The morning sun filtered through the thin mist hanging low across the field, painting the grass in a dull, silvery hue. Daniel's boots pressed into the dew-covered soil, stance wide, sword drawn—not in aggression, but in discipline. Klav stood opposite him, fingers glowing faintly with a forming mana sphere, breathing slow and measured.
Daniel parried gently, not attacking, but checking Klav's form. "Your control has improved," he said without looking directly at him. "But you still hesitate before each cast."
Klav exhaled, sweat already clinging to his brow despite the cold air. "That hesitation... it's not fear," he said quietly. "It's doubt. I keep thinking about how I got here. About how I was just a noble's errand boy, and now... I am training with someone like you. Someone who defies even Saints."
Daniel lowered his sword slightly, eyes narrowing with a thought that had plagued him too. "You think I am something more than you. That I have something you do not. You are wrong, Klav. I just failed earlier. That is all."
Klav blinked, his sphere fading for a moment. "What do you mean?"
Daniel stepped back and sheathed his sword. "I have failed more than most people can imagine. In my last life… and in this one. I lost people. I was betrayed. I made mistakes because I thought strength alone would fix everything. But strength without purpose is just destruction. I am still figuring out what it means to be strong."
The younger boy looked down at his hands. "I... want to be strong too. But I don't know if I can protect anyone. Even with magic."
"You will," Daniel said. "But only if you stop trying to be perfect. You have a good heart, Klav. And that means you will suffer. It means you will doubt. But it also means you will protect more people than I ever could."
Silence fell between them, save for the wind rustling the trees beyond the training field. Then Klav asked, "Daniel… why do you fight now? Is it still revenge?"
Daniel looked toward the horizon, the rising sun casting long shadows. "No. Revenge was a fire that burned out. Now I fight because I was given another chance. And I will not waste it. I will be the sword that shields others. Even if I break doing it."
Klav's voice was soft. "Then let me be the shield that keeps you from breaking."
Daniel turned back to him, a small smile touching his lips. "That is why I train with you. Because I know one day, I will need you more than you need me."
The two resumed their stances, but the air between them had changed. This was no longer mentor and student. It was warrior and companion. Brothers in arms, standing on the edge of something neither could see yet—but both could feel approaching like thunder in the bones.
Daniel lunged first, a simple move, a test, but Klav met it with a half-spin and a deflecting mana shield. Daniel's sword clanged harmlessly off the translucent sphere. Klav retaliated with a pulse from his left hand, but Daniel dipped under it, sliding across the field and rising in a low stance.
"You move faster than last time," Daniel said as he advanced again.
Klav grinned through his breathing. "You told me I needed stamina. I ran the hill trail ten times yesterday."
Their movements blended together. Daniel's swordplay had become refined, lean, stripped of wasted motion. Klav's magic followed intent, bending faster to his will. Fire bursts, wind arcs, all minimal, efficient. Each learned the rhythm of the other, dodging and striking as if choreographed.
After an hour, they paused, gasping for breath, sweat soaking their clothes. The sun had risen higher, scattering the mist.
"I used to think fighting was just… fighting," Klav said. "But this… it's art, isn't it? Balance. Discipline."
Daniel nodded. "Exactly. Every swing, every dodge, it reflects who you are. If you fight with anger, you become sloppy. If you fight with fear, you hesitate. Fight with purpose, Klav. Fight with meaning."
They resumed again, sparring for hours more. Their bodies ached, but neither yielded. Daniel taught Klav how to sense an attack through subtle cues—shifting shoulders, tension in the heel. Klav taught Daniel how to recognize magic tells, the glint before a surge, the tremor of raw mana buildup.
They shared water. Laughed briefly when Klav accidentally flung himself backward with too much force in a spell. Then went back to fighting. Then fell into thoughtful silence.
This was more than training. It was transformation.
When they finally stopped, the sun was setting. Klav lay on the ground, arm thrown over his eyes.
"You think we're ready?" he asked.
Daniel sat beside him, watching the sky change colors. "No. But we're getting closer."
He smiled, not at the sky, but at the future. One they were shaping together.