Months had slipped by since the duel with the Solvaris noble.

  Life in Camp Tile had settled into a fragile rhythm. Gray and Tamemoto trained separately every morning — Rebecca guiding Gray through mana theory and basic spells by the river, Gauis pushing Tamemoto in the clearing with aura drills.

  Afternoons and evenings were for jobs: escorting small caravans a few miles along the river road, scavenging the outskirts for monster parts, or hunting the weaker creatures they had learned they could handle. They were getting stronger, colder, more realistic.

  Gray had turned fifteen a month ago.

  The mana circle in his core was now fully formed — the 1st Circle, small but stable. He could feel it humming quietly, like a second heartbeat.

  Today, Rebecca sat across from him on the riverbank. The water ran shallow over smooth stones, the green ley glow from a nearby crack casting soft light.

  She looked thinner, but her eyes were sharp and focused.

  She placed a small notebook and a rolled parchment in front of him.

  “Read this first,” she said softly. “Theory. Without understanding how mana flows, you’ll never shape it properly.”

  Gray took the notebook. The cover was worn leather, the pages yellowed but neatly written in Rebecca’s careful hand.

  He opened it.

  The first page read: Mana is the world’s will made visible. Your circles are the vessel. Fill them carefully.

  Rebecca watched him read. “Creating your mana circle is one thing,” she said. “Learning how to use it is another. It’s a good thing you opened your first circle half a month before turning fifteen. Your body was ready, even if you weren’t.”

  Gray turned the page.

  Diagrams showed basic elemental flows — earth as stable lines, water as fluid curves, fire as sharp bursts. He read in silence.

  Rebecca continued. “We start with the simplest spells. Earth Spike and Water Ball. Small. Controlled. No waste.”

  She held out her palm.

  A tiny mound of dirt rose from the ground — no bigger than a pebble — then sharpened into a spike.

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  It hovered for a moment, then sank back down.

  Rebecca exhaled, a small tremor in her breath. “I used almost nothing. My circles are cracked… but the principle is the same.”

  Gray tried.

  He focused on the dirt in front of him. The mana in his first circle stirred — thin, fragile, but there. He pushed.

  Pain flared in his channels — hot, sharp.

  “Gah—!” Gray gasped, teeth clenching. The dirt trembled but didn’t rise.

  Rebecca placed a hand on his knee. “Breathe. Don’t force. Invite. Let it flow like the river.”

  Gray exhaled slowly. The pain eased. He tried again.

  The dirt rose — a small, shaky spike. It held for two heartbeats, then crumbled.

  Gray’s breathing was ragged. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

  Rebecca smiled — small, proud. “Good. That’s the first step. Tomorrow we try Water Ball.”

  The door to the hut opened.

  Gauis and Tamemoto stepped in.

  Tamemoto’s face was flushed from training. His aura coating was stronger now — a faint shimmer around his arms that Gray could feel more than see. He looked older than twelve, shoulders broader, eyes sharper.

  Gauis nodded to Rebecca and Gray.

  “We’re stepping out,” he said. “Training aura can’t be done entirely in the house. Tamemoto needs experience.”

  Gray noticed the short blade at Tamemoto’s waist and the bow slung across his back. The younger boy carried them with quiet confidence now.

  Gauis continued. “He’s already in the middle stages of Awakening. He needs enlightenment to reach the next stage. We’ll hunt some monsters — nothing too dangerous. Just enough to push him.”

  Gray nodded. “Take care.”

  Rebecca smiled softly. “Both of you. Come back whole.”

  Tamemoto looked at Gray. A small, determined smile touched his lips.

  “We will,” he said.

  They left.

  The hut fell quiet again.

  Rebecca turned back to Gray.

  She studied him for a long moment.

  “Do you want to know the past of Gauis?” she asked quietly.

  Gray looked up.

  Rebecca’s voice was gentle. “You know, Gray… we’re not blood-connected. But both of us treat you and Tamemoto as our own children. Always have. Always will.”

  Gray’s throat tightened. The words hit deeper than any training pain.

  He nodded slowly, eyes stinging.

  Rebecca smiled — small, sad, warm.

  “Then listen,” she said. “But remember… some stories carry weight. And Gauis… he carries more than most.”

  She leaned back against the wall, voice soft.

  “Gauis was once a knight commander in Avalon. One of the best. He had a family there — a wife, a daughter. They were taken from him during the framing. Solvaris spies. The same ones who ambushed us on the road to Zahira. He never talks about them because the pain never left.”

  Gray listened in silence.

  Rebecca’s eyes were distant.

  “He swore to protect what was left. That’s why he saved you. Why he saved Tamemoto. Why he’s still here, even when his body is failing.”

  Gray looked down at his hands.

  He didn’t speak.

  But inside, the vow he had made to himself grew stronger.

  He would get stronger.

  He would protect them.

  No matter what it cost.