The wind whispered among the rocks of the wasteland, carrying grains of dust and the echo of ancient silences. Kayla stopped in a small hollow surrounded by black shrubs and smooth stones. The sky above them looked darker than usual.
"Now we're going to get serious," she said, turning to Yuri.
Yuri leaned against a stone, still slightly tired from the previous day's exercises. "Why do I have the feeling that every time you say 'get serious,' things end badly for me?"
"Because it's true," Kayla replied with a mischievous smile. Then she turned serious. "Today, we'll talk about mana."
Kayla slowly crouched down, sitting cross-legged on a flat slab of stone. Her hands rested on her knees, her gaze fixed on Yuri.
"Mana is the lifeblood of the world. It's inside everything. Every living being has a limited amount of it, which varies depending on their nature, affinity, and... strength of will."
Yuri sat down across from her, intrigued. "How do you recharge it?"
"By sleeping. Meditating. Or... through certain focal objects. Pure sources of mana are rare and powerful. But for now, you'll have to do everything on your own."
Kayla closed her eyes for a moment. "Feeling mana is like listening to your heartbeat... when you stop trying to hear it. It's there. It flows. But you have to stop forcing it."
"It's... something you feel?" Yuri asked, puzzled.
"It's something you are," Kayla replied. Then she opened her eyes.
A moment later, a dense, dark aura began to dance around her body—a deep violet that seemed to pulse in rhythm with her breathing. The air around her shimmered slightly, as if distorted by heat.
Yuri stared in awe.
Kayla raised one hand. A spark floated over her fingers, then slowly dissolved like a butterfly made of light.
"This is the mana flowing within me. I let it out, but I don't force it. I invite it to manifest."
"It's... beautiful," Yuri whispered.
"And it's just a tiny fraction of what I can do."
Her voice held no arrogance. It was a simple, cold truth.
Kayla pointed to a smooth stone nearby. "Now it's your turn. You don't need to summon an element. Just... feel. Focus on that stone. And try to let your mana flow through it."
Yuri approached slowly. She placed her hand on the stone's surface. She closed her eyes. Breathed.
She tried to feel something: warmth, a pulse, a vibration... but nothing.
"Don't try to force it," Kayla said in a softer tone. "Relax. Empty your mind."
Yuri tried again. And again. After several minutes, she sighed. "Nothing."
"That's normal." Kayla moved closer. "Do you know why? Because you're too attached to the desire to succeed. Mana is an extension of your inner balance. As long as you seek to obtain, you only block it."
Yuri looked at her hand, frustrated. "But if I'm not supposed to want anything... then why am I even doing this?"
Kayla smiled. "Now you're starting to understand."
Silence fell. The wind stopped blowing for a moment, as if even nature had quieted to listen. Yuri sat back down, staring at the fingers that had produced nothing. But deep inside, she felt something stir. A faint heartbeat, hidden beneath layers of doubt and fear.
"Tomorrow we'll try again," Kayla said. "And the day after that. Until you manage to feel yourself.
The mana will come. But only when you're ready."
The afternoon had slipped away like sand through her fingers. The sky of the Shadow World was tinted with shades of violet, as if the night wasn't a boundary but a lurking presence.
Yuri sat alone, just a few steps away from the field where they had been training. The silence felt almost alive. Her thoughts raced: her failure with the stone, Kayla's enigmatic words, the frustrating sense of not being good enough.
She closed her eyes.
In the darkness behind her eyelids, she saw her grandmother again. Her smile. Her warm and reassuring voice. "Remember, my little one: inside you, there is a light, even if the world is full of shadows." A knot tightened in her throat. For a moment, she felt small. Alone. But then... she felt something. A heartbeat.
Not her heart. Not an external sound. A deeper beat. Ancient. Like an echo rising from the bones of the earth and intertwining with the breath of the wind.
She opened her eyes. The dry leaves around her lifted slightly, as if holding their breath. Yuri extended a hand. She wasn't thinking, wasn't forcing. She was simply... feeling. And in that moment, a faint breeze flowed from her fingers, caressing the ground.
"Much better," Kayla said, appearing silently behind her. "You didn't cast a spell. But you felt. This is the first step toward mastering mana."
Yuri turned to her. "It was... like everything was connected."
Kayla nodded. "It is. You don't manipulate mana. You invite it to come to you. In time, it will answer. And you will be able to command it."
Yuri lowered her hand. The current ceased. But something inside her remained alight.
"Your affinity with the wind is stronger than I expected. Tomorrow, we'll start from there."
She was about to add more, but a shrill sound made her spin around.
The sky, which had been dull yet calm just moments before, tore open in a distant spot, as if a crack had formed in the very fabric of the world. A figure emerged from the void: a winged shadow, with twisted horns and a thin tail that slithered through the air like smoke. It had no visible eyes, but from its form radiated a consciousness... ancient, cold, and malevolent.
Yuri stepped back. "W-what is that?!"
Kayla remained still, arms crossed, her gaze tense. "A messenger."
The shadow's voice came from all directions, as if speaking through the wind itself. It was deep, composed of overlapping tones, as if a thousand voices spoke as one:
> "Hear me, beings of darkness and light... The Demon King has chosen. The next target has been decreed. His gaze is already set on what he desires. And to obtain it... will be like drinking a sip of water."
The shadow laughed. A broken, disturbing laugh that seemed to scrape against the edges of the sky. Then it vanished. The sky sealed shut, as if nothing had happened.
Yuri was trembling. "Was it talking about... me?"
Kayla turned slowly. "It didn't say. But it's hard to ignore the timing." She stepped closer to Yuri and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Rest now. Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to make the wind dance."
Yuri lowered her gaze. The heartbeat inside her was still alive, but now... there was also a shadow chasing it.