The morning after my breakthrough didn't feel triumphant.
It felt… strange.
Like something warm and restless coiled beneath my skin, pulsing in waves every time I inhaled. Not painful—just there. Like a reminder.
Like aura whispering, I'm awake now.
I dragged myself out of bed, rubbing the back of my neck. The stiffness from yesterday's training restriction lingered, but at least I could stand without wobbling.
When I reached the training courtyard, Aldred was waiting—arms crossed, expression impossible to read.
"Today," he said, "you do nothing special."
I blinked. "…What?"
"No aura trials. No breakthroughs. No dramatic awakenings. You're going to do what any student does." He pointed at the practice dummies lined up across the yard. "Normal knight drills. Starting from the basics."
I stared at him. "…You're serious."
"Deadly," Aldred said. "To climb, you must first learn how to walk again. Aura will tempt you to rely on it. You must not."
So my great destiny for today was:
Swinging a sword.
Walking forms.
Footwork patterns.
Stances.
Basics I had done a thousand times.
…Somehow, that made me feel worse.
As I started drills, I felt eyes on me.
Seraphyne was the first to stomp over, pink hair swaying in an angry cloud.
"They restricted you again?! Rain, this is ridiculous—they're holding you back on purpose."
I shrugged. "…Probably. Not like I can complain."
"You should," she shot back immediately. "You earned the right to complain."
Kazen approached next, quiet as always, his longbow slung behind him.
He watched my footwork with a calm, unreadable gaze.
"You're stepping heavier than usual," he murmured. "Aura leakage?"
"…A little."
He nodded, as if expecting that answer.
Theon appeared last—more like exploded into the scene.
"RAAAAIN!! YOU'RE UP!! AND YOU'RE TRAINING!! YOU'RE NOT DEAD!!"
"I wasn't dead yesterday either."
"BUT YOU LOOK LESS DEAD TODAY!!"
Varein, beside him, spoke with his usual calm.
"You're improving, even if it's slow."
He said it so simply. So casually.
Somehow, it made my chest loosen.
Aelira leaned against a post nearby, rapier in hand, her voice airy but sharp.
"You're stabilizing your steps better. Aura still influences your center of gravity. Fascinating."
I groaned inside.
Liraeth shut a group of whispering students up by smacking her shield against the ground so hard the courtyard shook.
The gossip died instantly.
My class… they were loud. Supportive. Chaotic.
But they made it easier.
Step by step.
Even from across the courtyard, I caught the stares.
Class 1-A, huddled like a pack of hungry wolves.
Whispering.
Measuring.
Plotting.
Before, that would've messed with my head.
Now?
…I didn't care.
Let them stare.
I had drills to finish.
When the class moved into their own training, Aldred motioned me over.
He sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Sit," he ordered.
I did.
"This technique is called Flow Breathing. For those with will-based awakenings, aura doesn't obey gently. It surges. It devours. It reflects your emotions too strongly."
"I've noticed."
"You will learn to smooth the waves. Slowly. Patiently. Like calming a storm one breath at a time."
It sounded like torture.
It was.
My aura resisted every inhale, every exhale, every attempt to flow it through my core.
It flickered, sparked, pulsed against my ribs.
Ten times I failed.
Twenty times I failed.
Aldred didn't react once.
He simply said, "Continue."
Step by step.
The courtyard emptied by late evening.
I stayed behind.
For the first time in days, I wasn't surrounded by whispers or hostility or expectations.
Just silence.
Just me.
And the faint hum of aura beneath my skin.
I sat down on the training steps and breathed—slowly, carefully.
And for a moment…
Just a moment…
The storm inside me settled.
The light stopped crackling.
The flow held steady.
Ten seconds.
My first real control.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't loud.
But it felt real.
Step by step.
As I stood to leave, a prickle ran down my spine.
Someone was watching me.
Not from the path.
Not from the dorms.
From the shadows behind the archway leading to the deeper training halls.
A silhouette.
Not moving.
Not speaking.
Just observing.
I narrowed my eyes.
"…Who's there?"
No answer.
But the presence remained.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then—
Gone.
Not walked away.
Not ran.
Just vanished.
My grip tightened around my sword.
This wasn't a student.
Wasn't an instructor.
Wasn't anyone I knew.
Something had changed in Lionhearth again.
And whatever that thing was—
It was watching me.
Step by step, I was climbing.
Step by step… something else was closing in.