When we decided to follow Akira, she told us something on the very first day of the journey.
"I will teach you magic," she said, walking ahead of us without even turning around. "But first… you must prepare your bodies."
At the time, those words meant nothing to us.
We thought she meant simple training. Running. Maybe lifting things. Something easy.
We were wrong.
Very wrong.
The truth revealed itself slowly… painfully.
Our goal was simple — we wanted to become strong as quickly as possible.
After everything we had lost, after watching people disappear from our lives again and again, we were terrified of being weak. Terrified that if we stayed powerless, this world would take everything from us again.
But strength… did not come easily.
And the thing that was supposed to guide us — that strange book the horse had left behind — only made things more confusing.
Sometimes I wondered if it was cursed.
Sometimes I wanted to throw it away and pretend none of this had ever happened.
One evening, exhausted after another brutal day of training, I finally snapped.
"I'm done with this!" I shouted, grabbing the book. "This thing isn't helping us! Akira's gone! This is just paper!"
Lucas tried to stop me, but I was too angry.
I hurled the book as far as I could into the trees.
It vanished into the darkness.
We stood there breathing heavily.
Neither of us spoke.
The next morning…
It was back.
Inside my bag.
Exactly where it had been before.
Neither of us had touched it.
Lucas stared at me.
I stared at him.
A cold feeling ran down my spine.
"…Alright," Lucas said slowly. "Now that's just creepy."
He picked up the book carefully, like it might bite him.
"Zeus. Calm down. Don't be stupid," he muttered. "Someone — or something — left this for us. Maybe it matters."
I didn't answer.
But I didn't throw it again.
Lucas opened the cover.
The moment the pages spread open, the air changed.
The forest grew… quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the wind stopped.
Then—
A voice spoke.
Warm.
Gentle.
Familiar.
"Zeus… Lucas…"
My heart stopped.
That voice—
It was Akira's.
Exactly the same.
The same softness.
The same calm strength.
The same way she used to say our names.
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
Lucas's hands began shaking.
"…This… isn't real," I forced myself to say.
But my voice cracked.
Because part of me wanted it to be real.
Wanted to believe she was still here.
The book continued.
"You may think this is Akira," the voice said. "It is not. Before her death, she poured the last of her strength into these pages. What remains is her will… not her life."
Tears fell before I even noticed them.
Lucas wiped his eyes angrily.
"…Then talk," he said. "If you left something for us, we'll listen."
"I will guide you," the book said. "I cannot use magic for you. I cannot fight for you. But I will prepare you."
That was when the real training began.
And it was worse than anything Akira had done to us.
Every day:
One hundred push-ups.
Then another hundred.
Then another.
Until our arms trembled so badly we couldn't stand.
We carried stones up hills.
Ran until our lungs burned.
Held stances for hours without moving.
Struck trees with our fists until our skin split.
At first, I thought it was pointless.
Cruel.
Meaningless suffering.
"A weak body cannot hold magic," the book repeated over and over. "Magic is not borrowed power. It is born inside you. If your body breaks, the magic will break you with it."
Days turned into weeks.
Weeks turned into months.
Pain became normal.
Breathing became heavier.
Our muscles hardened.
Our movements sharpened.
And slowly…
Something inside us began to change.
Not magic.
Not yet.
But something.
Like a spark waiting for air.
Still, frustration grew.
One night, I slammed my fist into the ground.
"When do we actually learn magic?!" I shouted. "We've done everything you said!"
Lucas leaned against a tree, just as exhausted.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "All this work… for what?"
The book was silent for a long moment.
Then it answered:
"I cannot teach you how to awaken. That step belongs only to you. I prepared the path. Whether you walk it… is your choice."
I hated that answer.
Because it meant there was no shortcut.
No secret.
No miracle.
Only effort.
Then, without warning—
The book began to glow.
The pages turned by themselves.
Light spilled out between them like fire trying to escape.
Lucas stumbled backward.
"What's happening?!"
The glow grew brighter.
Warmer.
Not burning.
Comforting.
Like sunlight.
Akira's voice spoke one last time.
"If you wish to grow — then struggle."
"If you wish to learn — then endure."
"If you wish to believe — then keep walking."
A pause.
Soft.
Gentle.
Almost like she was smiling.
"…I love you, boys."
The light exploded.
The book vanished.
No ashes.
No remains.
Just gone.
For a long time, neither of us moved.
The forest slowly came back to life around us.
Wind.
Leaves.
Birds.
But something inside us had changed forever.
Lucas finally spoke.
"…She trusted us."
I nodded.
My chest hurt.
But not from grief anymore.
From determination.
We didn't have Akira anymore.
We didn't have answers.
We didn't even know if we would survive this world.
But we had something else now.
A choice.
We picked up our gear.
Turned toward the unknown road.
And started walking.
Not because we were ready.
But because stopping meant giving up.
And we refused to lose anyone else.
Even ourselves.