Suddenly, the carriage stopped at the top of a hill.

  "Look! You can already see the Capital," Katia pointed out.

  Tearing my attention away from the borrowed book I was immersed in, I turned to face the landscape outside.

  What appeared before my eyes was breathtaking. The city unfolded in a strange shape: Two enormous rings, one slightly above the other, connected by a central axis as if they were the links of a gigantic chain laid upon the earth.

  Inside each ring, the city grew upward, built in tiers. Terraces, suspended plazas, and arched bridges rose in layers, making each circle seem like a mountain sculpted to be inhabited. On the lower levels, what appeared to be a residential area clustered together. The higher the gaze climbed, the more imposing the constructions became.

  But more important than all of that, at the exact point where the two circles met, at the heart of that double symbol, stood a single construction. A tower. Not just tall, but of a height that seemed to defy logic, so elevated that its top was lost and obstructed by the lowest clouds, as if it scratched the very sky.

  "Katia, what is that tower?" I asked, my hands gripping the edge of the bench as I tried to process the impossible structure dominating the horizon.

  Katia puffed out her chest, visibly pleased to be able to explain.

  "That's the reason everything here works." She brandished the pride on her face.

  "What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes still glued to the tower, trying to decipher the principle behind that structure.

  "It's the heart of the city," Katia said, lifting her chin with the air of someone revealing a great secret. "It's responsible for collecting mana and distributing it to the rest of the city. That's why everything here works, from the streetlights to the water pumps."

  "I didn't know mana had other applications beyond magic," I admitted, my voice coming out more as a thoughtful whisper.

  "It's not very different; it's basically using magic for everyday things. You can, for example, get a light source without using fire, move heavy weights on magic-based platforms…" Katia replied.

  "And it never causes problems?" I asked, frowning as I watched the pulsating beams of light rising from the tower.

  "I heard that once…" Katia shrugged, but her eyes narrowed in a thoughtful look. "The entire city's sky turned reddish for a day. I don't know exactly why."

  "Katia!" Captain Kael's voice cut through the air like a whip, coming from the front of the carriage.

  I think she wasn't supposed to say that. — The thought came as I continued to appreciate the view.

  The carriage began descending the hill, approaching the enormous walls surrounding the Capital. As we drew nearer, I could notice the grandeur and care in every detail: the white stones, polished and engraved with geometric symbols that glowed faintly in the sunlight, forming patterns that seemed to pulse with the city's very energy.

  Something else caught my attention: a statue near the main gate, different from the completely white wall; it seemed carved from stone. The figure was of a woman with long hair, covered in vines, with one eye obstructed by something that looked like a crown.

  There were few guards in shimmering armor positioned at regular intervals. Even from a distance, you could make out the symbol engraved on their helmets: a single eye, firmly closed.

  Everything here is extremely detailed: the walls, armor, houses… — It's impossible not to feel small before this.

  Katia smiled, noticing my admiration.

  "I've lived here my whole life," she said, with a tone of complicity, "and I still agree with that."

  The carriage then began to move away slightly from the center, taking a road that skirted the capital to the right.

  "Aren't we going in through the gates?" I asked, leaning out of the carriage, trying to observe the road.

  I looked at the road opening before us. Although it was more discreet, it still showed the Capital's strength.

  The conclusion was clear: I would be a spectator. For now, all I could do was observe.

  Katia placed her hand on my shoulder, smiling understandingly.

  "You'll have time for that. For now, enjoy the view."

  The carriage continued skirting the city until the buildings thinned out. Soon I spotted Katia's family residence: an imposing house of white stones with blue-silver adornments, with towers that resembled small fortresses.

  "We're arriving," said Katia's father, with a firm but proud expression. "This is where you'll stay, Mio."

  The gate opened with a faint glow of mana, and as the carriage entered, my gaze got lost in the vastness of the grounds. Behind the house, an enormous field stretched out, green and open. It was almost a small park, but there was something in the way it was organized that suggested training or magical practice.

  Why is her house as big as the village? "Katia, how do you take care of such a big house?" I murmured, unable to hide my admiration.

  "Most of the space is for training and exercises. Sometimes my father brings people here for that," Katia explained, smiling. "But the servants help us keep everything in order."

  So I'm not the first to train here? That's… less bad?

  We stopped in front of the main entrance; the feeling in the air was somehow heavier, even though I couldn't explain why. The distant sound of the city seemed to have been left behind, replaced by the song of unknown birds and the whisper of the breeze crossing the open field.

  Upon crossing the gate, the carriage entered the wide grounds of the property. The field behind the house seemed endless.

  When we got down from the carriage, I was received by some servants who quickly positioned themselves before us, reverent, indicating the way to the main entrance of the house.

  "Good morning, Master Kael!" they said in unison, bowing slightly.

  Kael descended firmly, maintaining a serious and imposing countenance, but there was a gleam of pride in his eyes when he looked at me. He nodded lightly to the servants, who discreetly withdrew.

