The days began to pass too quickly.

  Ren and Kael started meeting at the abandoned field whenever they could.Not just to fight — but to understand.

  They marked the ground with stones, drawing a circle. That became their “test field.”

  “Again,” Kael said, taking a deep breath.

  Ren charged, swinging the sword in a low arc.Kael didn’t activate anything this time. He only dodged, stumbling.

  “I need to learn how to fight without relying on it,” Kael murmured.

  Ren stopped.

  “So do I.”

  They spent the morning trading simple blows, missing, falling, laughing.

  The training wasn’t pretty.It was real.

  When exhaustion came, Kael sat on the ground and closed his eyes.

  “I can feel when the power wants to come out,” he said.“It’s like a knot right here.”(He touched his chest.)

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  Ren thought for a moment.

  “I feel… like something is watching me.”

  Kael opened his eyes slowly.

  “Watching?”

  “Like the sword is waiting… for the worst moment.”

  The wind blew.

  They stayed silent.

  Kael stood up again.

  “Let’s do it differently.”

  He tossed a stone to the ground.

  “If I use Impose at full strength… try to resist.”

  Ren swallowed.

  “But don’t kill me.”

  Kael nodded.

  He raised his hand.

  The air bent, as if the world were being pressed from above.

  Ren felt his knees almost buckle.

  But he didn’t fall.

  He pushed forward, shouting, and pressed the blade against Kael’s shoulder.

  The power stopped.

  They stood there, stunned.

  “You resisted,” Kael whispered.

  Ren was breathing hard.

  “I… I almost saw something.Like the blade wanted to come out.”

  But it didn’t.

  At the end of the day, they sat side by side.

  “Ren…” Kael said. “You’re not weak.”

  Ren smiled, tired.

  “And you’re not a monster.”

  Kael laughed.

  On the horizon, smoke rose near the northern road.

  Carts had not returned.

  People were disappearing.

  Neither of them said anything.

  But both of them felt it.

  The training was ending.

  The world was calling.

  Soon, Ren and Kael would take their first step beyond the field — together.