The Blade's estate had never felt quite this quiet.
Even the wind seemed cautious as it moved through the stone corridors, as if aware that the girl training inside was pushing her limits beyond anything normal for an Adept. Germaine walked slowly along the north passageway toward the secondary training grounds, Solaryn perched lightly on her shoulder while Lumira floated beside her head in a soft orbit.
Both SoulPets were unusually quiet.
They weren't exhausted—not anymore. They had rested through the night, recovered their mana cycle, and stabilized the shared lattice threads. But they remained tense, tuned to Germaine's internal balance like silent sentries.
She felt it too.
The after-effects of yesterday's forced lattice expansion hadn't faded completely. Her core felt… stretched. Not painfully, but like someone had pulled it wider and it hadn't yet decided if it liked the change or not.
"Are you two ready?" she murmured.
Solaryn's feathers flared in a gentle arc, golden and steady.
Lumira pulsed once—a soft, analytical signal meaning Prepared but cautious.
Germaine nodded. "Same."
The doors to the secondary courtyard opened automatically the moment she approached, reacting to the mana signature she had imprinted there last week. The courtyard was larger than the primary one—not circular but rectangular, bordered by tall pillars and dormant sigil wards carved deeply into the stone. Above, the sky shifted from pale grey to muted blue, but the sun seemed hesitant to fully commit.
Elric stood in the center.
Today he wore no cloak, no armor, no ceremonial markings. Only a simple grey tunic, sleeves rolled up, staff strapped across his back.
The lack of formality never meant ease.
Germaine had learned that quickly.
"Elric," she greeted, lowering her head slightly.
He studied her briefly—eyes flicking from her posture to the SoulPets at her sides, to the faint aura still clinging to her lattice from yesterday's training.
"You recovered well," he said. "Better than expected."
Germaine exhaled. "I tried to keep the lattice threads stabilized through the night. The Shard helped."
Elric's eyes sharpened. "Did it?"
Germaine nodded. "It kept syncing with the outer threads every time they slipped. Almost like it was… monitoring my internal structure."
Solaryn chirped uneasily.
Lumira dimmed.
Elric seemed concerned, but only for a moment. Then his expression returned to neutral.
"That behavior will intensify," he said. "The Shard has chosen to treat your lattice as something it can influence. Whether that remains beneficial will depend on how well you maintain control."
Germaine swallowed. "And if I can't?"
"Then the Shard will decide your path for you," Elric said simply. "And that is unacceptable."
A cold shiver crawled down her spine.
Solaryn's wings pressed into her cheek—protective.
Lumira hovered closer, her pulse tightening.
Germaine squared her shoulders. "Understood."
Elric motioned her forward.
"We begin phase two now."
Germaine stepped into the center of the courtyard. The air shifted immediately—pressure thickening, mana circulating around the stone pillars like invisible currents.
"Your assignment today," Elric said, "is to maintain lattice expansion while under moving pressure."
Germaine braced instinctively. "Constructs? Or—?"
"No," Elric interrupted. "I will be your pressure."
Germaine blinked hard. "You're going to attack me?"
"I am going to push you," he said. "With mana, with movement, with intent. Not lethally—but enough to test your stability."
Solaryn flared in protest, feathers sparking.
Lumira spun rapidly, pulses sharp.
Germaine raised her hands to calm them. "I'm alright. He won't hurt us."
Elric said nothing.
Which… wasn't comforting.
Germaine inhaled slowly. "Okay. I'm ready."
"No," Elric said calmly, "you aren't. Expand your lattice first."
Germaine shut her eyes and reached inward.
Her core pulsed.
The Shard stirred.
The lattice flared—stretching outward by instinct now, not force. The threads expanded slowly, weaving out from her core in overlapping rings of invisible structure. Solaryn fed stability into the right-wing of the lattice, golden arcs flowing through. Lumira corrected micro-errors instantly, smoothing each shift.
But the Shard…
The Shard aligned itself with the center thread again, applying pressure to widen the structure.
Germaine grit her teeth. "Easy… not too fast."
The Shard ignored her.
Her lattice expanded another arm-span.
Elric's voice cut through. "Hold."
Germaine froze the expansion at that size, keeping the threads from buckling inward. Her breath trembled.
Elric nodded.
"Good. Begin phase two."
He took a single step forward.
A single, effortless step.
And Germaine's entire lattice shook.
Not from power—Elric hadn't unleashed anything yet—but from intent.
His mana signature shifted, sharp and controlled, like a blade pressing against invisible fabric.
Germaine forced her lattice to stabilize. Solaryn strengthened his output, arcs pressing into the faltering right side.
