The training courtyard had grown colder.
Not because of the weather—nothing in the sky had changed—but because the air reacted to mana. To stress. To will.
Germaine rotated her shoulders, shaking out the stiffness from the Shard's earlier rebellion. Solaryn ruffled his feathers once, letting stray embers drift off his wings like specks of gold. Lumira remained near her left cheek, a soft orbit of cool violet light, her pulses steadier now that Germaine's lattice had calmed.
Elric stood a dozen steps away, staff resting lightly against his palm, his gaze sharp but unreadable.
"Your foundation held," he said, "even when the Shard refused to obey. That is promising."
Germaine huffed a breath. "It felt like it was ripping something out of me."
"That is because," Elric replied plainly, "the Shard does not consider your limits relevant."
Solaryn hissed low—not a real hiss, but a crackle of heat rippling along his wings.
Lumira pulsed a sharp, warning rhythm.
Germaine placed a hand on her chest. "I can feel it… watching. Even now."
Elric nodded once. "Good. Awareness is your first weapon."
He stepped backward and set the staff down.
"This next exercise will refine your control. We will focus on delayed pressure. Surges that hit your lattice seconds after the trigger. You must learn to anticipate and brace, not merely react."
Germaine steeled herself.
Delayed pressure.
That meant instability layered on top of instability.
That meant the Shard would try to intervene again.
Solaryn hopped down to her shoulder, his heat a comforting presence.
Lumira drifted along her right side, pulses smoothing Germaine's breathing.
Germaine inhaled deeply.
"I'm ready."
Elric raised his hand.
"You will project a lattice expansion of your choosing—small, medium, or large. I will not know which you chose, and you will not know when the pressure arrives."
Germaine blinked. "So we're both fighting blind?"
"Exactly," Elric said. "Blind does not mean helpless. Begin."
Germaine closed her eyes and reached inward.
Her lattice unfurled.
Not far—just enough to stretch, about mid-range. Wide enough to be meaningful, narrow enough to keep quick control. Solaryn fed stabilizing arcs along the right quadrant. Lumira added micro-corrections to the left.
The Shard stirred lightly.
Germaine ignored it.
She kept her breathing steady.
Nothing happened.
A full second passed.
Two.
Three—
Pressure slammed into the far right of her lattice.
Germaine lurched, teeth clenching as Solaryn cried out and pushed fire-like mana into the unstable threads. Lumira pulsed, desperately trying to reinforce the sudden bend.
"I didn't give the command to collapse," Elric said calmly. "Fix it."
Germaine forced the right threads to pull inward, stabilizing the warp. The Shard suddenly flared to life, trying to expand the center to counterbalance.
"No." Germaine pushed it down with sheer will. "I said hold."
Solaryn's flames pressed against the center thread, backing her authority.
Lumira extended a thin beam of mana, sealing small fractures.
The Shard retreated.
Barely.
Germaine exhaled shakily.
Elric tilted his head. "Again."
Germaine braced her stance and reset her breathing.
This time she expanded the lattice to a narrower shape—long and thin, almost blade-like. Harder to maintain, but easier to direct.
Seconds passed.
Nothing.
Then—
Pressure struck the lower front.
Germaine gritted her teeth, forcing the lower lattice to lock. Solaryn shot a burst of golden heat downward. Lumira moved opposite, stabilizing the rebound.
Then a SECOND delayed strike came—
From the upper left.
Two surges at once.
Lumira chirped in distress.
Solaryn flared with too much mana at once.
The lattice wobbled dangerously.
Germaine bit down on the panic rising in her throat. "Hold—hold—HOLD—!"
But the Shard surged with excitement.
It LOVED instability.
It LOVED pressure.
Its pulse radiated through her entire core, forcing expansion.
"No—" Germaine gasped. "Not again—!"
The lattice widened violently.
Solaryn screeched.
Lumira's pulses became frantic.
The threads trembled with overstretch.
Elric took one step forward—ready to intervene—
The Shard hit Germaine's chest like a burning heartbeat.
And everything exploded outward.
Germaine screamed.
But not from pain.
From FORCE.
Her lattice stretched to a size she had never reached—never intended—never even imagined. Almost triple the span she thought possible.
Mana thundered across the courtyard.
Wind exploded outward.
Dust spiraled into the air.
The ground beneath her cracked.
Elric raised his staff and slammed it into the floor, stabilizing the courtyard wards before they shattered entirely.
When the shock faded—
Germaine fell to her knees again, trembling, lungs burning.
Solaryn collapsed beside her, little body dimming.
Lumira flickered weakly, her light almost transparent.
The Shard pulsed once.
Satisfied.
Exhausted.
Elric exhaled… very slowly.
"That," he said, "was reckless. And dangerous."
Germaine coughed. "The Shard—forced it. I was trying to keep it contained, I swear—"
"I know," Elric said. "This is not failure. This is information."
Solaryn managed a shaky chirp.
Lumira laid herself across Germaine's shoulder, dim light trembling.
Germaine wiped sweat from her forehead. "I can—keep going."
"You will," Elric said. "But not immediately."
He walked toward her and lowered himself into a crouch.
"You must begin conditioning your Shard thread. The part of your lattice that the Shard constantly uses as a lever."
Germaine blinked hard. "Conditioning?"
"Yes. Just as a limb grows stronger with stress, the Shard thread must grow accustomed to your commands. Repetition. Routine. Internal discipline."
Germaine tightened her grip on her knees. "So… the same way I practice techniques?"
"Exactly the same," Elric confirmed. "You have been thinking of the Shard as a foreign invader. And it is. But right now, it is an untrained limb. A wild muscle. You either train it—or it trains you."
Germaine swallowed.
"That… makes sense."
