Lira stared at the fortress for thirty seconds.

Then she turned toward Kai.

"Before we go in."

"What?"

"You need more practice with Qi." She pointed to the ground in front of her. "Here. Now."

Kai looked at the fortress.

"We can go in and—"

"If you go in without enough Qi control and there’s something in there that detects it, you’ll be the group’s weak point." Lira crossed her arms. "Ten minutes."

Serah, who had been looking at the fortress, turned around.

"That’s not necessary," she said.

"You’re not his Qi instructor," Lira said.

"You’re nothing to him either."

"I’m the one who taught him to find it. That gives me a certain authority on the subject."

Serah stared at her.

Kai set his stance before either of them could continue.

"Ten minutes," he said.

---

[DraconicLegacy: Lira insisting on training before going in. Tactic or excuse?]

[Jack_Moore: ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌ probably both]

[RagingMutant: Serah with a look like "I don’t like this but I can’t say exactly why"]

[Wolf1179: Lira seems attached to the glasses even though the sun’s going away]

[Dr_Snow: An SS vampire that Kai defeated with a window and now lives with him just motivated by annoying Serah]

---

The first correction was to his hip axis.

Lira placed one hand on Kai’s right hip — with more precision than strictly necessary — and adjusted the angle by three degrees.

"Qi follows the spinal column before distributing. If the hip is misaligned, the flow cuts off halfway."

Kai adjusted.

"Like this?"

"Almost." Lira kept her hand there. "A little more."

The ambient temperature dropped half a degree.

Serah, sitting on a rock five meters away with her arms crossed, stared at the horizon.

---

First interruption — three minutes later.

"Kai."

Kai opened his eyes.

"What?"

Serah pointed to his left.

"There’s a rock formation that could be useful for cover if we need to leave the fortress fast."

Kai looked at the formation.

It was a rock. Nothing particularly remarkable.

"Alright," he said. "I’ll keep it in mind."

"Maybe you should go check it out."

"I’m in the middle of something."

Serah went back to staring at the horizon.

Lira, whose expression hadn’t changed, picked up the correction right where she’d left off.

---

[Jack_Moore: (¬‿¬) Serah interrupted with the flimsiest excuse possible]

[RagingMutant: "there’s a rock formation that could be useful" pointing at a NORMAL rock]

[Dr_Snow: Kai said "alright I’ll keep it in mind" with a face that knew exactly what was going on]

[Wolf1179: Serah is showing the jealousy a real girlfriend would show]

[DraconicLegacy: @Wolf1179 yeah she really is trying to steal Kai’s attention at all costs]

---

Five minutes later.

Lira moved on to the left shoulder.

Both hands this time, adjusting the angle in a way that required her to be considerably closer than the shoulder correction strictly required.

"The tension here blocks the flow before it reaches the arm."

The temperature dropped a full degree.

Second interruption.

"Kai."

"Serah."

"I think I heard something inside the fortress."

Kai listened.

Silence.

"I don’t hear anything."

"It was subtle."

"What kind of sound?"

Pause.

"A subtle sound."

Kai looked at her for a second.

"Let me know if it comes back."

Serah returned to the horizon.

Lira, from the shoulder correction position, adjusted her glasses with one finger without moving.

---

[Jack_Moore: HAHAHAHA "A SUBTLE SOUND"]

[RagingMutant: ヽ(ˇヘˇ)ノ Serah ran out of excuse halfway and kept going anyway]

[Dr_Snow: Serah’s involuntary honesty is her character development]

[Wolf1179: Lira adjusted her glasses without moving. That was a smile without using her face.]

[DraconicLegacy: I’m understanding the real reason Lira is helping Kai.]

---

Seven minutes later.

Lira was adjusting the angle of Kai’s right arm when she spoke, loud enough to carry five meters.

"External distraction affects the flow of Qi." A brief pause. "Perhaps it would be useful if the mutt moved a little farther away."

The horizon Serah was staring at became covered in frost within a two-meter radius.

Not her. The horizon.

Then Serah spoke, in a low voice.

It wasn’t exactly a threat.

"Maybe someone should tear a certain vampire to pieces every second until she stops regenerating."

Technically it contained no promise of specific harm.

It was more like an observation about what would happen if certain elements of the environment changed position.

