Kael ended the day with tasks small enough to fit into the next few days: perfecting the honey cake while Elion prepared the sea trial, Seraphine organized future destinations, and the nameless man searched for a chair of his own for the garden.
The following morning, Kael trained for three and a half hours and left the courtyard without any changes in his channels or any noticeable loss of precision. Sylphie checked his condition at the end, allowed the next session to increase to four hours, and, before he could look too pleased, made it clear that this didn't mean four hours of continuous combat.
"I want technique during the first hour and normal breaks between exercises," she said, putting away the wooden sword while Kael picked up his towel. "If you turn four hours into four hours of trying to destroy your own body, we're going back to three."
"You always add a threat after good news."
"It works."
