Arden pressed his palms together, letting his life energy hum between them.
He tried to steady it, shaping the pulse into something that would last, then opened his hands slowly. The shimmer pushed outward, brushing the edges of the hall before fizzling away. He chuckled under his breath.
"Not there yet," he said, more to himself than anyone else.
He didn't notice the lord watching him from across the hall, arms folded, face calm but eyes sharp.
The man said nothing, though his gaze followed every motion.
Arden's way of working was not like other young hunters. He didn't repeat drills for the sake of form. He experimented. He tested. He failed and laughed at his own failure, only to try again a different way.
To the lord, it felt less like watching a boy learn and more like watching a man recall what he once knew.
Nyra and Rael just finished their spar, and they both collapsed to the floor, panting hard.
