The Everhart private gym felt colder after Azhareth’s final words from yesterday still hung in the air.
“Tell me how many times my fingers move.”
Rina had tried.
She couldn’t see anything.
Not even a blur.
And yet the man who stood before her now seemed to move with a stillness so complete, it made the entire gym feel like it existed only because he allowed it.
Azhareth lowered his hand slowly, five fingers spread.
Rina sat on the polished floor, her posture straight, her breathing steady but tense. Her teammates stood behind her — no jokes, no casual whispers — each of them wearing the same expression:
Something is happening here that the world has never seen.
Azhareth’s voice broke the silence, quiet yet absolute.
“Rina Everhart,” he said, “these five fingers represent the Essences lingering inside your body.”
Rina blinked.
“Essences…?”
Azhareth nodded once.
“Magic leaves traces.
Just as physical training leaves muscle… magic leaves Essence.”
The tank frowned slightly.
The rogue stiffened.
The archer narrowed her eyes.
But the mage — normally calm, quiet, polite — leaned in like a man hearing a forbidden spell.
Azhareth lowered one finger.
“You have Earth Essence,” he said. “You’ve used reinforcement and defense spells in the past.”
Rina hesitated.
“…I did. During fortress dungeon training.”
Azhareth tapped her arm lightly.
“It makes your body tougher.
But also heavier.
Too heavy to ever reach Flercher’s movement.”
Her shoulders dropped a little.
She had always wondered why her speed fluctuated when she trained with heavy armor users.
Now she knows.
The mage scribbled instantly.
Azhareth lowered a second finger.
“You also carry Fire Essence,” he continued. “From attack buffs. Speed boosters. Combat magic.”
He tilted his head.
“It gives you aggression. Impulse. Heat.”
The spearwoman murmured behind her:
“That explains why you rush decisions mid-fight sometimes.”
Rina flushed slightly.
Azhareth finished:
“Fire Essence is too wild for the precision Flercher demands.”
A third finger lowered.
“Water Essence is in your joints and mana flow.”
Rina’s eyes widened.
“I used stamina charms and water-body talismans for months…”
Azhareth nodded.
“Water makes mana smooth.
Stable.
Continuous.”
Then he sharpened his voice.
“But Flercher does not use continuity.
Flercher uses concentration.
One point. One slice. One movement.”
Rina’s breath caught.
The mage scribbled faster, his handwriting becoming jagged with excitement.
“This… this matches everything…”
A fourth finger folded down.
“This one suits you.”
Rina lifted her head.
“Wind Essence enhances movement, flow, and grace.
It is compatible with Flercher.”
Her teammates exchanged glances — this finally sounded like her.
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Azhareth continued:
“Wind is your foundation.
Pure and natural.”
He lowered the final finger.
“This,” he said, “is your key.”
Rina felt her pulse spike.
“I trained lightning-boost reflex exercises for years,” she whispered. “Trying to match the movements of high-tier hunters.”
Azhareth nodded.
“Yes. And Lightning Essence settled into your nerves.
It sharpened your reactions…
but your body was not prepared to follow.”
Rina understood instantly.
Her mind was fast.
Her body was slow.
Her Essences were conflicting.
Azhareth folded his hand into a fist.
“You are spread thin,” he said quietly. “Too many Essences. Too many paths.”
Rina looked down.
“…So I’m a failure because I spread myself too wide.”
“No,” Azhareth said sharply.
“You were ambitious.
But unguided.
A jack of all trades is a master of none.”
The words struck her deep — but not painfully.
They explained everything she had suffered through:
The unstable spells.
The inconsistent speed.
The bursts of power followed by sudden crashes.
The unexplained exhaustion.
Her body wasn’t flawed.
Her training was.
Her teammates stared in a mix of shock and bewildered awe.
The rogue whispered:
“He’s… making sense. Too much, actually.”
The tank swallowed.
“This explains her erratic shield timings.”
The spearwoman nodded slowly.
“And her stamina surges.”
But the mage…
He looked like a man witnessing the dawn of magic itself.
“This… explains spell discrepancy…” he muttered.
“And mana instability in multi-element casters… and the difference between A-rank specialists and A-rank hybrids…”
He scribbled faster, breath uneven.
“This is not nonsense…
This is the truth.”
Rina gathered her courage.
“Teacher… can I fix it?”
Azhareth looked at her.
The gym felt like it held its breath.
Finally, he nodded.
“You do not need to erase your Essences,” he said. “Essence is simply the body adapting.”
He raised two fingers.
“You only need to prioritize.”
Rina whispered:
“…Prioritize?”
“Wind,” he said.
“Lightning.”
He lowered his hand.
“These two Essences will form your new identity.”
Her heart pounded.
Her breath trembled.
She had a direction.
A path.
For the first time in her life, she wasn’t training blindly.
“Sir,” the mage said, his voice carefully controlled,
“how… How can you see this? Essences aren’t visible to anyone.”
Azhareth turned.
The room stilled.
He lifted one hand and pointed at his eyes.
“With these,” he said.
The mage blinked.
“…Huh?”
Azhareth did not clarify.
He didn’t need to.
Because Rina’s Empty Skill Book — sitting on the bench behind them — began to glow.
Brightly.
Pages flipped open, faster and faster, until new text formed on the page.
Rina gasped.
Her teammates stepped back.
The mage nearly dropped his notebook.
The words shimmered on the page:
Rina’s lips parted.
“…Origin… rank…?”
The mage whispered like he was praying:
“This is… beyond SSS…
No recorded skill in history carries this mark…”
Rina stared at Azhareth, overwhelmed.
“Teacher… you can see all the magic… can’t you?”
Azhareth didn’t boast.
He didn’t explain.
He simply said:
“I see everything mana touches.”
Her breath trembled.
That simple statement
held more weight
than any lecture
or revelation
the world had ever given her.
Azhareth stood, cloak shifting like a shadow given purpose.
He walked to the center of the gym.
“Rina Everhart.”
She rose to her feet instinctively.
“Yes, Teacher!”
“Your body must choose a direction,” he said simply.
“And to walk the path of Flercher—
you choose wind and lightning.”
He extended a hand.
“Strengthen the flow of wind.”
He extended another.
“Sharpen the speed of lightning.”
He turned his back slightly — not dismissive, but inviting her to follow.
“And let the other Essences fade on their own.
Training will do the cleansing for you.”
Rina bowed deeply, voice shaking.
“I… I will follow you.”
Her teammates looked at each other.
This was the birth of something terrifying.
Something revolutionary.
Something historic.
Rai barked once — a crackle of lightning sparking across his fur like an omen.
Azhareth nodded once.
“Then your real training,” he said quietly,
“begins tomorrow.”
Fade out.
