CHAPTER 90: THRUST

"Why?" Kaedros asked, frowning. Although he could already guess at the reason himself.

"Because broadening your focus will maximize your offensive potential," Thalso replied, raising a hand to silence further questions. "And although reverse might also be the case and you would need to have one type of magic that would be above all."

Kaedros froze. That was the f

He gave a small nod of acceptance.

"Your Flow is called Sol Invicta Flow," Nyra said. " It increases the combustion rate and intensity of your powers dramatically. This is an example of how you’ll enhance your firepower, short bursts of overwhelming heat and speed."

"The Flow was created by the master of this castle and this is the first time another person would be using it."

Kaedros’s eyes widened. The master of Throne of Ruinlight? He took a deep breath and nodded his thanks.

Thalso stood. "Then let’s begin."

At his gesture, the cuffs around their wrists trembled, turning liquid and floating into the air before vanishing.

"It’s time to begin your Flow training."

A wave of energy surged through them. Mana pulsed out from their cores, rushing through their limbs like returning blood.

"Finally!" Taria grinned, feeling her body overflow with essence.

Rauk groaned, as the magic returned to him after weeks of stillness.

Kaedros closed his eyes and felt the core within him shimmer in anticipation.

"Let’s begin," Thalso said, gently lowering Nyra to the ground beside him.

☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆

They started their Flow training immediately, and their schedule shifted once again.

Their nights still consisted of battles with the Shadow, the lake monster, and Chef’s golem. But after that, they now returned to the training room where three instructors awaited them without fail.

Thalso would take Taria to train in a separate corner, while Nyra and Chef worked with Kaedros and Rauk.

That first week was brutal.

Taria’s training was unlike the others’. Because she wielded essence, everything, from her techniques to her physical movements, had to be infused with it.

Fulmen Flow was particularly difficult. It relied on controlled bursts of breath fast, hard breathing patterns that infused her essence with contradictory qualities, crushing weight and feather-like lightness.

Thalso’s methods were cruelly efficient. For the first several weeks, he made her do one thing, Flow and thrust.

Stand in front of a practice dummy. Breathe. Convert mana to essence. Infuse it into your body. Then thrust your spear.

Over. And over.

From morning to night.

Until her arms shook.

Until her hands ached.

Until she collapsed.

The lake’s water helped her recover, but not enough. The next day it would start all over again.

Thrust. Breathe. Infuse. Collapse.

She stopped thinking after a while. Her mind shut down to conserve energy. It became a battle between her will and her failing muscles. One more thrust, she’d whisper to herself. Just one more. Some days she managed it. Some days she didn’t.

One month and one week after they entered the Castle, Taria threw down her spear and stared at the dummy.

"I’m done," she whispered.

Thalso had expected this.

No matter how strong your will was, this kind of training was built to test it and break it. What surprised him was that she’d lasted this long.

Most people didn’t understand what it took to become a warrior. Brutal training wasn’t just tradition, it was survival. Mages trained too, but not like this. Not physically. Not mentally. Warriors had to deplete their cores even while training, pushing their bodies beyond exhaustion.

And yet... Thalso was impressed.

Taria had progressed faster than he’d anticipated. Even Chef and Nyra had commented on how well their students were adapting. Perhaps they shouldn’t be surprised. These weren’t ordinary candidates, they were already used to handling raw mana.

He looked at Taria. Her once-groomed brown hair was wild, clinging to her sweat-soaked face. It partially covered her eyes, sharp grey irises fractured by golden sparks. Except right now, they weren’t sharp. They were tired. Broken. Just like her voice when she threw down her spear.

She looked defeated.

But Thalso could see it. The training had taken root. The muscle tone in her arms, the raw power in her stance, the stability of her grip, it was all there. All that remained was the will to move forward.

"You’re done?" His voice was cold, metallic, unreadable.

She didn’t raise her head. "Tired. So tired. Is it even worth it?"

