As the aspirants filed in and out of Sonya’s room to give her their best wishes, Lillian made her way into the hallway. She was beyond relieved that Sonya was okay. Better than okay from the looks of it. She’d noticed the atmosphere in the room when she’d e in after miss Bck Lotus had been in there. It was far more rexed. Whatever had happened, at least some of the air was clear. She could only hope that things in the camp would be eveer than before because of it. She smiled to herself and scratched at the back of her head, wandering down the hall until she spotted Bck Lotus walking out of the building towards the dojo.

  She looked down at her arm and flexed it, gold fmes rushing through her veins and up into her knuckles, they ignited for a moment before she put them out with a simple exhale of breath. She looked back up at Bck Lotus’ retreating form. Something was ging, something was different, she could feel it building up but she couldn’t figure out what to do . She frowned aated, She’s on suspension, though, will she even talk to me about training? She pressed her lips together and bounced on the balls of her feet. Lillian, she’s not a scary person, just ask. Worse she do is say no.

  She nded on her feet and squeezed her fists tight. Okay, you do this, she’s in a good moht? Lillian reminded herself before reag up thten the colr of her letterman a out a breath. No biggie, She took a step forward and the hing she knew she was out the door, breaking into a jog before suddenly sliding to a stop in front of the Dojo. Bck Lotus was standing a few feet ihe entryway with a bottle of water in her hand and a mixed expression of amusement and in her face, her eyebrow raised high.

  “Miss Landrey? Is everything okay? You ran all the way here,” She said and gnced past her towards the entrance of the on area with a momentary frown before looking back at her, “Nothing seems off,” She said absently and took a sip of her drink, watg Lillian catch her breath out of the er of her eye.

  Lillian was leaning on her knees, she’d crossed the distan what felt like a heartbeat. She had always been fast, really fast, she was a runner after all. But that distan a few seds was… wow. She wheezed and blinked a few times before looking up at Bck Lotus from her spot, “Wao catch up,” She breathed, “Had a question,” She stood up straight, “If that’s okay.”

  Bck Lotus chuckled, putting the bottle down, “Catch your breath first, young dy, is that your first time enhang your body like that?”

  Lillian furrowed her brows, “Uh… yeah, I think? Is that normal?” She asked with a frown, the rational part of her brain finally catg up with what she’d just done. She turned and looked back at the doors of the on area before looking back at Bck Lotus, “Woah.”

  Bck Lotus shook her head and ughed, “‘Woah’, as good a rea as one might expect,” She said and walked towards the ter of the dojo, “Sit with me?” She asked.

  “Yes, teacher,” Lillian said quickly and hurried over, plopping down in a lotus posture in front of Bck Lotus who looked up at her expetly after a moment, her head tilted, Lillian swallowed a her hands on her knees, “Uh…” She started then frowned before reartig her words, “I feel like something’s building,” She said and put her hand on her abdomen and the up to her chest, “It’s like a pressure or something. I’ve been doing as you asked every day and it feels like it’s not going anywhere anymore. I’m right at the edge of something and I just ’t get past it. Like…”

  “A wall?” Bck Lotus asked, tilting her head. “Is somethiionally troubling you?” She asked.

  Lillian sat up straighter and flushed a little, clearihroat, “N-no, holy that front couldn’t be better, holy,” She said and reached up to py with the green streak in her hair. It felt different from the rest of her hair, like a feather rather than actual hair. “Still, I feel like I ’t progress any further doing what I’ve been doing, I’ve been w out, practig with my broadsword, I’ve memorized all the forms you taught me and I even…” She trailed off.

  Her teacher leaned forward, “Even what?”

  Lillian hopped to her feet, “It’s easier to show you, uh,” She turned around and spotted the practice broadsword that was kept in the dojo for her. She hustled over to it and snatched it up before hurrying bad holding it in a standard guard pose. Her legs parted parallel to her shoulders and her back straight, the hilt of her sword at an angle from her waist pointing away from her. She shifted her o the right and trated on the instincts screaming in her blood, the golden fire in her veins, the internal energy pushed out from her heart again and into her meridians. They felt tight, restricted, but the energy flowed through them. It didn’t feel like how her teacher felt when they were close by, like a stant iion. She had to draw it out.

