The first sphere shot towards Gray.
FWIP—whoosh!
Gray ducked, the sphere skimming past his ear. Another ca low, and he sidestepped, barely avoiding the sting.
But then—
BAM!
"Urgh—" His ribs caught another.
BAM!
BAM!
"Shit—!"
He clenched his teeth and tried to listen harder, relying on the faint thrum in the air, the shift of pressure against his skin.
Sotis he managed to move just right, slipping past the spheres by inches. Other tis, they slamd into him rcilessly.
By the ti the machine wound down, his shirt was clinging to his back with sweat.
He pulled the blindfold free, exhaling hard.
[Not much of an improvent.]
Jasmine said flatly.
[You’re still relying on guesses, not instinct. At this rate, it’ll take months before you’re even halfway decent.]
Gray frowned, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. He didn’t bother answering her. Sothing felt off.
His body... it was subtle, but he noticed it.
When he wanted to move, his muscles lagged, just a fraction of a second, almost unnoticeable.
Like his body wasn’t obeying instantly, as though it was... hesitating.
Almost like it was angry at him.
"...Whatever," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
He slipped his hands back into his pockets and turned away from the machine, deciding not to push it further.
For now, he needed a break.
"Stopping already?" Maelis teased from the side, raising an eyebrow.
Gray stopped at her words.
His head turned slowly, his dark eyes fixing on her. He didn’t say a thing, just stared, long enough to make her shift a little.
"...What?" she asked, half-laughing, half-nervous.
Gray didn’t answer.
His gaze lingered for a second longer before he shook his head, a faint sigh slipping past his lips.
He turned away and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, walking off without another word.
Maelis blinked, tilting her head.
"Weird..." she mumbled.
But instead of chasing after him, she shrugged her shoulders and stepped toward the machine.
After all, her training for today wasn’t over yet.
anwhile, on the path out of the training grounds, Gray was speaking with Jasmine as his appearance returned to normal.
’...So what exactly should I be focusing on right now?’
[Your body’s already beyond most people’s. But if you want a real foundation for your next breakthrough, you need to work on three things: mana control, recovery, and balance.]
’Mana control, recovery, balance...’ Gray repeated inwardly.
"Explain."
[Control—you can’t let mana leak or flare out when you don’t want it to. It should only flow when you command it. Recovery—how fast your body pulls in energy after it’s drained. And balance—the connection between your mind, mana, and body. If one lags, the other two will eventually collapse.]
"I get control and recovery... but balance? How am I supposed to ’train’ that?" Gray nodded slightly, his fingers brushing over his pocket absently.
[By pushing your body and your mana at the sa ti. If you only focus on one, the other stagnates. You need exercises that force them to work together—blindfold training was one example.]
"Hm... so that’s why you keep nagging about senses."
[Exactly.]
"Alright... fair." Gray exhaled softly, still nodding. "And... if I do this properly, my next breakthrough will be clean?"
[Clean, stable, and stronger than it would’ve been otherwise. If you don’t, then you’ll waste potential. Simple as that.]
"...You really know how to motivate soone." Gray chuckled at her words.
But just as his lips curved faintly, his steps ca to an abrupt stop.
A figure stood just ahead of him, blocking his path.
His eyes narrowed.
The hair, the stance... it was impossible not to recognize.
"Lyra?" he muttered.
She stepped closer, her presence oddly steady, almost sharp.
There was no trace of the timid stamr she’d carried before. Her gaze locked onto his, unwavering, as if she were daring him to look away.
"...Why didn’t you stop when I told you to...?"
Gray frowned at her attitude.
"Why would I? That guy provoked . I was just fighting back."
"And by fighting back..." Lyra closed the space between them until her face hovered inches from his, her breath brushing his skin, "...you ant killing him?"
"So?" Gray shrugged his shoulders, not avoiding her sharp gaze, "it’s not like killing is sothing illegal, besides, if he’s alive, he’ll probably cause even more trouble for ."
’...What’s up with her?’
[...She’s too pure... It’s like she was born in a world where murder is sothing... well, forbidden to do.]
’Right? I was thinking the sa thing,’ Gray muttered back inwardly.
"And what if he causes trouble?!" Lyra snapped, her lips tightening as golden lightning crackled around her, "That’s still not a reason to kill soone!"
