Morning arrived quietly at the Valcrest estate.
A thin mist lingered above the garden grass, and the air carried the cool stillness that came before the servants began their work. The sky was pale, the sun only beginning to rise beyond the distant hills.
Cain was already awake.
Sleep had come, but it had not been deep. When he sat up from the bed, he noticed the same sensation again.
Delay.
He raised his hand slightly and let mana circulate through his arm.
The flow began normally.
Then the response came a fraction too late.
The difference was small, almost insignificant. But Cain noticed it immediately.
"Soul damage," he murmured.
The words did not carry worry. Only acknowledgement.
He stood and stretched his shoulders once before leaving the room.
The mansion halls were quiet at this hour. His footsteps echoed softly against the polished floor as he stepped outside into the garden.
Cold air brushed against his face.
Cain walked to the stone training circle again.
The garden looked the same as yesterday. The trimmed hedges, the quiet trees, the wooden weapon rack standing near the edge of the training space.
He stopped beside the rack and picked up two wooden practice swords.
Their weight was light.
Balanced enough.
Cain stepped onto the stone circle and took a slow breath.
The dungeon returned to his thoughts again.
The corridor.
The demon horde.
The strange movements his body had performed when Black Veil took over.
Two blades.
One in each hand.
He moved.
His right foot stepped forward as both arms shifted into a mirrored stance. The wooden blades followed the motion in a controlled arc.
Halfway through the movement, his balance faltered.
Cain stopped.
The motion had felt correct in his mind. But his body refused to follow it completely.
He reset the stance and tried again.
Step.
Turn.
The blades crossed.
Again the motion collapsed.
Cain lowered the weapons slowly.
During the dungeon battle, the body that moved had not hesitated.
It had been precise.
Efficient.
Almost mechanical.
Now, every movement felt heavier.
The delay in his mana circulation interrupted the rhythm.
He tried again.
Step.
Turn.
Cross.
This time he managed to hold the stance longer before the imbalance returned.
Cain exhaled slowly.
"The body moved differently," he said quietly.
Black Veil had not simply increased strength.
It had changed the way the body fought.
A faint sound came from behind him.
Cain did not turn.
"Elina," he said calmly.
The girl froze behind one of the trees before stepping out with an embarrassed expression.
"You noticed again."
"Yes."
She walked closer, watching the wooden swords in his hands.
"You're practicing something new."
Cain placed one sword back on the rack and kept the other.
"Trying to remember."
"From the dungeon?"
"Yes."
Elina stepped onto the stone circle carefully.
"Can you show me the stance again?"
Cain looked at her feet.
"Your balance is wrong."
Elina blinked.
"I didn't even move yet."
"You leaned forward before stepping."
She looked down and corrected her posture immediately.
"Oh."
Cain adjusted the position of her right foot slightly.
"Like this."
Elina tried the stance again.
This time she did not stumble.
Her eyes brightened.
"It works."
Cain stepped back.
"Again."
She repeated the motion slowly.
After a few attempts she looked up at him.
"Why are you training so early?"
Cain answered without hesitation.
"If I stop moving, I forget the fight."
Elina tilted her head.
"That sounds strange."
"It is effective."
She tried the stance one more time before stepping away.
"I'll practice later."
Cain nodded.
Elina ran back toward the mansion, disappearing through the garden path.
High above the garden, Liora stood quietly on the balcony.
She had been watching for several minutes.
Her gaze followed Cain's movements carefully.
At first the training had seemed ordinary.
But after observing longer, she noticed something unusual.
Cain's motions occasionally stopped mid-step.
Not because of fatigue.
Because his body hesitated.
It was subtle.
A fraction of a second.
But it happened repeatedly.
Liora folded her arms quietly.
"His mana flow is unstable," she murmured to herself.
Cain tried the movement again below.
Step.
Turn.
The wooden blade cut through the air.
For a brief moment the motion matched the memory perfectly.
Then the delay returned.
Cain stopped.
He lowered the sword slowly and looked at his hand.
During Black Veil…
He had not been thinking.
His body had moved on instinct alone.
Black Veil did not rely on thought.
It relied on instinct.
And every time it activated, it consumed something deeper.
His soul.
Cain stared at the wooden blade.
"I saw everything," he said quietly.
"But I didn't control it."
That meant one thing.
If he could remember the movements clearly…
He could recreate them.
Slowly.
Piece by piece.
Not through Black Veil.
Through training.
Cain reset his stance again.
Step.
Turn.
The blade moved.
This time the balance held longer.
Not perfect.
But closer.
Above the garden, Liora watched the movement carefully.
Then she turned and walked back into the mansion without making a sound.
Night arrived hours later.
The estate grew quiet once again.
Cain slept.
The white space returned.
Endless.
Silent.
The man sat in the distance exactly as before.
Still.
Unmoving.
Cain stood there, watching.
For a long time nothing happened.
Then something shifted.
The faint sound of cloth moving.
The man adjusted his posture slightly.
Just enough to be noticed.
The dream ended immediately.
Cain opened his eyes in the darkness of his room.
For a moment he remained still.
The white void lingered in his mind.
And the figure within it had moved again.