The cave still hummed faintly with the echo of their last battle. Broken stone littered the ground where the type 4 beast had fallen, the air tinged with the acrid bite of scorched earth. Jorin stood across from Kael, arms folded, his sharp eyes measuring the boy as if every breath was a test.
"You've pushed too far," Jorin finally said, his voice calm but lined with warning. "Even adults collapse when they take a fight like that. You're holding yourself together with stubbornness alone."
Kael flexed his fingers, the faint ache of the mark wrapping his arm still throbbing under the skin. "Then train me harder," he muttered.
Jorin's eyebrow twitched, almost amused. "So you want harder?" He raised one hand, lightning crackling faintly between his fingers, illuminating the shadows of the cave. "Then show me you're not just talk."
The spar began with a rush. Jorin stepped forward, his strikes controlled but sharp, each movement honed from years of combat. Kael blocked clumsily at first, his dagger ringing as it met Jorin's blade. Nathan's voice whispered in the back of his mind.
[Stay balanced. Let your body remember.]
Kael steadied. His blade traced smoother arcs. He read Jorin's rhythm, not matching it but bending with it, learning as his muscles burned.
Then Jorin flicked his wrist. A thin bolt of lightning snapped across the air—fast, instinctive, testing.
Kael didn't think. Shadows rippled around his hand, a reflex born of the mark and the power coursing in his blood. He lifted his palm and the bolt split, scattering in blue sparks that hissed against the stone floor.
For a heartbeat, silence.
Jorin stared, the lightning fading from his hand. His gaze sharpened. "What did you just do?"
Kael blinked, his chest rising fast. He glanced down—his hand still faintly veiled in shadow. "I—I used the blade," he said quickly, lifting the dagger. "Reflex. I thought if I swung with the flat, I could… knock it aside."
Jorin's eyes lingered, suspicious. But he only gave a slow nod, though Kael could see the tension in his jaw. "You're reckless. But maybe that recklessness kept you alive."
Inside, Nathan chuckled. [A neat lie. But he suspects more than you think.]
Kael ignored the voice, forcing his breathing calm.
The spar ended with Jorin lowering his hand. "Enough for today. You're not ready for more. Rest, and tomorrow we start again." He turned, his lightning dimming, but his eyes flicked back once more, as if searching Kael for an answer the boy couldn't give.
Kael sheathed the dagger, the memory of the lightning still tingling in his palm. He told himself it was just a slip. Just an accident.
But deep down, he knew it was something far more dangerous.