I watched her disappear through the door.
The others looked at me next.
Elara was the first to speak.
"You don't know what she's going to ask, do you?"
"No."
Liriel crossed her arms.
"And you agreed anyway?"
"Yes."
Vespera took a slow breath.
"That doesn't sound like a good idea."
Rai'kanna was direct.
"We're going."
"No," I said.
She looked at me.
"That's not your decision."
I held her gaze.
"It's my agreement."
We stood in silence for a few seconds.
In the end, Rai'kanna looked away, but I knew it wasn't over.
The rest of the day passed strangely.
No training.
No routine.
As if everyone were waiting for night to come.
And, for the first time in weeks, I felt something different from physical exhaustion.
Expectation.
When the sun began to set, I was alone in my room, looking out the window.
The training was over.
I was stronger.
Much stronger.
But, strangely, the thing occupying my thoughts the most wasn't that.
It was Scarlet's wish.
And the clear feeling that the night had not yet revealed what it truly wanted.