Jake stood frozen.
"...Come again?"
Pride looked at him without the slightest change in expression.
"We don't need that."
Silence.
Jake blinked twice.
"...You're joking."
"No."
Jake laughed awkwardly.
"Right... good one."
Pride remained completely serious.
Jake's smile slowly disappeared.
"...You're actually serious."
Pride nodded once.
"Humans require sleep."
Jake let out a relieved sigh.
"Exactly!"
Then Pride looked directly into his eyes.
"You are a Shifter."
Jake frowned.
"...I'm still human."
"Are you?"
The question lingered in the air.
Jake opened his mouth...
But no answer came.
The following hours blurred together.
Meditation.
Silence.
Failure.
Again.
Then...
Silence.
For what felt like only moments...
Jake's consciousness drifted into perfect stillness.
When he finally opened his eyes, the sun had crossed the sky once more.
He had done it.
Three hours had passed.
Without realizing it.
Jake stretched his arms with a satisfied smile.
"So..."
"I've conquered my thoughts."
He looked at Pride.
"What else is left?"
Pride's gaze remained unwavering.
"What else?"
A brief silence followed.
"No."
He stepped forward.
"Ask..."
"...what isn't."
Jake's smile faded.
"You have merely completed the first stage of a Shifter's path."
"The second..."
Before Jake could speak—
THUD!
Pride's palm struck the center of Jake's chest.
Everything disappeared.
Jake's eyes snapped open.
"...Again?"
Rows of wooden desks.
Children talking.
Sunlight pouring through the classroom windows.
It was the exact same classroom.
"...The trial?"
A familiar voice echoed through his mind.
"No, Jake."
"This is only a replication."
Jake slowly stood.
"A replication?"
"I've explained enough."
The voice grew quieter.
"Now..."
"Survive."
Silence.
Pride's voice vanished as though it had never existed.
Jake scratched the back of his head.
"...Survive?"
He looked around the classroom.
Children laughed.
Some argued.
Others slept with their heads resting on their desks.
Jake sighed.
"Everyone here is literally a kid."
"What exactly am I supposed to surv—"
BAM!
A fist crashed into the back of his head.
"HEY!"
Jake stumbled forward before quickly turning around.
His eyes narrowed.
"...What?"
Something felt...
Different.
His hands.
His body.
He looked down.
I'm older...
Last time... I was younger.
Before he could think any further—
Everything vanished.
The classroom dissolved into darkness.
An endless black void stretched in every direction.
Jake slowly looked around.
"...Where am I?"
A lone figure stood in the distance.
Completely motionless.
Only a silhouette.
Jake couldn't make out a single feature.
The figure spoke.
"Hmm..."
"So..."
"...you've chosen this path."
Jake instinctively stepped back.
"Who are you?"
The figure ignored the question.
"The road you walk..."
"...stands against ours."
Silence.
Then...
"...However."
"If the prophecy is true..."
"...then perhaps..."
"...I shall trust it."
The silhouette slowly turned away.
"When the time comes..."
"...I'll help you."
Before Jake could say another word—
The darkness shattered.
Jake's eyes flew open.
He immediately jumped to his feet.
"How long?"
Pride slowly opened his own eyes.
"A few seconds."
Jake stared at him.
"...Of course."
He rubbed his forehead.
"It felt so real..."
Pride gave a slight nod.
"It was."
Jake looked confused.
"...What?"
"You experienced it."
"You simply have yet to understand it."
Jake blinked.
"...You're impossible to talk to."
Pride ignored the complaint.
"We have less than two days remaining."
He turned toward the valley.
"It is time for the final step."
Jake took a deep breath.
"...And what's that?"
Pride looked back at him.
His voice remained as calm as ever.
"You will learn..."
"...how to use Black Paper."
Jake stood frozen.
"...Black Paper?"
His jaw slowly dropped.
"...WHAT?!"
Elsewhere...
In a strange land...
Catia stood completely speechless.
She slowly turned toward Amanda.
"...Why?"
Amanda smiled sweetly.
"My dear little sister..."
"First of all..."
"...keep calling me 'sister.'"
"I like it much more than seeing you constantly terrified of me."
Catia sighed.
"Oh, yeah?"
"If you could behave like a normal person for once..."
"...maybe I wouldn't be."
Amanda giggled.
"So adorable."
Catia pointed around them.
"But seriously..."
"...why are we in a waterpark?"
Amanda clasped her hands together.
"Training, darling, and it's much more than that "
Catia blinked.
"...Training?"
Amanda nodded enthusiastically.
"Of course!"
"We simply need to go on..."
She paused dramatically.
"...about a hundred."
Catia relaxed.
"Oh."
"...Or two hundred."
Catia's eye twitched.
"...What?"
Amanda's smile somehow grew even brighter.
"Actually..."
"Let's just see where the day takes us."
Several hours later...
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!"
A roller coaster shot down an almost vertical drop.
Catia screamed at the top of her lungs.
Amanda laughed the entire way down.
Ride after ride...
Slide after slide...
The hours flew by.
For the first time in days...
Neither of them spoke about war.
Or Barbarians.
Or Shifters.
They simply...
Had fun.
"Five hundred..."
"...and fifty-seven."
Catia collapsed onto a nearby bench, completely exhausted.
"...I can't feel my legs."
Amanda sat beside her, smiling proudly.
"So?"
Catia looked at her.
"...It was fun."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"...Actually..."
"It was really fun."
Then she frowned.
"...Wait."
She pointed at Amanda.
"What about the training?"
"How did any of this help?"
Amanda stared at her for a moment.
Then answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh."
"That?"
She smiled.
"It was for motivation."
Silence.
Catia blinked.
"..."
"...You're kidding."
Amanda simply smiled wider.
"Nope."