Kael stood still after Azreath's final words, letting the forest settle around him. The quiet pressed in from all sides, heavy with dew and distant rustling. Saying "I'll do it" felt like jumping off a cliff—terrifying, irreversible—but he didn't take it back.
Azreath's presence coiled in the back of his mind, warm and metallic, almost like molten breath sliding through his ribs."Good. Then let us begin."
Kael rubbed a hand over his face. "Where do I even start?"
"First, by not dying," Azreath replied dryly. "Second, by ensuring the first does not fail."
Kael muttered something incoherent and unflattering under his breath, but he sat down when Azreath commanded it.The dragon's tone was steady, almost ceremonial.
"Your cultivation isn't the foundation. Breath is. If breath falters, flame follows. If flame falters, the core trembles. And if the core trembles—well, I assume you understand the pattern."
Kael straightened his spine, jaw unclenching as Azreath instructed. He drew a slow inhale, letting the night air settle in his lungs. His heartbeat thudded unevenly, but slowly—even reluctantly—it steadied.
"Good," Azreath murmured. "Now focus there."
A pulse of warmth bloomed beneath Kael's sternum, faint but unmistakable. The flame seed. He tried to guide it the way he guided air through his lungs.
The warmth surged—far too fast.
There was a muffled thump and a small crater appeared beside him, spraying dirt across his face and hair. Kael nearly toppled backward.
Azreath hummed in judgment. "At least you exploded the ground instead of yourself. Improvement."
Kael glared up at the empty air. "I hate this."
"You will hate many things before this is over."
Reluctantly, Kael pushed himself upright again. "So what now?"
"Now," Azreath said, "you learn to stop fighting your own instincts. Your core sharpens them, but you continue to strangle them with human hesitation."
Kael blinked. "…I do?"
"Every moment."
The forest wind shifted. Leaves rustled softly, and something about the motion tugged at him—subtle, like a whispered suggestion from just behind thought.
"Close your eyes," Azreath instructed."Listen."
Kael obeyed. The world sharpened in ways he didn't expect. The usual noise of insects and leaves was still there, but layered over everything was something else—tiny heartbeats, faint shifts of pressure, the soft pulse of movement in the underbrush.
A presence to his left stood out. Small. Fast. Nervous.
"There," he whispered.
"Then move."
Kael broke into a run without thinking. His feet fell into a rhythm he'd never practiced. The forest blurred, his body weaving around roots and branches almost on its own. When he spotted the creature—a quick, long-eared hare—it bolted. He didn't think. He simply reacted.
His hand closed around it before he realized he'd leapt.
He stared down, breath unsteady. "I… caught it."
Azreath's tone stayed calm. "Instinct. You followed it rather than feared it."
Kael released a breath he didn't notice he was holding. For a moment, pride warmed his chest—small, fragile, but real.
His moment ended abruptly when a deep, guttural howl tore through the forest.
He froze. The hare shot out of his hand and vanished into the brush.
Kael slowly turned toward the sound. "Azreath… What was that?"
"A young Nightfang Wolf," the dragon said. "Rank One. More dangerous than the Emberfang you nearly died to, but still beneath true threats."
Kael's stomach dropped. "That's not beneath anything for ME!"
"Then survive," Azreath replied.
The bushes rustled. A low growl rolled out, vibrating through the ground. Two glowing eyes emerged between the trees, cold and intelligent.
Kael felt his pulse spike, but this time something shifted beneath the fear.His breath steadied.His stance lowered without thought.Instinct hummed quietly through his limbs—subtle, but present.
Azreath spoke once, soft but absolute.
"Remember what you felt when you caught the hare. That was instinct.Now prove you can use it when death looks back at you."
The wolf stepped into the moonlight, fur dark as wet stone and eyes burning with feral hunger.
Kael tightened his grip on the dagger.
This time, he didn't wait.
He moved.
Kael moved first.
The Nightfang responded instantly, muscles rippling beneath its dark fur as it lunged with a predator's certainty. Kael barely managed to twist aside, the wolf's jaws snapping shut where his throat had been a heartbeat earlier. The force of its momentum stirred the leaves around him in a violent whirl.
His feet skidded across the forest floor, but he didn't fall.Instinct pulled at his limbs, guiding him without words—shift weight, pivot, drawing the dagger higher.The wolf spun back around faster than he expected, eyes narrowing with something close to recognition. Not of Kael, but of prey that refused to flee.
Azreath's voice threaded through his mind, low and steady.
"Do not match its strength. Match its timing."
Kael exhaled and stepped sideways as the wolf lunged a second time. Its claws scraped his shoulder, tearing cloth and leaving a sharp burn of pain, but he kept his footing. He slashed upward, grazing the beast's flank. Sparks flew from where blade met coarse fur and hardened hide.
Not deep enough. But enough to make the wolf hesitate.
The creature circled him now, pacing with quiet menace, evaluating him not as prey—but as something unfamiliar. Something dangerous.
Kael tightened his grip on his dagger, adjusting his stance. His heart hammered, but it no longer drowned out everything else. He heard the wolf's breathing, the shift of its weight, the faint tremor in the ground as it tested the angle of attack.
For the first time since entering the forest, Kael didn't feel lost.
He felt ready.
Azreath's tone sharpened."Now pay attention. It will feint first. Nightfangs test before they kill."
Kael nodded slightly, letting his breath settle. The wolf dipped low—too low for a real strike. Kael didn't move. It snapped upward with a sudden burst of speed, jaws flaring for his arm—
—but Kael stepped back, letting its bite skim air.He angled the dagger down, ready to counter—
The wolf twisted mid-air.
Kael's eyes widened.
Azreath's voice cut through sharply."Behind you!"
He spun, bringing the dagger up in the same instant the wolf's shadow soared over him. A flash of fangs gleamed in the moonlight as the beast came down—
—and Kael met it with steel.
The impact rattled up his arm. The wolf snarled, more enraged than wounded. Kael pushed back with everything he had, boots digging into the dirt, breath burning in his lungs.
For a moment, neither yielded.
Then the beast's weight surged forward, overwhelming, pressing the dagger dangerously close to Kael's own throat. The wolf's hot breath hit his face, its snarl vibrating through his bones.
Azreath's voice dropped to a dark command.
"Use the flame."
Kael's hands trembled."I can't control it yet—"
"You do not need control. You need intent."
The wolf's jaws snapped closer.
Kael clenched his teeth, reached inward—and felt the seed flare awake.
Heat rushed down his arm, gathering at his palm, racing toward the dagger—
The wolf sensed it. Its eyes widened, and it recoiled, leaping back with a sharp, instinctive snarl. Kael staggered forward, nearly falling as the flame sputtered violently inside him.
Azreath hissed sharply."Too much—pull back before you—"
Kael couldn't. The flame surged again, brighter, hotter—wild, uncontrolled, hungry.
The air warped around his hand.
The wolf saw the shift and crouched, ready to spring—
Kael felt something inside him snap— thin as paper, splitting under the pressure of heat and instinct.
His vision blurred.
His heartbeat roared.
The flame surged toward the surface—
—and the wolf lunged—
—and the world tore itself open with light.
Everything went white.