The training grounds were silent long before sunrise.
Luz stood alone at the center of the courtyard, his breath steady but his thoughts restless. The stone beneath his feet still felt cold, yet the memory burning in his chest was anything but. No matter how many times he told himself it was over, the pressure of that crimson mana refused to fade.
He had survived.
But survival felt hollow.
His grip tightened around his staff as the image returned uninvited—the way the air had thickened, the way his body had refused to move, the way that presence had looked down on him as if he were already decided.
"You're awake earlier than usual."
Zeus's voice came from behind him, calm and measured. Luz didn't turn. He already knew who it was.
"I couldn't sleep," Luz replied.
Zeus stepped closer, his gaze fixed on the faint cracks in the stone courtyard—marks left behind by the battle. "That's expected," he said. "You faced something far beyond your current understanding."
Luz finally turned. "Why did he leave?"
Zeus didn't answer immediately.
"That wasn't mercy," Luz continued. "I could feel it. If he wanted me dead, I wouldn't be standing here."
Zeus nodded once. "You're right. The Crimson General doesn't act without purpose. He came to see, to measure… and to decide."
"Decide what?"
"If you were worth remembering."
The words settled heavily between them.
Zeus raised his hand. "Enough thinking. If you want answers, earn the strength to face them."
Training began without ceremony.
Luz moved through his drills, each motion sharp, controlled, but strained. His manna responded slower than usual, resisting him as if recalling how easily it had been crushed before. Zeus corrected him often—his stance, his breathing, the way he channeled power.
"You're forcing it," Zeus said. "Power born from fear will always collapse."
Luz grit his teeth. "Then what am I supposed to feel?"
"Resolve," Zeus answered. "Not panic. Not anger. Resolve comes from understanding your limits—and choosing to move forward anyway."
By midday, sweat drenched Luz's clothes. His arms burned, his legs trembled, but he refused to stop. Every strike felt like a response to that unseen presence, as if he were shouting back at the shadow that had judged him.
Kaelios arrived sometime later, watching silently from the edge of the field.
"You look worse than usual," he said finally.
Luz smirked weakly. "Thanks."
Kaelios's gaze drifted toward the distant towers of the capital. "Everyone's talking about it, you know. The soldiers. The commanders. No one says his name, but everyone felt it."
"Good," Luz said. "Then I wasn't imagining it."
"No," Kaelios replied quietly. "You weren't."
As the sun dipped lower, Zeus called an end to the training. Luz collapsed onto the stone, staring up at the darkening sky.
"You did well today," Zeus said.
"I still wasn't enough," Luz replied.
Zeus looked at him for a long moment. "No," he said honestly. "You weren't. But now you understand that."
Luz closed his eyes, the memory of crimson mana stirring once more.
The Crimson General had left—but not because the battle was over.
Only because it hadn't truly begun.