Lyra didn't allow the moment to linger.
They returned to training immediately.
The area outside the city walls had become familiar by now, but that didn't make it easier. If anything, the lack of distraction made it harder to ignore his mistakes.
"Again," Lyra said.
Kael exhaled slowly. "We just did this."
"Again."
He stepped forward, raising his hands as he focused on her movements.
Lyra attacked without warning.
Her strike came fast and direct, forcing him to react instead of thinking.
Kael caught the motion, meeting the force just before it landed.
This part felt natural now.
He held it.
But then he pushed too early.
The force snapped out of alignment, dispersing instead of focusing.
Lyra stepped through it without resistance and stopped her blade just short of his shoulder.
"You're dead," she said.
Kael let out a breath. "Yeah. That seems to be happening a lot."
She lowered her weapon.
"You're not failing because you lack strength," she said.
"That's new."
"You're failing because you lack patience."
Kael frowned slightly as he reset his stance. "I can feel the timing now," he said. "I just can't hold it long enough."
"You're trying to control it," Lyra replied.
"…Isn't that the goal?"
"No."
She stepped back, creating space again.
"You're trying to force it into shape," she continued. "That is why it breaks."
Kael considered that, then nodded slowly.
"So instead of forcing it… I let it move?"
"Yes."
He took a breath and adjusted his stance.
"Alright," he said quietly. "Again."
This time, he didn't move immediately.
He waited.
Lyra attacked.
Kael followed.
Not ahead.
Not behind.
With.
When he met the force this time, he didn't try to control it outright.
He adjusted it.
The movement slipped past him cleanly.
Lyra stopped.
"That is closer," she said.
Kael exhaled, a faint smile forming despite himself.
"…I'll take closer."
But even as he said it—
He could feel it.
That same instability.
It hadn't gone away.
It had just changed.