Chapter 699: Back Into the Rhythm

They really did arrive before dinner.

When Kael crossed the garden beside Sylphie, he found Seraphine sitting beneath the tree with an open book on her lap. The nameless man was near his own flowerbed, holding a small shovel, while the former Reference floated near the branches and watched two leaves brush against each other in the wind.

The man raised his head as soon as he saw them. “You’re back,” he said, setting the shovel beside the flowerbed. “This time you took less time.”

“Because no one built another basement full of animals on the way back,” Kael replied, approaching.

Umbra emerged from his shadow. “I looked.”

Kael looked at her. “I know.”

Seraphine closed the book over one finger to mark the page. “Did you find the person responsible?”

“We did,” Kael replied, sitting on the bench. “The researcher who was buying the creatures was arrested. The ones still on the property survived.”

“All of them?”

“The ones we found alive, yes.”

The nameless man observed Kael for a few seconds before pointing toward the flowerbeds. “The primroses are still alive too.”

Kael turned his head.

There were now three small sprouts in the primrose bed.

“Three,” he said.

“Three,” the man confirmed. “And my flowerbed has six.”

Kael immediately stood and walked over.

Sylphie crossed her arms. “Interesting. You came back from an operation involving creature trafficking and were drawn in by a sprout.”

“He said six.”

“I heard.”

The sixth sprout was smaller than the others and had appeared near one of the small wooden markers. Kael examined it for a few seconds, then stood again.

“It’s working.”

The man frowned. “What?”

“The method of putting seeds in the ground and waiting.”

Sylphie brought a hand to her face.

Seraphine laughed behind the book.

“Don’t encourage him,” Sylphie said.

“I didn’t say anything,” Seraphine replied.

The former Reference descended a few centimeters and stared at the new sprout. “Was it here yesterday?”

“No,” the man replied. “It appeared today.”

The small crystalline creature continued observing it.

“I want to see when another one appears.”

“You can come tomorrow,” the man replied.

She looked at him. “If I want to.”

“Yes.”

“Then maybe.”

Kael left the two of them to work that out and finally went inside. He did not open a single report that night. Amelia had already received the copies sent by Norven, Beltram and Vareth, and made it clear during dinner that any urgent document would be separated from the others.

None were urgent.

Kael ate, spoke little and went to bed early.

The next morning, he found Sylphie waiting in the training courtyard.

Five markers were positioned in a line.

Kael looked at them and then at her. “You remembered.”

“Unfortunately.”

“You said five.”

“I know what I said,” Sylphie replied, approaching to check his channels before they began. “Five Celestial Steps. Full intervals. And afterward I want to test your recovery with normal sword movements.”

Kael raised an eyebrow. “Normal movements?”

“You know. That strange thing swordsmen do when they don’t cross twenty meters in an instant.”

“Train?”

“That.”

Umbra appeared on top of the wall. “I thought he’d forgotten.”

Kael ignored both of them and took position.

The first Celestial Step covered twenty meters. The second was performed five minutes later, on a shorter diagonal. Sylphie modified the third to require a change in direction before acceleration, and on the fourth Kael had to stop immediately after completing the displacement.

No pain.

No instability.

The fifth was the longest since the beginning of his recovery.

Kael opened his channels, transferred mana through his body and advanced. The ground fell behind him in a single controlled impulse. He stopped beside the final marker without losing balance and remained still while Sylphie approached.

She placed a hand on his chest, then checked his shoulder and the side of his torso.

“Anything?”

“No.”

“Pain?”

“No.”

“Pressure in the channels?”

“Normal.”

Sylphie kept her hand there for a few more seconds before pulling it away. “Great.”

Kael picked up the shirt left on the wall. “Six tomorrow?”

“No.”

He stopped.

Umbra leaned forward, interested.

Kael looked at Sylphie. “Why?”

“Because tomorrow we’re not counting.”

He fell silent.

Sylphie pointed toward the field. “Your recovery is over, Kael. That doesn’t mean you can immediately go back to training eight hours a day like an idiot, but it also doesn’t make sense to keep treating every Celestial Step like a medical experiment.”

Kael took a moment to answer. “So I can train normally.”

“Progressively,” she corrected. “You’re back to training. You’re not back to stupidity.”

“That definition seems arbitrary.”

“I’m your healer. I have that privilege.”

Umbra raised her hand. “I support the elf.”

“You weren’t consulted.”

“I still support her.”

Kael picked up two wooden swords from the rack.

For almost an hour, he worked only on fundamentals. Movement, stance changes, short cuts and combinations with both blades. He used mana in moderate amounts, without resorting to Celestial Step at every opening. His body responded as it should. There was none of the fragility that had accompanied the first days of recovery, nor the constant need to evaluate each movement before executing it.

