"Your training over the past weeks was just to help you adjust to your own bodies," Thalso said as he began pacing slowly in front of them, his tone shifting to that of a true instructor. "To build instinct. To form habits. To make the weapon feel like a limb. Because knowing your weapon and being comfortable with it can mean the difference between life and death."
He raised his hand, and the metal floor beneath them shuddered.
A circular ring glowed to life, enclosing them. Within the boundary, solid metal dummies rose from the floorz tall, faceless constructs forged for punishment. Their featureless heads stared at nothing. Their bodies gleamed like fresh-forged steel.
"This next phase of training will be tailored to each of you," Thalso said.
Kaedros, ever observant, had been studying the room’s architecture since they arrived. Knowing how the Castle worked, it wouldn’t surprise him if....
"Is this your room?" he asked.
Thalso turned, visibly surprised. "This training chamber? Yes. It’s part of my rooms."
"You have more than one room?" Kaedros raised a brow, genuinely impressed.
Chef grinned from her place on a low metal chair, legs tucked underneath her. "Lucky bastard," she said, sipping from her ever-present bottle. "He’s one of the few among us who has more than just a room."
"One of you?" Kaedros asked, glancing between her and Thalso. "I thought it was just... you three."
"You thought wrong," Thalso said curtly, but then cleared his throat and clapped his hands once. "Focus! This is training, not idle banter. All of you...sit."
Kaedros, Taria, and Rauk immediately lowered themselves to the floor, legs crossed.
Thalso nodded approvingly. "Now. Can any of you tell me what makes this room special? And.." he looked sharply at Taria, who was already raising her hand, "..it’s not the weapons."
Taria lowered her hand sheepishly. She had been about to say exactly that. How are those weapons not special?! she thought, a little deflated.
They sat in thoughtful silence for a moment.
Rauk stared at the towering pillars. Taria’s eyes kept drifting to the weapon wall. Kaedros focused on the air, trying to feel what made this place different.
"The room’s made of metal?" Rauk offered. "That alone must be a feat. Every wall, the floor, even the ceiling, how did anyone build this?"
"As impressive as that is, no," Thalso replied. "That’s not what makes this room worthy. There’s a reason I recommended it as a training ground."
Kaedros narrowed his eyes.
There was something. He had been sensing it ever since they stepped in.
"This room should be hotter," he said aloud, thinking. "With all this metal, and no windows... but it’s not. It’s stable. And..."
"...The mana," he said. "It’s thicker here. Heavier. More concentrated than anywhere else in the Castle so far."
Thalso nodded. "Correct. This room holds the highest concentration of mana in the entire Castle, second only to the Master’s chamber."
He paced again, voice even. "The Castle made it this way. It’s the heart of training. Warriors, mages, even the ancient users of older arts honed their strength in this place."
He gestured toward Chef.
She was still seated on her metal chair, legs folded, eyes closed. Her breathing shifted, slow, then fast, then slow again, but she didn’t move otherwise. No scowl, no tension. Just stillness.
"What is she doing?" Taria asked, wrinkling her nose. "Is she sleeping? Like... really bad sleep?"
Thalso smiled faintly. "She’s training."
"Training?" Rauk blinked. "That’s not training."
"She is," Thalso said firmly. "Warriors, mages, whatever path you walk, it is not only the body that must be trained. The most important part of mastery... looks like that."
He pointed at Chef again.
Kaedros leaned forward slightly. Something about this moment stirred something inside him. A glimpse, maybe, of what made these people powerful. And if this was part of it then he wanted to know more.
His core stirred as if something feels familiar to it.
Taria and Rauk, however, looked skeptical.
Back home, training was simple. You fought, you cast, you killed monsters. That was how you advance That was how you got stronger.
"What exactly is she doing?" Taria asked. There was doubt in her voice, but curiosity too as if she was looking at sometime fascinating.
Thalso answered, nodding his head. "This is called the Flow."
"Flow?" Kaedros echoed, frowning.
He had never heard of it. Not in any book. Not in any story.
The name underwhelmed him. He’d been expecting something... more magical. More mysterious. The Flow? What in the hells was that?
Taria chuckled and tapped the shaft of her spear playfully. "So this is our great training today? Sitting around? Doing... Flow?"
Rauk tried to hide his disinterest. "We’re really doing this?"
Thalso ignored the sarcasm. "Yes," he said calmly. "This is your training. Today. And every day after."
He clasped his hands behind his back and continued. "Some call it different names. But first, we must talk about mana. You all use it. You know it. The energy flowing through everything, the air, the world, the body. It is the blood of the world. It’s what everything draws from."
He looked at them each in turn. "You breathe it. You move through it. And it moves through you."
They listened now, curiosity rising again.
"But here’s what most people don’t realize," Thalso continued. "Mana doesn’t just fuel spells. It enhances existence. Living things grow stronger just by being exposed to it. Mana strengthens life, bit by bit. That includes humans. Animals. Plants.
"Stones and sitting mountains. Flowing rivers and ants."
He paused, letting that sink in.
"It’s why those who live closer to natural mana sources, mana lakes, mana forests, mana-bathed cities, live longer, grow stronger, or awaken power more easily."
Rauk raised his hand. "But... if everyone breathes mana, wouldn’t everyone be strong? That should mean that everyone and everything is an Ascendant!"
Thalso smiled slightly. "A good question."