Dren woke up early again, stretching on the thin mat with a quiet grin. His mood appeared really great maybe due to the rapid progression in his practice. 'Another day alive, another day sharper than yesterday,' he silently thought to himself.
The compound was still asleep, and that suited him just fine. He liked the quiet atmosphere, it gave him room to think, to play around with this new version of himself.
He went to the vineyard as usual and sat cross-legged as he silently watched as the sky turned from black to gray. Vines hung low, brushing the ground like lazy curtains.
Vion's voice drifted in, flat and calm as ever. "You can begin now by drawing in qi."
Dren chuckled softly inside his head. "Good morning to you too, Vion. Sleep well in there? Dream of ancient glory or whatever you old folks dream about?"
Silence.
'He was quite outspoken a few days ago, maybe he just managed to say that much, I guess he has gone back to his old self.' Dren thought to himself.
Dren smirked. "Fine, you can stay boring. I'll just talk to myself then." He closed his eyes and pulled the qi in. The cool shadow energy slid through him smoothly now. It felt good like… drinking cold water on a hot day.
He pushed a little harder than yesterday, just to see how far he could go. The flame in his dantian grew bright and steady.
After a while, Vion spoke again. "Enough. Now, circulate it."
"Yes, sir," Dren thought cheerfully. "Anything else? A joke? A story from the good old days when you were free and terrifying people?"
More silence.
Dren laughed under his breath. "You're like a rock with opinions. A very cold rock."
He finished the circulation and moved on to Shadow Bolt practice. The black darts formed quicker now. He aimed at a thick vine, hit it, then aimed at a leaf farther away, just for fun. The dart sliced the leaf clean in half.
"Nice shot, right?" he asked Vion.
"Just so so," Vion replied, voice unchanged.
Dren grinned wider. "Finally! I'm hearing some nice words from you."
When the sun came up properly, he headed straight to the dining hall to eat. The Nightveil Clan was large and wealthy, direct bloodlines lived in their own private compounds with personal kitchens and servants while branch families had smaller shared halls. Outer disciples and servants ate in the common kitchen yard.
Dren belonged nowhere special, so he went to the outer kitchen yard. A long open pavilion with benches and steaming pots. Servants ladled out rice, meat strips, and herb soup. Simple, but hot.
He grabbed a full bowl this time, someone had left early and not finished theirs. Dren was treated so bad in his clan to an extent that the food he ate was worse than that of a servant. They felt that since he was not as useful and resourceful as a servant, his food shouldn't be as good as that of a servant. He mostly ate leftovers.
He found a spot near the end of a bench and sat there to eat.
Zev and Garr were there with a few others, loud as usual. Zev didn't like staying alone, he liked being the center of attraction. So, whenever he wants to eat, he calls everyone in his group to eat with him just for him to show off his status as a member of the main clan. They had their own table, of course, even in the outer yard.
Zev spotted him right away. "Hey, look, the idiot found food without help today."
Garr snorted. "Probably followed the smell like a dog."
Dren looked up slowly, tilted his head, and gave a big, dumb smile. "Food... good," he mumbled, then spooned a huge bite into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days.
A couple of younger outer disciples laughed, they weren't mean, they were just amused.
Lena sat a few benches away, eating alone as usual. She quietly glanced over at the source of the noise.
Zev kept going. "Seriously, why do we even feed him? He sweeps one yard and thinks he's earned a bowl."
Dren swallowed the food in his mouth and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and said cheerfully, "Sweep good. Eat good." He gave Zev a thumbs-up.
Zev stared at him, seemingly a bit thrown off. "What... are you mocking me?"
Dren just kept smiling blankly and went back to his food.
Garr muttered, "He doesn't even know what mocking means."
Lena's lips twitched, almost into a smile, before she looked down again.
After eating, Dren wandered into the outer training yard, the one used by branch members and lower disciples. The direct bloodlines trained in private grounds with better arrays and instructors.
Instructor Kael was running the session again. The drills were the same, shadow Bolt and basic footwork.
Lena was practicing steadily. Her darts were hitting closer to center now.
Zev and his group were there too, treating the yard like it belonged to them.
Kael shouted, "Next row! Ten bolts each!"
When Zev stepped up, he fired perfect shots, then turned to brag. "That's how it's done."
As he walked back, Dren, sweeping the edge path again, sent the tiniest thread of shadow under Zev's foot.
Zev instantly tripped, his arms flailing, and landed flat on his back with a loud thud.
The whole yard went dead quiet for a second.
Then laughter erupted as if it was practiced, the loudest laughter was from the branch kids and outer disciples.
Garr rushed over. "Zev! You okay?"
Zev scrambled up, his face was crimson red. "The ground… it was uneven or something!" He stuttered.
Kael rubbed his forehead. "Pay attention to your footing, Zev. Pride makes you clumsy."
Some clan members let out more snickers subtly.
Dren kept sweeping, face blank, but inside he was grinning ear to ear. With just small wins and little jokes, the world played on bullies.
Lena looked straight at him this time. She didn't say anything, but her eyes held a quiet curiosity.
When practice ended, most people left quickly. Lena stayed a bit, repeating her form.
Kael nodded at her. "You have improved a lot today, keep that focus."
"Thank you, Instructor," she said clearly.
After Kael left, Lena walked past Dren slowly.
She stopped for half a second. "You have good timing with that broom," she said under her breath, a tiny smile showing as she stared deep into his soul as if trying to get an answer from it.
Dren blinked slowly and tilted his head "Broom... clean," he mumbled, then flashed a quick, real grin, just for a moment before going back to blank.
Lena's eyes widened slightly. She nodded once and walked away.
Dren finished sweeping and returned to his hidden courtyard. He practiced Shadow Veil all afternoon until he could slip in and out of sight in a heartbeat. He took on Shadow Bolt until the vines looked like they'd been through a storm.
Every now and then he'd talk to Vion.
"Hey, Vion, if you were free, would you smile at least once?"
Silence.
"Guess not. Well, it's more fun talking to the vines anyway."
Vion finally spoke near sunset. "Focus. Power is not a game."
Dren laughed softly. "Everything's a game if you play it right."
He leaned against the wall, tired but he felt light inside him.
Life was better now. It's now sharper, funnier and maybe somehow more interesting in its own way.
He had secrets, he had tricks, he had time and most importantly he's gaining power.
And tomorrow? Tomorrow would be fun too.