In the middle of training, the young soldier Kael had taught a basic sequence to days earlier appeared at the edge of the courtyard. He stopped when he realized Kael was busy.

“You can come in,” Kael said, resting one of the swords on his shoulder.

The young man approached. “Sir, I practiced that sequence.”

“Show me.”

He picked up two wooden swords and performed the movements. The first transition was better. The second too. On the third, however, he opened his flank too much when reversing the position of the blades.

Kael tapped the tip of his own sword against his ribs.

“You died.”

The young man stopped. “Again?”

“Again.”

“I thought I fixed it.”

“You fixed the foot. Ruined the arm.”

Umbra spoke from the wall. “That’s an improvement. Before, he ruined both.”

The soldier looked up, unsure whether he should respond.

“Ignore her,” Kael said. “Again.”

They trained for twenty minutes. When the young man finally performed the sequence without leaving the opening, Kael nodded.

“Now repeat it until it happens without thinking.”

“How many times?”

“Until it happens without thinking.”

The young man seemed to accept the answer and returned to the other side of the courtyard.

Kael put away the swords.

Amelia was waiting at the exit.

One sheet.

Only one.

“Final summary?” he asked.

“Of what directly concerns you,” she replied, handing him the document.

Kael read while they walked.

The Vharak from Arvend had left the cave area during the night. The guards found tracks leading toward higher regions of the mountain, with no new blood and partial support from the injured paw. The area would remain under observation for a few days, but there was no reason to pursue her.

In Beltram, Oren Vale remained in custody. Lysa Halden had voluntarily handed over the complete records of her company. The animals found at the port were being distributed among appropriate recovery centers, with their origin identified whenever possible.

Vareth had seized the assets linked to the depot, and Kessel & Rook was temporarily prohibited from producing containment devices until every contract had been reviewed.

Norven had fully taken over the investigation into Valric Morn and Miren House.

Kael reached the end.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Good.”

Amelia looked at him. “You don’t want the attachments?”

“No.”

“Full testimonies?”

“No.”

“Financial records?”

“Definitely not.”

She took the sheet back when he finished. “I’m starting to get worried.”

“About what?”

“Maybe you’re learning.”

Kael opened the corridor door. “You and Sylphie are spending too much time together.”

“We agree on many things.”

“That’s exactly what worries me.”

When he returned to the garden, Seraphine was on the same bench as the day before, but she had changed books. The current one showed a map on the cover, with a broad blue strip representing the western coast.

Kael sat at the other end.

“What are you reading?”

“Coastal travels,” Seraphine replied, turning the book so he could see the map. “Mostly small towns. Ports, lighthouses, fishing villages.”

“Enjoying it?”

“Yes.”

She turned another page, but did not continue reading.

Kael noticed.

“What?”

Seraphine closed the book.

“I want to see the sea.”

The sentence came simply.

Not as a question.

Kael looked at her for a few seconds. “You’ve never seen it?”

“Not with my own eyes.”

He nodded.

“Then see it.”

Seraphine blinked. “That’s it?”

“Were you expecting permission?”

“Not exactly.”

“Good, because you don’t need it.”

She looked back at the map. “I don’t know where to go.”

“That we can solve.”

Sylphie appeared along the garden path and heard only the last part. “Solve what?”

Seraphine showed her the cover of the book. “I want to see the sea.”

Sylphie smiled. “Then we should choose a place.”

The nameless man, who was near the flowerbeds, raised his head.

Seraphine looked at him. “Do you want to go?”

He looked at the six small plants in his own flowerbed.

Then at the primroses.

“How long?”

“A few days,” Kael replied.

The man thought seriously.

“No.”

Seraphine did not seem disappointed. “Why?”

“I want to see if the next sprout appears.”

Kael nodded. “Fair reason.”

The man opened the notebook again. “I can see the sea later.”

“You can,” Seraphine replied.

The former Reference floated a little closer.

“Sea is big water?”

Kael looked at her.

“Very big.”

“Bigger than the lake?”

“Much.”

She thought.

“I want to see it too.”

Elion, who happened to be walking along the path at that exact moment, heard the sentence and stopped.

Kael looked at him.

Elion looked at the small creature.

She continued floating calmly.

“I choose when,” she said.

Elion let out a short sigh. “Yes. You choose.”

Kael leaned back against the bench.

For the first time in weeks, the next trip was beginning without an urgent letter, an injured creature, a clandestine depot or an emergency report.

Seraphine simply wanted to see the sea.