Location: Starforge Nexus - Pavilion Training Grounds | Luminari Artifact Dimensional Fold
Time: Day One of Year-Long Training (Month One, Week One)
The training dummy stared at Jayde with painted eyes that somehow managed to look condescending.
She glared back.
Inanimate object. No actual judgment capability. Psychological projection of anxiety.
(It's totally judging us.)
"Whenever you're ready," Green said from behind her. The instructor's voice was perfectly neutral—which was somehow worse than open criticism. "Summon flame."
Jayde extended her right hand. Palm up. Fingers slightly curved like Green had shown her.
Objective: Manifest Inferno essence externally. Convert internal Ember Qi to visible fire.
Simple, right?
She reached inward, feeling for the warmth in her Crucible Core. Found it—red-gold heat pulsing below her navel, newly awakened after the unsealing. Inferno essence, bright and eager, coiled like a living thing inside her.
(Okay. Now what?)
Draw it through meridians. Channel from core to palm.
Easier said than done.
The essence didn't want to move. Or maybe it moved too much—surging toward her hand in a rush that made her gasp, then retreating like a tide, then surging again without rhythm or control. Jayde tried to guide it, tried to maintain a steady flow, but it was like holding water in a sieve.
Heat built in her palm. Building. Building.
A spark appeared.
Tiny. Flickering. Barely larger than a candle flame.
(We did it! We—)
The flame sputtered and died.
Silence in the training grounds.
"That's it?" Jayde stared at her palm. At the faint scorch mark where the spark had briefly existed. "After all this? Six weeks of White's torture, burning away trauma, unlocking the seal—for that?"
"Yes." Green's voice held no sympathy. "That's it. What did you expect? To immediately hurl fireballs like an Inferno-tempered tier cultivator?"
Unrealistic expectations. Adjust mental model.
(But I have Inferno essence now. The first lock is open. Shouldn't I be able to...)
"You have access to the essence," Green said. She walked around to face Jayde directly, her fractured emerald eyes sharp. "Access doesn't equal mastery. You're Sparkforged tier, early stage. Your Crucible Core holds approximately eighty-five points of Ember Qi. Your meridians are barely strengthened. Your control is nonexistent."
She gestured at the training dummy.
"That spark you just produced? Cost you seven Qi points. It lasted three seconds. It couldn't even singe cloth." Green's expression was flat. "Arvia wasn't built in a day. Neither are mages."
Seven Qi for a three-second spark. Inefficient resource allocation. Current capacity: 85 total. Regeneration rate unknown.
"How long until I can actually fight with this?"
"Months." Green crossed her arms. "If you practice correctly. Which means—" She pointed at Jayde's hand. "—we start with the absolute basics. Again."
***
Four hours.
Jayde spent four solid hours learning to summon that pathetic little spark.
Draw essence from the core. Channel through meridians. Guide it to the palm. Shape it into flame. Maintain cohesion. Project outward.
Each step was a separate skill. Each skill required muscle memory that didn't exist yet. Each attempt drained Qi she couldn't afford to waste.
By attempt number forty-three, she could produce the spark consistently.
It still only lasted five seconds.
Progress: Minimal but measurable. Qi cost reduced to 5 points per manifestation. Efficiency improving.
(My hand feels weird. Tingly.)
"Qi pathways adapting," Green said. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground now, watching with tireless patience. "Your meridians aren't used to channeling essence. The tingling is tissue adjustment. Normal for beginners."
Jayde produced another spark. This one flickered for six seconds before dying.
"Better," Green allowed. "Now we move to shaping."
She stood, moving to Jayde's side. Her hand hovered near Jayde's palm—not touching, but close enough that Jayde could feel the cool Radiance essence radiating from Green's skin.
"Flame Spark," Green said. "Your first actual spell. Not just summoning fire—projecting it. Creating a small orb of concentrated Inferno essence and launching it at a target."
Offensive application. Range attack capability.
"How?"
"Shape the essence before manifesting." Green's hand moved in a small circular pattern. "Form a sphere in your mind. Compress the flame into that shape. Then push."
Jayde tried.
The spark appeared—and immediately scattered into three different directions, none of them aimed at the training dummy.
"Again."
She tried again. And again. And again.
