Nox and Juro tore into the food like starving wolves.
"This is the best meal of my life," Nox mumbled, drooling even though his stomach was already full.
"What are you on about? It's just rabbit stew." Juro bit into his apple with a loud crunch.
"I don't care. It's divine." Nox licked his plate clean, then eyed Raizen, who sat a few meters away, his back against a tree, looking like a tired old man.
Without warning, Nox stood up, eyes blazing.
"Where are you going?" Juro asked, grabbing his collar, but Nox brushed him off and marched toward Raizen with a glare.
Juro sighed and settled down to watch. Well, this should be good.
Nox stopped in front of Raizen and snapped his fingers twice. "Hey, old man, what was that today? Were you trying to kill us, or is that your idea of training now?"
Raizen cracked one eye open. "You sure talk a lot for someone who almost fainted mid-run."
"Fainted?! I almost died!" Nox shouted.
From behind, Juro loudly bit into his apple again. Nox shot him a glare and mouthed, What the hell?
Juro shrugged and raised a hand apologetically.
Juro walked over and sat cross-legged. "I've got questions."
Raizen didn't move. "I'm listening. Talk."
"First off," Juro began, "why did those weight pads stick to our skin? How'd they come off? And why are we this healed? With the kind of injuries we had six days ago, we shouldn't even be crawling forty kilometers with weights. Something's either very right with our bodies or very wrong."
Nox glanced at the fading scars across his arms. Only a faint ache remained deep in his muscles. He felt more confused than reassured.
Raizen finally sat up, exhaling like a man about to give a lecture he didn't want to. "Took you long enough to ask something useful."
"So you're just going to ignore me and answer him?" Nox groaned.
"Quiet." Raizen's voice carried an edge that made Nox flinch. "Those pads are called Binding Rings—first generation. They latch only to people with iora, and they drain your stamina nonstop, feeding on the energy your body produces."
"How does that—" Nox started.
Raizen cut him off. "When your physical energy runs out, what happens to your iora?"
"Uh… less iora?" Nox guessed.
"Exactly." Raizen almost smirked. "The rings force your iora to burn, whether you like it or not. That's why you felt like you were dying."
"So… that's training?" Juro frowned.
"The rings eat away your stamina until there's nothing left. After that, your body has no choice but to dip into your iora. The stamina loss forces your body to instinctively find that power."
"Okay, but how did the rings come off? I don't feel like I used iora," Juro said.
Raizen picked one up and pointed at a thin line on the side, now glowing gold. "This was black before. When you pushed past your limits, your iora charged it. Only when it's full will it release. If it stayed dark, you'd still be wearing it… or dead."
Nox swallowed. "I don't even feel like I used iora."
"You already were," Raizen said flatly. "Back in your village, when you trained in secret, when you punched trees till they fell—you were using it without knowing. That was like a baby's scream. Now, after today, you're learning to form words."
His voice grew louder, deeper.
"In the next nine days, this forest will be your home. It will feed you and try to break you. There will be times you'll want to die. But remember this—what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Keep that in mind if you want to stay sane."
The boys shivered. They knew he wasn't exaggerating.
Raizen picked up the weights and ran his fingers over them. Golden lines flickered faintly.
"What are you doing?" Juro asked.
"Readjusting the drain rate. If I don't, you won't last more than a day. I need you to last eight."
"What?!" Nox's voice cracked. "You mean we'll wear those for eight days?!"
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Raizen's tone made Nox hesitate.
Juro was already strapping the weights to his legs, calm as if he'd expected this. Nox groaned but followed.
"If you train properly, you might fill the iora gauge before then," Raizen said tiredly, like a man done babysitting.
"So the training is meant to burn unused energy, forcing us to build stamina and learn to use iora?" Juro summarized.
Raizen glanced at Nox with a look that screamed disappointment.
"What? What did I do this time?!" Nox protested.
"From today's run, you've built maybe six days' worth of stamina," Raizen said flatly.
Nox cracked his knuckles. "Then this should be easy."
Juro sighed. "He means if we sit around doing nothing, we've got six days. With this training, more like less than three."
He understood this training was the first step. From Raizen's tone, it wouldn't be easy.
Nox blinked. "Wait, what happens if we run out of stamina before we learn to use iora?"
"You die," Raizen said simply.
The words hit Nox in the chest. Juro didn't flinch—he'd already guessed.
"Well, no point whining. If we're gonna be strong, we can't die here," Nox said firmly.
"Good. Then follow me."
Raizen turned and led them deeper into the forest.
After an hour of trekking, they stepped into a clearing about fifty by a hundred meters wide. The ground bristled with hundreds of upright logs scattered unevenly.
Without a word, Raizen strode forward and drove his fist into a log. It exploded into splinters.
Before he could explain, Nox wandered over and punched another. His shattered too, but into larger chunks rather than dust.