  "Did everything go well during my absence?" he asked, his voice a deep bass that needed no volume to convey authority.

  The butler, a middle-aged man with impeccable posture, inclined his head at a precise angle.

  "Perfectly, Lord Icehart. All matters were conducted according to your instructions."

  "Those are great news. Well, I know it's a bit abrupt, but see, this is our guest, Mio," Kael announced, maintaining the same serene tone as before. "She'll be staying with us; help her with whatever she needs."

  He turned to me, placing both arms at his waist. "I know you must be feeling overwhelmed, but don't hesitate to ask for anything. If you're not comfortable, take your time getting used to it."

  I nodded in agreement with his proposal.

  The butler's eyes moved from Katia to me, assessing me for a fraction of a second. There was no surprise, just professional, calculated acceptance.

  "Welcome, Miss Mio," he said, with a more subtle but equally respectful inclination of his head. "It's an honor to have you in our home. We'll do our best to make your stay as comfortable as possible."

  A short thank you was all I could articulate.

  "This way," the butler said, showing the way. Kael took the lead while maintaining a conversation with him.

  Katia appeared in my side vision, both hands positioned behind her back. "So, what do you think?"

  What do I think…? — My line of sight found the floor. — Fear, maybe? That doesn't seem to be it. — "Honestly, I don't know. It's like I'm in front of a giant puzzle and I don't know what image I need to assemble."

  Katia paused for two seconds, visualizing the image I had described. Her face vibrated in a reaction of joyful surprise, resting a finger on her chin. "That's an unprecedented way to describe anxiety."

  I tilted my head, keeping my line of sight on the floor. "I'm not sure if that's exactly it. And about the city? Will we be able to visit?"

  "Yes," Katia replied. "But maybe it'll take a while. Have you been here before?"

  "No. My parents came a few times, but they never brought me."

  "That's what I thought. Dad, how long does it take to issue identification documents?"

  Kael, who was talking to the butler, quickly turned to Katia. "About a week." The voice came clearly.

  "That's it," Katia concluded. "Once your identification is ready, we'll go."

  The residence seen from the middle of the garden was immense — spread across the land as if it had grown there over decades, occupying dozens of houses in a single construction.

  The roofs multiplied in sloping triangles, covered by blue tiles. The base of the construction was gray stone, carved into irregular blocks. There were too many windows to count.

  Katia laughed beside me, closing her eyes and raising her index finger to the sky. "Don't worry… We'll decorate your bedroom door so you don't get lost."

  "Twenty… Twenty-five… Thirty windows?"

  "Why are you counting windows?" The question was asked, without an apparent answer.

  The stone path led us to the main entrance. The door was a single leaf of dark oak, massive, tall enough that I felt small before it. But small enough to be efficient.

  At the threshold, a rug stretched inward. Lavender. The exact color of Katia's eyes — and for an absurd instant, I wondered if she had chosen that on purpose. The rug ran through the entrance, went up the first steps of a staircase that disappeared into the upper floors.

  While I deeply analyzed the wood of the door giving access to the residence, one of the internal doors abruptly opened, revealing a woman in a hurry who came towards Kael.

  She approached quickly, on a thin line between running and walking, stability and instability.

  "Captain Kael," she said, stopping abruptly while adjusting her glasses. "About the port…"

  Kael leaned his body, moving out of the woman's line of sight, so she could see us. "Katia, can you show Mio the house?"

  "Yay."

  We started going up the stairs. The lavender rug muffled our footsteps, making the ascent too silent for the size of the house.

  "Who was that woman?" I asked, still with the image of the hurried figure in mind.

  "Oh, that's the secretary." Katia vaguely gestured with one hand as she climbed. "My father has a lot of people working with him. The house is always full."

  She stopped in the middle of the stairs, turning to me with a smile that seemed to contain a warning.

  "We're a family with military connections. That means there's always someone around. Advisors, messengers, people bringing papers, people taking papers away…" She made a dramatic pause. "You'll have to get used to it."

  "How should I speak with them?"

  "I'd say don't worry about it; they rarely interact with us. If it's something important, my father will handle it."

  Katia was already climbing again, but slowed her pace to walk beside me.

  "So, what do you want to see first?" The question came casually, as if we were choosing between options on a menu.

  I thought for a moment. The house was immense. Corridors multiplied in all directions. Too many doors to count. Too many windows to count.

  "The room," I replied.

  Katia stopped. This time it was abrupt, one foot still in the air before descending to the next step. She looked at me over her shoulder, her lavender eyes wide.

  "The room?" she repeated, as if needing confirmation. "You want to see your room first?"

  "Yes."

  "I wasn't expecting a concrete answer." She admitted, resting her chin on her hand in a theatrical gesture.

  "It'll be easier to remember my room if it's the first place I visit," I explained, and the logic seemed so obvious to me that I almost found her surprise strange. "After that, I'll worry about the rest."

