The air in the Great Hall of Vergo was no longer musical. It was jagged, the lingering scent of Zorga's Umbryon decay clashing with the forest's natural ozone. The Third Elder's betrayal had left a wound in the lattice, but for Roy, the wound was personal. He had seen a glimpse of his own power perfected in the worst way possible.
"He was faster than the field," Roy said, staring at his trembling hands. "The tuning band didn't even slow him down."
"Because he doesn't fight the field, Roy. He corrupts it," Jean said, her flames low and blue, reflecting her focus. She turned to the remaining Elders. "We aren't ready. If Zorga returns with the Vanes' full strength, Vergo falls, and we fall with it. We need the training you promised—but we need it pushed to the limit."
The First Elder looked at the Second, a silent communication passing between them. "The path you ask for is not a walk through the trees," the Second Elder warned. "It is a forge. We will strip away your reliance on instinct and replace it with absolute intent."
1. The Assessment: Breaking the Limits
Before the true training began, the Elders demanded a full display of their current capabilities. They moved to the High Canopy Proving Grounds, a massive circular platform suspended thousands of feet above the forest floor, where the Flux was at its most volatile.
When it was Roy's turn, the Faelis analysts and Elders watched with narrowed eyes.
"Show us the dual nature," Seris commanded.
Roy centered himself. He unleashed Zephros first—the wind core. It spiraled around him in sharp, pressurized ribbons. Then, he pulled from the Umbryon core. The shadows didn't just sit at his feet; they climbed the wind. The result was a terrifying violet-black cyclone that tore at the wooden floor.
"Enough!" the First Elder shouted.
Roy cut the flow, gasping. "I can't hold the balance. The Umbryon side always tries to swallow the Zephros."
"It is not just the balance," the Second Elder said, walking toward him. "It is the volume. Your Puls storage is... bottomless. You are a reservoir with a pinhole opening. When you try to pour it all out, you create a Puls Burst, but you lose the vessel."
Roy nodded grimly. He remembered the fight in the Dead Zone—the two minutes of god-like power followed by total collapse.
"You will learn to stabilize the Burst," the Elder declared. "Not as an accident of survival, but as a deliberate state of being."
2. The Three Pillars of Faelis Mastery
For the next several weeks, the team was split up, subjected to a grueling routine designed to rebuild them from the core out.
I. Physical: The Gravity Weave
The Faelis used Fluxite to increase the local gravity on the training platforms.
* Kira and Jean were forced to spar while wearing Flux-weighted armor that reacted to their emotions. If they grew angry, the armor became heavier.
* Roy and Lyra practiced "Tree-Running" on vertical surfaces while being pelted by high-velocity seed-shots. They had to dodge not by seeing, but by feeling the displacement of air.
II. Mental: The Hall of Whispers
* Taro sat with the Faelis analysts, learning to "code" with his mind. He practiced mental partitioning—running three different tactical simulations while simultaneously maintaining a conversation.
* Roy faced the most difficult task: meditation inside a "Null-Zone" where his cores were silenced. He had to find his own strength without the hum of Fluxite, proving he was a warrior first and a Pulsar second.
III. Puls Breathing: The Living Rhythm
The Elders taught them the Vergo Breath, a technique that synchronized their lung capacity with their core's rotation.
> "Breath is the bridge. If the breath is shallow, the power is brittle. Inhale the ambient Flux, exhale the corruption."
>
3. Mastering the Puls Burst
The core of Roy's training focused on the Puls Burst. The Elders realized that Roy's "limitless" storage was actually his greatest weakness—he didn't know how to "vent" the pressure.
"The Burst is a storm," Seris explained, standing behind him as he knelt. "You have been trying to hold the storm in a bottle. Instead, you must become the eye of the storm. Let the power rotate around your soul, not through it."
Under her guidance, Roy began to practice Controlled Venting.
* The Build-up: He let his Zephros and Umbryon cores spin at maximum velocity.
* The Synchronization: He used the tuning band to create a "harmonics bridge" between the two conflicting elements.
* The Release: Instead of an explosion, he manifested the Burst as a shimmering aura.
On the tenth day of training, it happened. Roy snapped his fingers, and his entire body vanished into a blur of violet light. He moved across the platform so fast he left afterimages. He struck a training dummy—not with a messy explosion, but with a single, surgical strike that disintegrated the target's core.
"Two minutes," Taro whispered, checking his chronometer. "No... three. And his heart rate is steady."
Roy stood at the center of the platform, the violet aura flickering but stable. He didn't collapse. He simply exhaled, and the light faded back into his skin. He had gained command over the "Storm."
4. A Team Reforged
As the weeks passed, the others showed equal progress:
* Jean learned to "anchor" her flames, creating heat zones that lingered even after she stopped channeling.
* Kira's shield could now "phase," allowing physical objects to pass through while reflecting energy attacks.
* Lyra mastered the "Liquid Step," moving through the battlefield as if the air itself were water.
* Taro upgraded his drone suite with Faelis "Living Glass," making his sensors nearly immune to jamming.
They were no longer just Academy students or refugees. They were a specialized unit, tuned to the frequency of Vergo and hardened by the threat of the Vanes.
"The Elders believe you are ready for the next step," Seris said, looking at the team with newfound respect. "But training in the canopy is over. To truly test these new skills, you must go where the light of Vergo does not reach."
Roy tightened his gloves, the tuning band now humming in a perfect, low-frequency harmony with his heartbeat. "The Under-Roots?"
"The shadow left by Zorga," she replied. "It is growing. It's time to see if you can truly whisper to the storm when the world is screaming.