The forest echoed with the sound of wood breaking.

  Lys dashed forward, jumped, spun her spear, and struck hard against a trunk already marked with dozens of cuts. Sweat dripped from her face, but she didn’t stop.

  Kael watched from afar, seated on a rock with the grimório floating nearby and the ghost acting as an improvised headrest.

  “It’s been two hours, Master,” the ghost muttered. “Want me to interrupt?”

  Kael yawned.

  “If she passes out, we’ll call it forced meditation.”

  The grimório flashed with an alert:

  > Disciple Lys Progress: 17% mastery of technique

  > “Inner Pressure Spiritual Thrust”

  “Way too long a name for a straight stab,” Kael said, crossing his arms. “But it’s working.”

  Lys paused for a moment, panting. Her arms trembled, but her gaze… was firmer than ever.

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  “I’ll grow stronger. Even if I have to destroy every tree in this damned continent.”

  Kael smiled.

  “That’s my student.”

  ---

  Later, they camped in a clearing. Kael stirred a questionable soup made from suspicious roots and emotional seasoning—aka, nothing.

  “You know that last tree bled, right?” Lys asked, lying on the grass.

  “Might’ve been sap. Or guilt.”

  (pause)

  “Maybe the trees serve the gods too.”

  Lys laughed, then grew serious.

  “I keep thinking... If I really enter that tournament... and win... will they accept me? Or try to erase me like they did with my father?”

  Kael stared into the fire.

  “If they accept you, they’ll try to control you. If they don’t, they’ll try to destroy you.”

  (pause)

  “That’s why you’re not entering to be accepted, Lys. You’re entering to be feared.”

  Suddenly, the grimório pulsed.

  > New Notification: External Interference Detected

  > Source: Celestial Upper Realm

  > Message: “To the unknown being manipulating impure forces — watch your step.”

  > Signed: ‘A Benevolent Observer’

  Kael read it and raised an eyebrow.

  “‘Benevolent’, huh… he can benevolently kiss my left egg.”

  “Someone up there’s worried,” the ghost said. “They’re already sending you cryptic threats.”

  Kael snapped the grimório shut.

  “Excellent. The more it bothers them, the more I know I’m on the right path.”

  Lys stood up, eyes full of determination.

  “What does it mean, Master?”

  Kael pointed down the road ahead.

  “It means we keep walking.”

  (dramatic pause)

  “And start pissing off the gods for real.”