The sun was still rising over the rooftops of Huwofin when an explosion was heard in the side garden of the Arman mansion.
— BOOOOOOM!
Mateo jumped out of his chair, while Nai ran to the window, widening her eyes as she saw a column of purple smoke rising among the courtyard trees.
— She's here...
Amid the smoke, a female figure walked calmly, as if this were part of a theatrical performance. She wore only a burnt red cloak, open at the sleeves, with magical symbols scribbled irregularly. Her dark purple hair fell down to her waist, and her black eyes scanned everything around with calculated boredom.
— Valen, my dear friend with no sense of humor! — she said, opening her arms. — Why the hell did you call me to train two children? I'm busy playing with fire and... researching important things.
Valen crossed his arms at the edge of the field.
— Salda, they need to learn to control their blessings. One carries death. The other, life. And both will be in the middle of a war sooner than they imagine.
Salda raised an eyebrow and looked at Nai and Mateo.
— Hmm... — she approached Nai, analyzing her as if she were an exhibit. — This girl... soft light, healing in her veins. The Blessing of Life. — she smiled, genuinely interested. — And you… — she slowly turned to Mateo, as if sensing something coming from him — ahh… you reek of rot and emptiness... delicious.
Mateo took a step back, tense. Salda stepped closer, invading his personal space, and poked his chest with a finger.
— Unstable Ki. Overcharged energy. You never learned to channel it, did you? I bet you feel strange impulses. Anger? Pleasure in fighting? Sweet pain? — she smiled as if reading his mind.
— ...You scare me. — Mateo murmured, frowning.
— Great! That means I'm doing my job. — Salda spun on her heels. — Let's start.
The training field now had burnt runes on the ground and a magical ring surrounding Mateo and Nai. Salda walked around barefoot, holding a wooden staff that seemed more decorative than useful.
— First lesson: what is Ki?
Mateo hesitated, but Nai answered first:
— It is the vital energy that flows in all beings. It can be manipulated with training... and refined by blessings.
— Points for you, little flower. — Salda said. — Now, let's burn these internal reserves until you faint or learn. Whichever happens first.
And so the real training began. While Valen shaped their bodies with the sword, Salda shaped their souls with fire. And beneath the sky of Huwofin, two youths took their first steps toward becoming more than human.
Days turned into weeks. The training sessions at the Arman mansion were intense. Valen trained them with the sword, demanding discipline, technique, and posture. But it was with Salda that the tension became unbearable.
In the arcane training field, Salda watched Mateo with crossed arms, her purple hair tied in a high bun and an expression of boredom. A magical circle burned beneath her feet, and the heat around her distorted the air.
— Come. Try again, Death boy. — she said, in an almost provocative tone.
Mateo charged fully. Unstable Ki, burning eyes, dagger in hand. He tried to surprise her with speed, using movements he had practiced for days.
Salda snapped her fingers.
A tongue of fire exploded before him, and Mateo was brutally thrown backward. His body rolled on the dry ground, stopping with a groan.
— You are predictable. Impulsive. You want to defeat me, but you don't understand me. — Salda turned her back. — You're playing at being strong, Mateo.
Nai ran to him.
— Mateo! Are you okay?!
Mateo just stared at the sky, sweating, with the taste of blood in his mouth and eyes glowing with anger.
The anger boiled over the following days. Mateo kept training, even at night. Repeating the steps, the mistakes. Reviewing Salda's movements mentally, trying to anticipate her summons, her gestures, the slightest tilt of her fingers before she unleashed the fire.
But no matter how much he sweated, how dedicated he was, she was still superior.
Salda was bigger, faster, mastering her blessing with ease. She didn't have to try as hard as he did, and that consumed him from within.
Mateo trained until his muscles tore. He ran, jumped, attacked against makeshift dummies. His body trembled from exhaustion, but his eyes... remained hungry.
"She's just human... so why does she seem so unreachable?" — he thought, lying on the hard floor of the empty training room.
That night, everything changed.
During a break, he went to the small library in the house. He was searching for something. Anything. A shortcut. A new path.
His fingers pulled out an old, forgotten book among many:
"Foundations of Ki and its manipulation without blessings."
Mateo frowned.
