The cub finally completed another lap before jogging back toward him heavily.
Her breathing was rough now.
Arthur crouched slightly and rubbed behind her ears.
"You’re doing great."
l leaned into his touch imdiately.
Then after only a few seconds...
She turned back toward the course again on her own.
Arthur laughed softly.
"You really don’t know how to rest."
Her tail wagged proudly this ti before she dashed forward again.
And while the rest of the training hall echoed with weapons, mana, and shouting...
Arthur simply watched quietly.
One eye on Selene’s terrifying arrows.
One eye on l’s steady growth.
And sowhere deep down...
He could feel it clearly now.
His squad was really beginning to change.
anwhile, back with Commander Lyra and the others, the training continued without pause.
The commander’s eyes moved toward Althea next.
"You," she called calmly. "Show the binding skill again."
Althea straightened almost imdiately. Compared to before, she looked far more confident now. Not fully confident yet, but enough to stop second guessing herself every second.
"Alright," she said softly.
The others shifted their attention toward her while Arthur stayed further away with l’s training. Even then, he still kept part of his attention on the group.
Althea lifted her hand slowly and mana gathered around her fingers.
Thin glowing strands shot forward toward a training dummy.
Unlike before, the binding ford much faster.
The threads wrapped tightly around the dummy’s arms and torso, pinning it firmly in place.
Torren blinked.
"That was quicker."
Nox nodded beside him.
"And stronger too."
Even the commander noticed it imdiately.
The casting hesitation from before was mostly gone. The mana threads looked cleaner and steadier too. The binding held longer without shaking apart.
Lyra crossed her arms and nodded once.
"Good. Much better."
Althea released a relieved breath hearing that.
She had really been trying.
The commander stepped closer to inspect the threads before speaking again.
"But this still isn’t enough."
Althea didn’t argue.
She already knew.
Binding one target was useful, but on a real battlefield things would never stay that simple. Enemies moved together. Pressure ca from different angles.
One target would never be enough.
Lyra pointed toward three separate dummies.
"Bind all three."
Althea froze slightly.
"All three?"
"You heard ."
The commander’s tone stayed calm, but firm.
Althea swallowed.
Still, she nodded.
"Okay."
Mana gathered again around her fingers, this ti thicker than before.
The threads spread outward quickly toward the three dummies.
For a mont, it looked successful.
One dummy got restrained fully.
The second wrapped halfway.
The third..
Snap.
The mana thread broke apart instantly.
Then the second one collapsed too.
Althea lost control of the entire spell structure and the bindings scattered into particles of light.
She stared blankly for a second.
"I lost it..."
"You split your focus too hard," Lyra replied imdiately. "Your mana reached them, but your control didn’t."
Althea bit her lip slightly.
It made sense.
The commander stayed quiet for a mont before another thought crossed her mind.
Then she suddenly said,
"Forget control for now."
Althea looked up.
"Huh?"
"Stop trying to force precision imdiately. Let the skill spread first."
The squad looked confused hearing that.
Even Nox frowned.
"Wouldn’t that make it ssier?"
"It will," Lyra answered. "But she needs to understand the feeling of expansion first before she starts limiting it."
Arthur, from the distance, glanced over briefly.
His eyes narrowed slightly with interest.
Lyra crouched beside Althea and drew a rough circle on the floor.
"Think of your binding like a web."
"A web..."
"Don’t focus on one thread. Spread everything first. Let the mana run freely. After that, learn how to pick what you actually want to catch."
Althea slowly understood.
Her eyes lit up little by little.
The commander stood up again.
"Go sowhere open and try it."
Althea nodded quickly.
This ti, excitent had already replaced most of her earlier frustration.
She hurried toward an empty training corner.
The others watched curiously while she planted her feet and raised both hands.
Then..
Mana exploded outward.
Thin glowing strands spread wildly around her like a burst web.
So wrapped around poles.
So touched dummies.
So scattered across the ground uselessly.
She lost control almost instantly.
But she didn’t stop.
Instead, she cast again.
And again.
And again.
The threads spread wider every ti.
Arthur watched while l continued her obstacle course nearby.
Even while giving commands through the bond, part of his attention stayed on Althea.
He could see the determination clearly.
The mana web looked unstable, but there was intent behind it now.
That was the important part.
"Left," Arthur called toward l calmly.
The cub shifted around an obstacle instantly.
"Bite."
l lunged toward a dummy and clamped onto its arm before pushing away again.
Arthur nodded proudly before glancing back toward Althea again.
Her mana spread farther this ti.
Cleaner too.
The web no longer collapsed imdiately.
Instead, it lingered.
Althea’s breathing beca heavier, but her eyes only grew brighter.
"I almost got it..."
She cast again.
The threads burst outward.
This ti, they skipped two objects unintentionally before wrapping around three nearby dummies at once.
Her eyes widened.
The bindings shook violently.
One snapped.
But two remained.
Nox whistled softly.
"She’s improving crazy fast."
Ryn crossed his arms while watching quietly.
"The commander’s thods are weird... but they work."
Torren nodded imdiately.
"No kidding."
anwhile, Althea barely heard them anymore.
She was completely absorbed in the feeling.
The web spread wider again.
Then she tried controlling which targets got touched.
At first it failed horribly.
The mana grabbed random objects.
One thread even wrapped around a training pole accidentally.
But she kept going.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Little by little, the unnecessary strands started reducing.
Her control improved.
Not perfect.
But improving.
Arthur could already tell where this was heading.
The desperation to grow stronger was obvious.
The focus.
The excitent.
The repeated attempts despite failure.
It was exactly the kind of intent the system reacted to.
And just as expected..
The familiar interface appeared before Arthur’s eyes.
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