  We arrived before a double door that appeared to be twice my size. Katia pushed it open forcefully using both arms, revealing a spacious room, with a large bed, dark blue curtains, and a small balcony overlooking the training field in the back.

  "The room!" Katia announced, extending her arms as if presenting a stage.

  Desk, a large bed, wardrobe, mirror, bookshelf, a window overlooking the outside, a balcony, and something that looks like a lamp?

  "What's that?" I pointed to the ceiling, near the window. A discreet object, almost imperceptible at first glance, fixed at the junction between the ceiling and the wall.

  "That's a device to make the environment colder."

  "Cold?" I looked at the object again, trying to understand how something so small could change the temperature of an entire room. "How does it work?"

  She opened her mouth to answer, then stopped. Made a face, tilting her head.

  "Hm… I don't know exactly how the circuit works, but it operates based on mana with an ice affinity. In short, it makes the environment colder."

  How convenient.

  I approached the balcony, letting the laden breeze touch my face. Down below, I saw practice targets and small enclosed areas, probably for duels.

  "I wonder if I'm up to all of this," I murmured, not to Katia, but to the walls that seemed to witness my inadequacy.

  "Don't worry," Katia said. "I'm sure you'll do well. My father wouldn't have brought you here without a reason."

  But that's exactly the problem. I don't know if I can live up to Kael's expectations.

  "What's your father like?" I asked, changing the subject.

  Katia stopped adjusting the curtains and stared at the ceiling, thoughtful.

  "Um... He may seem tough on the outside, but he's very understanding." She looked at my expression and laughed. "I don't know how he acts at work; they say he changes a lot. He's also very direct; you never have to guess. If you make a mistake, he points it out. If you get it right, he just nods. And that's it."

  "Wouldn't he be like that only with you?" I concluded, testing the firmness of the mattress.

  "No, no, and no!" She let out a dramatic sigh. "Once I shot an arrow that hit a target at fifty meters. He told me, 'Good. Now do it again, but without aiming for so long.'"

  Fifty meters? Isn't that, like… really far? "What else can you do with magic?"

  "Create small ice objects, and with effort, some larger structures. Most of the time, my father told me to focus on creating something easy, hence the idea of the bow."

  She raised her hand; a small triangle of ice appeared in her palm. "But he never goes too far teaching me; he said I should learn until I get to school."

  "Considering how skilled your father is, there must be a reason for that."

  "You might be right, but he never tells me anything. Well, shall we? There's still the rest of the house."

  "Living room. It's where we receive visitors, but we almost never have visitors, so it's empty most of the time."

  The space was spacious, with light sofas arranged in a semicircle, an unlit fireplace, and paintings on the walls. Portraits of people I didn't know. Everything very tidy and silent.

  "It must be strange to have such a large space and not use it," I commented.

  "After a while, you get used to it. Usually my aunt uses it instead of the library to read; she says it's cooler."

  "Bathroom," Katia pointed to a half-open door. "There are about four of these scattered around the house. This is the closest to the entrance."

  I peeked quickly. Light tiles, a deep bathtub, towels folded with military precision.

  Bigger than my whole room at home.

  "Why do the walls shine? Is it some kind of magical artifact too?"

  Katia just laughed. "The servants work hard."

  "Offices. Not much to comment on, just don't touch the papers."

  Katia opened the next doors with a flourish, as if presenting something truly impressive.

  "Dining room."

  The table was immense. Long enough to accommodate twenty people, made of dark wood polished to a shine. High chairs aligned with precision. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, the candles unlit.

  It must be strange to eat with so many people. "This table, is it usually full?"

  "Only when there's a formal dinner. About twice a year." Katia rested her chin on her hand, thoughtful. "But you can eat in your room if you want."

  We went to the back of the residence and out into the garden. There were two enclosures of stones among the trees.

  It was an open environment, surrounded by trees that filtered the late afternoon light. Low stone walls divided the space into separate areas. Beyond them, I could see surfaces of water reflecting the sky — not one, but several pools, of different sizes, with a light mist rising from their surfaces.

  "And this is the bathhouse. The water is heated," Katia explained, pointing to the pools. "It stays hot all the time. The walls are divided by gender, so there's a male side and a female side."

  "Is it the same mechanism behind the cold air?" I asked, still processing.

  "Kind of, but the process is reversed."

  "But why is it so big? Probably ten people could fit in there."

  "Hmm…" Katia tried to rewind something in her memory. "The person who designed it was a foreigner; he said it wasn't meant to be used individually. We found the idea strange, so we just separated the use for each person on specific days. If you want, you can put your name on the list by the door, just remember to mark the time."

  I'd probably pass out if I entered one of these. "I'll pass for now."

  We went back inside the house, taking a different path. Katia opened the door with a different kind of care, as if preparing a surprise.

  Several shelves full of books. — I controlled my reaction before entering the room.

