Chapter 606: So, let’s keep going.
Liza watched Kael for a few more seconds before approaching the edge of the tower. From there, one could see practically the entire training courtyard. The place looked like it had been hit by a small war. Stone blocks lay scattered across the ground, several pillars were cracked, and part of the outer wall had simply vanished.
She let out a soft sigh.
"You really do learn by destroying everything."
Kael shrugged.
"It’s an efficient method."
"Maybe not for the person who has to rebuild it all later."
He chuckled softly.
"I’ll pay for the repairs."
Liza glanced at him sideways.
"With the Witches’ money?"
"..."
"..."
"My bad."
She shook her head, amused.
"I figured."
Silence returned for a few moments.
Then, Liza held out a hand.
"Do it again."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"You want to see it?"
"I want to understand it."
He nodded.
This time, he didn’t gather a massive amount of mana. He simply closed his eyes for a brief moment, letting it circulate through his entire body. The sensation was completely different from his initial attempt.
Before, he had forced the mana into his legs.
Now, he let it flow naturally through every part of his body.
When all his muscles seemed synchronized...
He took just a single step.
Whoosh.
Liza didn’t even see him leave his spot.
The very next instant, Kael was standing behind her.
"Like that?"
She turned only her head.
"Interesting."
Kael smiled.
"It doesn’t feel like magic."
"Because it isn’t."
Liza slowly walked around him.
"Your whole body accelerates at the exact same moment."
She ran a hand over her chin as she analyzed the movement.
"You eliminate practically all unnecessary motion."
Kael nodded.
"That’s what I realized."
"At first, I was concentrating the mana in my legs." "Then I realized they weren’t the problem."
"The rest of the body was slowing down the movement."
Liza gave a small nod.
"Exactly."
She continued analyzing.
"Actually..."
"This is closer to a martial technique than magic."
Kael smiled.
"That’s exactly what I wanted."
"If it were magic..."
"...someone could block it."
"If it were teleportation..."
"...someone could stop it."
"But this..."
He flexed his fingers slightly.
"...is just running."
Liza laughed.
"You just reduced decades of study to ’just running’."
"It’s a very complicated run."
"That makes it a bit better."
Then she asked a question that caught him off guard.
"What’s the limit?"
Kael fell into thought.
"I don’t know yet."
"Distance?"
"That too."
"Fatigue?"
"Haven’t tested that yet."
"Mana consumption?"
"Lower than I imagined."
Liza crossed her arms again.
"So there’s still a lot of work to do."
"Yes."
"But the concept is ready."
Kael agreed.
"For the first time."
He looked at his own hands.
"I feel like I can develop this."
Liza nodded slowly.
"Good techniques usually start like that."
"First, you manage to pull them off."
"Then, you learn to refine them."
She took a few steps toward the tower stairs.
"Come."
Kael followed.
"Where to?"
"Let’s test this properly."
The two of them went down to an open area behind the palace. It was a huge space used by the vampire knights for mounted training. At that hour, it was empty.
Liza walked to the center.
"Attack me."
Kael made a strange face.
"You just told me not to destroy anything else."
"Don’t destroy anything."
"Use speed."
He took a deep breath. "Fine."
Without warning, he vanished.
Whoosh.
Liza moved just one foot.
Kael reappeared beside her, already throwing a punch.
She tilted her body ever so slightly.
The strike cut through empty air.
Whoosh.
Kael vanished again.
This time, he appeared behind her.
Liza spun around before the blow even landed.
Her forearm met his with precision.
*Clack.*
Kael took two steps back.
"Hm."
She smiled.
"You’re fast."
"But your body still gives away your intent."
Kael frowned.
"How?"
"Your shoulder."
She pointed.
"You telegraph the strike before it arrives."
"Even if I don’t see you move..."
"...I see your body attacking."
Kael thought for a few seconds.
It made sense.
His speed had increased drastically.
But his habits remained exactly the same.
Liza continued.
"Fast movement doesn’t mean fast combat."
"They’re different things."
She raised a finger.
"You’ve mastered half the technique."
"The other half..."
"...is learning to fight at that speed."
Kael smiled.
"So I’ve still got work to do."
"You do."
Liza replied.
"And plenty of it."
Then, she vanished.
Kael’s eyes widened.
Even using his new technique, he couldn’t fully track her movement.
He only felt a presence behind him.
