Author Note:
No chapter for maybe 2 days, there won't be a chapter tomorrow, definitely but on Thursday, I am not sure yet.
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A full day had passed.
Illumi sat cross-legged in the garden, unmoving, his posture straight and precise. His breathing was slow, measured, steady. Aura clung to his body in a thin, uniform layer—unbroken, calm, controlled.
Ten.
Serik stood a short distance away, arms folded, watching carefully. After several minutes, he nodded to himself.
"…That's stable," he said quietly.
Illumi did not respond. He did not need to.
What Serik did not know was that after he had gone to his room the night before—exhausted, frustrated, mind still buzzing with doubt—Jons had returned to the garden. He had sat beside Illumi for hours, correcting posture, density, flow. Not teaching techniques, only refining control. No words wasted. No metaphors. Only quiet adjustment and repetition.
By morning, Illumi's Ten had settled into something far beyond what Serik himself had managed at that stage.
Serik noticed the result, but not the cause.
"Alright," he said after a moment. "That's enough for now."
Illumi opened his eyes and looked at him attentively.
"We're going out," Serik continued. "The forest. Close to the house."
Illumi rose immediately.
The forest was dense but familiar—old trees, uneven ground, shadows layered thick between trunks. Serik stopped near the edge and turned to face Illumi.
"This is a test Jons gave me," he said. "A hunt."
Illumi waited.
"You'll use Zetsu. Completely suppress your aura. No leaks. No presence. I'll demonstrate once."
Serik exhaled.
He closed his eyes.
The aura around him vanished.
Not faded. Gone.
For a brief moment, even Illumi lost track of him—not visually, but instinctively. The space Serik occupied felt empty, wrong.
Then Serik released it and straightened.
"That's Zetsu," he said. "For me… it's like flipping a switch. I decide not to exist."
Illumi tilted his head.
"Intent-based suppression?" he said.
"…Yeah," Serik replied. "Try."
Illumi focused.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Serik watched closely, heart tightening despite himself. He remembered how long it had taken him—how uncomfortable it had felt, how exposed.
On the third attempt, Illumi's aura flickered.
On the fifth, it disappeared.
Serik felt it immediately.
"…You got it."
Illumi opened his eyes, calm, almost curious. "Efficient."
Serik forced himself to nod. "Yeah."
A quiet weight settled in his chest. It had taken him days to truly grasp Zetsu. Illumi had needed minutes.
Jons stood at a distance, watching.
He said nothing.
But his thoughts stirred.
Young master, he thought, your talent is not below his.
Illumi vanished into the trees.
Thirty minutes passed.
When he returned, he carried more than Serik ever had on his first attempt.
Three foxes. Eight rabbits. Several large birds were slung together with a vine.
Serik stared.
Then, deliberately, he turned away.
"Follow me," he said, keeping his voice even.
Illumi complied without comment.
They stopped at a small clearing.
"Next," Serik said, "is Ren."
Illumi's focus sharpened.
"This is different from Ten. You don't hold aura in—you release it. Aggressively."
Serik demonstrated, aura flaring outward in a dense, forceful pulse before collapsing it again.
"It's stamina-based," he continued. "You train by output. For now, just release everything at once."
Illumi nodded and did exactly that.
Aura erupted from him in a sharp, uncontrolled burst—violent, precise, overwhelming—
—and vanished.
Illumi staggered.
Seven seconds later, he dropped to one knee, breathing hard, muscles trembling.
Serik felt a flicker of something close to relief.
He hid it.
"That's good," he said, nodding seriously. "Exactly right. If you do that every day, you'll last longer."
Illumi looked up. "Recovery?"
"Use Zetsu immediately after," Serik replied. "You'll regain strength faster. Then you can repeat sooner."
Illumi inclined his head. "Understood."
Serik turned away quickly and walked toward Jons.
"I want to stop teaching," he said without hesitation. "I want to train."
Jons looked at him. "Not yet."
Serik frowned. "Why?"
"What did you learn," Jons asked calmly, "while teaching Illumi?"
Serik opened his mouth—then stopped.
He stood there, thinking.
"…I don't really know what I'm doing," he said finally.
Jons waited.
Serik exhaled and lifted his hands helplessly.
"I know how to use Ten. Zetsu. Ren," he said. "But I don't understand them. Not really."
He gestured vaguely, words spilling faster now.
"Why does Zetsu allow faster recovery? Is it just reduced expenditure—or does it actively restore aura? When I use Ten, does the aura I release come back, or does it become part of the cloak and then return when I absorb it? Is there loss? Like… do you lose a fifth, but keep most of it?"
Jons did not interrupt.
Serik continued, pacing now.
"And Ren—what is it actually doing? Why isn't there a permanent version? Why can't you maintain a high-output state that recycles aura like Ten does? I get that you need to increase your aura nodes, but why isn't there a more developed form?"
Jons hands trembled slightly.
"Can Zetsu recovery get stronger? Is that mastery, or talent—or both?"
He kept talking. Question after question. Half-formed theories stacking over each other.
Jons stared.
Behind Serik, in the quiet of the clearing, another figure seemed to overlap his form—older, broader, smiling faintly. Hands moving in the same way. Eyes lit with the same relentless curiosity.
Ardan.
Explaining the same impossible questions.
With the same glint.
How can they be so similar? Jons thought. He never met him.
Serik finally stopped, breathing hard, embarrassed by his own rambling.
Jons said nothing.
Only watched.
And wondered how life always stays full of suprises.
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ps?