In the small dining area of the kit, Edgeshot, Kaminari, and Kosuke sat around the modest wooden table, quietly enjoying their simple Japanese breakfast.

  Uedly, Kosuke didn't just have miso soup and ri front of him, as Kaminari had predicted earlier. Instead, he also had a small piece of grilled fish on his pte. Kaminari's sharp eyes immediately noticed the ge.

  Looking at the remaining fish on Edgeshot's pte, Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you shared your fish with him? Didn't expect you to have a soft side, Edgeshot."

  Edgeshot, still posed as always, took a sip of his warm miso soup and replied, "This is simply the hospitality of a Hero." His calm tone carried a deeper meaning that wasn't lost on Kaminari.

  "Okay, okay. You're a shining example of generosity," Kaminari teased with a grin before shifting the topic. "Anyway, you expin more about the pass failure you mentioned earlier? That part really got me curious."

  "It's not that plicated," Edgeshot replied, setting down his bowl of soup. "Basically, apart from primitive methods like following natural markers, modern reaissaools don't work here. That includes passes, satellite navigation, and radar."

  "Huh… why though?" Kaminari blinked in disbelief. The cept felt like something pulled straight out of an adventure novel, a forbidden zone of some kind. Even Kosuke, who had been quietly eating, perked up at the expnation.

  Edgeshot tinued, his toill level. "The most on theory is that there's a high tration of mage underground. This creates geomagialies that disrupt passes and simir devices. As for the satellites and radar, that's still unexpihough."

  He paused briefly before adding, "Then, of course, there's the local folklore."

  "Oh boy, here we go." Kaminari leaned back slightly, a grin tugging at his lips.

  Edgeshot remained unfazed. "Acc to legend, the sheer number of deaths in this forest has led to an accumution of 'rese' or 'evil energy.' That's why people lose their way here. They say even those who don't io die here might eventually starve to death after getting lost."

  Kaminari chewed on a piece of tender grilled fish, sav the smoky fvor before swallowing. "So which expnation do you think is more reliable? Mage hosts?"

  "her," Edgeshot deadpanned, pig up a piece of salty radish to apany his rice. "The mage theory might expin the pass failure, but it doesn't at for the satellite and radar issues. And the folklore? pletely baseless nonsense. If it were true, I and the other Heroes stationed here would've been dead long ago."

  "That's fair," Kaminari nodded. He couldn't deny the logic. "But if passes and GPS don't work here, then there's still some sort of mystery, right? Something we don't fully ua…"

  Edgeshot didn't respond immediately, but the weight of his words had clearly sparked Kaminari's curiosity.

  Eventually, Kaminari shifted his gaze toward Kosuke, who had been silently abs the versation. "So… if the police 't navigate this pce, what's the pn for him?" Kaminari asked, jerking a thumb toward the middle-aged man.

  Edgeshot replied without hesitation, "Later, during patrol, I'll take him to the edge of the forest. There's a small police station nearby specifically set up to hauations like this."

  "Lucky for you, huh?" Kaminari teased Kosuke lightly, fshing him a smile.

  Kosuke nodded absently. His mind seemed elsewhere, likely repying Kaminari's earlier words about taking reveher than giving up.

  Ten mier, breakfast was finished.

  Kosuke was given free rein to wander around the camp, with Edgeshot even taking the time to expihe restroom was. Ohat was settled, Edgeshot led Kaminari toward a se of the camp known as the Bamboo Pilr area.

  "Shua——"

  Edgeshot leaped onto a t bamboo pole, about teers high. With one foot pnted firmly on the pole's tip, he slowly transitioned into a seated, cross-legged position as if bang on thin air.

  Kaminari's jaw dropped. "Seriously? You're just gonna casually sit like that?"

  Edgeshot closed his eyes and spoke without breaking his bance. "Now it's your turn. Stand on one of the shorter poles and use the breathing teique I taught you st night. The goal is to enter a state of meditation without falling. Don't disappoint me."

  "Uh-huh…" Kaminari stared at the shorter pole, about a meter high, and scratched the back of his head. "And… do I have to sit cross-legged too?"

  "No," Edgeshot replied ftly. "Standing is suffit. But you 't lose bance. Falling means failure."

  "Huh… alright, here goes."

  Taking a deep breath, Kaminari hopped onto the bamboo pole. For a moment, he felt stable. fident, even. "This isn't so bad," he muttered to himself.

  But the momeried to focus his breathing and clear his mind, his muscles sed involuntarily.

  "Boom!!"

  He hit the ground. Hard.

  Kosuke, who had been watg from a distance, winced. "That… looked painful," he muttered to himself.

  Kaminari groaned as he rubbed his ag head. "Seriously? You expect me to fall asleep while bang on this thing?" he grumbled.

  Edgeshot didn't respond. Kaminari gnced up and noticed the Hero was already deep iation, pletely unmoved by Kaminari's pints.

  "Tch… showoff." Kaminari rolled his eyes and cmbered bato the bamboo pole.

  This time, he was determined. "If he do it, then I do it too. No way I'm losing to some old-school ninja!"

  He steadied himself and begaing his breathing again. Slowly but surely, he felt the pull of sleep creeping in.

  Then, he heard it—a faint sound. It was subtle, almost imperceptible.

  "Was that…?" Kaminari's eyes snapped open just as his body wobbled.

  "Boom!!"

  He hit the ground again.

  But this time, Kaminari wasn't frustrated. He stood up with renewed excitement. "I heard something! It sounded like rushing water… What was that?"

  As Kaminari climbed bato the pole for his third attempt, Edgeshot cracked open one eye, the boy silently.

  "This kid…" Edgeshot thought to himself. "It took me over a week to sehe flow of my blood, but he's already on the verge of uanding it after just one night of practice."

  Edgeshot's lips curved ever so slightly into a faint smile. "Impressive."