A finger touched the back of his neck.
"You’re dead."
Kael let out a sigh.
"That was a vampire ability."
"It was."
"So it doesn’t count."
Liza chuckled softly.
"It counts enough to prove a point."
She moved back in front of him.
"Speed doesn’t beat experience."
"It amplifies experience."
Kael fell silent.
The phrase stuck in his mind.
It was exactly the kind of advice he liked.
Simple.
Direct.
No beating around the bush.
He looked at his own body again.
Then he smiled.
"So, let’s keep going."
Liza smiled too.
"This time..."
"...without destroying half my kingdom." Kael raised both hands.
"I make no promises."
She simply sighed.
"I expected that answer."
Kael took another deep breath and stretched his shoulders as he gazed at the empty field ahead. His conversation with Liza had made one thing very clear: creating the technique was only the beginning. If he couldn’t use it in actual combat, *Celestial Step* would end up being nothing more than an extremely fast way to run.
He rested a hand on the back of his neck.
"So... again."
Whoosh.
His body vanished and reappeared fifty meters ahead.
Without even pausing, he used the technique again.
Whoosh.
Another fifty.
Whoosh.
Another fifty.
Liza watched in silence. She didn’t interfere; she simply observed every detail of the movement.
After nearly a minute, Kael returned to the starting point.
"Any difference?"
Liza answered immediately.
"You’re still overthinking it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Thinking?"
"Before every movement."
She pointed at him.
"You prepare."
"You focus."
"You decide."
"Then you execute."
She shook her head.
"In a fight, that’s already too slow."
Kael crossed his arms.
"But it takes less than a second."
"A good fighter doesn’t need a whole second."
She replied matter-of-factly.
"They need intent."
Kael reflected on this for a few seconds.
She continued.
"You created an extremely efficient technique."
"But you still use it like a spell."
He finally understood.
"...I activate it."
"Exactly."
Liza nodded.
"You shouldn’t activate it."
"It should just happen."
Kael let out a soft sigh.
"That sounds like advice from an old master."
"Because it is."
She replied without a hint of embarrassment. "The less you think..."
"...the faster you’ll be."
Kael looked back at the field.
"So, the problem is me."
"It was never the technique."
She replied.
"It was you."
He smiled.
"Straight to the point."
"Saves time."
Kael returned to his starting position.
This time, he didn’t try to speed up immediately.
He started by walking.
One step.
Another.
Steady breathing.
Mana circulating naturally.
No bursts of speed.
No forcing it.
No trying to impress anyone.
Just walking.
Then, he began to alternate.
A normal step.
A Celestial Step.
Another normal step.
Another Celestial Step.
Over and over.
Until there was no longer a clear distinction between the two.
Whoosh.
Step.
Whoosh.
Step.
Whoosh.
Liza noticed the change first.
His body no longer tensed up before the movement.
The technique was becoming part of his stride.
She smiled faintly.
"Now we’re getting somewhere."
Kael continued.
A few more minutes passed.
Dozens more teleports.
His breathing remained steady.
His mana consumption did, too.
That was another point that pleased him.
He had imagined a technique of that level would drain his reserves quickly.
But the exact opposite was happening.
Since the mana only reinforced his own body for a fraction of a second, the cost was far lower than casting a complex spell.
He reappeared beside Liza.
"I think I’ve found the way."
"You have."
She replied.
"Now comes the hard part."
Kael chuckled.
"There’s more?"
"A lot more."
She started walking.
"The next step is using it while trading blows."
"Then learning to change direction."
"Then learning to brake."
"Then learning to attack while moving."
"Then learning to mask the moment you use it."
Kael whistled.
"That’s going to take a while."
"It is."
She replied.
"But you’ve already done the part no one else could manage."
He looked at her.
"The concept."
Liza nodded.
"Most people spend years trying to create a technique."
"You succeeded."
"Now it’s just a matter of refining it."
Kael scratched his head.
"Just..."
"Yeah."
She replied.
"About ten years."
"..."
"You really like crushing my motivation."
She laughed.
"I prefer managing your expectations."
The two continued walking across the field until they neared the exit.
Some vampire soldiers were training further off in the distance.
When they noticed the Queen’s presence, they immediately stopped their training.
"Your Majesty."
Liza simply gave a slight nod.
The soldiers went back to what they were doing.
Kael watched the scene.
"The kingdom really has changed."
