The wood was bitter that night. Not the chill of snow or frost, but the cold, bone-deep chill that seeped through Kai's skin and frosted his breath in the weak moonlight. He huddled wrapped against the trunk of a thick tree, arms around himself, shivering. Every gust of wind nipped at him, and no matter how tight he hugged, the cold nipped.
Seated across from him, Elara leaned back against the bulge of an oak tree trunk, her whole demeanor serene. She wasn't wrapped in cloaks or blankets—she had none. Her body instead radiated a soft, gentle glow. Her shoulders never felt the wind. Her slouchy stance, eyes closed, knife poised on her knees, made her look like a painting—still, serene, unapproachable.
Kai glared at her, teeth trembling. "H-how are you not cold?"
Her eyes snapped open at his stutter, a small smile playing along the rim of her mouth. She lifted one white arm, and Kai saw something then—her skin glowed gently, as if its surface were overlaid by a second, transparent layer of light. "Mana Coating," she said softly, her voice level and unremarkable. "Keeps out cold. Heat too. Even blades, sometimes."
Kai stared, stunned. "You. you can just do that?"
"You'll have to," she replied, eyes closing again. "Existing in this world without it is not possible. You'd freeze on the northern mountains before ever seeing an enemy. Or burn to death if you wander too close to volcanic fields."
She hadn't spoken cruelly, just brutally. But to Kai, it had been an offer. He straightened stiffly, forcing his numb legs to move. "Then teach me. Please. I can't… I can't keep depending on you."
That drew a noble glare from her. Elara's silver eyes looked at him silently for an instant, weighing him, assessing his resolve. Then nodded slightly. "Very well. But don't expect it to be easy."
She began in Mana Building. "Think of mana as a muscle," she instructed him, kneeling opposite her. "The more you use it, the more powerful it will be. But if you yank on it, it'll paralyze you. So we build up gradually. Gradually, gradually. Sip, not gulp."
Her instructions were simple enough to follow, but getting them to function was another matter.
"Shut your eyes," she told him. "Breathe slowly. Feel the air around you—not the air itself, but what swims through it. The energy. Pull it in, strand by strand."
Kai obeyed, closing his eyes, breathing deeply. He could feel only the pain in his chest and the thumping of his heartbeat at first. But as he focused, he began to feel. something. As though a warm heat lingered about him, intangible currents caressing his skin. He reached for it with a starving sense, attempting to suck it inside—
—and it tasted like fire. His chest burned, his veins were aflame with scorching, stabbing agony, and his body convulsed wildly. His eyes snapped open, gasping.
Elara tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I said to sip, not to gulp. You nearly tore your channels. Again."
Kai clenched his teeth in anger. But he forced himself to go at it again. This time he pulled too little. Nothing. Then too much again. Pain. Again and again. Hours went by like this, his body glistening with sweat in the cold air. His head pounded, his limbs felt heavy like lead, but slowly—slowly pain—he achieved balance.
And then, finally, he felt it. A dribble of warmth traveled in and settled inside him, flowing gently into his core. Not fire. Not pain. Only a soft heat pulsating through him. His breath hitched in awe.
Elara's mouth twisted a little. "Good. You've begun on your way."
Trailing after was Mana Coating.
"Send that energy outwards," she taught. "Let it mold around your skin. Not forced, directed. Like filling a mold with water."
Kai attempted it. And failed. And failed again. And once more. And once more. Every time he felt the heat channel down his arm, it vanished or withered away before it could reach his fingers. The one time he forced it too hard, the energy burst out as a jagged spark, rendering his whole hand useless.
"Relax," Elara told him. "Mana follows thought. If your mind is hesitant, so will the flow."
Her own hand radiated with clear light as she demonstrated, a fine sheen of mana on her skin with ease. Smooth, elegant, unbroken.
Kai growled with rage. "Easy for you to say…"
"Try it again."
And once more. And once more. Until his vision blurred and his arms shook. Finally—finally—his hand was alight, a weak, tentative glow creeping up his fingers. It was fleeting, vanishing the instant he blinked, but it was there. His initial shield.
