For once, Kiera woke up before Vael.
The first thing she noticed was the smell.
"Ugh… what happened here?" she muttered, wrinkling her nose.
The sun was already high in the sky, streaming through the curtains—meaning they had slept for at least a full day. Maybe more. Who knew?
The second thing she noticed was her mana.
It felt… different. Stronger. Purer. More efficient.
Her reserves had grown—but more than that, she could tell her spells would now require less mana. Cleaner output, tighter control.
She was evolving.
The last thing she noticed was how utterly disgusting she looked.
Covered in grime, dried sweat, and probably traces of that foul-smelling goo, she didn't hesitate a second longer. She marched toward the bathroom.
But then she caught sight of herself in the mirror.
And froze.
A stranger stared back.
Not completely unfamiliar—but different. Sharper. More refined. Her skin had a soft glow to it, and her features looked like a polished version of her old self.
It was as if her prettier twin had stolen her face.
It took a moment before Kiera realized the truth.
"…That's me," she whispered.
She blinked, then shook her head with a faint, bewildered smile.
"Okay. Weird. But I'll take it."
And then, she hopped into the barrel that served as a tub.
The water was lukewarm at best, but she didn't care. Clean was clean.
A few minutes later, Vael stirred awake. Like Kiera, he immediately noticed the lingering smell, the faint warmth in the air, and the odd clarity within his body.
Then he noticed the grime on his skin.
Without wasting time, he made his way to the barrel. Thankfully, Kiera had already finished, so he plunged in and scrubbed himself clean.
Once both were fresh and dressed, they settled down on the floor, ready to begin the real work—training and adapting to their newfound strength.
The process was long and exhausting.
Essentially, they had to circulate mana through their pathways at varying speeds and intensities, gradually pushing their limits.
It sounded simple.
It wasn't.
Their bodies felt like they were on fire for most of the exercise. After all, mana pathways didn't improve automatically with each breakthrough.
They had to be forcefully widened and reinforced to accommodate the denser, purer mana.
Once this torture was over, they began testing their raw physical abilities—strength, speed, and durability—as well as recalibrating the mana costs of their skills.
That's when Kiera discovered something new.
A strange, subtle extension of her Mind affinity—control.
On weaker foes with fragile wills, she could impose rules. Commands. Restrictions.
And they would obey.
A terrifying ability, though not necessarily suited for active combat.
Vael, on the other hand, noticed only one change: a significant increase in the range of his teleportation.
Not groundbreaking—but not useless either.
By nightfall, the two were drenched in sweat once more, muscles sore and mana drained.
But they were stronger.
Ash had gone downstairs earlier to fetch them something to eat, knowing they hadn't had a proper meal in over a day.
Getting stronger was important—but so was staying alive.
They ate in silence for a while, sipping a watery soup filled with unidentifiable vegetables. It wasn't great, but it was warm.
Once the bowls were empty, the trio gathered around to plan.
"For the next few days, we'll keep working on our advancement," Vael said, stretching his sore shoulders. "But tomorrow, we need to head out and get our ID cards."
Kiera nodded. "All right. We've still got a bit more than a week before the exam starts, though. Want to spar sometimes?"
"Of course," Vael said with a small grin. "And if we have time, we should explore the city a bit, too."
Ash perked up. "We should visit that church. You said you wanted to go, right?"
Vael met her gaze and gave a firm nod. "Yeah. We'll go."
That night, for once, Vael couldn't sleep.
Their earlier conversation had stirred thoughts he'd buried—or maybe just ignored. The mention of the church lingered in his mind like a whisper he couldn't quiet.
Lying on the hard wooden floor, eyes fixed on the ceiling, Vael found himself spiraling into questions he didn't have the answers to.
What exactly did the holy books say? What counted as a sin?
He wasn't a believer. Of course not. But he was curious.
Through their mental link, Kiera already knew about the strange items he'd gotten from Guapo weeks ago—without him ever needing to say a word.
So she knew about the necklace.
Every day, Vael would take it out. Just to look at it.
It was weird—how drawn he felt to it. Like something in his chest pulled ever so slightly toward it, as if it was calling to him.