  "This is the library." She entered first, turning to me with a smile.

  "There are so many…" Katia was saying something that for some reason I couldn't hear. — Five shelves a little taller than me; the path to the back must be about 20 meters? How do they organize the books? Is there any book about seeing what will happen? Katia mentioned that magic was based on elements, but that there were some she didn't remember. There are so many books; it's unlikely she's read them all. I think it's worth a chance.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Why is she waving her hand near my face?

  I turned so the scene would happen outside my head. "Why are you waving your hand near my face?"

  Katia stopped gesturing and clasped her hands behind her back. "I was trying to make contact."

  Oh, it was with me… — "Sorry, I started overthinking."

  Katia looked away to the far end of the corridor full of books.

  "It's okay, just don't take the books outside. If you find it too hot, you can read in the living room. What do you think?"

  The smell of roasted meat and unknown herbs began to invade the environment. We went up the stairs, back to the dining room. There, Kael was sitting in the central chair at the far end of the table. Several dishes were spread out on the table, each with a different food.

  "Sit down, Mio," he said, indicating the chair to his right.

  Katia settled on the opposite side, with a smile that indicated she already knew what was coming next.

  After the servants served dinner and left us alone, Kael put down his cutlery, rested his elbows on the table, and looked directly at me.

  "In the village, I saw more than courage," he began. "I saw intelligence, initiative, and a raw talent that few are lucky enough to be born with. You used mana amplification without any training, and your mana reserve is immense. That's rare."

  "One of the reasons I brought you here, besides my daughter's insistence, of course," He sighed between words. "Was the determination I saw in your eyes. Talent, intelligence, luck, connections… None of that guarantees success. I believe that when you accepted the proposal to come here, it wasn't with the intention of going back."

  "Starting tomorrow, your training begins," he continued. "Etiquette, magic classes to learn how to control your mana, close combat so you don't rely only on magic… and the theoretical subjects required for the School of Magic exam: history, magical geography, fundamentals of alchemy, and calculus."

  He paused briefly to take a sip of wine, and then added:

  "You have eight months until the exam. That's enough time for someone dedicated, but don't waste a single day. The discipline you show here will be what guarantees your approval."

  He's right. Wondering whether I can meet his expectations or not makes no sense. It's more efficient to simply do my best and wait for the result, whatever it may be.

  "I'll do my best," I replied, trying to sound as firm as I felt inside.

  Kael inclined his head in a micro-gesture of approval, his smile as discreet as the clink of his cutlery against the porcelain.

  "I told you she would manage," Katia announced with her mouth full, pointing her fork in my direction.

  "Training starts at dawn." Kael didn't lift his eyes from his plate.

  The rest of the day passed in the blink of an eye. Katia told me stories that seemed too absurd to be true. When the moon finally swallowed the sun and silence took over the house, I found myself alone for the first time since arriving.

  I closed the bedroom door, and the sound of the latch echoed like a period on the longest day of my life. The bed awaited me. Too big. Immense. I could lie on it with my arms open and there would still be space on both sides.

  How hard. — The reaction hit my body before I lay down. — Is it because of lack of use?

  My father would be laughing right now if he knew I was complaining about a bed. — Even moving, the sensation didn't change.

  Everything is so different. — The realization came effortlessly. — Even imagining everything Katia told me, I still couldn't prepare for this.

  But what exactly is bothering me? — I went through each room of the house in my memory. — I see. It's probably the size of things. There's something else, but I can't figure out what; the air, maybe?

  Training starts tomorrow. — I should have asked Katia about what the training would be like, but for now, it's no use thinking about it; I'll find out tomorrow.

  Grab a book from the library..? No, I'll probably need someone to accompany me; going there alone would be strange.

  Fatigue finally won. My eyes closed, and the room's silence swallowed my thoughts one by one, until only sleep remained.

  The next morning, the sound of firm knocks on the door woke me before the sun had even risen.

  "Mio, get up!" Kael's voice came through the wood. "Training starts at dawn, not when you decide to open your eyes."

  Still half asleep, I quickly put on the simple clothes they had left in the room the night before. When I went downstairs, Katia was already there, smiling and awake as if she had spent the entire night waiting for this moment.

  "Come on, sleepyhead!" Katia's voice cut through the air like a banner, followed by an insistent tug on my arm. "Breakfast is getting cold. And I swore I wouldn't eat anything until you saw it."

  "See what…?" The question came out drawled. My feet followed her on autopilot towards the dining room.

  Upon reaching the table, the sight forced me to stop. Katia was standing, like a trophy presenter, holding an object in each extended hand. In the right, a dark, velvety bar. In the left, a simple potato, earthy and dull.

  "What is that?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, trying to confirm whether I was delirious or not.

  She announced, with the solemnity of someone revealing a state secret. "Behold…. Chocolate versus potato."

