Training continued after the awakening.
The students had split into training stations. Each pair practiced basic techniques using the manifestation of their first rune. Some did so with their weapons. Others simply channeled energy through their bodies, discovering its flow, its rhythm—its personality.
Vex, however… remained tense.
Holding the bow in both hands, he tried repeating the movements Altair had taught him. The white rune on his palm pulsed softly, but erratically.The string drew back.The arrow flew.And missed.
Again. And again. And again.
Altair watched with arms crossed—no mockery, no expression.Just silence.
— "You're forcing it," he said at last."You're still thinking like the person you were before you awakened."
Vex lowered the bow in frustration. He could feel the rune vibrating… but it wasn't flowing.
Then a voice came from behind them:
— "Stop."
It was Aric.
He approached with his usual steady pace, no hesitation, his eyes focused on Vex.
— "A bow?" he asked, as if questioning the choice for the first time."Hm."
He circled him slowly, watching his posture, the way his muscles tensed.
Altair looked at him, then gave a small nod.
— "I've noticed it too," said Altair. "Something's off."
Aric stopped in front of Vex.
— "Do this," he said. "Shake Altair's hand."
— "What?" Vex asked, confused.
— "Just do it."
Still unsure, Vex reached out and shook Altair's hand. The gesture lasted barely a second.
But for Aric, that was enough.
The instructor frowned slightly, analyzing the microtensions in his fingers, every angle of each joint. Then he crossed his arms.
— "I knew it," he murmured."You're using the wrong language."
— "What…?"
— "Your body isn't made for a bow. Not in reflexes, not in tension.But your grip, your tendons, your center of gravity…Your dormant strength…All of it screams one thing: sword."
Vex stared at him, stunned.
— "You're telling me… I've been doing it wrong this whole time?"
— "Not wrong," Aric said seriously."Just… in the wrong language. Like trying to sing in a tongue your soul doesn't speak."
The words hit harder than Vex expected.
— "It was already hard enough with a bow…" he murmured."Now I have to start over with something else?"
Aric offered a small smile—without mockery.
— "No. You're not starting over.You're starting where you were always meant to."
He made a gesture and handed Vex a wooden training sword.Long. Balanced. Polished as if it carried history.
— "Take it."
Vex gripped it with both hands.
And then… it happened.
The white rune on his palm flickered—then extended like living ink, crawling up his forearm and wrapping around his bicep in a clear spiral.
His pulse quickened.But his mind… calmed.
The weapon didn't feel heavy.Didn't hum.It fit.
As if, deep inside, a door had opened—and behind it, someone had screamed his name.
Vex swallowed hard.The heat rushed through his veins.And in his chest… something aligned for the very first time.
It wasn't strength.It wasn't power.It was clarity.
As if he had spent his whole life walking in darkness with his eyes shut…and upon opening them, the world had shape.
Altair watched in silence.But his eyes said it all:
"There you are."
Aric nodded.
— "I knew it. I saw it the first day, in that lost stare of yours.You never lacked potential.You were just looking in the wrong direction."
Vex couldn't find words.
He just held the sword…as if it had always been his.
— "From now on," said Aric, "you'll train with me every Saturday afternoon.I'll teach you the path of the sword.And on school days, you'll train your rune and its manifestation."
— "Your body and your soul need to develop at the same pace.If they don't… one will break the other."
Sunlight filtered through the tower, painting the white floor in gold.Vex looked down at the sword.
And for the first time in a long time…he didn't feel doubt.
He felt direction.
A voice deep within him—the same one that had awakened his rune—seemed to whisper:
"Now, you can start walking."
And that…was enough.