Chapter 152: Keep Going
Denzel didn’t wait for anyone to tell him to continue.
He raised the wooden sword once more, adjusted his footing, and fixed his eyes on the ribbon of water circling lazily around Lyra’s arm.
"...Again."
Lyra’s lips curled into an amused smile.
"I was hoping you’d say that."
With a flick of her wrist, the ribbon peeled away from her arm and darted forward.
Denzel met it with his blade.
Crack!
The impact shuddered through the wooden sword and into his arms.
Before the water had even fully recoiled, he reached for it.
Mana.
The familiar warmth beneath his skin answered almost immediately.
He followed the sensation toward Lyra’s spell.
Take it.
Guide it.
Just... move.
Nothing.
The ribbon slipped away as effortlessly as sand through open fingers, curling back around Lyra’s arm as though mocking him.
"...Again," he muttered.
Lyra obliged.
This time the ribbon came slower.
Not because she thought he needed it.
Because the knight had silently raised a hand, signaling her to ease the pace.
Denzel blocked.
Reached.
Failed.
Again.
The third attempt fared no better.
Nor the fourth.
By the sixth, sweat had begun to gather along his brow despite the cool breeze drifting through the clearing.
His shoulders rose and fell with heavier breaths, but his grip never loosened around the practice sword.
Each attempt ended the same way.
He could feel the mana.
He knew it was there.
For the briefest instant, it almost seemed close enough to touch.
Then it slipped away before he could grasp it.
It was like trying to catch smoke.
No...
The thought surfaced almost on its own.
It wasn’t smoke.
It was...
His expression eased slightly.
Familiar.
The realization settled over him as another failure passed.
This feeling...
He’d experienced it before.
Not here.
Not with someone else’s magic.
Back then, Antonia had sat across from him for what felt like hours, patiently asking him to sense the mana flowing through his own body.
At first, he’d chased after it with everything he had.
He’d strained.
Forced it.
Expected results simply because he wanted them badly enough.
It hadn’t worked.
The harder he’d tried to seize it, the further away it had seemed.
Only after he’d stopped treating mana like something to overpower had he begun to truly feel it.
The memory lingered just long enough to steady his breathing.
Maybe...
This wasn’t so different.
He lowered the sword, staring thoughtfully at the floating ribbon.
"...What am I missing?"
The question escaped before he realized he’d spoken aloud.
The knight, who had watched every failed attempt in silence, answered without hesitation.
"You’re trying to command something that doesn’t belong to you."
Denzel frowned.
"I have to take control of it, don’t I?"
"Eventually."
She stepped closer, her gaze shifting from him to the water circling Lyra’s arm.
"But you don’t begin by taking."
He waited.
"You begin by listening."
His brow furrowed deeper.
"...Listening?"
The knight didn’t elaborate immediately.
Instead, she turned toward Lyra.
"Stop."
The ribbon dissolved at once, gathering itself into a smooth sphere no larger than an apple. It hovered quietly above Lyra’s open palm, perfectly still.
The clearing seemed to grow quieter with it.
The knight looked back at Denzel.
"Forget controlling it."
She gestured toward the motionless sphere.
"For now, I don’t want you to move it."
Denzel blinked.
"...Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Feel it."
Silence.
He waited for the explanation he was sure would follow.
It didn’t.
The knight merely continued in the same calm voice she’d used since the lesson began.
"Find where your mana ends..."
Her eyes settled on the floating sphere.
"...and where hers begins."
Denzel stared at the water.
That was it?
No complicated technique.
No secret incantation.
Just...
Feel it.
It sounded almost insultingly simple.
Which, from experience, probably meant it would be anything but.
Lyra looked from the floating sphere to Denzel before raising an eyebrow.
"...That’s it?"
The knight didn’t look at her.
"That’s enough."
Lyra let out an exaggerated sigh.
"I was hoping for something a little more exciting."
"You’ll survive."
"I suppose."
She straightened her arm, keeping the sphere perfectly suspended above her palm. Unlike before, there wasn’t the slightest ripple across its surface.
It simply... existed.
Quiet.
Still.
Waiting.
The knight nodded toward it.
"Go on."
Denzel hesitated before stepping closer.
The water looked ordinary enough.
If someone had stumbled into the clearing without context, they would’ve assumed Lyra was simply showing off a neat trick.
Yet now that he was standing this close...
He could feel it.
Not the water itself.
The mana holding it together.
It lingered around the spell like an invisible shell.
Faint.
Steady.
Different.
He closed his eyes.
The world faded.
The breeze brushing against his skin.
The birds somewhere overhead.
The distant rustle of leaves.
He let them drift into the background one by one.
Just as Antonia had taught him.
Don’t chase it.
Let it come to you.
He took a slow breath.
Mana answered.
The familiar warmth spread quietly through his body, flowing along paths he’d become increasingly aware of over the past few days.
His own mana.
Calm.
Comfortable.
Like recognizing the sound of his own heartbeat.
Then...