  The butler, positioned behind Katia's chair, failed. For a fraction of a second, his professionalism cracked: a puff of air escaped through his nose, and the corners of his lips contracted in a heroic and lost struggle. Our eyes met as if my thoughts and his were aligned.

  She's an idiot… 100%. — Maybe the thought showed on my expression. But Katia wouldn't be as skillful as my mother when it came to reading my expressions.

  "What's wrong with that face?" Katia hurled the question, and I could hear the shackles of her patience breaking. "You. Said. The sweetest thing in your village. Was. Potato." — Each word was a dart driven into the air. — "Now, taste it. Here. And now."

  Logic failed. Courtesy fled. The only truth in the universe at that moment was the monumental, crystalline, and incontestable stupidity of that scene.

  "Two hundred percent," the phrase came out of me flat, automatic, like a verdict delivered by an exhausted judge.

  The silence that followed was so dense it muffled even the clinking of cutlery from a distant table.

  "Allow me a moment of clarification, Miss Katia," his voice was soft as velvet, but laden with a blade of ice so thin that you only felt it when it had already cut. "When you requested from me, with particular urgency, a potato from the service kitchen and a bar of imported chocolate… was it for this?"

  Katia's triumphant posture wilted. Her shoulders, once raised for the grand revelation, retracted. She slowly turned to the butler.

  "Well, you see," She began to gesture with the potato and chocolate in hand. "Isn't it a family custom to offer chocolate to new guests?"

  "I understand," the butler inclined his head at a precise angle that managed to be, simultaneously, a nod of respect and the epitaph of that idea. "Then, if you'll permit me, to serve your coffee as a family custom, completely iced, like Master Kael's."

  Katia didn't look at me. She slid into the chair with the grace of a sandbag, picked up her cup with both hands, and sank her face over it, as if the steam could hide the burning in her cheeks.

  A barely audible murmur escaped between her hands and the porcelain. "Sorry…"

  The training field behind the house was completely different from what I had seen the day before: floating platforms at varying heights, moving targets that slid on their own, and wooden dummies that rotated slowly, as if alive.

  Kael was in the center of the field, without armor, but in a dark training tunic. He held a wooden sword which he spun with precision before sticking it into the ground.

  "Today we'll start with three things: posture, mana control, and physical conditioning. Before learning any advanced spells, you need to master the basics… and survive them."

  He made me run around the field four times to warm up. It didn't seem too difficult for someone accustomed to life in the fields; Katia didn't seem to have any difficulties.

  On the last lap, I noticed I was tiring faster than normal; maybe it's the denser air of the capital.

  "Control your breathing, don't hunch like that," Kael corrected, straightening my shoulders with a firmness that left no room for argument. "You need to keep your body stable so you don't stumble even when tired."

  After the warm-up ended, Kael came towards us with what looked like a bluish sphere.

  "This sphere is a specialized Mana detector. Your task is simple: feed the sphere with enough mana to make it glow steadily. No more, no less. Control, not strength."

  I looked at the sphere, then at him, confused.

  "I don't exactly know how to use mana," I confessed, feeling my face warm.

  Kael observed me for a moment, as if weighing the weight of my words. Then he approached, with a calm and firm tone:

  "Mana isn't something you create from nothing. It's like the air you breathe: it's always been inside you and around you. What changes is the way you channel it. Try to remember when you took down the wolf."

  When I took down the wolf… Normally I shouldn't have that much strength, but I don't know if I can replicate that.

  "Is there a more detailed explanation?" I asked, opening and closing my hand, wishing something would happen.

  Kael frowned slightly, reflecting.

  "Detailed? Well… Some research indicates that the flow of mana leaves the head first and then travels through the rest of the body, almost as if it runs along with the blood."

  "I think that gives me a place to start," I murmured, positioning myself in front of the table holding the sphere.

  I took a deep breath and imagined the energy running from my head to my fingertips. I closed my eyes, trying to feel every particle of mana moving inside me.

  Kael said mana flows from the brain to the rest of the body; Katia said something about visualization and imagining the mana taking shape. Maybe think of something like blood flowing and expanding out of the body…

  Multiple tests were needed for something to happen. When I opened my eyes, an explosive noise echoed, as if the sphere had reacted to my concentration.

  Is it normal to explode? — Intense light and small sparks jumped from the surface, reflecting on our surprised faces.

  "She put in too much mana!" Kael said.

  "Undoubtedly!" exclaimed Katia, open-mouthed, stepping back and partially covering her face with her hands.

  I looked briefly at Kael; I had just exploded an object of his. He sighed lightly, but didn't seem surprised.

  "Don't worry, that's a reflection of the amount of mana you have. Any output will be greater than normal, especially when you don't have control. Don't worry about the sphere."

  Soon after, he brought another object. A metal base with a cylinder in the center.

  "This," Kael explained, placing the object on the table before me, "reacts to mana continuously. The more constant and controlled the flow, the smoother the spin will be. If you lose control, it will spin irregularly or even stop."

