Good," Tongen said.
The word arrived differently than it usually did. Not an instructor's approval, not the patient encouragement given to someone progressing through a lesson. It was the particular word a person uses when something they were genuinely uncertain about has been answered—when the answer came back better than they were prepared to account for.
Jelo let the Ember Step release and eased out of stance. His shoulder ached where he'd overextended on the feint approach. His breathing was elevated, working harder than normal. The session had been short but it had cost something real, the way sessions with Tongen always eventually did—not through duration but through the quality of what was asked.
It was worth it.
