An hour after Dale, Renzo, and Zay had returned from the clinic, Silver Yuso packed his gear, securing his sword to his back and adjusting the straps of his leather rucksack. With a grin, he waved his family off, disappearing into the rain-soaked streets of the Middle District before heading toward the grand gates of Ovaris. He had set off on his first adventure, leaving behind the quiet life of their home in pursuit of something greater.
For the first two and a half weeks, Zay's life was slow. His body was weak from the remnants of the illness, leaving him fatigued. He spent his days regaining his strength, following a strict diet and regimen under Dale's careful supervision.
At first, it was frustrating. Even the smallest exercises exhausted him, and the soreness never seemed to leave his body. But as the days passed, his endurance returned.
"The first while of this… is always the worst possible feeling. Even if I've grown accustomed to feeling this pain it doesn't help that it's an ill-filled body constantly." Zay said as he rested against a wall. His breathing heavy.
At the end of the first month, the long-awaited fight between him and Renzo took place.
The two brothers stood across from each other in the backyard of their home. The damp earth beneath them was uneven from the rainfall, patches of grass scattered in between. The wind carried the scent of wet stone, the sky dimly lit by the ever-present clouds.
Renzo cracked his knuckles, rolling his shoulders before raising his fists. "We've put this off long enough. No holding back, got it!"
Zay smirked, raising his own hands into a loose stance. "Wouldn't dream of it."
Renzo moved first, his foot slamming into the ground as he launched forward, throwing a fast right hook. Zay dodged, twisting to the side as he countered with a knee to Renzo's ribs, but his brother took the hit and retaliated with an elbow to Zay's jaw.
Pain surged through Zay's face as he stumbled back, but his grin widened. His instincts kicked in—dodging, weaving, countering with quick strikes. Renzo was stronger, his endurance and raw power pushing Zay back multiple times.
As the fight raged on, they became more brutal—fists colliding against skin, heavy breaths filling the air, bruises forming with every blow.
The fight ended when Zay feinted a right jab, forcing Renzo to dodge—only for Zay's knee to slam into his stomach. Renzo coughed, staggering back, and Zay capitalized, spinning into a roundhouse kick that sent Renzo crashing onto the muddy ground.
Renzo groaned, looking up at the sky before grinning. "Damn… you actually won."
Zay, panting heavily, held out a hand. "Close fight though."
Renzo chuckled before grasping his hand, pulling himself up. "Yeah… but next time, I'm not losing."
That night, Zay laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, his body aching from the fight. A strange satisfaction filled him he hadn't felt in any loops he'd been through.
After the fight, Zay devoted himself entirely to training.
He would wake up before dawn, running through the empty streets of Ovaris, the rain pelting his skin as he pushed his endurance to the limit. He trained his body relentlessly, striking against wooden dummies until his knuckles bled, forcing himself to repeat techniques over and over again.
Renzo eventually took notice.
One afternoon, as Zay was practicing his strikes on a thick wooden post, his hands wrapped in cloth, Renzo approached him.
"You train like a lunatic, you know that?"
Zay exhaled, shaking the sweat from his hair. "Better than sitting around doing nothing."
Renzo chuckled for a moment before he smirked. "I guess I can't let you get too far ahead of me."
From that day forward, Renzo joined him.
Their training was intense. Nine hours every day. They would run miles through the muddy streets, perform countless push-ups and sit-ups, sparring until their bodies were too battered to move.
Their training was intense. Only once a week, they took a single rest day to recover.
By the third month, the backyard was no longer enough. Zay and Renzo ventured beyond the empire, deep into the mist-covered forests that surrounded Ovaris. The terrain was treacherous, filled with thick roots and uneven ground, but it was perfect. They climbed trees, leapt across streams, and honed their reflexes by dodging falling branches during storms.
A week has passed by and they returned home.
It was then that Lily approached them. She stood before them in the rain, her emerald eyes filled with determination. "I want to train with you."
Zay turned to look at Lily, the wind catching strands of her long dark blue hair, causing them to dance like flowing water beneath the overcast sky. He studied her quietly for a moment, his amethyst eyes narrowing slightly.
"...You want to train with us?" His voice carried a note of disbelief. "I've never seen you interested in training before."
Lily held his gaze, her dark blue eyes filled with a sharp determination he wasn't used to seeing in her.
"...After watching you two train so hard these past months, I realized something. I don't want to be left behind. I want to be strong—I want to become an adventurer, see the world with my own eyes, gain fame, and become rich as hell." Her fists clenched at her sides. "If I stay weak, I'll never get the chance to do anything I want." She took a deep breath, steadying herself before bowing her head slightly. "So please. Train me."
Zay didn't answer right away. He studied her expression, searching for any sign of hesitation—but there was none. She was serious.
After a long pause, he finally nodded. "...Alright. We'll train you." His voice was calm but firm. "But I'm warning you now—this won't be easy. It's going to push you beyond limits you've never pushed yourself to before. Do you still want this, knowing that?"
Lily's eyes widened for just a second before she stood tall, planting her boots firmly against the muddy ground. "I understand, and I still want to."
Renzo and Zay exchanged a glance.
"Then let's get started."
The next morning, the three of them stood in the backyard, the damp air thick with the scent of rain-soaked earth.
Lily's training started right away.
They forced her to run laps around the Middle District every morning. At first, she struggled—her legs wobbled with every step, her lungs burned like fire, and sweat poured down her face. But she never complained. Never stopped. She pushed through, even when her body begged her to give up.
By the second week, she was no longer collapsing at the end of each run. Her pace had quickened, and she could somewhat keep up with them.
Once she proved she had the stamina, they moved on to combat.
