The books were scattered around him. The volcano roared in the background. Ash fell slowly from the sky.
An entire minute passed.
Then...
An idea emerged.
Suddenly.
So suddenly that Kyrian's eyes widened slightly.
"I'm thinking about this the wrong way..." he murmured.
His heart began to race, not from fear, but from excitement.
"Why should I follow someone else's path?"
His mind seemed to clear instantly.
As if an invisible fog, a fog he had not even realized existed, had suddenly vanished.
A strange sensation spread through his body, tingling, electric.
Light. Natural.
As if something inside him had finally aligned.
"Why should I search for a technique that suits me..."
"...when I can simply create one myself?"
Silence.
The volcano continued roaring in the distance, but Kyrian barely heard it.
His mind was elsewhere.
Then, a smile slowly appeared on his lips.
Not an ordinary smile, not the cold smile of superiority, not the exhausted smile of relief.