"I… I did it…"
Elara smiled tightly, a small nod on her face. "Barely. But yes."
The pride that swelled within him was harsh and vulnerable, but it was enough to hold him up.
They set out at dawn together. Elara moved in silence, dark and shadowed, and Kai lagged behind her, sore and weary but burning with determination.
Kai searched for food, and his eyes fell on claw marks carved deeply into the bark of trees. Blackened, not natural. His stomach twisted. "The wolves…"
"Not just wolves," she breathed. Her eyes scanned the forest, taut and wary. "There are hunters in this world, men and women who use beasts as weapons. Dark guilds, outlaw mages. They'll capture creatures with forbidden magic, twist their mana until they'll do anything."
Kai shivered, remembering the Pyre Hound's eye shine. "Why me, though? Why send them after me?"
Elara did not meet his gaze. "I don't know. Maybe you have a talent you don't know you have. Maybe someone's simply determined you're hazardous. Or maybe." her eyes chilled, "you're just unlucky. Some men are pursued not for what they've done, but for what they might turn into."
Her words chilled him more than the cold night.
Blood and Progress
Then Elara trained him in combat. "Mana is not just for use. You can bind it to things. A rock, for example. Cast it with your mana, and it hits like steel."
She showed him by sending a pebble smashing into the bark of a nearby tree. The rock sank deep into it.
Kai stared. Then he tried. His first attempt was terrible—the pebble merely ricocheted off the trunk by a hair. His second was small improvement. But on the third, focusing all his concentration, he felt the power move into the rock, and when he hurled it, it struck hard enough to dent the trunk shallowly.
A soft tingling echoed in his head.
[+40 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[Level: 3]
[All Stats Increased]
Kai near jumped for joy. He pulled up his panel with eagerness:
[Health: 3000/3000]
[Stamina: 1200/1200]
[Mana: 800/800]
"I leveled up again!" he shouted, beaming from ear to ear.
Elara hardly seemed to notice. "You're still weak. Don't get cocky."
Kai didn't care, though. For the first time, things were looking like they were going somewhere.
They pushed on further, and soon danger overtook them. A few horned boars burst out of the underbrush, tusks glinting, eyes wild. Elara drew out her daggers but did not raise a hand to halt them.
"They're yours," she said icily.
Kai's heart fell. "What? By yourself?!"
"If you can't handle this, you'll never make it to the capital."
The boars charged. Panic erupted, but so did instinct. He wrapped his legs in spasmodic mana, barely holding on, and ran out of reach as tusks brushed past him. He grabbed a rock, dredged every last bit of power from it, and drove it into the closest animal's skull. The impact crushed bone, sending it crashing to the ground.
Pain, sweat, fear—all bludgeoned into one. But blow after panicky blow, he pushed on, until the last boar fell with a squeal.
[Beast Defeated – +100 EXP]
[Level Up!][Level: 4]
[Stats All Raised]
[Health: 4000/4000
][Stamina: 2000/2000]
[Mana: 1200/1200]
He collapsed to his knees, panting, body trembling. But his lips creased into a weak, awed smile. "Level 4… I really… did it."
Elara watched him in silence, her expression unreadable. Then, finally, nodded brusquely. "Not bad. You might live after all."
Shadows in the Trees
That night, gathering berries near their camp, Kai caught sight of it again—a tree scarred by deep claw marks. The grooves pulsed weakly, leaking a dark, oily energy that slid up his skin. Same stuff as the Pyre Hound.
Breathing quicker. "They're… still here…"
Elara's eyes darkened as she traced the hollow mark with her finger. "Yes. Whoever is chasing you hasn't given up."
Iris's voice stirred dimly in Kai's head, low and urgent. Be careful. This is not a coincidence. Someone powerful is watching.
Kai trembled. He looked at Elara, but she was already staring into the darkness of the forest, frost dagger in hand, eyes wide.
The night air chilled more than ever.
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