Months slipped by in Camp Tile like water through the Tile River — steady, unrelenting, carrying small changes that only became visible when you looked back.

  Gray was now fourteen and a half.

  Tamemoto had turned twelve.

  The two brothers had fallen into a rhythm that felt both familiar and heavier than before. Every morning they trained separately.

  Rebecca took Gray to the quiet stretch of riverbank behind the hut, while Gauis worked with Tamemoto in the training clearing.

  Afternoons and evenings were for jobs — small escort runs for caravans, scavenging the outskirts, or hunting monsters they had learned they could handle.

  They were getting stronger.

  But they were also getting colder.

  Gray wiped sweat from his brow as he walked back from the scrap yard with Tamemoto.

  The sun was setting, painting the badlands in deep orange.

  They had just sold a small haul of monster parts — hide from a stone-backed lizard they had killed two days ago near the river bend. The pouch of coins felt heavier than it used to.

  “Another group tried to rob us on the way back yesterday,” Tamemoto said quietly. His voice was lower now, steadier.

  “Three scavengers. I didn’t hesitate.”

  Gray nodded. “Good. Hesitation gets you killed.”

  They had both changed.

  The brothers no longer talked about “maybe we can talk them down.”

  When bandits or desperate scavengers attacked, they ended it fast.

  Gray’s knife work had grown precise and merciless. T

  amemoto’s small blade found throats and arteries without trembling.

  They had killed four people in the last two months. Neither of them lost sleep over it anymore.

  As they walked, Tamemoto spoke again.

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  “We should learn when to run. If we know we can’t win… we run. Being realistic.”

  Gray glanced at him. “We asked Gauis about that once. He said it wasn’t his strong suit.”

  Tamemoto nodded. “Rebecca mentioned someone once. An ‘initiator.’ An aura user who strikes fast and runs before the enemy can react. She said he survived longer than most because he knew when to disappear.”

  Gray stored the name away. Initiator. It sounded useful.

  They reached the hut as the sky darkened.

  Rebecca was waiting on the porch. She looked thinner, but her eyes were bright with purpose.

  “Training time,” she said softly to Gray. “Come.”

  Gauis nodded to Tamemoto. “Let’s go, son.”

  The brothers separated without a word.

  Gray’s Training – Rebecca’s Guidance

  Rebecca led Gray to their usual spot by the river, where the water ran shallow over smooth stones. The green ley glow from a nearby crack in the ground provided faint light.

  “Sit,” she said.

  Gray sat cross-legged on the cool ground. His arms still ached from the last hunt, but he ignored it.

  Rebecca knelt in front of him.

  Her voice was gentle but firm.

  “Today we try for the 1st Circle. Mana is not like aura. It comes from outside. You invite it. You shape it. But your body must be ready to hold it.”

  She placed her cold hands on his shoulders.

  “Close your eyes. Feel the ley energy in the ground. Feel the air. Breathe in… and let it flow into you. Not force. Invite.”

  Gray closed his eyes.

  He breathed.

  The familiar tingle started — warm, external, pressing against his skin. He tried to draw it in like she taught him.

  Pain flared instantly.

  His channels burned like molten wire. A sharp gasp tore from his throat.

  “Gah—!”

  Rebecca’s grip tightened. “Hold it. Don’t fight the pain. Let it pass through. You’re almost there.”

  Gray clenched his teeth. Sweat poured down his face. He pushed through the burning, imagining his body as an empty vessel.

  The mana thread slipped in — thin, fragile, but real.

  A faint circle began to form in his mind’s eye — the beginning of the 1st Circle. It hurt like hell, but it was there.

  Rebecca smiled, voice proud despite her own trembling hands.

  “You did it. The first circle is opening. Slowly… but it’s opening.”

  Tamemoto’s Training – Gaius’s Guidance

  A short distance away in the training clearing, Gauis stood opposite Tamemoto.

  “You felt it during the duel,” Gauis said. “That flow. That’s aura. Today we make it obey.”

  Tamemoto nodded. His small frame was tense but determined.

  Gauis demonstrated first. He coated his good arm with a thin layer of aura — no visible glow, just that invisible pressure Gray had felt before. When he struck a nearby log, the wood splintered cleanly.

  “Your turn,” Gauis said. “Feel the heat in your chest. Let it spread. Don’t push. Guide it.”

  Tamemoto closed his eyes.

  The warmth came faster than before. He felt it coat his hands, then his arms. A low groan escaped his lips as the strain hit his still-healing chest.

  “Hngh…!”

  Gauis watched carefully. “Good. Hold it. Now move.”

  Tamemoto opened his eyes and struck the same log. The wood cracked — not as clean as Gauis’s, but it broke.

  Gauis placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re progressing fast, son. Keep going. I’ll teach you everything I know.”

  Back at the hut that night, the family ate together in silence.

  Gray looked at Tamemoto across the table. His brother’s eyes were sharper now. His movements more deliberate. The boy who used to hesitate was gone.

  Gray felt the same change in himself.

  They were becoming colder.

  More realistic.

  More dangerous.