The day passed more calmly than I expected.
No scheduled training. No instructions. No one analyzing my every movement. For the first time in weeks, there was nothing I needed to do.
Even so, I woke up early.
My body was still used to the heavy routine. I got up, walked through the silent corridors of the mansion, and went outside without making noise.
The sky was clear. The air had that light scent of a cold morning. I sat on the entrance steps and kept looking at the horizon.
I wasn't tired.
I wasn't restless either.
It was a different feeling. Stable.
After a few minutes, I heard light footsteps behind me.
"You woke up early again," Rai'kanna said.
"I just lost the habit of sleeping later."
She sat beside me.
We stayed in silence, watching the sunlight slowly grow.
"You're thinking about the Fourth General," she said.
"I'm thinking about everything."
She didn't ask what "everything" was. She already knew.
Some time later, Elara appeared. She sat on the other side. Liriel came right after. Vespera brought two mugs of a hot drink and handed one to me.
No one said anything.
We just stayed there.
I realized how different that was from before. Months ago, this silence would have been uncomfortable. Now it was natural.
I looked at each of them.
Rai'kanna was more confident. Her mana control was visible even in the way she breathed.
Elara seemed more centered. Her gaze firmer.
Liriel had that calm posture of someone who knows exactly what she is capable of doing.
Vespera was more attentive to the surroundings, as if she noticed things that once went unnoticed.
I smiled slightly.
"You've all changed a lot."
Elara tilted her head.
"You too."
"Not as much as you."
Rai'kanna shook her head.
"You changed the most."
I thought about that.
Maybe it was true.
It wasn't just strength. It was the way I saw things now.
Before, I fought to survive.
Now, I would fight to protect.
Time passed slowly. Morning turned into afternoon without us noticing.
At some point, we went to the open field behind the mansion. Not to train. Just to walk.
The wind was light. The grass moved in small waves.
Vespera walked ahead, observing everything. Liriel walked beside me. Rai'kanna and Elara followed just behind, speaking quietly.
I stopped in the middle of the field.
The sun was already beginning to descend in the sky.
The colors grew warmer. Gold took over everything around us.
I stood there watching in silence.
"It's beautiful," Elara commented.
"It's calm," Vespera added.
I took a deep breath.
It had been a long time since I stopped to simply observe something like that.
Without hurry.
Without tension.
Without the expectation of danger.
Just the moment.
Rai'kanna stepped a little closer.
"You're calmer," she said.
"I'm more prepared."
She smiled faintly.
"I think it's the same thing."
Maybe it was.
We stayed there until the sun almost disappeared beyond the horizon.
The light slowly faded. The shadows stretched across the field.
I felt something clear inside me.
It wasn't exaggerated confidence.
It wasn't arrogance.
It was awareness.
I knew exactly how much I had evolved.
I knew how much they had evolved.
And for the first time, I didn't feel that silent fear of the unknown.
I knew the Fourth General was dangerous.
But I also knew we were no longer the same.
When the sun finally vanished, the sky turned shades of dark orange and purple.
I turned to them.
"Let's go back."
No one complained.
We walked together back to the mansion in silence.
Night was beginning to fall, and the air grew colder.
Before going inside, I looked one last time at the dark sky emerging.
I felt a simple certainty.
The time for preparation was over.
Now it was just a matter of waiting for the moment to arrive.
And when it did, we would be ready.
We went in.
The door closed behind us.
The day ended calmly.
And for the first time in a long while, I felt that it was enough.