— Ki...
He had heard the word before. It was in some of Valen's speeches, whispered by scholars... but never explained. Never explored.
He opened the book, dust escaping from the pages like ancient ghosts.
"Ki is the internal energy of all living beings. It belongs to no god. It does not depend on blessing. It is spirit, will, and essence.
Those who master it... walk with their own feet."
Mateo felt his heart race.
— So... I don't need divine permission? I don't need to be accepted?
The candlelight flickered, and the boy with scarlet eyes smiled. But it was not a kind smile. It was hungry.
He turned the next page.
"There are techniques to strengthen the body with Ki. To shape the air, enhance senses, accelerate perception. But... it requires control. It requires focus. And it requires an unbreakable will."
Mateo clenched his fist.
— This... this is what I was missing.
It was as if a new door had opened before him. A path that did not depend on others. Through Ki, he could be more than a feared blessing. He could be someone no one dared to call cursed again.
The late nights became Mateo's new battlefield. When everyone slept, he slipped out to the training field, carrying the old Ki book under his arm. He trained in secret — not out of fear, but because he felt this was his alone. His path, his discovery.
The instructions were vague. Breathe. Feel. Center the energy in the abdomen. Let the outside world silence. Connect with something invisible, yet real.
But Ki did not come easily. For days, all Mateo could do was sweat, get frustrated, and fall to his knees. But he did not give up.
"I wasn't chosen to have power. So I will conquer it with my own hands."
One night, after hours of concentration, silence, and rhythmic breathing...
Mateo felt something. A warm, dense vibration in the center of his body. Like an internal pulse.
His eyes widened. The world seemed to slow for a fraction of a second. He moved his arm — and for a brief moment, his body responded with unusual speed, fluidity, as if it were lighter.
— This... is Ki? — he murmured, breathless.
The sensation disappeared soon after. But now he knew: it was possible.
By day, Mateo trained with Valen and Salda. By night, with himself.
His muscles ached. His eyes burned. His movements, however, were changing. He was faster, more precise. Nai noticed — even though he said nothing. She saw the fire in his eyes.
— You're not sleeping well... — she said, worried. — What are you doing, Mateo?
— Trying to catch up with you. — he replied sharply.
Nai tried to insist, but he was already pulling away. He was too immersed in his own battle.
Over time, Mateo learned to channel Ki into his legs, improving his reflexes. Then, he tried to keep a constant flow during dagger attacks. He almost always failed, but sometimes... Ki responded. In brief flashes, like sparks of a fire that didn't yet know how to burn.
— Going to try again, boy? — Salda said, spinning a fireball between her fingers, not even looking at him.
Mateo was already in front of her, dagger in hand, breathing controlled.
— Just one more time. This time... I'll hit.
Salda raised an eyebrow. — Then come.
The duel began.
Mateo moved. Fast. Faster than before. His dagger came low, and for a moment, Salda seemed surprised. She dodged, but not as easily as before. Mateo spun, slid under her arm, and tried a side attack — almost landing it.
— Hm. You're different. — she said, now serious.
Mateo did not respond. He was focused, trying to keep the Ki flowing. Trying to overcome his damned limitation.
But then Salda stomped her foot on the ground, and a wave of fire exploded in all directions. Mateo was thrown back, his clothes singed.
He fell to his knees, gasping.
— Not enough yet. — he murmured. — Not yet...
Salda approached. For the first time, her gaze was genuine — without sarcasm.
— You're on the right path. But Ki is not a weapon to attack... it is an extension of yourself. You're trying to force it. And that prevents you from feeling.
She extended her hand to him, as Valen had done long ago.
Mateo looked at her. Wounded pride, aching body. But he accepted the hand.
Later that night, alone, Mateo read the book again. More calmly. This time, something he had ignored before shone like gold amid the dust:
"Ki was born before the Gods. It is in the air, in the earth, in the blood. It cannot be controlled by blessings, only by will. Those who understand Ki do not obey the Gods... they walk against them."
Mateo closed the book slowly. A bitter smile formed.
— So... maybe my destiny was never to follow the Gods.
He stood, staring at the sky through the window, his scarlet eyes shining like living embers.
— Maybe... I'm here to challenge them.