He reached outward.
Toward the sphere.
Nothing.
He frowned.
He couldn’t tell where his mana ended.
Or where Lyra’s began.
Everything blurred together into one frustrating sensation.
After nearly a minute, he opened his eyes again.
"...I don’t get it."
The knight’s expression remained unchanged.
"What don’t you get?"
"I can feel my mana."
He glanced toward the floating sphere.
"I know hers is there."
"But..."
He searched for the right words.
"It’s like trying to find a single drop of rain after it’s already fallen into a river."
The knight regarded him for a long moment.
Then, unexpectedly...
She nodded.
"A better description than I expected."
Denzel blinked.
"...Was that a compliment?"
"It was."
"...I’ll treasure it."
Lyra snorted.
"You should."
"They’re endangered."
The knight ignored her.
"You’ve identified the problem."
She stepped beside Denzel, stopping just close enough that he could see the sphere from the same angle she did.
"Now stop looking for mana."
He turned to her.
"...You just told me to feel it."
"I did."
"So?"
"So stop looking for mana."
His face twisted in confusion.
"...You’re doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
"The thing where you say something that sounds wise but somehow explains nothing."
A smile tugged at Lyra’s lips.
"I told you."
"It doesn’t get better."
The knight reached out, placing two fingers lightly against the flat of Denzel’s wooden sword.
"You know this sword."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"You know your own mana."
"...Yes."
"Then don’t search for hers."
She gently nudged the tip of the wooden blade toward the floating sphere.
"Search for..."
A faint tap echoed through the clearing as the tip of the sword touched the water.
"...what doesn’t belong."
Denzel’s gaze lingered on the sphere.
What doesn’t belong.
It sounded strange.
But...
Strangely, it made more sense than everything she’d said before.
Denzel let out a slow breath.
What doesn’t belong...
His fingers shifted slightly around the wooden sword.
He stopped trying to search for mana.
Instead, he looked at the sphere as though he’d never seen it before.
Water.
Simple water.
If Lyra released her spell...
It would fall.
That much was obvious.
So what was keeping it there?
He closed his eyes again.
This time, he wasn’t searching for warmth or currents or the strange sensation beneath his skin.
He was searching for...
Difference.
His own mana settled naturally around him.
It felt familiar.
Like standing inside his own room with the lights off.
He knew where everything was without needing to see it.
Then he reached just beyond it.
Toward the sphere.
...
Nothing.
He frowned.
Again.
Still nothing.
Minutes slipped by.
The clearing fell into an almost meditative silence, broken only by birdsong and the occasional rustle of leaves overhead.
Lyra hadn’t moved once.
The water remained perfectly suspended above her palm.
Even her arm had begun to ache.
She refused to complain.
Mostly because the knight hadn’t blinked since the exercise began.
If she could stand there without moving...
Lyra figured she could too.
Eventually, Denzel opened his eyes with a tired sigh.
"...I still can’t find it."
The knight gave a single nod.
"I know."
He blinked.
"You... know?"
"If you had, the spell would’ve reacted."
"Oh."
For some reason...
That simple answer stung less than he’d expected.
The knight wasn’t disappointed.
She’d expected him to fail.
That realization made it easier to accept.
Lyra suddenly broke the silence.
"You know..."
She looked between the two of them before grinning.
"I think this lesson needs motivation."
The knight didn’t even glance at her.
"It has motivation."
"I’m talking about fun motivation."
That earned her a look.
Lyra’s smile only widened.
She turned to Denzel.
"If you manage to take control of my spell before today’s lesson ends..."
She tapped a finger against her chin dramatically.
"...I’ll grant you one request."
Denzel stared.
"...One request?"
"Mhm."
"Anything?"
"Within reason," she added quickly.
Before Denzel could answer, the knight spoke.
"Poor decision."
Lyra looked over.
"What?"
"You’re assuming he lacks imagination."
There was no change in the knight’s expression.
She stated it with the same calm certainty she’d use to comment on the weather.
Lyra’s confident smile faltered.
"..."
"...You know, when you put it like that..."
She slowly turned back toward Denzel.
"Nothing weird."
Denzel’s eyes widened.
"I wasn’t even thinking anything weird."
"The fact that you answered that fast makes me suspicious."
"I answered fast because you accused me!"
"Mhm."
"I don’t believe you."
He let out an exasperated breath.
"This is unfair."
The knight folded her arms.
"It usually is."
For a brief moment...
The tension in the clearing dissolved.
Even Denzel found himself laughing quietly.
It didn’t last long.
Because the moment his eyes drifted back toward the floating sphere...
His smile faded into determination.
A request...
His traitorous imagination supplied half a dozen possibilities before he’d even realized it.
Heat climbed into his ears.
Seriously?
He mentally shoved every thought aside.
You haven’t even moved the water.
There wasn’t much point thinking about a reward he had no chance of earning.
He raised the wooden sword again.
"...Let’s keep going."
Lyra smiled.
"That’s the spirit."