Zay and Renzo drilled her in basic strikes—punches, kicks, footwork, and defensive maneuvers. They didn't go easy on her. Every mistake she made was met with a quick counter, forcing her to learn from experience. The first few days were brutal. She lost every sparring match, struggling to land even a single hit.
But something surprised them.
Lily learned at an insanely quick pace.
Her movements grew sharper with each passing day. Every hit she took only made her react quicker the next time. She adapted, countered, and studied their attacks with an intelligence that neither of them had expected.
By the end of the third month, she was holding her own against both of them.
One evening, Renzo and Zay sat by the port, watching the water ripple beneath the dull light of the stars. They tore into pieces of bread, the faint sound of the city behind them drowned out by the distant crashing of waves.
Renzo chewed thoughtfully before speaking. "She's… really good at fighting, honestly."
Zay, who had been lost in thought, blinked before nodding. "...She is. Better than I expected." He exhaled quietly, muttering under his breath, "I've never seen her fight like that before... though, I suppose I never thought to train her in any loop since she never asked."
Renzo turned his head. "Huh? What was that?"
Zay shook his head, forcing a smile. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." He took another bite of bread, chewing slowly.
Renzo sighed, tearing off another chunk of his own. "Whatever you say."
As they sat in silence, the ocean breeze ruffled their clothes, carrying with it the faint scent of salt and rain.
By the next morning, training continued, but something was missing.
One evening, as the three of them sat around a log in the forest, Zay exhaled slowly.
"I need to tell you both something... to progress training any further."
Renzo looked up. "What is it?"
"Renzo, you've heard about this but I doubt Lily has." Zay hesitated for a moment before speaking. "It's about Aura. It is a very real thing. To unlock it, is also easy. But, most people just never understand the process, that is what makes it rare in this part of the world."
Renzo sighed. "So, where did you read that at? Some sort of fantasy book or did you overhear crazy doctor man? Come on man. Aura? That's the stuff in fantasy books."
Lily looked up at him in confusion. "Aura? What is it?"
"I'll show you." Zay said before closing his eyes slowly. His long black hair whipped around even though there was no air, and a faint trail of violet surrounding his hands before it flew up his body before a faint trail of energy glowed from his entire body before it faded and he breathed heavily.
"I-I can't keep it up for long because of the strain it puts when you do more than your body can handle." Sweat began forming around his face before he wiped it away.
Renzo's eyes widened at it. "W-what the hell? So the doctor was crazy? I thought he was just some lunatic for the past few months." He said slowly as he was in disbelief.
Lily's eyes locked onto the violet color as it faded away. "That was... so pretty and cool looking." She said. "How do I do that?"
Zay nodded. "There are different breathing methods to gather aura. Each person reacts differently to them. But you two… luckily, we all share the same properties due to being blood related. That means I can teach you one of the most effective method I personally use."
Taking a deep breath, Zay adjusted his stance on the log, his feet planted firmly. Slowly, he inhaled, his chest expanding, the air around him shifting. Then, he exhaled, a faint shimmer of violet energy flickering around his skin for just a second before fading.
"In the beginning. It's not about force. It's about controlling the way you breath."
Renzo and Lily exchanged a slow look before nodding.
For the rest of the fourth month, the three of them dedicated themselves to gathering aura, following Zay's breathing techniques. It was a slow, grueling process, but progress was made.
After weeks of relentless training, the fourth month finally came to an end. Zay could now maintain his aura around his body for a solid three hours without any issues at all.
But mastery didn't come without a price.
"Forcing aura to manifest in an unconditioned body is like pouring molten steel into a brittle mold," Zay muttered to himself, his breath steady despite the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him. "If the body isn't strong enough to contain it, the backlash can be catastrophic—shattered bones, ruptured organs, or even instant death. It's not something to take lightly… and yet, that's exactly how I died in one of the loops."
His fingers twitched slightly as he recalled the sensation—more than a memory, it was imprinted into his very soul.
"I was nineteen. The first week, I took things slow, careful not to push too hard. But by the second week, I let my arrogance get the better of me. I forced myself to keep my aura active for as long as possible. Sweat poured from me like a storm breaking over a parched desert. My skin burned, every pore screaming in agony. My muscles convulsed, spasming out of my control. It felt like my own bones were grinding against themselves, splintering under the immense strain. My ribcage felt as if it was caving in, squeezing my lungs so tight that every breath became a struggle. My heart pounded wildly, trying to push blood through a body that no longer obeyed natural laws.
And still, I held on.
I kept it active, ignoring everything that was happening to me. My organs felt as though they were liquefying, my veins burning as if lava coursed through them.
Then, finally, my body gave in. I collapsed. Unconscious and unable to release my aura properly, it suffocated me while I lay helpless on the ground. I died with my own aura crushing me from the inside out, my body broken in ways that shouldn't have even been possible for a human body."
Zay exhaled slowly, forcing the memory to the back of his mind. He shifted his weight, letting his leg dangle off the thick branch he was perched on. From his vantage point, the dense forest stretched far beyond sight, shrouded in mist from the constant downpour.
The sky cracked open once again, releasing more rain. Heavy drops pelted the canopy above, sliding down the leaves before dripping onto the muddy earth below. The scent of damp earth and fresh rain filled the air, cool and strangely comforting.
Zay smirked slightly, swinging himself down from the branch. His boots sank into the softened ground as he landed with a quiet thud.
"Fourth time this week," he mused, tilting his head back to let the rain wash over him. "Maybe that's why I've always loved water. After living in this damned place for several thousand years in total, how could I not? Rain is… lovely."
The droplets clung to his long black hair, cascading down his face like remnants. He stood there for a moment, letting the storm envelop him, before finally turning and began his way home.