Kael was waiting for the right moment to come so that Lyra and Lina could regain their trust in Galm.
A day had passed, and Kael's speed of recovery had surprised everyone. Under a gazebo in the garden, when he was alone with Lyra, Kael brought up the subject again.
"Still?" Kael asked, looking at Lyra's sour expression.
"You won't even look your father in the face."
Lyra shrugged, kicking the grass in front of her.
"Of course I won't! I don't understand how you can be so calm about this. What's this about 'it wasn't a misunderstanding'... My dad can be such a pain sometimes!"
Kael sighed and interjected:
"Lyra, he's just overly protective. You know how much he loves you. Look, I'm alive and well. In fact, I'm stronger than ever. If you don't forgive him, Mr. Galm will literally die of grief. For my sake... Talk to him, okay?"
Lyra puckered her lips and looked away.
"Ugh, Kael, you always do this! You're too nice to everyone. Fine, I'll talk to him, maybe—but he shouldn't think I'll just snap back to my old cheerful self right away. He deserves this!"
Kael looked at Lyra's whiny yet softening attitude and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he'd managed to lighten the heaviest burden on Galm's heart.Meanwhile, Galm took Kael to the private open training area in the mansion's backyard, just as he'd promised.
He raised his hand, and a blue flame appeared in his palm.
"Listen, son," Galm said, now with the air of a master.
"Most mages believe fire exists only in red or orange forms. Red flames feed on the oxygen outside. But... blue flames burn solely on the purity of mana."
Kael produced an orange-red flame in his own hand.
"I don't quite understand. I'm channeling my mana into fire magic too—what's different about this?"
Galm approached the fire in Kael's hand.
"Because you're still trying to push the fire outward. You're channeling your mana into the flame in a steady stream to keep it burning without going out.
Try compressing the mana, Kael. Ignite the fire and constrict it until it's compressed within itself. It's not the heat that causes the color change—it's the density of the mana. Focus your mana on a single point with such force that the fire stops feeding off its own heat and begins to feed off your will."
Kael's mind was completely confused—what exactly did it mean to feed the fire with willpower?
Kael was drenched in sweat from focusing on the flame in his hand. No matter how much pressure he applied, the mana slipped through his fingers like sand, and the flame didn't waver from its familiar orange hue for even a moment.
Galm had noticed Kael's frustration. He realized that a standard training method wouldn't work on a young man with such a complex inner world.
"Alright, that's enough, Kael. You can stop forcing the mana."
Kael extinguished the flame in his hand and took a deep breath.Galm took a few steps toward Kael.
"The problem is, you still see fire as a phenomenon you must create separately from yourself, out there. As if you were lighting a torch."
Galm placed a small, dried leaf on the stone table in the garden.
"Now, close your eyes. I don't want you to burn that leaf. I just want you to feel that 'potential for burning' within the leaf. Instead of channeling your mana directly, wrap it around the leaf like an invisible hand."
Kael tried to follow the instructions to the letter. When he closed his eyes, he began to sense the leaf's presence with his mana.
"Now," Galm continued, "don't produce fire. Just narrow your mana onto that leaf. Shrink your mana as if you were trying to crush the leaf. The more the area narrows, the more the mana rubs against it. The heat shouldn't come from the outside—it should come from within."
Kael focused his mana on the spot where the leaf was. He tried not to let his mana leak out, to trap every bit of it within that small areaAt first, the leaf didn't burst into flames suddenly. First, its edges turned pure white, then in an instant, instead of the familiar orange flame, a black spark the size of a needle tip flashed. The leaf had vanished in seconds, leaving not even ash behind.
Kael wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and sighed in disappointment.
"It didn't work again, Master Galm... It didn't turn blue; it just went out. I guess I couldn't focus properly."
Galm had frozen in place at that moment. Seconds had passed since that tiny black spark had vanished, but Galm's trained eyes had seen how the air had changed where the flame had touched it.
"Master Galm...?"
"Master Galm, are you all right!"
"Ah, y-yes, that's enough for today, Kael. We'll continue again tomorrow."
"Alright, thank you for the training."
After leaving the training area, Kael headed to the dining hall. In the hall, there was a quiet bustle around the long oak table. His entire family was there.As Lina served food onto her plate, she turned her gaze toward Kael.
"How's your training going, Kael? I hope Galm isn't pushing you too hard," said Lina, shooting Galm a sidelong glance as she said the words "pushing you too hard."
Kael replied with a smile.
"Actually, it's going quite interestingly, Miss Lina. Master Galm is teaching me that fire isn't just about heat—it's a matter of will. Even though I haven't quite mastered it yet, today I felt something different for the first time."
Galm muttered without looking up, fiddling with the food on his plate.
"Kael's talent... might develop in a different direction than I expected. But he's still at the very beginning of the journey."
Little Tesi swallowed the bite in her mouth and blurted out excitedly:
"Kael! Is Dad going to teach you how to make those massive blue dragons!? Or explosions big enough to blow up the castle!?"
Lyra interrupted, ruffling her brother's hair:
"Tesi, Kael has to survive Dad's never-ending theoretical lectures first. I'm sure Dad has been lecturing for hours again about 'the density of mana.'"
Lyra's whiny and still-distant attitude toward her father had caused a brief smile around the table. Galm was used to his daughter's behavior.Throughout the meal, Tesi's curious questions and Lyra's tales of town gossip had lightened the mood a bit. For a moment, Kael had felt like a part of this family.
When the silence of the night settled over the mansion, Kael stepped out onto the balcony for some fresh air. The sky was clear; the stars were shining over the valley. Before long, the door on the side creaked open, and Lyra came over to him, a light shawl draped over her shoulders.
Lyra leaned against the stone railing of the balcony and turned toward Kael.
"Aren't you asleep yet? Considering how demanding the training is, you should be resting."
"I just wanted some fresh air. The training... it's more exhausting than I expected. But your father really is a good teacher."
Lyra rolled her eyes, but this time she wasn't angry.
"Everyone else already agrees with that. He just... doesn't see anything beyond strength and discipline. Do you really believe he can teach you anything?"
Kael paused, gazing into the distance.
"After all that chaos at the academy, having someone actually take the time to focus on me is incredibly valuable to me."
Lyra turned her eyes toward Kael.
"You know, Kael, ever since you got here, the atmosphere at home feels like it's changed. Mom yells less, Tesi is dying to spend time with you. Even Dad has started looking at things more... humanely after that incident..."
"Or maybe he just realized he's getting old—I'm not sure..."
Kael: "What about you?"
"Are you still angry with him?"
Lyra sighed and turned back to face the table.
"I can't say it's completely gone. But when I saw him sitting there so quietly at the table today, I could tell he was truly sorry deep down. I guess your 'forgiving' attitude is rubbing off on me. You're so annoying."
Lyra tapped Kael lightly on the shoulder:
"Good night, Kael. And... thank you. I mean, for being patient with my dad."
As Lyra headed back to her room, Kael watched the darkness for a while longer. That sincere friendship beneath Lyra's whining was one of the rare things that brought him peace.