Kael opened his eyes in a completely white space.

  He was naked. Confused. Motionless.

  "Fuck… what did I do this time?"

  He turned in place, desperately searching for a point of reference. A wall. A shadow. A direction.

  Nothing.

  White. Everywhere. A blinding, total void.

  Then he looked down… and his heart began to race.

  "What the…?"

  No sign of ground. No shadow beneath his feet. Nothing to anchor his body. Nothing to convince his mind that he was standing.

  Panic surged. He staggered… and fell.

  His knees struck an invisible surface. He collapsed, breath short, chest tight. His heart was pounding wildly, hammering all the way up to his temples.

  Slowly, he raised his head.

  An old man was standing in front of him.

  He wore a long brown cloak that completely covered his body.

  His hair was pure white, tied back in a high, almost military ponytail.

  His gaze bore the mark of a leukoma—opaline eyes, clouded yet strangely clear. They seemed to reflect something else… a world, or several.

  His face, marked by age, showed hollowed cheeks and the traces of a thin white beard.

  But his build was anything but frail. He radiated the strength of a solid, living man.

  He spoke in a deep, calm voice:

  "Go, Kael. And do not stop."

  He paused.

  "Never stop climbing."

  Then everything vanished.

  The white dissolved, replaced by an opaque, bottomless black.

  He was floating, lost in that thick, total darkness. Then, suddenly, a female voice broke the silence.

  "Kael…?"

  Another voice followed, deeper, more urgent:

  "Wake up!"

  Then a sharp impact struck his cheek.

  "Fuck… you didn’t have to hit me," he grumbled.

  He opened his eyes.

  Althéa was leaning over him, her face just a few centimeters from his. Right behind her, Lucanis wore a worried expression. Velara, meanwhile, was sitting calmly a little farther away, looking detached.

  Kael tried to sit up… without success.

  "Princess," he said with effort, "if you keep pinning my shoulders to the ground, I’m never going to get up."

  Althéa slowly withdrew her hands, almost reluctantly, as if she didn’t really want to break the contact.

  Lucanis stepped a little closer.

  "Kael… you’re crying."

  Kael brought a hand up to his eyes. Indeed, tears were flowing freely. He wiped them away awkwardly and sniffed.

  "Yeah… it happens, sometimes. But… it’s been a while."

  He finally sat up, his muscles still tense, then asked:

  "So… what exactly happened? Because for me… it was white. White and… very quiet."

  He said nothing about his encounter with the man with opaline eyes.

  Velara stared at him, intrigued.

  "Well, Kael… you never cease to surprise me. What you just did is quite simply impossible. You grabbed Elan with your bare hands."

  All eyes turned toward him.

  Kael raised an eyebrow, half ironic.

  "Well then. That’s another thing I can cross off my list."

  Velara stood up, her expression more serious.

  "Since your Trame isn’t complete yet, and you’re a Latent, your Elan is unstable. So when it came into contact with mine—already manifested—it caused a desynchronization."

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  She paused.

  "In short: it exploded."

  She looked at him with a new intensity.

  "What I still can’t understand, though, is how you were able to grasp Elan at all. At your stage, that’s supposed to be… impossible."

  Kael ran a hand over the back of his neck, still dazed.

  "If you don’t have the answer… then I have it even less."

  He rubbed his shoulders, grimacing.

  "How long was I unconscious?"

  Velara replied calmly:

  "A few minutes at most. And I’d like to point out that you never let go of your Needle-Blade. Even while unconscious."

  Althéa, arms crossed, added with a hint of irony:

  "Too bad for me. I won’t get to slap you this time."

  Kael managed a thin, falsely amused smile.

  "Ahaha… very funny."

  Velara stood up and brushed at her clothes, as if signaling the end of the session.

  "Alright. It’s time for you to leave, Princess. Lucanis, you’re coming too.

  You, Kael… you’re staying with me."

  Kael blinked, a little confused.

  "Uh… okay?"

  Velara pulled Althéa and Lucanis aside, lowering her voice slightly.

  "Remember today’s lesson. And train on your own. Feel. Truly feel the Elan all around you. It will be far subtler than mine, but you’re both talented enough. You’ll manage without too much trouble."

  She placed a hand on each of their shoulders, looked at them for a moment, then turned back to Kael.

  "Alright, Kael. I’ll be back in a few minutes."

  He barely had time to open his mouth.

  "But why me, I—"

  And they vanished. Literally.

  A faint gust of air brushed against his face.

  He remained alone, motionless, then muttered with dry irony:

  "Yeah. Clearly, she’s in a hurry."

  Left alone, he walked over to the pool and knelt to rinse his face. The cool water sent a shiver through him. His chestnut hair, heavy with the cave’s humidity, clung to his forehead.

  He stayed bent over the water for a moment, then whispered:

  "But… what the hell just happened?"

  He slowly straightened up, his gaze unfocused.

