Rhea woke the next morning with the unpleasant realization that yesterday had not been some exhaustion-induced dream created by spending too many days inside the Hollow Depth.
There really was a mysterious man sleeping in her spare bedroom, she really had accepted him as her master, and Garron Vale really had been thrown out of her house after being slapped so many times that she had eventually lost count.
She washed quickly and left her room expecting to find Kael asleep.
Instead, he was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.
Rhea stopped at the doorway.
“You’re awake early.” “Wasn’t sleeping.” Before she could ask what that meant, movement outside the window caught her attention.
She looked into the training yard and found another Kael standing there with his hands behind his back.
Rhea stared for a moment, then heard the front door open as a third Kael entered carrying several paper-wrapped packages.
The smell of freshly cooked food immediately filled the room.
Rhea looked from one Kael to another.
“Good morning, Master.” “Morning.” All three answered at exactly the same time.
Rhea closed her eyes briefly.
She had seen this before.
She understood that they weren’t clones, illusions, or separate bodies.
Knowing that did absolutely nothing to make the experience feel normal.
The Kael carrying the packages placed them on the table.
He had apparently visited several food stalls and purchased enough breakfast for a small hunting party.
There were meat-filled pastries, steamed grain cakes, eggs covered in spices, fried strips of something Rhea didn’t immediately recognize, and a container filled with sweetened milk.
Rhea stared at the amount of food.
“Master, how many people are you feeding?” Kael looked at the positions he currently occupied.
“One.” “That’s not what I meant.” “I know.” Rhea sat down and took one of the pastries before he could finish everything himself.
She had initially worried that Kael’s complete lack of understanding of local prices would result in him accidentally spending his newly acquired fortune within a week.
Fortunately, he had apparently understood her explanation yesterday.
The problem was simply that after discovering proper food again, Kael seemed determined to compensate for lost time.
Training began immediately after breakfast.
Rhea entered the small yard wearing light training clothes with her short blade secured at her waist.
She had spent half the night wondering what Kael would teach her first.
Perhaps he would introduce some advanced circulation method or show her the strange principle behind the correction he had made to her strike.
Kael entered the yard.
“Put the weapon down.” Rhea removed it and placed it near the wall.
“Now what?” “Stand.” She straightened.
Kael looked at her.
Several minutes passed.
Rhea remained still.
Another five minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
She began wondering whether this was some kind of concentration exercise.
After nearly twenty minutes, her patience finally failed.
“Master.” “Hmm?” “When are we starting?” “We started twenty minutes ago.” Rhea looked down at herself.
“I’m standing.” “Badly.” Her eyebrow twitched.
“This isn’t training.” “That’s why you’re bad at it.” Rhea took a slow breath.
Kael approached and tapped her right hip.
“Too much weight here.” He touched her left shoulder.
“This is slightly forward.” Then her lower back.
“You’re compensating here.” Rhea frowned.
“Compensating for what?” “Your left leg.” “There’s nothing wrong with my left leg.” “There was.” Rhea became quiet.
Several years earlier, before reaching Silver rank, she had suffered a deep wound near her left thigh during an expedition.
The injury had healed completely.
Or she had thought it had.
“That was years ago.” “Your body learned to avoid putting full pressure on it while you were injured.
The injury disappeared.
The habit didn’t.” Rhea looked down at her feet.
She had never noticed.
Kael stepped behind her.
“Relax.” She did.
He lightly pushed one point near her shoulder.
Rhea stumbled sideways.
She immediately regained her stance.
Kael pushed again.
She nearly fell.
Rhea frowned and prepared herself.
“Again.” Kael touched her back.
This time she fell forward.
She caught herself before hitting the ground and turned toward him.
“You waited until I shifted my weight.” “Yes.” “That’s cheating.” “No.
That’s noticing.” Rhea reset her stance.
Kael pushed again.
She fell.
Again.
She stumbled.
Again.
Her foot slipped backward.
After the tenth attempt, Rhea began anticipating where he would touch her.
That did not help.
Kael always found another point.
She strengthened her legs with internal force.
His hand touched her shoulder.
“Don’t.” Rhea released the reinforcement reluctantly.
“In a fight, I’ll use reinforcement.” “Probably.” “Then why can’t I use it now?” “Because you’re using power to compensate for structure.” Kael stepped around her.
“If your body needs reinforcement just to remain stable, what happens when you’re exhausted?” Rhea didn’t answer.
“When your circulation is disrupted?” Still nothing.
“When someone suppresses your power?” Rhea understood.
Kael tapped her forehead lightly.
“Power should make something good better.
You’re using it to make something bad acceptable.” The words irritated her mostly because they made sense.
“Fine.
What do I do?” Kael smiled slightly.
“Stand.” Rhea began to hate that word.
The training became considerably worse after that.
Four Kaels appeared around her.
One stood in front.
Another behind.
Two occupied her sides.
Rhea stared at them.
“Is this necessary?” “Probably not.” “Then why are you doing it?” “It’s faster.” Before Rhea could respond, the Kael behind her lightly pushed her shoulder.
She stumbled forward.
The one in front touched her forehead before she could stabilize.
Rhea fell backward.
She landed on the ground.
“This is bullying.” “Stand.” Rhea climbed back up.
For the next hour, Kael attacked her balance from every possible direction.
None of the touches were painful.
That somehow made the experience more humiliating.
He didn’t need strength to knock her over.
He simply waited until the exact instant her weight shifted incorrectly and applied the smallest amount of force necessary.
Rhea gradually stopped trying to predict which Kael would move.
Instead, she focused on herself.
Her feet.
Her hips.
Her breathing.