"So you’re giving up... because you’re tired?" Thalso growled. "I thought better of you, Taria."

She bared her teeth in a smile that lacked any humor. "Well, don’t. I’m done."

She turned.

Thalso, behind his helmet, allowed a faint smile. She didn’t realize it yet, but the change had already happened. The way she walked now, the way her body shifted on the balls of her feet as if always preparing to lunge, the faint yellow glow that shimmered around her each time she touched her spear... it was all proof.

She had mastered essence infusion, far beyond normal. This wasn’t basic essence. It granted her both speed and strength, along with a feather-like lightness. But she didn’t see it yet.

"Wait," he said calmly. "Are you sure you want to stop? You’ve barely begun."

"I am," Taria replied, not looking back.

Thalso narrowed his eyes. This wasn’t like her. She was one of the most carefree and stubborn people he’d met. Something else was bothering her.

"Tell me what’s wrong." It wasn’t a suggestion but a command. He didn’t think she’d answer... until she did.

"It’s Kael," she said. "He saved my life. Gave me hope when I was at my lowest. He partnered with me when no one else would. Even if he had some other reason, he still helped me. On hunts, he always had my back."

She turned, her expression pained.

"I wanted to repay him. I thought this raid would finally let me get strong enough to protect him the way he protected me."

She looked down.

"But coming here made me realize... I’m just an ordinary person. I can’t do it."

"What do you mean by ordinary?" Thalso asked, slowly. He was starting to understand.

"My Flow. It’s... ordinary." Her voice cracked. Her jaw clenched and, for the first time since their talk began, her eyes lit up, this time with anger.

Ah. So that was it.

Thalso’s mind clicked into place. She wanted to quit because she thought her Flow was weak. Foolish girl. But now that he knew, he could show her the truth.

Without a word, Thalso stretched out his hand. Her spear flew from the ground and smacked into his palm, metal clanging against his gauntlet.

"You’re a fool," he said flatly. "Now watch."

Taria frowned, but curiosity anchored her feet. She moved forward despite herself.

"The Fulmen Flow contains several techniques," Thalso explained. "But the foundation for every single one of them, the one you’ve been doing for weeks, is the thrust that can be combined with all your other techniques."

He stepped in front of a row of metal dummies. His body lowered into the stance he’d drilled into her, thousands of repetitions, day and night.

"You’ve been doing the motion, but not the truth of it."

Grey essence rippled over his armor like a second skin. The spear dimly glowed with it as he infused both weapon and body.

"I don’t wield your Flow, so this won’t be perfect, but it’ll be enough."

He exhaled.

"First Stance of Fulmen— Thrust."

The movement was simple.

A single thrust, except it was fast enough to blur, almost invisible to the eye.

The result wasn’t.

Compressed air exploded forward in a sonic boom. The grey essence flared as the attack tore through all three dummies like paper, and carved a smoking gouge in the reinforced metal floor behind them.

Taria’s mouth fell open. Her heart pounded.

This... this was one of the techniques she had seen in the manual. She remembered skipping over it, thinking it was basic. Pointless. She’d almost dismissed it entirely.

Thalso straightened. "That was the best I could do without your Flow and core. I’m not a user of Fulmen but you are."

"That... was one of my techniques?" she whispered, still staring at the ruined floor.

"Yes. But only a real practitioner of the Flow can unleash its full power. The techniques were made for your kind of core."

Taria wasn’t listening anymore. She was locked on the image, the deep smoking cut, the devastation.

"I can do that?" she asked quietly.

Thalso gave a small nod. "Yes. And more. Keep thrusting. Keep training. That technique you saw? That’s just the beginning."

He tossed her spear to her.

"Well?" he said. "Don’t you have training to get back to?"

Taria caught the weapon.

It felt heavier than it had before and at the same time, perfectly balanced. Her hands wrapped around it instinctively. She smiled.

"I do."

Thalso didn’t reply.

He simply raised his hand and summoned more dummies.