The morning air was heavy.
Not with heat—but with intent.
Lunaria stood barefoot at the center of the reshaped training basin, stone platforms floating at uneven heights around him like fragments of a broken world. His silver hair moved gently in the breeze, expression calm, almost detached.
Ash, Kael, Riven, and Juno stood together now.
Not scattered.
Not individual.
A unit.
Lunaria's gaze swept over them, slow and assessing, as if he were looking through layers of flesh, bone, and mana all at once.
"This training is different," Lunaria said quietly.
No raised voice.
No dramatics.
Yet every word pressed down on them harder than gravity.
"From this moment on, there will be no turns. No pauses. No mercy."
Riven smirked. "That's how it's supposed to be."
Lunaria nodded once. "Good."
He lifted his hand—and pointed to his own chest.
"The condition for ending today's training is simple."
The air tightened.
"When one of you makes me bleed," Lunaria continued, "training stops."
Silence crashed down.
Ash's eyes widened. "Bleed…?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "You're serious."
"I always am," Lunaria replied.
Juno frowned slightly. "And if we can't?"
Lunaria's eyes sharpened.
"Then you keep attacking."
Riven laughed under his breath. "You're insane."
"Yes," Lunaria agreed calmly.
Then he stepped back—and vanished.
Ash reacted first.
"Split!"
They moved instinctively.
Kael surged forward, mana roaring, blade flashing toward where Lunaria should have been. Riven leapt sideways, smashing a pillar to scatter debris into the air, obscuring vision.
Juno raised his hand, mana lines spreading across the battlefield—mapping movement, predicting angles.
Ash didn't chase.
He waited.
A flicker.
Lunaria reappeared above them.
Ash launched upward, fist coated in compressed mana—but Lunaria twisted mid-air, dodging so cleanly it felt like Ash had punched empty space.
Lunaria landed behind Kael.
Kael turned instantly—
Too late.
Lunaria's palm brushed Kael's shoulder, not striking—just placing him where he wanted.
Kael was flung backward, crashing through stone.
Riven roared and charged, movements wild but layered—feints inside feints, forcing Lunaria to dodge multiple vectors at once.
Lunaria flowed through them like water.
No wasted motion.
No hesitation.
Juno activated a suppression field.
For a fraction of a second—
Lunaria slowed.
Ash's heart slammed.
Now.
Ash and Riven attacked simultaneously—one high, one low—while Kael rejoined, blade humming with lethal intent.
The air screamed.
Lunaria's eyes widened—not in fear—
But interest.
He twisted, stepped, pivoted—
A blade grazed his sleeve.
Not skin.
Riven cursed. "So close!"
Lunaria countered.
In a blur of motion, he struck—not with force, but precision—tapping nerves, redirecting momentum, turning strength against itself.
Ash skidded across the ground.
Kael slammed into a pillar.
Riven flipped backward, barely landing on his feet.
Juno staggered as feedback rippled through his mana network.
They panted.
Sweat soaked their clothes.
And Lunaria?
Not even breathing hard.
"You're hesitating," Lunaria said. "You're thinking about hurting me."
Ash clenched his teeth. "We're not trying to kill you."
"I didn't ask you to," Lunaria replied. "I asked you to draw blood."
His voice dropped.
"If you can't cross that line… you'll never survive this world."
Something shifted.
Ash felt it first.
Then Kael.
Then Riven.
Then Juno.
They attacked again.
Harder.
Faster.
No restraint.
The battlefield began to break.
Trees shattered from shockwaves.
Stone platforms collapsed into rubble.
The ground cracked under repeated impacts.
Their coordination sharpened.
Juno guided.
Kael pressured.
Riven disrupted.
Ash hunted.
For the first time—
Lunaria was forced to retreat more than one step.
Then two.
Then—
Ash feinted left.
Kael struck right.
Riven came from above.
Juno locked space.
Lunaria twisted—
Too late.
Kael's blade grazed Lunaria's forearm.
A thin red line appeared.
Blood.
It dripped.
Once.
The world went silent.
Ash froze.
Riven's breath caught.
Juno's eyes widened.
Kael stared, stunned.
Lunaria looked at his arm.
Then he smiled.
A real smile.
"That's enough," Lunaria said.
The battlefield stilled.
"You've done it."
Ash swallowed. "We… we actually—"
"Yes," Lunaria said softly. "You hurt me."
He met their eyes—one by one.
"And that means this phase of training is complete."
He turned away, blood still trailing faintly down his arm.
"Rest," Lunaria added. "Tomorrow—"
His gaze sharpened again.
"—we begin killing intent."
The words sent chills down their spines.
But beneath the exhaustion—
They were smiling.
Because for the first time—
The untouchable had bled.