The room.
Again.
The blue glowing crystal sat at the center.
Between them.
Otherworldly.
Pulsing faintly with light that didn't belong here.
Chi-Long stood above it.
"Now you can sense mana. Reach for it. Not with your body. With your subconscious."
Ha Joon and Eun Byol closed their eyes.
They could feel it.
Everything turned dark.
And at the center—
A warm, chaotic blue flame.
They could see it.
Could feel the heat emanating from it.
Then—
As quickly as it came—
The feeling disappeared.
Ha Joon searched for it.
Reached inward.
Found nothing.
Then his whole body burned.
He jumped.
Woke up.
Gasping.
Beside him, Eun Byol did the same.
Eyes wide.
Breathing hard.
Chi-Long looked at them.
"Good, children. You have started the art of cultivation. Pull that energy. Trap it inward. In your stomach. Do not let it go. Do not let the energy leak out of your body."
The two sat there.
Bodies warm.
Shaking.
But this time, they could feel it.
The raw power of the small fire between them.
They looked at Chi-Long.
Her mana was different.
Not a flame.
A small, swollen ball in her stomach.
The energy seeped through like water.
Controlled.
Contained.
Perfect.
Ha Joon reached for the flame again.
Tried to touch it.
Pain.
Fire flowing through his body.
Burning.
Tearing.
Chi-Long's voice came flat.
"Again."
---
Time blurred.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until finally—
Chi-Long's expression changed.
Just slightly.
They felt it.
Something behind her.
Growing.
Wild.
Powerful.
Wrathful.
Old.
Like death itself stood with them.
Everything in their bodies screamed.
*Lower your head.*
*Lower your existence.*
Chi-Long spoke.
Her voice was quiet.
But heavier now.
Different.
"Perhaps I've been too kind to you, children."
She stepped closer.
"I am a Noble Blade of Lord Ash. Time is of the essence. I must take the training wheels off. And speed up the process of your training."
The room stretched.
The air thickened.
The feeling of fire—her fire—grew.
Expanded.
Filled every corner.
Her shadow changed shape.
Twisted.
Warped.
Grew limbs that shouldn't exist.
Angles that hurt to look at.
An abomination.
Ha Joon and Eun Byol stared.
Horror.
Pure.
Unfiltered.
The shadow moved.
Not like a shadow.
Like something alive.
Chi-Long stood at its center.
Unchanged.
Calm.
Her red lips curved.
Just slightly.
"Begin."