A few days later, night covered the forest in a cloak of dense shadows.
Moonlight barely managed to penetrate the canopy.
Lusian moved between the roots with silent, precise steps.
Darkness slid around his body, blending with the foliage until his silhouette blurred. From a certain distance, it was difficult to distinguish him from the shadows of the forest itself.
A few meters behind him, Garet walked with his arms crossed.
He said nothing.
He simply watched.
A movement among the bushes caught Lusian's attention.
He stopped.
A creature resembling a moose emerged from the shadows.
But only resembling one.
Its body was far too large, its legs covered in dark plates, and enormous twisted antlers protruded from its head.
Its eyes glowed faintly.
Lusian observed it for several seconds.
Level fifty.
He estimated its approximate endurance.
Base mana: five hundred.
Then he assessed the distance.
The angle.
The reaction speed.
And finally, the spell's cost.
His Epsilon affinity considerably reduced his mana consumption.
One spear.
Twenty-one points.
Two.
Three.
Lusian calculated mentally.
He needed nothing more.
"Fifty-two."
Garet raised an eyebrow slightly.
Lusian extended his hand.
Darkness began gathering around his fingers.
Mana flowed from his core.
Normally, at this point, he needed to concentrate to shape the spell.
But this time...
something was different.
The darkness responded with strange ease.
He did not have to force it.
He did not have to adjust the flow.
It simply condensed.
As if it had been waiting for the command.
Lusian frowned slightly.
Since when do I have this much control?
The sensation disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Six black spears materialized in the air.
All of them were practically identical in thickness.
The same density.
The same amount of mana.
Lusian narrowed his eyes.
The last one was slightly darker.
Strange.
He shook his head.
I'm probably just improving.
The six spears shot forward.
FSSSH!
They pierced the creature's body.
The monstrous moose barely had time to raise its head before collapsing.
Silence.
Garet walked over to the corpse.
He examined it.
Then he looked at Lusian.
"Why six?"
"It was the minimum necessary."
Garet nodded.
"Exactly."
He pointed at the corpse.
"I don't want you to simply learn how to kill monsters."
Lusian remained attentive.
"I want you to learn not to waste anything."
Garet pointed at his chest.
"Mana."
Then his legs.
"Movement."
Finally, the sword.
"Strength."
"Everything has a cost."
Lusian nodded.
Garet continued.
"A warrior who uses ten points of mana when he only needs five is wasting resources."
He paused.
"But one who uses five when he needs ten..."
His eyes hardened.
"Is dead."
Lusian remained silent.
Garet pointed toward the forest.
"Another one."
A few minutes later, they found a second creature.
It was smaller than the previous one.
But much faster.
Its body was covered in scale-like plates, and its eyes barely reflected the moonlight.
Lusian observed it.
Level forty-eight.
Average endurance.
High speed.
He calculated.
Once.
Twice.
He did not need to spend too much.
"Fifty-two."
Garet said nothing.
Lusian raised his hand.
Darkness gathered around his fingers again.
This time, nothing strange happened.
Or so he thought.
Mana flowed.
Six spears appeared.
Perfect.
Lusian launched them.
FSSSH!
The spears pierced the creature's body.
But...
it did not fall.
Lusian's eyes widened slightly.
The beast staggered backward, wounded.
But it was still alive.
What...?
He had no time to analyze it.
The creature disappeared.
Lusian turned.
Too late.
BOOM!
The monster slammed into his side.
Lusian was sent flying and crashed into the ground.
Pain shot through his ribs.
"Tch!"
He rolled and immediately got back to his feet.
The creature was already on top of him.
Lusian tried to calculate.
Endurance higher than estimated.
Insufficient damage.
I should have used—
The beast attacked.
Lusian barely dodged.
A claw passed beside his face and tore through part of the tree bark behind him.
The creature attacked again.
Lusian retreated.
There was no time.
No room.
No calculations to make.
Shit!
His body reacted before his mind.
All the mana he could gather concentrated into the sword.
Darkness enveloped the blade.
And then...
he felt it again.
That strange ease.
The darkness flowed through Dainslein with a speed he had not expected.
Faster.
Deeper.
The blade vibrated in his hand.
For an instant, the shadow surrounding the sword seemed to become denser than it should have been.
Lusian's eyes widened slightly.
What...?
He had no time to finish the thought.
The creature lunged.
Lusian moved forward.
CRASH!
Dainslein descended.
The darkness pierced through the monster's plates.
The blow split its body in two.
The corpse crashed heavily to the ground.
Silence.
Lusian remained motionless.
He was breathing heavily.
He looked at the sword.
Darkness was still slowly flowing across the blade.
That should have cost more.
He frowned.
He had used far more mana than in the first attack.
But the sword had responded...
too well.
"You were ten percent short."
Garet's voice broke the silence.
Lusian raised his gaze.
"What?"
Garet pointed toward the first corpse.
"Your first attack."
He walked over to the dead creature.
"You were approximately ten percent short on power."
Lusian looked at the creature's wounds.
Garet continued.
"If you had used a little more mana in the spears, it would have died before it could attack you."
Lusian clenched his jaw slightly.
He had made a mistake.
Not because he lacked power.
Because he had tried to conserve too much.
Garet turned toward him.
"You confused efficiency with using the minimum possible amount."
Lusian remained silent.
"Efficiency isn't about using less."
Garet pointed at the corpse.
"It's about using exactly what is necessary to achieve the result."
Lusian lowered his gaze.
"Then I couldn't have known how much I needed."
"Exactly."
The answer surprised him.
Garet smiled slightly.
"That's why you need to observe."
He pointed at the creature.
"Know your enemy."
Then he pointed at Lusian.
"Know yourself."
Finally, he pointed toward the forest.
"And know when your calculations stop mattering."
Lusian remained silent.
Garet began walking away.
"Numbers are useful for preparing you."
He stopped.
"Not for replacing your instincts."
Lusian looked at Dainslein again.
Darkness continued sliding across the blade.
He remembered the moment before.
The ease with which it had responded.
The speed.
The feeling that the mana had found the correct path on its own.
Since when...?
He tried to remember his previous training.
No.
It had never been like this.
But he could not pinpoint when it had changed either.
Lusian frowned.
It must be my affinity.
It was the only explanation he had.
His Epsilon affinity had always made his dark magic feel more natural.
Perhaps he was simply learning to control it better.
Yes.
That had to be it.
He sheathed Dainslein.
Garet watched him from the corner of his eye.
He had seen that movement.
He had seen how the darkness had responded.
For a moment, his expression changed.
It was not exactly surprise.
It was doubt.
Too fast.
Lusian's darkness did not seem to merely obey.
It seemed to...
anticipate.
Garet narrowed his eyes.
But he said nothing.
Not yet.
"Again."
Lusian raised his head.
"Now?"
"Now."
Garet pointed toward the trees.
Two eyes glowed among the shadows.
Lusian sighed.
"All right."
The creature emerged from the forest.
Lusian raised his sword.
This time, he did not begin by calculating the cost.
First, he observed.
The distance.
The stance.
The breathing.
The movement of its legs.
The tension in its muscles.
Then he smiled.
"I get it now."
Garet crossed his arms.
"What do you get?"
Lusian assumed a combat stance.
"It doesn't matter how much I can calculate."
Darkness began to envelop his feet.
"There will always be something I can't know."
Garet smiled.
"Now you're learning."
The creature roared.
Lusian disappeared into the shadows.
And the night swallowed the forest once again.