Adrian kept his face calm, but his attention had already shifted entirely to the system message.
**New Bond Skill Unlocked**
The words hovered in front of him for only a second before he dismissed them.
Lyra was still staring at him suspiciously.
"You made that face again," she said.
Adrian adjusted his grip on the branch in his hand. "What face?"
"The one where you look like you're thinking about something important but don't want to explain it."
Adrian raised an eyebrow. "That sounds very specific."
Lyra crossed her arms. "Because you keep doing it."
Adrian almost smiled.
Almost.
Instead, he pointed the wooden branch at her. "Your stance."
Lyra blinked. "What about it?"
"It's bad."
Lyra's expression flattened instantly.
"You really don't know how to talk to people."
"And you still keep dropping your front shoulder when you swing."
Lyra looked offended for half a second, then glanced down at her posture. "…I do?"
"Yes."
She fixed it.
Adrian nodded once. "Better."
Lyra narrowed her eyes at him. "You changed the subject again."
Adrian ignored her and stepped forward. "Attack."
Lyra let out a small sigh and swung the stick at him.
This time her movement was faster.
Cleaner too.
Adrian blocked it with a short motion and shifted his footing, redirecting the force rather than stopping it head-on.
Lyra noticed immediately.
"…You barely used any strength."
"Because strength isn't the only thing that matters."
He tapped the side of her stick with his branch.
"Angle."
Then he pointed to her legs.
"Balance."
Then he tapped his own chest.
"Breathing."
Lyra stared at him for a moment.
"You really do sound like a teacher."
"And you still sound like someone who complains too much."
She tried not to laugh.
Tried and failed.
A quiet laugh escaped her, surprising even herself.
For a brief moment, the cold atmosphere around her softened.
Adrian noticed it.
Then, just as quickly, the system reappeared.
**Bond Interaction Detected**
**Synchronization Increased**
**5% → 6%**
Adrian's eyes sharpened.
So ordinary interaction mattered too.
Not just elemental contact.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"Why are you staring off again?" Lyra asked.
"Thinking."
"You do that a lot."
"So do you."
Lyra frowned. "I do not."
"You froze while trying to deny it."
"That's not the same."
Adrian gave her a look that clearly said it was exactly the same.
Lyra looked away first.
"…You're annoying."
"And yet you came back."
"That's because I need training."
Adrian smirked slightly. "Sure."
Lyra's cheeks tinted faintly pink.
Before she could reply, a gust of cold wind swept through the training field.
Lyra's expression changed instantly.
The frost near her feet began spreading again.
Not wildly like before.
But enough that Adrian noticed.
"Your mana's shifting," he said.
Lyra looked down at her hands. Thin lines of pale frost were crawling along her fingers.
"…It's happening again."
"Don't panic."
"I'm not panicking."
The frost thickened.
Adrian looked at her blankly.
"You're panicking."
Lyra took a slow breath. Then another.
The frost slowed but didn't stop.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"It's not listening."
Adrian immediately set his branch aside.
"Sit."
Lyra obeyed without arguing this time.
She lowered herself onto the grass, crossing her legs awkwardly.
Adrian sat in front of her.
"Close your eyes."
Lyra did.
"Follow my voice."
That made her pause.
She opened one eye. "Why does that sound suspicious?"
Adrian stared at her.
"…Do you want help or not?"
Lyra closed her eye again. "Fine."
"Breathe in."
She inhaled.
"Slowly."
She obeyed.
"Now exhale."
The frost around her trembled.
"Good," Adrian said. "Again."
She followed the rhythm he set.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Gradually, the cold in the air became more stable.
Adrian could sense it now—not just with sight, but with mana.
A thin, unstable current of icy energy was circling inside Lyra's body like a small storm with no center.
That was the problem.
Her mana had strength.
But no structure.
No path.
No control.
Adrian reached forward and took her hand.
Lyra's breathing hitched for a second, but she didn't pull away.
The instant their skin touched, the system appeared again.
**[Resonance Bond System]**
**Active Support Available**
**Partner: Lyra**
**New Skill Available: Frost Thread**
Adrian's eyes widened slightly.
There was no time to study the full description.
The cold around Lyra suddenly surged.
The grass beneath them turned white.
Adrian reacted on instinct.
Something inside him responded.
He felt the icy mana in his own body move—not as a burst, not as a blast, but as a line.
A thin strand.
A thread of cold.
It extended from his hand into Lyra's unstable mana and wrapped around it.
The sensation was strange.
Precise.
Delicate.
Like trying to hold onto a snowflake in a storm without crushing it.
Lyra shivered.
"What… are you doing?"
Adrian frowned in concentration.
"I'm not completely sure."
The thread of mana tightened.
Then another formed.
Then a third.
All of them gently wound around the unstable current inside Lyra, guiding it instead of fighting it.
The frost around them stopped spreading.
