Chapter Thirty-One: Between Stillness and Explosion

Marcus woke up to the sound of creaking wood under Ashilad's feet.

The cottage was still cloaked in darkness, the cold had seeped into his bones despite the modest bedding. He reached out for something to cover his face, but Ashilad's grip beat him to it. He pulled the blanket off with a calm tone that felt like it came from a dream.

"We don't learn power by sleeping."

Marcus muttered, "Even kings sleep…"

Ashilad smiled without replying. He stepped out of the cottage, and Marcus followed him into the crisp air outside, where the breeze embraced the trees. They sat on the grass, the only sound being the song of the night. Ashilad raised a finger to the wind.

"Listen... Before you see. Before you sense. You must silence yourself."

The first training was on Heightened Sensory Awareness. Marcus had to close his eyes and try to listen to the flow of everything around him: the breath of the trees, the flap of a bird's wings, the crawl of an ant on a stone.

At first, he heard nothing but his thoughts. But Ashilad said nothing, just sat beside him sipping sarcastically from a tea cup and munching on dried meat he pulled from his pocket, waving it in front of Marcus silently.

**

The days passed. Each one began with the same ritual: four hours of sleep, then rising before dawn, training on sensation, then deep vision—where Marcus had to stare at objects until they began to "reveal" themselves. He didn't know how, but he began seeing faint threads of mist curling out of things, as if they were speaking a foreign language.

**

"Ashilad, I... I saw the chair glowing."

Ashilad replied while chewing, "Maybe the chair wanted to talk to you. Why don't you answer?"

"Have you lost your mind?"

"No. I found my way."

**

Reinforcement training was the most exhausting. He had to push his energy into his muscles, his bones, his nerves… But every time, he felt a small explosion inside him, like his body couldn't handle it. And one time, when he pushed all his strength to move quickly, a memory flickered—

Chains. A chase. A flash of energy.

Was that reinforcement? Did he use it back then without knowing? His heart trembled for a moment, then steadied.

**

Ashilad was watching him silently. Then said suddenly:

"You remember, don't you? The power you used before you were called."

Marcus didn't respond. He only stared at his hands.

"That was your beginning. Start from there, but don't stop there."

**

One night, Marcus asked, "Where did the cats go?"

Ashilad tossed some food into the fire. "They went wherever they wanted to go."

"And the people in the settlements?"

"Good people. Maybe they'll understand you better than you understand them. You'll know them when the time is right… if you want to complete the test."

**

On the seventeenth day, he entered the field phase.

He was locked inside a wooden cabin. Ashilad ordered him to "fill the place with himself." Marcus didn't understand. But something inside him began to stretch, feeling the air, the heat, the vibrations.

It was as if every particle around him had become him.

When he left the cabin, Ashilad was clapping slowly.

"Well, you've made progress. Now, it begins."

**

After nights of continuous training, sarcasm, surprise punches from Ashilad, meditation in the rain, under heat, and in silence… Marcus began to see himself differently.

He wasn't stronger. But he was clearer.

Now, he had mastered the four foundational skills:

Heightened Sensory Awareness

Deep Vision

Reinforcement

Channeling

And today, he would begin something new. A path where muscles and vision wouldn't help—only Perception.