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Chapter 57 - Chapter 56: The Training (III)

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The mist clung to the earth like a second skin, stubborn and unyielding. Frost laced the grass, glinting under the pale light of a sun that had yet to break through the morning's grip. The cold was more than weather—it was a presence, watching, waiting.

Arthur Snow stood before them, still as the ancient stones of the ridge. His breath was slow, measured, as if he were drawing in the very essence of the world with each inhale.

"I will guide your breath," he said, his voice quiet but carrying the weight of command. "You will feel qi."

No one spoke. The six of them—Garron, Thom, Sarra, Redna, Vaeren, and Lyanna—stood in silence, their skepticism and curiosity warring beneath the surface.

Arthur approached Garron first. The broad-shouldered warrior grunted but obeyed when Arthur instructed him to sit, cross-legged, hands resting on his knees. Arthur knelt behind him, one palm at the small of his back, the other just below his navel.

"Breathe. Let it settle low. I'll guide it."

Garron flinched when Arthur's qi entered him—a thread of molten warmth coiling into his core. Sweat beaded on his brow despite the morning's chill.

"Gods…" he muttered through clenched teeth.

Arthur didn't release him. "Don't speak. Let it move."

The heat spread, slow as dawn creeping over the mountains, filling him inch by inch.

Next was Thom. Arthur's fingers pressed lightly at the base of the rogue's throat, his other hand resting just below Thom's navel.

"Your mind is loud," Arthur observed. "You'll feel nothing unless I quiet it."

This time, his qi was different—cool, patient, like silk unraveling down a hidden path. Thom's pulse slowed. His eyelids fluttered. A warmth, soft and circling, settled just beneath his heart, as if the air inside him had thickened.

Sarra didn't wait for instruction. She stood, arms crossed, defiance in the set of her jaw.

Arthur didn't ask her to sit. "Hold position," he said. "This won't be pleasant."

She smirked. "Do it."

His qi entered sharp, like a wind forcing open a door long rusted shut. Sarra's muscles locked, but she did not bend. For the first time in years, her body felt whole.

Redna hesitated when Arthur turned to her. He adjusted her posture with gentle precision, one finger between her brows, the other at her navel.

"Let it flow without wanting it," he murmured. "That's your test."

His qi entered like a whisper—so faint she almost doubted it was there. Then it struck resistance behind her diaphragm. She gasped.

"Again," Arthur commanded.

This time, she did not fight it.

Vaeren stood rigid as Arthur's hands settled on his shoulders. "You don't need force," Arthur said. "You need clearing."

A thread of qi, cool as mountain water, flowed through him, unraveling knots of tension one by one. Vaeren shivered.

Last was Lyanna. No words passed between them. Arthur stepped close, hands resting at her sides—thumbs beneath her ribs, fingers against her back. Their breaths aligned.

His qi entered like a wave returning to shore. Smooth. Inevitable. It coiled once, low in her belly, before spreading through her channels without resistance. Her eyes widened, but she did not move.

Arthur stepped back to the center of the clearing.

"All of you felt it." His gaze swept over them. "Tomorrow, you do it yourselves. But today, remember this—qi is not given. It is gathered. What you felt was my hand on the door. You must open it."

Silence.

The cold had not left the air.

But the clearing felt warmer now.

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