Lyra's eyes opened slowly.
The wild cold in her expression was fading.
"It's… calmer," she whispered.
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
He was too focused on what he was feeling.
So this was **Frost Thread**.
Not an attack skill.
Not a defensive skill.
A control skill.
A support skill.
It let him interact directly with unstable ice mana.
That explained why it had unlocked now.
The system had responded to the exact situation.
Useful.
Very useful.
A final pulse of cold passed through Lyra's hand.
Then the frost vanished entirely.
Silence settled over the field.
Lyra looked at their joined hands.
Then up at Adrian.
"…You did that."
Adrian released her hand and leaned back.
"Looks like it."
Lyra flexed her fingers slowly.
For the first time since he had met her, there was no frost leaking from them.
No unstable chill.
Just stillness.
Her voice came out softer than before.
"I've never calmed it down that quickly."
Adrian glanced at the system.
**Skill Acquired: Frost Thread**
**Current Mastery: 1%**
**Description: Allows the user to guide and stabilize unstable ice mana through direct contact.**
He memorized the message before dismissing it.
Lyra was still staring at him.
"You really are strange," she said.
"Thanks."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I know."
Lyra let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Then her expression slowly turned serious.
"…Adrian."
He looked at her.
"If I keep training with you…" she began, choosing her words carefully, "…can I really learn to control this?"
Adrian thought about the original novel.
Lyra Frostwind had become powerful later.
Very powerful.
But in the original timeline, her growth had been slower, harsher, lonelier.
This time was different.
Because this time, she wasn't alone.
"Yes," Adrian said.
Lyra blinked.
He continued, voice calm and certain.
"You can."
Something in her expression changed.
A subtle shift.
Relief, maybe.
Or hope.
Neither of them spoke for a few seconds.
Then Lyra stood up and picked up the wooden stick she had dropped earlier.
"Then let's continue."
Adrian looked up at her.
"You're tired."
"So are you."
"That's not the point."
Lyra pointed the stick at him.
"You said preparation matters."
Adrian stared at her for a second.
Then he picked up his own branch.
"…Fine."
This time, when Lyra attacked, her movement was sharper.
Her front foot landed correctly.
Her shoulders stayed level.
Her breathing didn't break.
Adrian blocked the strike and nodded.
"Better."
Lyra attacked again.
And again.
The sun slowly climbed higher above the city while the two children continued training in the empty field, surrounded by trampled grass, scattered frost, and the quiet certainty that something important had begun.
By midday, Lyra could barely lift her arms.
She dropped the stick and sat down heavily on the grass.
"I hate physical training."
"You'll hate getting hit more."
Lyra glared at him. "Do you always have an answer for everything?"
"No."
"That was too fast."
Adrian sat down across from her.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The wind moved softly through the field.
Far away, the academy towers gleamed under the sunlight.
Lyra looked at them again.
"When we get there…"
Adrian glanced at her. "If we get there?"
Lyra shook her head.
"No."
Her pale blue eyes hardened with quiet determination.
"When we get there."
Adrian studied her expression.
Then nodded once.
"Good."
Lyra looked down at her hands.
"…Adrian."
"What?"
"If I lose control again later…"
She hesitated.
Then continued in a quieter voice.
"Will you help me?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Because the answer was obvious.
And because the system was already answering for him.
**Bond Response Detected**
**Partner Trust Increased**
**Synchronization Increased**
**6% → 8%**
He looked at Lyra.
"Yes," he said simply.
Lyra relaxed in a way so subtle most people wouldn't have noticed.
But Adrian did.
Then—
A sharp crack echoed across the field.
Both of them turned at once.
The old tree near the edge of the training ground had frozen solid.
From trunk to branches.
White frost covered everything.
Adrian stood immediately.
"That wasn't you," he said.
Lyra had already risen as well, her face pale.
"…No."
A second crack followed.
Then a third.
Cold air swept across the entire field.
Much colder than Lyra's mana had ever produced.
Adrian's expression changed.
Because this cold didn't feel unstable.
It felt intentional.
Controlled.
Directed.
The system flashed before his eyes.
**Warning**
**External Ice Mana Detected**
**Source: Unknown**
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
Someone else was here.
And the amount of mana they were releasing was far greater than Lyra's.
Another patch of frost spread across the ground—not from where Lyra stood, but from the opposite end of the field, crawling toward them like a living thing.
Lyra stepped closer to Adrian without realizing it.
His grip tightened on the training branch in his hand.
Then, from beyond the frozen tree line, a voice echoed through the cold air.
"So this is where you've been."
Lyra's eyes widened.
Adrian's gaze sharpened.
Because he recognized the tone immediately.
This wasn't a stranger.
Whoever it was—
They knew Lyra.
And judging by the fear that flashed across her face…
That was very bad.
---
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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Author's Note
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See you in the next chapter!