Morning arrived without ceremony.
No misty calm. No quiet preparation.
The valley just felt… tense.
Ash noticed it first—the way mana moved wrong, like the air itself was bracing. His instincts screamed long before Lunaria appeared.
And when Lunaria did—
The pressure dropped.
Not killing intent.
Something worse.
Control.
They stood across from him in the clearing, the same place where they had learned to vanish, to suffocate under intent, to chase speed beyond reason. Yet now, Lunaria felt different. His aura was still concealed, but the absence of it weighed more than any release ever had.
"You've learned how to disappear," Lunaria said calmly.
"You've learned how to move, how to strike, how to endure."
His gaze sharpened.
"Now you'll learn what happens when none of that is enough."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "So… another spar?"
Lunaria shook his head once.
"No," he said. "A fight."
Silence.
Ash's fingers curled.
Juno adjusted his grip on his weapon, instincts screaming at him to prepare everything. Riven's jaw clenched, already calculating angles, escape routes, contingencies.
Lunaria raised one hand.
"I'm adding something new today," he said.
"Overdrive."
The word hit them like a hammer.
Kael stiffened. "Overdrive… as in—"
"Yes," Lunaria interrupted. "Temporary transcendence. Forced synchronization between body, mana, and intent."
Ash swallowed. "You never taught us that."
"You're not learning it today," Lunaria replied evenly.
"You're surviving it."
The ground cracked.
Lunaria vanished.
Not concealment.
Not speed.
Reality lagged.
Ash moved on instinct, releasing killing intent, launching backward as his blade came up—
Too slow.
Lunaria's palm struck his chest.
Not hard.
Not violently.
Ash flew anyway.
He smashed through two trees, skidded across the dirt, and stopped only when his back hit stone. His lungs burned. His vision blurred.
"What—" Ash coughed.
Riven attacked from Lunaria's blind side, twin arcs of mana slicing through the air, layered and precise.
Lunaria didn't dodge.
He stepped through them.
The attacks unraveled, mana dispersing as if they'd never been formed.
Riven's eyes widened.
Kael activated everything—enhancement, perception boost, full synchronization. His spear blurred, thrusting with lethal accuracy—
Lunaria caught it.
Two fingers.
The impact shattered the ground beneath them.
Kael felt it then.
The difference.
Lunaria wasn't faster.
He was ahead.
Juno joined next, chains of mana locking space, sealing movement, suppressing escape. It was a strategy they had refined over weeks.
Lunaria smiled.
Just slightly.
Then the world folded.
He moved once.
Ash didn't see it.
Didn't feel it.
Didn't even realize time had passed until he was on his knees again, hands shaking, pressure crushing his spine.
Riven lay face-down, gasping.
Juno's chains were scattered, severed cleanly.
Kael stood frozen, weapon knocked aside, Lunaria's fingers resting against his throat.
"This," Lunaria said softly, "is Overdrive."
He stepped back.
The pressure vanished.
They collapsed.
All of them.
Ash tried to stand and failed.
His mana felt shredded. His limbs trembled uncontrollably. His head rang as if he'd been submerged and dragged back to the surface too fast.
Riven laughed weakly. "Wow… that was humiliating."
Juno clenched his teeth. "We didn't land a single hit."
Kael stared at the dirt. "…I couldn't even track him."
Lunaria looked down at them, expression unreadable.
"You relied on what you've mastered," he said.
"Speed. Coordination. Control."
He shook his head.
"Overdrive ignores mastery."
Ash forced himself to look up. "Then what does it rely on?"
Lunaria met his gaze.
"Sacrifice," he said.
"Burning tomorrow to win today."
He turned away, walking toward the edge of the clearing.
"You failed," Lunaria continued calmly. "Completely."
The words hurt more than the blows.
"But that's good."
They stared at him.
"Because if you had succeeded," Lunaria said, "it would mean the world is already ending."
He stopped and glanced back.
"Rest," he ordered. "You'll need it."
Ash lay back against the ground, chest rising and falling painfully.
For the first time since training began—
He understood.
Everything they had learned so far
was still preparation.
And Overdrive—
Overdrive was what awaited them
when preparation was no longer enough.