Elric stood again, staff tapping the ground once.
"For the remainder of today, you will not perform combat drills. No movement training. No external pressure."
Germaine blinked. "Then what am I doing?"
Elric pointed to her chest.
"Internal negotiation."
Germaine's breath caught.
Solaryn lifted his head.
Lumira pulsed weakly.
"You will engage the Shard directly," Elric explained. "But gently. Slowly. In controlled cycles. You will give commands. And it will resist. And you will command it again."
Germaine stared at the ground, throat dry.
"You want me to go inside my lattice," she whispered, "and pull on it manually?"
"Yes."
"That's… terrifying."
"It is also necessary," Elric said. "And the only method that keeps you from becoming an accident waiting to happen."
Germaine closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.
Solaryn leaned against her cheek—warm reassurance.
Lumira pressed her body against her temple—soft comfort.
"Okay," Germaine whispered. "I'll do it."
She crossed her legs, centered herself, and slowly brought her consciousness inward.
Into the lattice.
Into the Shard's domain.
Darkness pressed against her awareness.
Then—
A single glowing thread.
Pale.
Wide.
Powerful.
The Shard thread.
It pulsed faintly, almost like a heartbeat, responding to her presence.
Germaine reached toward it mentally.
"Stop," she commanded.
The Shard thread resisted.
Germaine grit her teeth. "Stop."
A stronger pulse pushed back.
Germaine pushed her will harder. "Stop."
The thread finally stilled.
Germaine exhaled.
She reached again.
"Expand."
The Shard thread surged slightly, eager to obey.
"Stop."
It halted.
"Contract."
It resisted.
"Contract."
It resisted again.
Solaryn's warmth touched the mental space—steadying her.
Lumira's soft pulses nudged the thread.
"CONTRACT."
The thread finally pulled inward.
Slow.
Controlled.
Voluntary.
Germaine felt her chest loosen.
Her mind felt clearer.
Her core felt responsive—more hers than before.
She opened her eyes.
Elric was watching her with a rare expression—
Approval.
"You did it," he said. "Your first negotiation."
Germaine breathed hard. "It… listened."
"For now," Elric said. "But you will repeat this hundreds of times. Thousands. Until the Shard accepts that it is not the master of your lattice."
Germaine wiped her forehead.
"Okay. I can do that."
Elric nodded once.
"Good. Then we proceed to the second phase."
Germaine blinked. "Already?"
"This phase," Elric said with a faint smirk, "does not involve pressure. It involves endurance."
Solaryn's feathers drooped.
Lumira's light flickered.
Germaine swallowed. "What kind of endurance?"
Elric raised his staff.
"The kind," he said, "that teaches your SoulPets to uphold your commands even when you cannot."
Germaine straightened sharply.
"My SoulPets… are going to control my lattice?"
"No," Elric said. "But they will hold it steady while you confront the Shard without collapsing."
Germaine's eyes widened.
"That sounds—hard."
"It is," Elric confirmed. "Which is why we must start now."
He lifted his staff.
---
Phase Two: The Dual Lattice Hold
Elric drew a circle of white mana around Germaine—a stabilizing ring.
"Solaryn," he said, "take the right spindle."
Solaryn chirped and flew into position, landing on the right arc of the forming lattice.
"Lumira, the left."
Lumira glided weakly, settling into place.
Germaine inhaled deeply. "What do I do?"
"You," Elric said, "must force the Shard thread to rotate through three forms: stillness, expansion, and contraction. Ten cycles. Without collapsing. Your SoulPets will hold the remaining structure."
Germaine nodded slowly.
She closed her eyes.
Reached inward.
Touched the Shard thread.
"Still."
It resisted.
"Still."
It shuddered.
"Still—!"
It obeyed.
"Expand."
It surged.
She halted it quickly.
"Contract."
It resisted violently.
Lumira pulsed.
Solaryn flared.
The Shard thread pulled inward.
Germaine exhaled shakily.
"That's one," Elric murmured.
Nine more.
She continued.
Cycle after cycle.
Her breath shaking.
Her hands trembling.
Sweat dripping down her cheeks.
Solaryn strained beside her—his body dimming, feathers flickering.
Lumira pulsed with painful effort—her light thinning.
By cycle seven—
Germaine nearly collapsed.
Her mind felt overworked, her core exhausted.
But she kept going.
Cycle eight.
Her vision blurred.
Cycle nine.
Her breath broke.
Cycle ten—
Her entire lattice trembled.
The Shard thread resisted harder than ever—
But Germaine shoved her will into it.
"CONTRACT."
The Shard thread obeyed.
Fully.
Cleanly.
Without delay.
The lattice settled into perfect alignment.
Germaine collapsed backward, breathing hard, chest heaving.
Solaryn fell onto her lap.
Lumira dimmed to a fragile glow on her shoulder.
Elric stepped forward, placing his hand on her back.
"Germaine," he said quietly, "you just achieved something most Adepts never manage in their first year."
Germaine looked up, dazed. "What did I do?"
"You made the Shard respect you."
Not fear.
Not overpower.
Respect.
She blinked tears away.
Solaryn nudged her cheek.
Lumira brushed her temple.
Germaine exhaled shakily.
"Then we really can—control it."
Elric nodded once.
"It will take time. But yes. You will."
Germaine clenched her fist.
"Then let's keep going."
Elric smiled faintly.
"Tomorrow," he corrected. "Today, you—and your SoulPets—rest. You earned it."
Germaine lay back on the stone floor, staring at the sky.
The Shard pulsed once.
Softly.
Not defiant.
Not aggressive.
Simply present.
Germaine felt… calm.
For the first time.
And she whispered:
"I'm in charge."
The Shard didn't argue.