The chill of the night locked inside the stillness.
The only sound that broke the calm was the stream's rushing passage.
Dante knelt beside Erica. She breathed unevenly but was conscious. Her face was pale and soaked in sweat. Her open eyes were listening.
He whispered, "Stay still. Rest now."
She shook her head. "No. I cannot stop at this point."
He examined her face, and the dread was washed away. What lay behind his sight was something much different. It was willpower. Untamed and obstinate.
The remembered night in the rain. The quiet girl who smiled through all.
He assumed she was frangible. Could have been wrong in that case.
He raised himself and held his hand out. Erica clutched it. It surprised him.
"Okay," he said. "Then we will do this correctly."
The others took their distance. They watched without uttering a word.
Dante looked her directly in the eye. "You have been trying to force it, and that never works. Power does not move when you shout at it."
He went down beside her. "Close your eyes. Do not command it. Just breathe."
Erica obeyed.
"Listen now," he said. "Somewhere in you, there is energy. Do not try to take it. Feel it. It is part of you."
The open space was serene. It was as if air stopped within itself.
"Let it move," Dante whispered. "Not like fire now. Like heat. From your chest to your arms. Do not push it. Lead it."
It took time to change the pace of her breathing. It took time to stop her shaking hands.
Nothing happened for a long time.
Then it began to glow softly with orange light around her fingers.
"She is making it," Jin said, voice low.
The light happened to move slowly about her hands as if it were without a form but rather alive.
"That is your mana," Dante said. "Now give it form. Do not think of heat or destruction. Think of control. A candle flame. Small and steady."
Erica's lips moved. The glow spun faster.
Then came a flicker of a spark followed by the emerging flames rising gently from her palm. It looked so alive and in full control.
"I did it," she whispered.
Dante nodded once. "You did."
Then came the wild fire of glamour. Control snapped.
Hungry, wild, it poured from her hands.
"Let it go!" Dante shouted, seizing her wrist.
"I can't!" was her cry.
The air raged with heat. The others stammered backward, hands defending their faces.
Erica screamed and pushed forward.
From beneath her palms shot an explosion of fire, crashing into the rock wall across the stream.
Ka boom. Steam hissed from the boiling water.
When the glare faded, there remained a grove of black combustible stumpy bark with glowing ashes floating.
Erica fell to her knees. Her palms were red with tearing flesh. Dante rushed to her side. "You are hurt."
She looked up, chuckled. Tears mixed with soot. "I'm fine," she said. "It worked."
The laugh, though small, was genuine. Relief mixed with disbelief.
Even Dante felt a knot in his chest ease up. "Yeah," he said in a quiet voice, "it worked."
Masha exhaled; she was still uptight. "That could have killed us all."
"Maybe," Dante admitted. "But at least we know the way to start now."
The next hour is their first real practice.
Erica drilled Masha in what it is to focus. "Do not think about cold," she said. "Think about calm. Ice does not fight. It waits."
Masha trained her mind, moving slowly and steadily, then the thin frost creeping across the rock stayed there as if enjoying traction.
A slight smile played on her lips.
He worked beside them, while Dante watched his posture and said, "Stop thinking about your arm. Let the energy move through it, into the sword. Make the blade a part of you."
Jin nodded and swung again. The sword hummed faintly. A clean white line followed the edge. When he hit a log, it split with one smooth cut.
Edgar kept standing above the crowd. "Appraisal," he whispered.
His eyes flickered as faint shapes appeared in his sight. This time he was not looking at just one person. He was seeing several at once. The images were fuzzy, but he could catch flashes of skill names and mental fatigue.
"I can read much better now," he said in a quiet voice. "Not details. Just enough to tell who is tired and who is focused." It wasn't clear, but it was getting easier.
Dante nodded. "Shorten it, or you'll sprawl your mind out."
Edgar rubbed his eyes. "Already feeling it. Just like my head is full of static."
"Then go take some time to rest in between scans," Dante said. "We're going to need you sharp."
Neil stood against a moss-encrusted boulder. His hand pressed to its surface. "I can feel the age in things. This forest is not natural; it is far too ancient." His voice was calm. "There is a life that should not exist within this thing."
Rina knelt beside Erica. Her palms glowed faint green as she healed the burns. "It stings," she said, "but it is closing."
Erica winced but smiled. "I can handle it."
Then there was Juno. He sat quietly with his hands on the ground.
His eyes went distant. They were unfocused. It was as if he was listening to something no one else could hear.
After a few seconds, he spoke. "You are all connected now," he said in a soft voice. "Not just through the fight. Through intent. The mana reacts better when you move together. It is like it remembers what you want."
His voice had changed. It was low and certain. It was like he was not guessing but knowing.
Soul Etching had activated.
Dante studied him. "You can read us?"
"Not thoughts," Juno said. "Only the energy that ties us. It shifts when someone hesitates."
"That is good," Dante said. "You will tell us when that happens."
Juno nodded once. "I already know who panics first."
Dante smirked. "Then keep that to yourself for now."
The grove glowed faintly under the twin moons.
Firelight, frost, and ripples of energy moved through the air.
They were not masters yet, but they were not lost anymore either.
The panic was gone. In its place was focus and a quiet belief that they might survive.
Dante looked around at them. Their faces were lit by power, exhaustion, and pride.
"Good," he said. "Now we can start surviving."
The forest rustled softly. The wind shifted through the leaves like a whisper.
Something in the distance stirred.
Eyes opened in the dark between the trees.
Their light had drawn attention.
And what was watching was not human.
Their first success had already invited their first mistake.