The cave was dim, lit only by a small flame that clung stubbornly to damp wood. Shira sat cross-legged by it, sharpening a blade. Her eyes flicked toward Rei.
"Eat." She tossed him dried meat without looking.
Rei caught it, glaring. "You dragged me here. Now what? Keep your secrets forever?"
She ignored the jab. "You're weak. If you keep using Enso like that, you'll kill yourself before the Elders do."
Rei clenched his fists. "Elders?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Not yet. First—you learn to move."
The next day was hell.
Shira struck without warning. A blade flashed. Rei stumbled back, barely dodging. "What the hell is this?!"
"Lesson one." She appeared behind him, blade at his throat. "If you can't react, you're already dead."
Rei swung clumsily, sparks of Enso sputtering from his hands. She batted them aside like nothing. His body hit the dirt again and again, lungs screaming, arms shaking.
"Stop forcing it," Shira said coldly. "You think Enso is a weapon. It's not. It's a current. Flow with it—or drown."
Rei coughed blood, dragging himself to his feet. "Easy for you to say… you're not breaking apart from the inside."
Shira's expression didn't change. "Break. Then learn what's left."
Days bled together. Cuts, bruises, exhaustion. Rei's body felt like it was being destroyed piece by piece. Every failure was a blade through his pride.
But slowly—something shifted. His feet grew lighter. His body remembered the rhythm of movement. One night, when Shira's strike came, Rei's legs moved without thought. The world blurred.
He reappeared at her side, sword raised. The afterimage of his body still hung in the air.
Shira froze. For the first time, she smiled—barely. "A flash-step… Finally."
Rei collapsed, panting, blood on his lips. But a spark lit in his chest—not the unstable fire of before, but something steadier.
He was beginning.