She followed his gaze.
"It has." "When Vlad ruled..."
"...no one trained like this."
She pointed to a group.
"They trained to obey."
Then she pointed to another.
"Today, they train to survive."
Kael remained silent.
Liza continued.
"After everything that happened..."
"...no one here believes in eternal peace anymore."
"Neither do I."
She stopped walking.
"It’s sad."
"But it’s also necessary."
Kael nodded slowly.
"I understand."
She looked at him.
"That’s precisely why I accepted Amelia’s plan so quickly."
Kael smiled.
"She spent days in hiding, reading through papers."
"I noticed."
"She didn’t even show up for dinner."
Liza chuckled softly.
"While you were tearing apart my training grounds..."
"...she practically reorganized half of the kingdom’s intelligence network."
"She enjoys that sort of thing."
"I noticed."
Kael smiled.
"I don’t."
"I noticed that, too."
They both laughed.
The conversation flowed much more naturally than it had a few days earlier.
At first, there had been only respect.
Now, trust was beginning to grow.
Liza no longer saw Kael merely as the man who had saved her life.
She saw someone who could truly become a valuable ally.
As they walked through the palace corridors, various staff members paused to greet the Queen.
When they noticed Kael beside her, they would bow a second time.
"Greetings, King of Witches."
Kael responded as he always did.
"Good morning."
A maid smiled discreetly before continuing on her way.
Liza noticed.
"You answer everyone."
"Of course."
"Even the servants."
Kael looked at her.
"So?"
"Nothing."
She replied.
"It’s just not common."
Kael shrugged.
"I see no reason to treat someone differently because of their job." She remained silent for a few seconds.
"I understand why so many people like you."
He grimaced.
"Not that many."
Liza just looked at him.
"Do you really believe that?"
Kael started counting off on his fingers.
"Yggdrasil is always picking fights with me."
"She picked a fight because you entered her realm."
"Nidhogg is always threatening me."
"These days, she has tea with Yggdrasil."
"Inari gives me a headache."
"She kisses you, too."
"Umbra is jealous."
"That, too."
Kael fell silent.
Liza started to laugh.
"It seems your problems are quite specific."
"They are."
"I don’t complain much."
She was still laughing as they turned a corner.
Up ahead, Sylphie, Amelia, and Irelia appeared.
The three of them were chatting casually.
Sylphie was the first to notice Kael.
Her eyes immediately landed on Liza.
Then they shifted back to Kael.
She smiled with that calm expression that usually signaled a comment was coming.
"Finished training?"
"For now."
Kael replied.
Sylphie then looked at Liza.
"Thank you for teaching him."
Liza smiled.
"He learns fast."
"He destroys things fast, too."
Amelia remarked.
Kael looked at her.
"How do you know?"
"I received a report."
Irelia raised a hand to her face.
"You filed a report on his training?"
"No."
Amelia replied.
"I received a formal complaint from the person in charge of the training grounds."
Kael sighed.
"Has it arrived?"
"It has."
She answered calmly.
"Liza."
The Queen raised a hand.
"I’ll handle it."
Kael smiled in relief.
"Thank you."
Amelia observed the look exchanged between the two.
Then she glanced discreetly at Sylphie.
Sylphie just smiled.
"You can rest easy."
Amelia blinked.
"Hm?"
"I know exactly what you were thinking."
Amelia coughed.
"I wasn’t thinking anything."
"You were."
Irelia started to laugh.
Kael looked at the three of them.
"You three can turn any conversation into a matter of jealousy."
"We can."
All three answered at once.
It took Liza a few seconds to process that.
Then she simply let out a soft laugh.
"Sounds exhausting."
Kael looked at her.
"You have no idea."
Sylphie walked over to him and naturally took his hand.
"Are you really done?"
"Yes."
She gave his fingers a light squeeze.
"So, training is over for now."
Kael looked at her.
"For today."
"For today."
She smiled with satisfaction.
Amelia closed the folder she was carrying.
"Great."
"Because I’m done with mine, too."
Kael picked up on her tone immediately.
"That spells trouble."
"It spells work."
She replied.
"I think we finally have a lead on finding that organization."
Kael’s relaxed smile faded slightly.
He looked at Amelia and realized she was serious. The time for mere training was drawing to a close.
Now began the phase in which all the pieces gathered over the past few days would finally be set in motion.