Lira processed every word.

Kai processed every word.

The guard on the north wall of Valdris, two hours away, probably didn’t hear it. But if he’d been there, he would’ve processed every word too.

Lira adjusted her glasses.

"How expressive," she said.

---

[Jack_Moore: (ಠ_ಠ) Serah said something under her breath]

[RagingMutant: ∑(°口°) I heard it all but for my safety I choose not to transcribe it.]

[Dr_Snow: technically it contained no promise of specific harm.]

[Wolf1179: WHAT DID SERAH SAY]

[DraconicLegacy: something that made frost cover the horizon. That’s enough information.]

[Wolf1179: that doesn’t make sense but I understand]

---

Kai opened his eyes.

"Serah."

"What."

"Do you want to learn Qi?"

Serah looked at him.

"Primordials have an energy flow different from humans but compatible. You could—"

"I don’t need to learn anything from a vampire."

Lira, from her position, spoke without turning around.

"Clearly." A pause. "Given the control level she demonstrated in the catacombs."

Serah’s markings went from a steady glow to maximum intensity in about a second.

Lira adjusted her glasses.

Kai sighed from his diaphragm — the breath he’d learned in the dungeon memory room for situations where the environment required forced concentration.

"Let’s continue."

---

[Jack_Moore: Lira brought up the catacombs (¬‿¬) chose that specific moment (¬‿¬)]

[RagingMutant: (╬ Ò﹏Ó) SERAH’S MARKINGS AT MAX]

[Dr_Snow: Kai sighed from his diaphragm. Survival technique applied.]

[Wolf1179: Lira vs Serah is a dynamic where they’re testing too many limits]

[Draconic_Legacy: The day it explodes Kai will have to be strong enough to stop them both, or they’ll both need to be fully tamed by him by then]

---

The eighth minute was different.

Lira had moved a step away — not because of Serah’s markings, but because the next exercise didn’t require contact.

"Don’t search for the flow. Don’t focus on it." Her voice had the tone she used when teaching seriously, without the drama of the last few minutes.

"Let the movement carry it. Like on the road."

Kai breathed.

Extended his right hand.

Stopped searching.

The flow appeared.

One.

Two.

Three seconds.

Four.

Five.

[System — update]

[External Qi — Level 1 → Level 1 consolidated]

[Flow sustained for the first time without a supporting technique]

[The system notes that this is significant]

[The system notes that Kai achieved it under moderate-to-high distraction conditions]

[The system considers that also significant]

Kai opened his eyes.

Lira was watching him with the expression she had when something turned out within expected parameters.

"Good."

"Just good?"

"For ten minutes with the interruptions there were, good is enough."

Serah, from her rock, said nothing.

But her markings had dropped back to their steady glow.

---

[Jack_Moore: FIVE SECONDS OF SUSTAINED QI]

[RagingMutant: ᕦ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕤ WITH ALL THE DISTRACTION THERE WAS]

[Dr_Snow: "for ten minutes with the interruptions there were, good is enough" — Lira acknowledged the interruptions. Included them in the evaluation.]

[Wolf1179: Serah lowered her markings when Kai succeeded. Noticed it and lowered them on her own.]

[DraconicLegacy: Serah always notices when Kai achieves something. Always.]

---

The aura pressure from the fortress changed.

It was the kind of change that happens when something detects something.

All three felt it at the same time.

Lira turned toward the fortress.

Serah stood up from the rock.

Kai looked at the building.

The black stone hadn’t changed visually.

But the air thirty meters away vibrated differently — faster, more concentrated.

Something inside had detected them.

And had decided to wait for them to enter.

---

[Jack_Moore: (°ロ°) THE FORTRESS DETECTED US]

[RagingMutant: ∑(°口°) DECIDED TO WAIT FOR US TO ENTER]

[Dr_Snow: that’s worse than if it had attacked. much worse.]

[Wolf1179: Lira, Serah, and Kai looking at the fortress at the same time. The first coordinated thing they’ve done.]

[DraconicLegacy: @Wolf1179 danger unites them. always.]

[System — notification]

[A_D_M signal — update]

[The interior signal increased upon detecting Qi activity outside]

[The system considers that could be relevant for what’s inside]