Once Ranya reached the top, she grabbed the rope ladder, that was there to be used by the children, and was ready to throw it, only for Klyran to fly up. His sudden appearance startled her, making her drop the ladder.

“I can’t climb like you”, he said with a sheepish smile and hid his wings.

“Wait”, she said suddenly and then requested to see them again.

Seeing no harm in it, the serpent let out his wings and tail for the girl to inspect them. She went around and even hesitantly touched them, after receiving a nod of approval. She stroke the scales, and was surprised by their softness. Upon her request, Klyran even forsake his human appearance. His human skin melted into the scales, while horns grew on his head. Ranya looked at the transformation with amazement, despite knowing her friend’s nature. Knowing and seeing it were two different things though. She went back to her inspection.

She touched the Ryan’s arms and stroke his face, looking into his eyes, finding them fascinating. She didn’t often see the stars, since the trees would hide the view most of the times. So the girl took her time in looking into Klyran’s eyes. Once satisfied with her inspection, she told him to switch back and then led him to some pillows that were scattered around the ground. Once he approached them, the Ryan noticed a roof and some walls, which he believed were meant to protect this place from rain and wind.

The two of them sat down and Ranya instructed him to close his eyes.

“Meditation” she said, “Is the key to this skill. And you should also be grateful, we don’t teach it to outsiders, spare for a few exceptions, which I can count on my hand” she explained.

“Thank you”, the Ryan said with a grateful nod and closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath and tried to remember what the Kenman told him about the process. He concentrated on his own body, feeling the places where the muscles were tense and tried to relax them. He felt all the sore muscles and even the restless twitching of his wings, which he didn’t use as often as he did back home.

“Good”, Ranya complimented, “You are doing the first step very well” she said.

It caused Klyran to smile. He continued like that for an hour. He even ignored the sharp pain in his legs that were going numb and felt like thousands of bugs were crawling on them. The two of them stood like that for a few hours, until Ranya stood up and declared that it was enough for the first day.

When Klyran wanted to stand up, his legs felt strange. He couldn’t feel them properly and whenever he wanted to take a step, there was weakness in his knees that made his almost collapse. Once the girl noticed this, she suggested that they take it easy. She led him to the rail and then patiently stood with Klyran until he got back the normal feeling in his legs.

After that, the two of them went back home. On the way, Klyran happily noted that his Accuracy increased by 2 points, going from 7 to 9. While his Combat increased to Level 4. But other than that, all his other points remained the same. Apparently, the higher it went, the harder it got to earn points.

At home, Midryl and Zevram were already waiting for the two of them. There was a small piece of meat set on the table, carefully cut. Ranya quickly went to it after washing her hands and begun cutting it into even smaller pieces. Seeing this, Zevram went around the kitchen gathering some vegetables and begun peeling their skin and copping them. Wanting to feel useful, Klyran grabbed a knife and started helping the apostle. While Midryl went away, saying that he wanted to take a bath.

By the time the food was ready, Midryl came back and the four of them ate together. They briefly spoke about their day. The siblings spoke about the hunt and the training, while Zevram mentioned that he went around the forest to inspect the new protective spells.

Later that night, when everybody went to sleep. Klyran got up and went again into the forest. He walked the same path as the night before and reached the training field. At first, he trained alone, trying to retain the sword movements into his muscles. Then, later on, the young Yakard came by again. At first, the tree-man simply stood and watched and then, upon Klyran’s request started to swing his branches again. To the young Yakard, this was a fun game, while for the Ryan, it was good training.

The two of them spend a few hours like that and when it got a bit after the middle of the night, they parted ways. That morning, the black-haired man woke up easier. His body didn’t feel as stiff and his muscles weren’t as sore.

Klyran ate breakfast together with the others and then would go train and meditate with either Midryl or Ranya, or both when the two of them didn’t have any errands to run. Zevram would spend his days as usual, he would go out into the forest with other Greenyards to inspect the borders and collect plants and herbs. A week passed like that, and then two. It became a familiar routine for the Ryan.

Then, one day, the siblings declared during their meditation session that it was time to move on to the next step.

“You are now in harmony with your own body” Ranya confirmed and at first, Klyran didn’t understand her words. It was later on, during one of their training session did he notice that indeed, whenever he dodged, he no longer thought about his actions. He trusted his body to do what he wished, to dodge or jump and not stumble.

“The next step is to get in harmony with everything around you” Midryl then said.

Next time when Klyran closed his eyes, the siblings instructed him to ignore his own body this time. To concentrate on everything that was around him. To feel the air and the breeze, to hear the birds and the small creatures around them. To listen to the fluttering of the leaves and the groaning of the branches. And then, the two of them explained, they will teach him to feel the magic around him.

Another week then passed, then two. Klyran diligently trained day and night. And by the end of the month, he saw the results. After the first two days, the young serpent decided that he will stop checking his status as often and would check it in a few weeks. The numbers both surprised him and made him happy.

[Character Information] Name: Klyran Race: Ryan Occupation: Swordsman (Level 5), Combat (Level 7). Strength 21 (33) Vitality 25 (29) Magic 18 (19) Agility 23 (34) Physical Defence 27 (30) Accuracy 14 Magical Defence 20 (25) Luck 9

He shared his results with the two siblings, who were both happy for him. When Klyran asked again about the Trial of Courage, the two of them weren’t as against it as the first time.

“You need to first learn that skill” Ranya sighed, “It’s crucial for the test.”

“At least we know that he won’t break any bones or die” Midryl then told her.

With this new aim, the two of them started training the Ryan more in meditation. They always instructed him the same thing. To feel the world around him. Then, one day the siblings told him something different.

“We will do a spell around you” Ranya begun to explain and laid a spell on Klyran’s eyes.

“Try to concentrate and catch its flow without looking” Midryl said and begun manipulating the air flow around them in different directions.

It was amazing, Klyran thought. He could not feel the breeze, but he saw the air flow moving along with Midryl’s fingers.

“Once you catch it, my own spell will activate and you will awaken the Eyes of Teria”

'Eyes of Teria... the special skill of the Greenyards' the Ryan felt honoured, but at the same time excited.