The air around them prickled, making Gray instinctively step back.
Honestly, Lyra could easily one-shot him, hence the reason he stepped back. He wouldn’t dare to provoke her.
[Mhm...]
Jasmine humd thoughtfully.
[That still doesn’t answer why she was chosen by five Gods. Gods are ruthless by nature, yet they all placed their mark on her. There must be sothing special about her...]
’...Wait a second... her mana is different...’ Gray’s eyes widened slighly.
’She’s already broken through... to the middle stage of the Interdiate Realm?!’ His lips parted ever so slightly in surprise.
It made no sense.
’Her cultivation is supposed to be twenty-five tis harder than anyone else’s!’
[Well, maybe she has a special physique...]
Jasmine spoke calmly.
’Huh? What do you an by that?’
[You do realize that the world isn’t fair, right? So are born with better talent, others inherit wealth and power, while the rest crawl in the dirt.]
’And?’
[Cultivation doesn’t depend only on talent. So people are born with what we call Sacred Bodies—a unique physique, woven into their very being. Not talent, not effort, but raw nature. Depending on the Sacred Body, one could cultivate faster, wield overwhelming strength, or have abilities that defy normal limits.]
’...And you’re saying she might have one of those?’
[Perhaps.]
Crackle!
The golden lightning coiled tighter around Lyra’s form, snapping and hissing as if it were alive.
Her eyes narrowed when she realized Gray seed to be lost in thought.
And imdiately, Gray frowned.
"Lyra..." he called out her na, slowly taking a step to approach her instead of backing away, "why are you even bothered that I killed soone?"
"T-that’s..." She stumbled on her words, almost biting her tongue. "That’s because we’re friends, and I don’t want you doing sothing so... so disgusting!"
"...Disgusting thing?" Gray raised an eyebrow. "You’ve also killed before. Why is it different when I do it?"
Her lips parted, but no words ca out.
"Because... w-well—" Lyra stamred slightly before being interrupted.
"Listen. Like I said before... in this academy, only the strong rule. That’s why the headmistress allows students to kill each other. It’s the law of the jungle."
He brushed past her shoulder.
"Once you accept that, you’ll beco stronger."
His footsteps echoed as he walked away.
’...Hopefully that’s enough,’ he sighed inwardly.
[...She’s really innocent. And she also froze at your words...]
Hearing Jasmine’s words, Gray glanced over his shoulder and realized that Lyra really had frozen in place.
Clutching her fists.
[This is the perfect ti to comfort her, no?]
’...I guess it is, but that will go wrong with my plan...’
[...You’re going to lose the chance then?]
’Yeah. It’s not like soone’s going to show up and comfort her for m—’
"LYRA! Are you alright?!"
A familiar voice rang out.
[You jinxed it.]
’...Fuck.’
Gray turned, and his expression darkened. That handso, smug bastard, Dimitri El Rey, was already rushing toward her.
[Still not going to do anything?]
Jasmine prodded.
Gray looked at Lyra for a mont, seeing how Dimitri tapped her shoulders slighly, muttering sothing to her that he couldn’t hear, but obviously comforting her.
’No...’
Jasmine was taken aback by his words.
[Why though?]
’Because it would disrupt my plan. And for my plan to work, the thing I need most... is patience. The sa patience it’ll take for to grow strong enough to obliterate my family off the map.’
Gray narrowed his eyes, as his lips curled up slighly.
’Besides... do you really think the Vessel of Beauty would lose when it cos to winning a girl’s heart?’
[...Ahh.]
Jasmine chuckled softly.
[I see. You’re back to your usual self.]
"...Gray!"
And as if appearing at the right ti, Jess appeared in front of Gray, having a big smile on her lon face.
"Did you hear? Tomorrow there’s going to be a teamwork exam between classes. Which ans..." She clasped her hands together in excitent, "...we can be on the sa team!"
Jess announced, loudly enough for both Lyra and Dimitri to hear her words.
Dimitri’s eyes instantly lit up as he looked at Lyra, who seed to have woken up.
"Did you hear that, Lyra?" he chirped happily, "How about we form a team too?"
Lyra looked at him for a mont, causing his cheek to redden slighly, but then, as she glanced at Gray, who was smiling while walking away with Jess...
She sighed deeply, and her shoulders sagged.
"Sure..."
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