Bruce's breathing steadied before Derek told him to begin.
That alone was enough to make Derek pause.
"Again," Derek said, folding his arms. "Tell me what you're doing."
Bruce didn't open his eyes. "Not pushing. Not pulling. Just... letting it settle."
Derek watched closely as Bruce's chest rose and fell. His posture was straight but relaxed, weight evenly distributed, feet planted the way Derek had drilled into him over weeks of repetition. There was no tension in his shoulders, no impatience in his jaw.
Qi moved.
Not explosively. Not erratically.
It flowed inward, gathering where Derek had instructed - below the navel, deep within the body's centre. Bruce didn't grimace. He didn't strain. His brow didn't even crease.
The core formed quietly.
Derek felt it before he saw it.
"...You're done," Derek said slowly.
Bruce blinked, surprised. "I am?"
Derek let out a short breath that was half laugh, half disbelief. "Yes. You are."
Bruce tilted his head, focusing inward. Something new responded. Not strength. Not warmth.
Awareness.
It wasn't sight, sound, or touch.
It was position.
Bruce frowned slightly. "That's... weird."
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"I don't feel stronger," Bruce said. "But I know where things are. Not like seeing them. More like... knowing where I'd be if I moved."
Derek's expression turned serious. "That's your sixth sense awakening. Spatial intuition."
Bruce opened his eyes. "Is that good?"
Derek snorted. "It's rare."
Bruce smiled, small and uncertain. "It didn't feel hard."
"That," Derek said quietly, "is what worries me."
Across the clearing, Vernon stood completely still.
Not meditating.
Listening.
The world no longer came to him as noise. It came as rhythm.
Bruce's foot shifted in the dirt - scrape, pause, scrape. The timing told Vernon when Bruce was about to strike before the dagger even moved. He heard the change in breath, the subtle hitch that preceded a lunge, the exhale that followed a completed motion.
In. Hold. Out.
Patterns stacked upon patterns.
Melian hovered near the treeline, pretending to watch the forest. Vernon didn't look at her, but he heard her. Not footsteps - she didn't make those.
He heard displacement.
Every few minutes, the air shifted just slightly, as if something weightless had adjusted its balance. The rhythm was patient. Observant.
She's watching again.
The realization didn't unsettle him.
It grounded him.
"Focus, Bruce," Derek called. "Dagger, not sword. Flow first."
Bruce nodded and moved.
Vernon's head tilted unconsciously.
The sound changed.
Bruce's movements were cleaner now. Less wasted motion. The dagger cut the air with a consistent whisper, the same pitch each time when his form was correct, higher when his wrist angled wrong, lower when his footing slipped.
Vernon swallowed.
He could hear mistakes.
Not as flaws - as deviations.
His temples throbbed faintly, a reminder of the cost, but he didn't retreat from the sensation. He let it wash through him, cataloguing without judgment.
Derek circled Bruce, correcting posture, tapping a shoulder here, adjusting a stance there.
"Again."
Bruce complied instantly.
Derek paused mid-step.
"...You felt that," Derek said.
Bruce hesitated. "Felt what?"
"You corrected yourself before I touched you."
Bruce blinked. "I just knew where I was off."
Derek stared at him for a long moment. "Your core is stabilizing faster than expected."
Bruce scratched the back of his head. "Is that bad?"
"No," Derek said. "Just... efficient."
Vernon sat down heavily on a fallen log, breathing slow.
The circle inside him rotated steadily. No pressure. No resistance.
But the world felt loud in ways it never had before.
He closed his eyes.
The wind moved through the trees in overlapping waves, each layer moving at a slightly different pace. Insects clicked in irregular intervals that formed repeating sequences. Bruce's heartbeat spiked before every burst of motion, then settled into a predictable cadence.
Vernon frowned.
Is this what Mom heard?
The thought made his chest tighten.
Not envy.
Longing.
Melian drifted closer, curiosity finally overcoming restraint.
"What do you hear?" she said.
Vernon opened one eye. "Patterns."
"Patterns?" She tilted her head. "As in?"
"Think of it as... Structure."
Derek glanced over. "He's not imagining things, is he?"
Melian shook her head. "No. He's not hearing sound. He's hearing structure."
Vernon grimaced. "I didn't mean it literally."
She smiled faintly. "It's different."
Bruce jogged over, wiping sweat from his brow. "You okay, Vern?"
Vernon nodded. "You breathe differently when you stab."
Bruce blinked. "I- what?"
"In through your nose when you prepare," Vernon continued. "Out through your mouth on impact. But when you slash left, you hold it half a second too long."
Bruce stared at him. "...Dad?"
Derek's lips twitched, yet he didn't deny.
Bruce groaned. "That's creepy."
Vernon smirked. "I prefer 'observant.'"
Training continued until the sun dipped low.
Bruce's movements grew more confident as his core settled, Qi circulating smoothly, feeding his muscles without strain. He moved faster now - not explosively, but with intent, as if the space around him yielded just slightly in his favour.
Vernon watched, listening, learning.
Every clash of metal, every shift of weight, every breath added to the growing map inside his mind. He didn't act on it yet. Didn't try to move mana.
He simply paid attention.
As dusk settled, Derek finally called an end.
"That's enough for today."
Bruce collapsed onto the grass, laughing. "I'm starving."
Derek looked at Vernon. "And you?"
Vernon considered the question.
His body felt fine. Better than fine.
But his head...
"Quiet would be nice," Vernon said honestly.
Derek nodded. "Then eat, and rest. Both of you."
As they moved back toward the cave, Melian lingered behind, watching Vernon's silhouette fade into the dark.
"He's changing," she murmured.
Derek didn't turn around. "So is Bruce."
Melian's glow dimmed thoughtfully. "That's right."
"What do you see when you look at them?" curiosity asked through Derek.
She smiled, unease threading through the light.
"It's like watching two opposites be the same yet different."