By attempt seventy, something clicked.
The essence flowed from her core—smooth now, almost natural—and coalesced in her palm. Not just fire. A shape. A sphere, cherry-sized, burning bright orange-red. Compressed. Contained.
Jayde pushed.
The sphere shot forward.
It hit the training dummy's chest. Splashed against the padded surface. Left a black scorch mark the size of a coin.
(WE DID IT!)
Successful offensive casting. Damage is minimal but present. Qi cost: 5 points.
"Adequate," Green said. Which, from her, was practically effusive praise. "Now do it nineteen more times without stopping."
***
The second spell was Heat Palm.
Utility magic. Non-combat. The kind of thing that seemed pointless until you needed to dry wet clothes or warm cold water or, apparently, perform basic medical triage.
"Channel Inferno essence, but don't release it," Green instructed. "Keep it contained in your hand. Let it radiate as heat rather than manifesting as visible flame."
Controlled emission. The precision requirement is higher than the projection.
Jayde drew the essence. Held it in her palm. Tried to keep it there instead of letting it burst free.
Her hand caught fire.
Not metaphorically. Actual flames wreathed her fingers, burning hot enough that she yelped and shook them out reflexively.
"Too much essence," Green said. She didn't sound concerned. "You're channeling combat amounts for a utility spell. Reduce the flow."
(That hurt!)
Minor burn damage. No permanent injury. Adjust parameters and retry.
Jayde tried again. This time, drawing just a trickle of essence. Her palm warmed—genuinely warm, like holding it near a candle—but didn't ignite.
"There." Green nodded approval. "Maintain that temperature for one minute without fluctuation."
One minute turned into five. Five into ten. By the end of the hour, Jayde could hold Heat Palm steady for twenty minutes, maintaining perfect temperature control while Green tested it with increasingly cold objects.
"Qi cost?" Green asked.
Jayde checked internally. The essence was flowing continuously but slowly, a gentle draw rather than a surge. "Three points. Maybe? It's hard to tell."
"Three per minute of sustained use," Green corrected. "Which means at your current capacity, you could maintain Heat Palm for approximately twenty-eight minutes before exhausting your Ember Qi. Adequate for utility purposes."
Twenty-eight minutes. Noted for resource management.
"Now," Green said, her expression shifting to something harder, "the defensive spell."
***
Ember Shield was different.
Not fire projected outward. Not the heat contained in the hand. Fire shaped into a structure—a barrier, a wall, something that could block incoming attacks.
"Feel the essence flow," Green instructed. She'd moved behind Jayde again, one hand hovering near her back. "But instead of channeling to one point, you spread it. Meridians in both arms, across your chest, creating a lattice. Then push it all forward at once into a defensive configuration."
Multi-pathway activation. Requires bilateral coordination. Increased difficulty.
Jayde drew essence from her core. Tried to split the flow—right arm, left arm, chest meridians all at once.
The essence got confused.
Half went to her right hand. A quarter to her left. The rest just... dissipated somewhere in her torso, warmth spreading without purpose or direction.
"Pathetic," Green said. Not cruel. Clinical. "Your meridian control is insufficient. You're thinking of them as separate channels instead of a unified network."
(How do we fix that?)
"Practice." Green's hand moved to Jayde's back, and suddenly, cool Qi was flowing into Jayde's meridians—not forcefully, but as a guide. "Feel how the essence should move. All channels simultaneously. Equal distribution. Perfect timing."
The Radiance essence traced pathways through Jayde's body. She felt each meridian light up in sequence—no, not sequence. Simultaneously. All at once. The network activating as a unified whole rather than individual parts.
"Now you try."
Green withdrew her Qi.
Jayde drew Inferno essence again. This time visualizing the network—all meridians as one system, one flow, one purpose.
The essence split perfectly.
Both arms, chest, sternum—all flooding with heat at exactly the same moment.
She pushed.
Fire erupted from her torso and hands, coalescing into a translucent shield of flame about two feet in diameter, hovering six inches from her body.
It lasted three seconds before collapsing.
But it existed.
"Better," Green said. "Qi cost?"
Jayde checked. Her Ember Qi had dropped significantly. "Fifteen points. Maybe twenty?"