The alignment of her shoulders.
The way her weight moved when she turned.
Something slowly changed.
She remained standing longer.
Ten seconds became thirty.
Thirty became several minutes.
Eventually one Kael pushed her shoulder.
Rhea shifted naturally and remained upright.
She smiled.
Another Kael immediately tapped the back of her knee.
She collapsed.
“I hate you.” “You’re improving.” That was irritatingly difficult to argue with.
Around midday, Rhea lay on the ground while Kael waited for her legs to recover.
“Where did you learn to teach like this?” The question caused Kael to become quiet.
For a brief moment, the small training yard disappeared from his attention.
He remembered another place.
A much darker forest.
His body had been new then.
Familiar in shape, completely unfamiliar in substance.
He had spent days simply learning how much force a step required.
Then weeks correcting movements that no longer behaved according to the physical instincts developed during his life on Earth.
Later came multiple positions.
Walking in two places simultaneously had been easy.
Fighting in two had not.
Four became harder.
Ten created problems he hadn’t anticipated.
So he practiced.
He observed himself.
Corrected himself.
Repeated movements thousands upon thousands of times until controlling many occupied positions felt no stranger than moving ten fingers.
The memory faded.
“Practice,” Kael answered.
Rhea frowned.
“That’s annoyingly vague.” “It’s still true.” By afternoon, Kael finally allowed her to retrieve her weapon.
Rhea took her normal stance.
It immediately felt wrong.
That surprised her.
The posture she had used for years suddenly felt slightly twisted.
Her weight leaned too far toward her dominant side, and she noticed tension in her shoulder that she had never consciously recognized before.
She adjusted.
Kael said nothing.
Rhea breathed out.
Then struck.
The blade cut through the air.
The sound was different.
Cleaner.
She stared at the weapon.
She tried again.
Her internal force traveled through her body with noticeably less resistance.
The increase in raw strength was small, but the movement required less effort and recovered faster.
Rhea looked toward Kael.
“How was that?” Kael considered it.
“Less bad.” Her excitement disappeared.
“Less bad?” “Yes.” “That’s all?” “Do you want me to lie?” Rhea lowered her weapon.
Having a master capable of seeing every flaw in her technique was beginning to seem considerably less pleasant than she had imagined.
Several districts away, Garron Vale was having a worse morning.
Marcus Vale stood silently inside the family’s main residence while a healer examined his son’s swollen face.
Two hunters who had accompanied Garron were receiving treatment nearby.
Marcus listened until Garron finished explaining what had happened.
Then he looked toward the third hunter.
“You.” The man straightened.
“Tell me what happened.” Garron’s expression changed.
“Father, I already—” “I heard you.” Marcus kept his attention on the subordinate.
The hunter hesitated before telling the truth.
Garron had entered Rhea’s home.
Rhea had asked him to leave.
Garron had attempted to remove Kael physically.
Then Garron attacked.
Marcus asked no questions until the story ended.
“How long did the fight last?” The hunter hesitated.
“Seconds.” “Did Kael use a weapon?” “No.” “Did he appear injured afterward?” “No.” “Did he pursue you?” “No.” Marcus looked at the two disabled hunters.
“He did this?” “Yes.” “Yet neither of them will suffer permanent damage.” The healer looked up.
“Correct.
The affected tissue is strange, but controlled.
With treatment, both should recover.” Marcus became silent.
That detail concerned him more than serious injuries would have.
It meant control.
Garron clenched his jaw.
“He humiliated the Vale family.” Marcus looked at his son.
“No.
He humiliated you.” Garron froze.
A servant entered soon afterward carrying a sealed message.
Marcus read it.
His expression became increasingly serious.
The unidentified man named Kael had returned with Daren’s missing expedition.
Reports claimed he had killed a Graveback Ravager, crossed Blackroot Basin, and somehow created a passage through part of the Gravespine Range.
More importantly, he had sold materials originating from regions beyond standard Guild expeditions.
Marcus folded the message.
Garron watched him.
“What are we going to do?” “Tomorrow, I’m meeting him.” A satisfied expression began forming on Garron’s face.
Marcus noticed.
He said nothing.
Back at Rhea’s house, the sun had already begun setting when training finally ended.
Rhea collapsed onto the grass.
“Master.” Kael was sitting nearby eating a pastry.
“Hmm?” “I think my legs are dead.” “They’re not.” “How do you know?” Kael looked at her.
Rhea immediately remembered.
“Right.
You can see them.” A knock came from the front door.
One of Kael’s other occupied positions opened it while the Kael beside Rhea continued eating.
A Guild messenger stood outside.
He delivered a formal request.
Marcus Vale wished to meet Kael the following morning.
Rhea sat upright.
Her exhausted legs immediately protested.
“Marcus Vale?” The messenger nodded.
After he left, Rhea looked toward Kael.
“Master.” “Hmm?” “Garron’s father wants to meet you.” Kael thought.
“Who?” Rhea stared at him.
“Garron.
The man you slapped repeatedly in my house yesterday.” “Oh.” “His father is Marcus Vale.” Kael searched his memory.
“The mountain guy?” Rhea almost fell back onto the grass.
“You were the one who compared him to a mountain!” Kael remembered.
“Oh.” He finished the pastry.
“Fine.” Rhea stared at him for several seconds.
Somewhere in Greyhaven, one of the city’s most influential hunters was preparing to personally meet the mysterious man who had humiliated his son.
Kael had already forgotten his name.
Rhea wasn’t sure whether that was confidence, arrogance, or simply the natural consequence of spending too much time around things considerably more dangerous than people.
With her master, she was beginning to suspect it was all three.