Smoke rose slowly from the morning fires. The sky was pale, cloudless—for once, a day that promised to stay dry. It made everything feel lighter. Even the cold seemed gentler than usual.
Alex was stood barefoot on a trees surface. He wobbled for a second, then corrected. His arms stretched out slightly for balance, face tight in concentration. He was horizontal. This presented another issue they hadn’t really though much about. This is real life, not anime, sticking yourself is one thing, but the core strength to remain there is another thing all together. He can maintain a few seconds but no more, not from lack of chakra control, but his own physical strength.
As such Alex has catered his training, to sticking different leaves on his body, and in regards to tree climbing, he can hang upside down for about 10 seconds, but walking up a tree is far beyond him physically.
“Only 10 seconds” he muttered. I’d like to use the lake, but without knowing what’s in it, fuck, its just too risky, He was dusting himself off after his not so elegant landing. The trick isn’t sticking to a tree branch, its not breaking your neck when you drop.
“Not bad,” came a voice.
He looked up to see Miriam watching. She crossed her arms. “Can you give me some pointers; I’ve only just bought chakra.”
“I can try, but id bought Chakra control Techniques
“Yeah, it’s hard-to-find time to get points unfortunately.”
Alex smiled, took a slow breath “Ill give you some pointers”
“Thank you” she said, smirking. “Lets avoid hanging from the tree for now”
A short distance away, Ellie sat with Li and Wren. The three of them formed a small circle near a ring of smooth stones, where Ellie had etched faint magical runes into the dirt with a stick. Nothing active—just experiments.
“I’m telling you,” Wren said, eyeing the symbols. “That middle one you drew? Looks like it’s glowing.”
“That’s wishful thinking,” Ellie said, though she leaned in.
“I don’t get it, how are you so good at this” Li said softly. “What are you trying to do”
“Not sure to be honest, I mean, it just feels like a good training technique I guess, you know, imbuing my magic into something” Ellie said.
“Well, lets hope you don’t kill us all” Wren said.
“How is he?”
“Okay I guess, Jared says the wound isn’t infected, but it’s going to take some time to heal”
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They continued practicing their magic control in silence.
Yusuf sat cross-legged near the eastern fencing, eyes shut. The glow of his aura pulsed more steadily now, forming a faint shimmer around his body though only he could see it.
Jake sat nearby, chewing dried root bark, scribbling.
“So Gyo’s next?” he asked.
Yusuf didn’t answer. Not at first. He exhaled slowly, opened one eye. “Trying. I’m practicing Ren and Ten overlap right now. Gyo’ll will be harder, it takes a lot of control, I can tell.”
“You going to try for a custom Hatsu?”
“Maybe,” Yusuf said. “But right now I just need control. Can't fire a cannon if you don’t know how to load it.”
Jake smirked. “You’re starting to sound like Camila.”
Yusuf shrugged. “She’s not wrong about most things.”
David had his new saber out near the edge of the training area, where he and Roger were practicing swings against a dummy they’d lashed together from vines and hardened bark.
“Try pivoting your back foot,” David called. “You’re losing power halfway through the slash.”
Roger adjusted. The blade cut cleaner.
“Better,” David said. He stepped back, wiping sweat from his brow. “I’ve been picking up a few points, I can almost buy Armament Haki
Roger nodded. “Good stuff man. I’m still trying for Haki Awareness
“Absolutely, Kaido’s would be nice, but a logia may be the way to go, if we’re the only ones that can use Haki then we’ll be invulnerable. Unless we fall in water I guess.” David said with a grin.
“Or your unlucky enough to come up against something that your weak against”
Both men got back to their training. It had to be done sparingly, in regards to their food situation, but if they get stronger, then that means they don’t have to worry about what attacked Vin.
By late afternoon, the hunting team returned—Camila, Raj, Theo, and Hana—this time carrying a long, sinewy form lashed between two poles. The creature was deer-like, but with longer legs and antlers that curled into odd spirals. Its fur was dark and mottled, almost like moss.
“God,” someone muttered. “What that?”
“Some kind of forest deer,” Camila said. “Bigger than anything we’ve seen.”
“We spotted a second one,” Raj added. “But it spooked.”
“Meat for three days,” Jared said, his eyes alight. “We’ll dry half, cook the rest.”
“Didn’t go down easy either,” Theo muttered. “Almost gored me.”
That night, the stew was rich again—spiced with bark and bitter berries, but filled with real meat not just scraps from a few rabbits caught in the snares.
People gathered closer now. Conversations stretched longer. Even laughter returned, hesitant but honest.
At the Obelisk, two more stepped forward.
Marcy – 21 Points
She placed her hand on the stone without hesitation.
Fairy Tail.
Down to 1 point, she stepped away with a quiet sort of pride. “About time,” she whispered.
Dev – 23 Points
A younger boy, one of the quiet students. He looked uncertain as he stepped up. Jake hovered nearby, just in case.
He selected Bleach
That evening, Ellie walked with Alex near the stream.
“You checked your affinities yet?” she said.
“Yep, Fire, water and earth. And I’m close to affording a release. Fire, maybe. Should give me an inkling in how to work my chakra to that element.”
“Fitting.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “You calling me reckless?”
Ellie smiled. “You jumped off a cliff to kill a bear. You tell me.”
They both laughed, quiet and tired, but full.
Back near the map tree, Miriam updated the patrol rotations. Jake stood beside her, flipping through pages.
“Fourteen now,” he said. “Fourteen out of a hundred.”
“Not bad, although for most its just having unlocked a path, not a power yet, but we’re getting somewhere.” Miriam muttered