"Eighteen," Green corrected. "Ember Shield is expensive. Defensive magic always is—you're creating structure from essence, which requires more energy than simple projection. At your current capacity, you can manage four shields before exhaustion."
Four defensive casts maximum. Tactical limitation noted.
"What happens if I cast more than I have?"
Green's expression went flat and cold.
***
"You die."
She elaborated over lunch—if you could call it that. More like "mandatory nutrition intake period" where Green handed Jayde something that looked like bread but tasted like concentrated sunlight.
"Qi exhaustion," Green said, "occurs when you over-draft your Ember Qi reserves. The Crucible Core continues drawing power to fuel spells, but there's no essence left to draw. So it starts consuming your life force. Your vitality. You."
She bit into her own portion of sunlight-bread.
"First symptoms: dizziness, weakness, nausea. If you stop casting immediately and rest, you recover. Second stage: meridian damage, internal bleeding, temporary blindness. Still recoverable with proper treatment. Third stage—" Her fractured emerald eyes were hard. "—the Core cracks. Cultivation foundation shatters. You become permanently crippled, unable to ever channel Qi again."
(Oh.)
Mission-critical information. Avoid the third stage at all costs.
"Fourth stage?" Jayde asked, though she suspected she knew.
"Death." Green's voice was flat. "The Core collapses completely. Your body, now dependent on Qi circulation for enhanced function, can't sustain itself. You die within minutes."
She leaned forward.
"Dead cultivators are those who fired their last spell instead of running. Remember that. Your life is worth more than winning any single fight."
Tactical retreat as valid strategy. Survival prioritizes victory.
"So I need to track my Qi constantly."
"Obsessively," Green corrected. "Every spell. Every drain. Every recovery period. You must know at all times how much essence remains in your Core. It's the difference between a cultivator and a corpse."
She finished her bread.
"Your regeneration rate, by the way, is eight Qi per hour during rest. Four per hour during light activity. Zero during combat or intensive training." Green's eyes narrowed. "Which means after this morning's practice, having cast approximately twenty Flame Sparks, seven Heat Palms, and four Ember Shields, you should currently be at—"
Jayde checked internally. Felt the warmth in her Core, measured instinctively against the full capacity she'd started with.
"About thirty-five points remaining," she said.
"Thirty-two," Green corrected. "Close enough. You're learning to feel the difference. Good."
Resource management skill developing. Critical for combat sustainability.
"When do I learn the fun spells?" Jayde asked. "You know, the ones that actually do damage?"
Green's smile was sharp and not entirely friendly.
"After you prove you won't kill yourself, casting the basic ones."
***
The afternoon session was combat application.
Green led her back to the training grounds, where the painted-eye dummy had been joined by... friends? No, these weren't dummies. They moved.
Magical constructs. Human-shaped, made of some substance that looked like solidified smoke, moving with jerky but functional coordination.
Autonomous training targets. Threat level: Unknown. Recommend caution.
"Three constructs," Green said. She was standing at the arena's edge now, arms crossed. "Thrall-level combat capability. No weapons, hand-to-hand only. Your objective: Defeat all three using a combination of White's martial training and your Sparkcasting."
(All three? At once?)
Assessment: Challenging but achievable. White's training covered multiple opponent engagement.
"Time limit?" Jayde asked.
"None. But every minute you take is a minute you're not resting and regenerating Qi." Green's smile was cold. "And they don't tire."
The constructs began moving forward.
Jayde drew the practice sword from the weapon rack—shorter than a real blade, weighted for training. Settled into the stance White had drilled into her. Weight balanced. Knees bent. Ready to move.
Primary weapon: Sword. Secondary capability: Sparkcasting. Strategy: Utilize range advantage before engaging in melee.
She extended her left hand. Drew Inferno essence. Shaped it into Flame Spark.
The first construct was ten feet away when she fired.
The orb hit it center mass. The construct staggered—actually staggered—smoke body rippling where the flame had struck.
Effective. Continue ranged engagement.
Jayde fired again. And again. Three sparks, three hits. The first construct collapsed into wisps of smoke.
The other two were closer now. Five feet. Too close for more casting.
Jayde shifted her grip on her sword and moved.