  She let out a breath ahe instincts guide her before taking a strong step forward and instead of a quid sharp blow like Bck Lotus had taught, she entered into a powerful swing that brought her on across her field of vision in a brutally liook aep forward, her footfalls heavy, and used the momentum of the swing to curve down and back up into a diagonal uppercut. That swing came with a bit of golderailing behind it. She took aep and delivered a third powerful swing downwards, the fmes were like a stream now. She stopped a out a breath, panting a little from going all out for a few seds.

  She looked back at Bck Lotus, “It just came to me.”

  “Unique instinctive forms for your choice of on,” Bck Lotus said thoughtfully, rubbing her .

  “I guess?” Lillian said and looked down at the on, catg the bde in her free hand, “The- The broadsword is heavy and long, if I had a hand guard or something I could hold the bde during blocks,” She said thoughtfully, just rattling off the things that had been boung around in her head for a while, “The pommel is tough too, I could use that,” She tilted her head and twisted it, pointing it outward, “The crossguard too, it has potential,” She said and narrowed her eyes, “I just feel it but…”

  “Not quite there yet,” Bck Lotus nodded, “And how do you feel about mana and internal energy?” She asked thoughtfully.

  Lillian frowned and sat down heavily, resting her broadsword on her shoulder as she flexed her fingers, “I feel mana in the air, it was like a buzz before but now it feels like, I dunno, just untapped uh…” She scratched her head, “Potency, potency, that’s the word. Like not power really, but the potential for power. It feels alive but not, it’s not moving us own will, like clouds.”

  “Like clouds?” Bck Lotus asked, smiling a bit to herself, “As in the carter radar reports?”

  Lillian shook her head, not notig her teacher’s grin, “No, no, not like that, I feel like I should be able to grab onto it. Like it’s right in front of me,” She ched her fist, “Mana, Internal Energy, they hurt and heal, they do anything, it’s more than I could have ever imagined. I just feel like there’s a fual something that I’m just not getting,” She looked up at Bck Lotus desperately, “What am I missing? What don’t I get?”

  Bck Lotus raised an eyebrow, “I ’t spoohat to you,” She said patiently, “I suggest that you spend a little time thinking hard about the fsh, Miss Landrey, Lillian,” She tinued and pat her knees, “Meditate on it, deeply meditate, let your thoughts wander on the possibilities and I think you might just find your answer. You are so close to something I experienced,” She said gently, looking nostalgic for a moment, “Don’t force it, take your time, a happen. Inspiration might e when you least expect it.”

  Lillian searched her teachers face but the woma her expression carefully trolled, she wasn’t getting any more out of her. She smiled, “Thanks teacher,” She said and bowed her head befng up with one eye and a hesitant smile, “So… about our sessions?”

  Bck Lotus barked out a genuine ugh, “I’m sorry, but I am teically suspended. I offer you advice but I ’t act as a formal teacher at the camp for the month. I’m just stayio rest, it's been a while since I did that, I think,” She said thoughtfully befng at Lillian, “Even I hit walls every now and then,” She said with a smirk before raising her hand to wave a dismissal, “Now go on, think about what we talked about and give those ideas of yours a ce,” She said, “Just do what feels right, you have good instincts and a good heart, use it.”

  Lillian got to her feet and bowed at the waist, “Thank you again, teacher,” She said with a big smile and hurried off to put away her broadsword and dart back to the on area.

