"C..Captain," he greeted, stumbling slightly over the words.
She waved it off, uninterested in formalities.
"I hear you've mastered the fire element," she said, walking toward him with steady steps. Her voice was calm but direct. "Within a few hours. And not just that… you used it effectively in battle. Control against vine and spider monsters. And from what I hear…" her gaze sharpened, "…you took down a ritual guardian alone."
Arthur felt the weight of her attention press against him.
"Let me see it for myself."
The air changed.
Her expression hardened, and the same overwhelming pressure Arthur remembered from their last spar spread through the hall. Mana gathered around her like a living presence, dense and suffocating, yet perfectly controlled.
But this time, it was even stronger.
Arthur's lips curved slightly.
She was taking him seriously now.
That alone excited him.
He cracked his knuckles, then slowly drew his newly acquired dagger. The familiar weight grounded him.