White's training took over. Sidestep the second construct's punch. Slash across its shoulder—smoke parted like cloth. Roll past the third construct's grab. Come up behind it. Stab through what passed for its spine.
It dissolved.
One construct left.
This one had learned. It circled cautiously, smoke form shifting to avoid Jayde's sword strikes.
(It's smart. That's not fair.)
Adaptive behavior confirmed. Adjust tactics.
Jayde feinted left with the sword. The construct moved to block—
She cast Flame Spark with her right hand at point-blank range.
The orb hit the construct's face. It reeled back. Jayde followed up with a sword thrust that punched through its chest.
Silence.
The constructs were gone. Dissipated smoke drifting across the arena floor.
Jayde stood there, breathing hard, sword lowered. Her Qi was—she checked—down to twenty points. She'd used twelve points total. Four Flame Sparks at five points each... wait, that was twenty. Math didn't work.
"Combat casting is less efficient," Green said, apparently reading her confusion. "Under stress, your control suffers. You use more essence to achieve the same effect. Those sparks cost you five points each, not three."
Stress factor increases resource consumption. Important variable.
(But we won! We actually used magic in a fight!)
"You defeated three Thrall-level constructs," Green said. She didn't sound impressed. "Tomorrow, you'll face five. Then ten. Then Vassal-tier opponents. Then Vanguard."
She gestured at the arena.
"Combat proficiency requires muscle memory. Integration of martial and magical techniques until they're instinctive. Right now, you're still thinking about casting. Choosing when to use spells. Consciously switching between sword and Sparkcasting."
Green's eyes narrowed.
"By month three, you won't think. You'll just act. Sword and spell as one fluid motion. That's when you'll be ready for the Dark Forest."
Three months. Ninety days of intensive training. Achievable.
"What about the cost?" Jayde asked. She was aware, suddenly, of how much her hand hurt. The one she'd been casting from. Palm red and swollen, meridians aching like overworked muscles. "You said magic borrows from my future."
"Yes." Green's expression shifted to something almost sad. "Every spell you cast burns tiny amounts of vitality. Physical life force converted to essence. Usually negligible—your body recovers naturally if you rest properly. But—"
She moved closer, took Jayde's hand, and examined the swelling.
"Repeated casting without adequate recovery leads to physical deterioration. Your meridians scar. Your tissues weaken. Your life span shortens." Green's thumb traced the inflamed pathways. "This is why so many cultivators die young. Why rushing advancement leads to Ash Hollow transformation. Magic is borrowing from your future. Borrow wisely."
She released Jayde's hand.
"Tonight, you soak in a medicinal bath for two hours. Tomorrow, we do this again. And the day after. And every day for the next year." Green's voice was firm. "You'll learn to balance power use with sustainable cultivation. To push hard enough to grow without breaking. To become strong without destroying yourself in the process."
Long-term strategic planning. Sustainable growth over explosive advancement.
(It's like the Federation training again. Except with fire.)
And significantly higher mortality rate.
"Go rest," Green said. "Your Qi needs time to regenerate. And I need to design tomorrow's exercises."
Jayde nodded. Started toward the exit. Then stopped.
"Green? Thank you. For teaching me the ethical path. For... for caring whether I survive this."
Green's expression softened fractionally.
"I lost too many students to the standard path," she said quietly. "I won't lose another. Not if I can help it."
She turned away.
"Now go. Before I change my mind about being gentle with you."
***
Jayde left the training grounds with a new understanding:
Magic was power. Real, tangible, devastating power.
But it came at a cost. Always a cost.
Her burned palm throbbed with every heartbeat.
Her Crucible Core felt hollow, drained by hours of casting.
Her meridians ached like she'd run a marathon through fire.
One day down. Three hundred sixty-four to go.
(We can do this. We're already stronger than we were yesterday.)
Agreed. Progress is progress, regardless of pace.
Tomorrow, she'd face five constructs.
Next week, ten.
In three months, she'd be ready for real combat.
In a year—
In a year, she'd walk into the Dark Forest as something more than a frightened child pretending to be strong.
She'd walk in as a cultivator.
Flawed, ethical, and determined to find the third path that Green had spoken of.
But most importantly—
Alive.
And that, Jayde decided, was victory enough for today.