Chapter 179: Flow with It
Silence lingered for a beat after Orion's brief, flawless display, the kind of silence that tastes like the moment before a bell rings.
Sophia felt it in her bones: the small, electric hush of people who'd just witnessed something beyond ordinary practice. She didn't clap. She didn't say anything. Instead she let her breath steady and tried to tamp down the stupid grin that wanted to creep across her face. He'd shown off. Of course he had. He always did. And of course she had liked it.
Nia was the one who broke the quiet. "You expect us to be able to do that?" she demanded, incredulous, hands still on her wooden sword.
Orion let the question hang for a moment, then smiled without mirth. "Not from the start," he said. "That was a picture...a thing to aim at. You won't begin there. You'll begin with the pieces that make it up."