Raizen pinched the bridge of his nose, massaging his temples.
Nox glanced at him, then at Juro, who mirrored the same look.
"What did I do this time?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Just… let the man talk," Juro said.
Raizen exhaled. "Anyone who can harness iora can do exactly what you and I just did. You subconsciously strengthen your strikes to protect your fists."
"So that's good, right?" Juro asked.
Nox plopped onto a log. "Isn't it all about power?"
Raizen shook his head. "When your eyes sense danger, you blink without thinking. But if you blinked like that all the time, it'd be unnatural. It's the same with iora. If it only activates subconsciously when you're scared, it's unreliable. You have to control it intentionally. Understand?"
The boys nodded quietly.
"This," Raizen continued, punching another log, "is what it looks like when you use it properly."
This time, the log didn't explode. Instead, a perfect hole disintegrated through its center, the wood turning to sawdust as if erased by invisible fire.
"That's the difference," Raizen said. "This is what I want you to achieve. When you can do this, you'll have truly awakened iora."
Nox stared at the hole, wondering how strong Raizen really was.
Juro sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
"You're meditating? Now?!" Nox exclaimed.
"Leave him," Raizen said. "He has his own way. Find yours."
"Oh, now you talk to me," Nox muttered.
Raizen ignored him and disappeared into the forest.
"Fine," Nox said. "Time to do what I do best."
He started hammering away at logs. Hours passed. Juro stayed still, meditating.
By nightfall, Nox collapsed on his back, staring at the stars. Juro was already asleep.
"That bastard," Nox muttered. "I ought to—" He stopped. No, he's been through a lot too.
He drifted off on top of shattered wood.
---
The smell of burnt flesh woke him.
He wasn't in the clearing anymore.
He was back in the village.
People screamed. Flames devoured homes.
The red-haired man held his mother by the hair.
Nox's world turned black.
He screamed himself awake.
It was morning. He was in the shade of a makeshift shelter.
The smell of "burnt flesh" was just Juro roasting a rabbit.
"Oh, you're awake?" Juro smirked. "Still having nightmares at your age?"
"Shut up," Nox muttered, rubbing his face. His breath was shaky.
"You made this shade?" he asked.
Juro only smiled.
Nox trudged over, took the meat Juro offered, and devoured it.
"Take it easy today," Juro advised. "If you keep going at yesterday's rate, you'll burn out in two days."
"Don't worry," Nox said through mouthfuls. "Today, I'll get this iora thing. I'll break these shackles and really start training. And you? You should hurry up. We only have eight days left."
Juro just closed his eyes again, meditating.
Nox sighed and went back to smashing logs.
By midafternoon, he was drenched in sweat. Still, he kept going.
Then Raizen appeared.
Juro stood, approached a log, and struck.
A perfect hole disintegrated through the wood—just like Raizen's demonstration. His gauge glowed bright gold.
Nox's jaw dropped. "First try?!"
Juro kept going, flawless each time.
Raizen gave a small nod.
Nox burned with jealousy. He turned back to his logs, punching harder.
By twilight, Juro was exhausted but satisfied.
One final strike—and the weights snapped off, clattering to the ground.
He collapsed, panting.
When he looked around, his heart froze.
Nox looked half-dead.
Weights still bound his limbs.
His gauge barely glowed.
He's going to die.
Every log was gone. Only one remained.
Nox stared at it, trembling.
"Am I going to die?" he whispered. His chest barely rose.
His mother's screams echoed in his head. The red-haired man's cold eyes. Juro saving him days ago.
Everything blurred. Then Raizen's voice cut through the chaos.
You blink subconsciously when danger comes. Iora must not be subconscious.
Nox remembered the first time he'd used iora—grabbing the water container to save Juro.
Back then, desperation had unlocked it.
Now his life depended on it again.
He felt every ache, every throb, every spark burning beneath his skin.
"Blood? No… this is iora."
He forced himself up and faced the last log.
"I can feel it. I can control it."
Nox could feel the pulsing power within his veins, he could manipulate the flow, he directed the flow to his fist.
His heart thundered.
He raised his trembling fist.
In his head the words raged. More. More. MORE!
And then finally outloud.
"MOOOOORE!"
His fist crashed into the log.
A deafening boom shook the earth.
The entire clearing split apart.
A massive trench carved itself into the land.
Raizen blurred forward, grabbing Juro and outrunning the shockwave.
When the dust cleared, they returned to the trench.
Nox lay at the center, staring at the dim sky, a faint smirk on his lips. The weights were gone.
Juro stumbled down and fell to his knees beside him, trembling.
"You're gonna get yourself killed one of these days," he choked.
Nox turned his head weakly. "Didn't you know? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Raizen stood silently at the edge, examining the shattered weight pads.
Nox's eyelids closed, and darkness took him.