  “Who was that old man, anyway? I mean… old, I’m not even sure. That guy could’ve beaten the hell out of me without breaking a sweat—I’m convinced of it.”

  He grimaced, thinking back to the white void, that strange presence, that voice.

  “And what’s with all that ‘never stop climbing’ nonsense? Climbing what, exactly? A mountain? Some damn staircase?”

  He rubbed his temples, his head pounding.

  “Ugh… my head hurts… Between that… the weird memories about the girl… and waking up in tears… honestly, it’s starting to piss me off. And it scares the hell out of me.”

  Kael buried his face in his hands. Well… one hand. The other was still gripping his Needle-Blade, without him even realizing it.

  “Talking to yourself now?”

  He jumped. The voice came from behind him.

  It was Velara.

  “I came back sooner than expected. Well… now it’s just the two of us.”

  Kael instinctively stepped back, shoulders tense. Velara burst out laughing.

  “Relax. I’m not going to throw you off a roof.”

  She pointed to a narrow passage between two rocks.

  “Come with me.”

  Kael blinked, still taken aback.

  “We’re going out? Outside?”

  “Exactly.”

  Velara was already waiting at the exit. He followed her, one hand raised to shield his eyes. The sun was still high, and after so long in the cave’s dimness, the light hit him full force.

  He slowly lowered his hand, his eyes adjusting.

  An unexpected panorama stretched out before him. They were standing on the side of a cliff. Below, a wide valley opened up, bordered by low mountains. The trees were dressed in autumn colors—reds, golds, browns. The forest wasn’t dense, but long, stretched like a ribbon between the ridges.

  Kael smiled despite himself.

  “Wow… that’s a nice view.”

  Right in the middle of the forest, a small round clearing was visible, bathed in light.

  “Nice, isn’t it?” Velara said. “I’ve been coming here since I was very young.”

  She paused, then continued, more serious:

  “Alright. Here’s the deal: I’m going to teach you how to handle weapons.”

  She looked at him sidelong.

  “I imagine that where you come from, the greatest warrior is probably a drunk who stabbed another drunk with a rusty pitchfork.”

  Kael laughed despite himself.

  “Yeah… that’s probably accurate.”

  Then he asked, more seriously:

  “But why would you want to teach me how to fight, when you wanted to kill me yesterday?”

  Velara let a smile form—but her voice held no humor at all.

  “I didn’t like the way you looked at me yesterday.”

  She stepped a little closer.

  “You know. When you were hanging there, with your feet over the void.”

  A chill ran down Kael’s spine.

  “No one has ever looked at me like that before. With that kind of defiant gaze.”

  She paused.

  “Never.”

  Kael felt his palms grow damp. She continued, calmer now, but still razor-sharp:

  “I’ll admit it—I was wounded in my pride. At first, yes, I fully intended to kill you.”

  She stopped, her gaze locking onto Kael’s.

  “But I changed my mind. I let you live… for one single reason.”

  She stepped closer still, her eyes burning with a predatory intensity.

  “One day, when you’ve matured… when you’re a confirmed wielder of Elan—and believe me, you will survive your Trial—then…”

  She let the silence stretch one last time before delivering the verdict, merciless:

  “Challenge me.”

  Her gaze had the stillness of a hunter. She watched Kael like prey allowed to grow just enough… to be savored later.

  He couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes.

  “Apparently, you’re a pretty good climber,” she said at last. “So we’re going to go down this mountain. Destination: the small clearing below.”

  That’s when Kael realized he hadn’t gotten dressed—he was still naked.

  He turned toward the cave to retrieve his clothes, but Velara stopped him cold.

  “No. You stay like that. You need to keep feeling the Elan.”

  “But… I’m starting to get cold,” Kael protested.

  “Not my problem,” she replied simply, without bothering to argue further.

  And once again, he thought to himself:

  “Fuck… I’m in deep shit again.”

  Velara added, a smirk curling her lips:

  “And of course… you’ll have to keep your Needle-Blade with you the entire way down.”

  Kael stared at her, dumbfounded.

  “You’re serious right now?”

  “Absolutely. I’m going to train you. And I’ll train you my way. I have no intention of going easy on you.”

  She turned toward the slope.

  “Let’s go. The descent isn’t long—we’re not very high up. And it’s not sheer climbing the whole way.”

  She took a few steps, then added without turning back:

  “In the meantime… I’ll be waiting for you at the bottom. Don’t dawdle. The sun isn’t going to wait for you either.”

  “And don’t even think about cheating with your weapon… I’ll know.”

  Kael let out a short, dry laugh.

  “You can see me from the valley, is that it?”

  His tone was incredulous, almost mocking.

  Velara answered without even looking back:

  “Of course.”

  Kael sighed, defeated.

  “Yeah… makes sense.”

  But Velara was already gone.

  He remained alone for a moment, then took a deep breath. He adjusted his grip on his Needle-Blade… and began the descent, slowly.

  Toward what was probably his purgatory.