Aerin's blade cut through the air again and again, each swing driven by force rather than control.
"Enough."
Klein moved.
In one motion, he stepped forward, caught Aerin's wrist, tore the sword from his grip, and drove his fist into his stomach.
Aerin gasped as the air left his lungs, dropping to one knee.
"Are you finally ready to train me?" Aerin asked forcing himself upright.
Klein shook his head. "Not the kind you think."
He pointed to the ground. "Sit."
Aerin hesitated, then lowered himself, legs crossed.
"The first step is simple," Klein said. "You need to feel mana. You've never been trained, so you won't recognize it."
He stepped closer and placed his hand against Aerin's chest. "Focus."
Aerin closed his eyes.
Klein released a small portion of his mana—careful, controlled. It flowed into Aerin, warm and steady.
Then Klein felt it.
An abyss.
Deep. Endless. Watching.
For a brief moment, it opened—
And then—
Light.
Overwhelming. Pure.
Both existed within the same space.
Klein's breath caught. He pulled his hand back immediately.
"…What are you…?" he muttered.
Aerin did not hear him.
From Aerin's perspective, there was only sensation.
"…So this is mana," he said quietly.
"It feels… similar… to what I experienced before."
The memory surfaced.
"It is similar to what I felt when I was in the darkness, but that one… was more sinister."
He focused, carefully.
"I wonder… if I can control it the same way."
He reached inward, toward that same feeling—toward the control he had experienced when everything changed.
The energy responded.
It moved through him, around him.
Then it surged.
Light radiated from his body, bright and steady.
Aerin's eyes opened slightly. "…Look at this…"
The energy grew stronger, yet controlled.
Klein stepped back, watching closely.
Inside, something stirred.
"I see."
The voice echoed, cold and observant.
"No wonder I was unable to take full control of this body."
A pause.
"He possesses that power."
Silence lingered.
"…How unexpected."
Aerin's breathing slowed.
The light around him faded, retreating back into his body as if it had never been there.
For a moment, everything was still.
Then his eyes opened.
Klein was watching him.
"Congratulations," he said. "You can feel mana now."
A brief pause.
"You're quite talented."
Aerin said nothing.
But his attention sharpened.
Klein continued, his tone shifting into something more instructive.
"That was only the first step."
He crossed his arms.
"If you want to use that power, your body needs to keep up with it."
He stepped closer.
"Right now, it doesn't."
Aerin's expression hardened slightly.
"Your mana pool…" Klein continued, studying him carefully, "…is far beyond normal."
A short pause.
"At least ten times greater than an average person."
Aerin's eyes narrowed.
"And it will grow," Klein added.
"Which makes one thing very clear."
He tapped Aerin lightly on the shoulder.
"Your vessel is too weak."
"We'll start from the beginning," Klein said. "Body strengthening. Swordsmanship."
He turned slightly, picking up the sword Aerin had dropped earlier and tossing it back to him.
"Foundation first."
Aerin caught it.
His grip tightened.
"…When do we start?" he asked.
Klein gave a faint smile.
"We already have."
"From now on," Klein continued, "everything you do is training."
He gestured around them.
"The way you move. The way you breathe.
The way you think."
"Get up," he said. "We're moving."
Aerin followed.
But Klein's thoughts lingered.
That moment.
That feeling.
The abyss.
And the light that followed.
He said nothing.
For now.
Some things—
Were better understood first.
Before being questioned.