Since the magic lesson wouldn't begin again until tomorrow, when Jen would be free to join, Lumberling returned to his usual training. Morning passed into noon as he cycled through cultivation, spear drills, body cultivation, and finally, the fluid motions of martial arts.
Each discipline flowed into the next with practiced ease, his focus sharp and unyielding. What caught Liraeth off guard, however, wasn't just his skill, but the sheer variety. Every time she thought she had seen the full extent of him, he revealed something new. And strangely, instead of intimidating her, it filled her with a quiet sense of pride.
She didn't leave his side. Instead, she sat beneath the shade of the tree, arms hugging her knees, her eyes following his every movement. Lumberling, for his part, didn't mind her watchful gaze, if anything, he found it comforting.
But then, as she observed the strange, sweeping motions of his martial art, something stirred in her memory.