  He placed his hands on my shoulders for an instant.

  "I want you to do the same as you did with the sphere, but this time for three minutes. Don't worry about intensity, just direct the mana to the object."

  I closed my eyes again and extended my arm toward the artifact.

  When I opened my eyes, it was spinning smoothly, reacting to the energy flowing from me, without signs of explosion.

  But after about twenty seconds, my arm began to tremble. Every muscle seemed to weigh twice as much, as if I had sacks of rice on my arm gradually increasing the tension. The effort was strange and intense, but not painful — it was a continuous pressure, demanding absolute focus.

  "What happened?" I asked in surprise as I sighed.

  Kael watched attentively, with a serious but calm countenance.

  "What you're feeling is normal. Mana works like a muscle. Every aspect of it needs to be trained: the reserve you have, the output you can generate, the control over where and how to apply it…"

  He gestured gently towards the artifact that was still spinning.

  "Since you've never trained any of these, it's natural to feel this pressure, this weight that increases every second. Your body is still learning to deal with something that's always been inside you, but that you've never had to control consciously."

  Kael paused, as if wanting to measure the impact of his words.

  "With training, you'll learn to direct this energy without effort, without it weighing so much on your body. But for now, feeling this is a good indication that you truly have great potential."

  I tried for a considerable time. Almost always failing at around twenty seconds. Katia, lying on the grass, laughed at every attempt.

  "Think it's easy?" Kael asked her, raising an eyebrow.

  "Totally," Katia replied.

  He just smiled sideways. "Then you'll be my next volunteer."

  After a few more attempts, Kael returned with another wooden sword.

  "Take it," he stated as he threw the sword to me.

  Without effort, I managed to catch the sword in the air; after all, I already knew when he would throw it and where the sword would fall.

  I held the sword firmly, feeling its balanced weight in my hands. Kael took a step back, keeping his eyes fixed on me, evaluating every gesture.

  "Mio," he began, with a firm voice, but laden with attention, "I noticed in the village during the wolf attack that you possess not only a huge amount of mana. Your body also reacts with speed and precision. Your reflexes, your posture… everything indicates you have remarkable physical aptitude."

  He paused briefly, observing my attentive expression.

  "Therefore, I decided that before advancing with elemental mana manipulation, we'll apply a different test: a battle simulation. I want to see how you use body and mind together, how you react under pressure, how you coordinate movements and energy."

  I felt a tinge of anxiety; it was the first time I would face someone trained in real combat, even if it was a simulation. Katia, still lying on the grass, gave me a look mixed with expectation and amusement.

  "Remember," Kael continued, raising the wooden sword as if ready to attack, "it's not about brute force. Anticipate, observe, react. Use what you have inside you."

  I took a deep breath, adjusting my foot position. The simulation would begin, and I knew I needed to be fully concentrated.

  "Katia, can you do the count?" Kael asked, with a firm voice, but a slight smile.

  Katia jumped up from the ground, excited, as if about to watch something entertaining.

  "Three… Two… One… go!" she said, her clear voice echoing across the training field.

  Kael took the first step, advancing for a quick attack.

  No panic or unnecessary emotions; it's just a simulation. — Since Katia started the count, I already knew where the first attack would land.

  Strike to the head, vertical attack. — I thought, and even before the blade was close, I spun my body with almost mechanical precision, dodging the attack.

  Kael stopped for an instant, surprised by the exactness of the movement, and even Katia blinked a few times, impressed by my dodge.

  "Interesting…" Kael murmured, retreating and preparing another attack, faster, this time trying a lateral thrust.

  Left leg, low attack. — I thought, adjusting my posture, feeling the tension spread through my body.

  Kael's blade passed close to my leg; I jumped to the side, maintaining my balance. Katia applauded softly, almost not believing what she saw.

  Kael retreated a few steps, analyzing my performance more closely.

  "You have impressive coordination," he said, his voice laden with contained approval. "Let's see how you handle faster sequences."

  The combat continued, and with each thrust, each dodge and block, Kael and Katia couldn't hide small signs of surprise and admiration at the precision and speed of my 'reflexes'.

  Kael advanced with even greater speed, his body moving as if anticipating every second of the combat.

  I managed to block some attacks until an inevitable future hit my vision.

  Jump left? Unblockable lateral cut. Duck? Vertical cut. Deflect the attacks? Insufficient speed.

  No matter what I do… — I thought, the coldness of perception running down my spine. — In all the futures I saw, no step, no dodge, no attempt could save me from this final thrust.

  He attacked with a combination that I already knew in theory, but still couldn't execute in practice: three quick cuts, following unexpected angles, coordinated to close any opening I might use. My body reacted as always, but no matter how I tried, each action seemed to fail before it even occurred.