Lumira pulsed rapidly, fixing the left.
The Shard flared, reinforcing the center—
And Elric vanished.
He moved. Fast.
Germaine sensed him a heartbeat before he appeared behind her—felt the shift in pressure on her back. Her lattice strained, threads bending as they caught the disturbance.
"Reinforce your rear lines!" Elric barked.
Germaine forced energy backward. Solaryn rotated instantly, golden mana bolstering the rear threads. Lumira flew around, modulating the sudden spike of pressure.
Her breath hitched.
Elric moved again.
Left side—pressure like a sudden strike.
Germaine countered with a hard pulse of her core.
"Good," Elric said, voice calm despite his blinding speed. "But too slow."
He disappeared again.
Germaine's heart raced. She forced her focus outward. Her lattice could detect his movements, but only barely—like sensing ripples in water while drowning.
Pressure hit her front.
Lumira pulsed sharply, overlapping threads to prevent a collapse.
Solaryn held the right side firm.
Germaine pushed mana into the threads—
Elric shifted positions again.
This time—
He struck.
Not physically. Not even magically.
His presence hit her lattice head-on.
It felt like being pushed by a tidal wave.
Germaine cried out, stumbling backward as the lattice trembled violently. Solaryn shrieked, wings flaring bright, reinforcing her with everything he had. Lumira blazed, pulses frantic.
Germaine felt her lattice faltering.
A crack formed—
Inside her chest.
Not physical, but in the Shard-aligned central line.
"No—no—hold—!" she gasped.
The Shard pulsed once.
Hard.
Her vision blurred.
Her lattice snapped outward, expanding sharply—too sharply. Germaine screamed as the threads pulled taut, stretching beyond her intended limit. Solaryn reeled. Lumira's pulses became erratic as she fought to regulate the sudden, massive surge.
Elric stopped instantly.
He dropped all pressure the moment he felt her destabilize.
"Germaine—collapse your lattice!" he ordered.
"I—I can't—!" she choked.
The Shard held the expansion open—against her will.
Lumira shot forward, pulses slicing across stray threads like surgical blades, trying to cut the forced expansion. Solaryn anchored himself to her shoulder, golden arcs pouring into her core to reinforce control.
Germaine grabbed onto her right wrist, digging her fingers into the fabric.
"STOP," she hissed at the Shard. "STOP—LET GO—!"
The Shard pulsed again.
Harder.
The lattice quaked.
Germaine fell to her knees.
Everything narrowed.
Her breath.
Her heartbeat.
The world.
Then—
A single, grounding vibration hit her entire core.
Elric's staff.
It touched the ground lightly, but the white mana it emitted spread like a calm wave, pushing against the uncontrolled expansion. Not crushing it—balancing it.
For the first time, Germaine felt the Shard hesitate.
Solaryn pushed in that same moment—soft, steady pressure.
Lumira pulsed a stabilizing rhythm.
Germaine exhaled.
Her lattice collapsed inward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Safely.
She fell forward onto her palms again, chest heaving. Sweat dripped down her face. Her entire body trembled.
Solaryn's feathers dimmed with exhaustion.
Lumira flickered, hovering weakly.
The Shard went still.
Elric approached quietly and knelt beside her.
"This," he said softly, "is what I warned you about."
Germaine coughed, voice hoarse. "It—it tried to take control."
"It always will," Elric said. "The Shard responds to pressure by acting independently. It believes it knows better. But you must learn to override it."
Germaine clenched her fists. "Elric… how do I fight something inside me?"
"You don't fight it," Elric said. "You out-command it."
Germaine blinked through the tears stinging her eyes. "How?"
Elric tapped her chest with two fingers.
"Through your SoulPets."
Germaine froze.
"They are your proof of will," Elric continued. "Your authority in the lattice structure. The Shard may be powerful, ancient, even intelligent… but it is not bound to you."
He motioned to Solaryn and Lumira.
"These two are. Their existence reinforces your sovereignty. Their will supports yours."
Germaine lifted her trembling hand, brushing Solaryn's feathers. He leaned into her touch.
Lumira hovered close to her cheek, her pulses soft and protective.
"And the stronger your bond with your SoulPets," Elric said, "the more the Shard must obey you."
Germaine's breath steadied.
"So the solution is… strengthening them," she murmured. "Not suppressing the Shard."
"Exactly."
Elric stood and offered her a hand.
"Recover. Then we begin again."
Germaine gritted her teeth, accepting the help as she rose.
Solaryn straightened beside her.
Lumira pulsed steadily.
The Shard remained quiet.
Too quiet.
Germaine exhaled sharply.
"Then let's continue," she said.
And the training resumed.