  –

  hua watched her pupil go with a bit of pride in her heart, “So close to your first breakthrough in enlighte,” She said a out a sigh, “S too,” She gnced up at the spot where she’d been swinging her sword, She’s marg towards the peak of Rare in no-time ft. Once she breaks through and starts cyg, she’ll reach the peak of Rare without a doubt, hua thought before frowning and gng at the opening, Yet I feel like that’s only the beginning. Her first step. What oh have you created, Sonya? Was this an effort to repce me? To do what I won’t? She rest her hands in her p, Now that you know you have people to live for, what does that mean for her?

  She let out a breath and reached up to pce a hand over her heart, My heart demon is easing, I feel stronger already. I’ve been so weak and I’ve fallen behind, I could barely keep up with Ishtar. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sapporo could take me out at half power. She took a tering breath and exhaled, tilting her head bad humming herself into meditation and smiled. That wild girl, ing in here aing me all pumped up. I want to get strooo. Maybe it's time I started chasing my sed breakthrough.

  She let her mind wander, feeling the mana teeming in the air around her and began drawing it into her body. She drank deeply this time, not the short bursts to use simple strikes like the o The Hague. She gathered her power as her meditation deepened, I wonder… will her voice sound different… to me?

  –

  Lillian pat her shoulder and rolled it a little as she walked into the on area, most of the others were all situated in their usual spots and she quickly found her group. She waved o Jessid Luke who her and eve Cassiopeia’s eyes. She looked tired but a bit more pleasant than usual. Wait, isn’t she… She shook off the thoughts, who she was reted to didn’t matter one whit, she was her own person. She smiled at the blonde who gave a tired half-smile bad returo reading something on a tablet. Lillian shrugged and stopped o the others at their cluster of couches.

  “Feelier Ollie?” She asked with a grin, putting her hands on her hips.

  Ollie looked up from his usual mind-bending mass of notes and actually put his pen down, “I am, thank you. Sorry about that dispy,” He rubbed his hands together, “Miss ovna stuck her neck out for me and after the speech at the ittee,” He trailed off as the other members of the Nashville team went quiet for a moment.

  “I still feel kinda giddy, thinking about it,” Alex said and rubbed his h a stupid smile, “Wears his scales with pride, you’re damn right I do.”

  Val ched his fists, his colorful eyes glowing a bright red for a moment and broke into a savage grin, “I’m so amped up I ’t sit still. I just need my gear, it’s gonna be done by the end of the week apparently,” He said and literally hopped to his feet, “I’m gonna run some friggin ps,” He said and darted out the door like a bullet.

  Greg ughed and rubbed his nose, “Y’know, I heard that Euclidia’s looking for heroes with a knack fistics to train up after the main course,” He said, “I might ask Miss ovna about going to the UK,” He said befng towards one particur bd-blue haired girl who was talking with her friends off to the side, “Y’know, maybe, I mean,” He said hesitantly.

  John bit into his sandwich, “Emotional,” He mumbled after chewing, “Did not sleep well.”

  They all looked at him bnkly before Lillian caught herself and gnced around, “Wait, where’s Snow?”

  Greg looked up and tilted his head, “Huh? Isn’t she attached to you at the hip?” He asked with a chuckle before wing at her frown, “Uh…” He gnced around, “Holy, no, she’s usually either down in the b oing straight to one of her other courses,” He scratched his head and g Alex, “You?”

  Alex blinked and looked up from mumbling something to his fists, “Huh? Snow? Oh yeah I saw her go around the back of the on building. Figured she just needed some aloime, it’s pretty crowded here sometimes and she ain’t a social butterfly,” Alex said with a shrug.

  Lillian nodded now feeling even more worried, “Thanks, I’ll be back!” She said and quickly darted away.

  Is she okay? Lillian thought, hopping over the rails of the pary diorama and shooting past it like a rocket. She the doors leading out bad pushed out, gng around quickly. She took a few steps forward then stopped, turning around to g the small alcove just to the right of the door. There, sitting in the grass, with her hood up and her legs pulled tightly to her chest, was Snoair of pearlest eyes looked up at her, a few tears in them, but they were apanied by a smile.

  “There you are,” She breathed and walked over, “I was looking for you.”