  The final cut came from above, heavy and precise. Before I could fully dodge, I felt the impact against my shoulder, the imbalance throwing me backward. The ground came fast, hard, but it didn't hurt as much as the shock of seeing that, no matter how much I had anticipated, it was inevitable.

  Kael stopped a few steps away, the sword still firm in his hands. His eyes were attentive, measuring not just my technique, but the intensity of my movements and reflexes.

  "This is exactly why training isn't optional," he said, voice firm, but without judgment. "Knowing the flow of battle is only half. Accepting that you won't always win is the other."

  "Well, your reflexes are enviable; even some trained soldiers can't keep up with me," Kael added. "We still have time; wait here; I'm going to get something."

  Kael walked away towards the house, gradually disappearing into the silence of the training field.

  Katia approached, bending her knees, positioning herself at the same height I was sitting on the ground. "How did you do that?"

  About dodging the attacks then… I don't know what I can answer here. — "I don't know. I just did it. Was it strange?"

  Katia stared at me for a few more seconds, as if expecting a better explanation.

  "I wouldn't say it's strange…" Katia seemed to rethink for a second. " No; it was certainly strange, but not in the sense of being weird or anything; it was more unexpected or incredible. I don't know how to describe it."

  Kael wasn't long in returning; he carried an object that reflected the sunlight. It was a translucent orb, smaller than the ones I had used before, with something like smoke slowly swirling inside it.

  "Katia told me you don't know what your element is." He raised the orb between us. "This is an elemental detection orb. Different from the ones we used for control, this one specifically reacts to the affinity of whoever channels mana."

  He extended the orb towards me.

  "All you need to do is apply mana as you did before. The orb will do the rest. Depending on your element, it will change color: red for fire, navy blue for Pure mana, violet for electricity, brown for earth, white for ice, and light blue for water."

  I extended my hands and took the orb. The smoke danced lazily inside it, indifferent to my approach.

  No action shows the orb changing color.

  Kael watched attentively, one eyebrow slightly raised.

  "Are you in doubt? Or can't you channel now?"

  "I'm already applying mana," I replied, keeping my hands over the orb.

  He frowned like someone trying to fit a piece that didn't belong to a puzzle. Katia also approached to look.

  "Nothing changed," she murmured, as if needing to confirm the obvious. "Are you sure you're putting mana in?"

  Kael touched the back of his neck, tilting his head slightly. "Maybe you haven't fully memorized how to externalize mana consistently. It happens in the beginning."

  I don't think that's it. — "Can I take that one?" I pointed to the same one I had used to test mana consistency — "The windmill."

  "This?" Kael picked up the object, extending it to me.

  "That one."

  He handed it to me. I held the detection orb in one hand and the windmill in the other.

  As soon as I started applying mana, the windmill spun. The orb continued exactly as before. The smoke dancing, indifferent. No color. No reaction. Kael and Katia just passed their eyes between the windmill and the orb, without saying a word.

  Did I do something wrong? — "Did I do something wrong? Maybe it's a different type of application," I questioned, trying to dampen the silence.

  "No, the application is correct. It's just that this is unusual," he finally said, his voice more restrained than before.

  "Isn't it broken? Or maybe it's a rare affinity, Air perhaps?" Katia asked.

  "No, even for those there's a coloration; if the affinity were Air, the orb would glow green. Mio, can you hand it to me?"

  "Sure."

  When Kael touched the orb, it didn't take long for it to reflect his affinity. White, signaling affinity with ice. He extended the orb to Katia. She held it with an almost ceremonial care, concentrated for less time than her father, and the orb responded the same way. Again, white.

  No matter how many times I had watched those scenes before they happened, I didn't have a convincing answer for that.

  "What does this mean?" I asked.

  Kael and Katia exchanged a look. Katia turned her gaze to the orb while Kael tried to explain.

  "I don't know, but there are a few possibilities. The first is that maybe the orb isn't broken, but doesn't react properly to your mana; I mean, you certainly have more mana than me. With that amount, it's possible the orb just doesn't work for you."

  "The second is related not to your mana, but perhaps a rare affinity? I said for air it would glow green, but some records say there is life-creation magic; I don't know what color that affinity operates with."

  "And the third…" Kael said, choosing each word carefully. "Is that maybe you have no elements? But I honestly find it hard to believe that."

  "For now, we continue training normally. But we'll need to investigate this."

  Investigate? And if I try to tell them that I can see things that will happen? — The test was done inside my head. — Same reaction as always; he won't believe me. I can't see enough to determine what happens if I insist.

  Another possibility passed through my mind. — … I don't know if I want to test this with Katia.

  She placed her hand on my shoulder, keeping the smile on her face. "We don't know what this means, but don't worry; we'll figure it out."

  "Your father seems quite worried," I concluded, observing Kael looking at the horizon, as if trying to remember something.

  Katia's smile expanded into something presumptuous. "But I'm not!" She brandished the statement, as if it were an indisputable fact.

  "…"

  At the end of the morning, my arms were heavy, my legs ached, and my mind was tired from so much focus. Kael, however, seemed satisfied.

  While I rested sitting on the training field, Katia before me sported an expression of pure concentration. The exercise was simple: create an arrow made of ice and immediately shoot it at the target thirty meters away.

  She's doing well. I wonder why Kael limited her to creating only ice arrows. — The sound of the last impact against the target still echoed in the silence of the training field.

  "Finished?" I asked.

  "Yes," she replied, letting out a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of all the accumulated concentration. She grabbed a cloth to wipe her forehead before turning to me.

  "So? What did you think?"

  "You're incredible," the statement came from a purely factual place. Seeing someone conjure matter from nothing — and with such precision — would never cease to be something that took my breath away. "Maybe it would be better to adjust the target to sixty meters."

  A slight blush rose up Katia's cheeks, and she looked away for an instant, as if my direct praise was more difficult to face than the distant targets. Without saying anything more, she came to sit beside me on the stone step, the ice bow dissolving into a cold mist at her touch.

  The silence between us was comfortable, filled only by our fatigue. It was in this calm that the question dwelling in a corner of my mind since the village bridge finally found a voice.

  "Katia…" I began, my voice sounding lower than I intended. I turned to face her. "Why did you insist so much for your father to bring me?"

  Katia didn't answer immediately. She picked up a loose pebble from the ground and began spinning it between her thumb and index finger.

  "It would be a shame to waste talent like yours," she finally said, without looking at me.

  "Sorry." I leaned forward, trying to catch her gaze. "I don't think even you fully believe that."

  A light smile touched her lips, more sincere than defensive. She tossed the pebble aside, where it bounced a few times before stopping.

  "It's certainly not just that." She rested her elbows on her knees, crossing her arms as she looked at the horizon where the sun was beginning to set. "If I have to choose a reason…" She paused, lightly biting her lower lip. "I wanted someone to accompany me."

  "Accompany you?" I repeated, turning more towards her.

  "Yes." Katia pulled her knees against her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "My grandparents were great adventurers. Whenever they came home, they told me stories about other nations, creatures… places that seemed straight out of dreams." Her gaze lost itself on the horizon line, as if seeing the stories unfold there. "Remember when you saw the capital for the first time?" She turned her face to me, her eyes shining. "That look of wonder on your face… It was incredible, wasn't it?"

  The sunset tinged the sky orange and purple, and these colors seemed to merge with the lavender of her eyes. I followed her gaze to the horizon.

  "I want to replicate that feeling," she continued, her voice softer now. "As many times as possible. The world is huge, Mio." She stretched out an arm, as if trying to embrace the whole sky. "My own great-grandmother even got to know Isla. There are so many things… and I don't want to see them all alone."

  "I understand," I said, pulling my own knees against my chest in a mirrored gesture. I let my gaze also rest on the flaming horizon. "But why me, exactly? You're perfectly capable of following your dream alone."

  Katia turned her face completely towards me. The twilight light illuminated half of her countenance, serious in a way I rarely saw. She reached out and lightly touched my arm.

  "When you faced the wolf, your eyes had no fear." She paused, withdrawing her hand and pressing it against her own knee. "And when I talked about magic, about school, about Isla… you reminded me of myself, listening to my grandparents' stories." A nostalgic smile curved her lips.

  "With that same silent gleam of someone seeing a new world opening up. For a moment, I thought you might want to accompany me."

  "But you don't have to do this," she said, quickly shaking her head in denial. "This is just part of my selfishness."

  Finally, I understood the desire that moved Katia. Perhaps it wasn't exactly the same, but it was a feeling I knew well: that illogical, cold desire to explore the unknown.

  If I had been alone when I saw the capital for the first time, I probably would have entered anyway. But I'm sure what I would have felt would be different.

  "Then let's go," I replied to Katia, still watching the sunset.

  For a moment, there was only silence. Then, she simply laughed.

  "How can you respond to my entire declaration with that expression of complete indifference?" she asked, pushing my shoulder with hers.

  "What does your father think about this? Do you want to see the world?"

  Katia's smile softened. She looked at her own hands, where small ice crystals began to form and melt in a nervous cycle.

  "He said the world isn't as beautiful a place as the stories make it seem," she admitted, her voice a bit more contained. "He told me to decide after knowing a little more than just the gates of the capital before making a decision."

  "And what did you decide?"

  "If my father said that, there must be a reason," she replied, and her voice gained strength with each word. "But I think my stubbornness won."

  She stood up in a quick movement, stretching her arms above her head as if the subject were closed.

  The late afternoon light caught her face fully, and for an instant, Katia seemed exactly as she was: someone who had chosen, despite everything, to keep wanting.

  Seems like a good goal; if all the places from the stories I've read are real, then the capital is just the first place.

  "I'll go with you." The words were directed at Katia, carried by the wind. Marking the beginning of something that seemed truly special.