Ryn and Sael retreated to their respective rooms not long after they returned to the treehouse.There were no goodnight wishes, no long conversations. Both bedroom doors closed almost at the same time, and within minutes, the steady rhythm of their breathing replaced every other sound inside the treehouse.Lein stood before the closed doors for a moment.Two children who had endured far more in a single day than anyone their age ever should, sleeping the way people did when they had finally found a place safe enough to let go of everything.He turned and stepped outside.---A branch several meters away from the treehouse had become a familiar place in less than two days.Lein sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and allowed his consciousness to expand outward without imposing any limits.In this world, meditation was far more than simply gathering spiritual energy. With the extraordinary quality of spiritual energy that filled this place, every session felt like laying a deeper fo

“Before you begin, there’s something you need to understand first.”Lein looked from one of them to the other. Ryn sat cross-legged with his back perfectly straight, like someone who had already decided to take this seriously before it even began. Sael adjusted her posture twice before finally settling into a position that felt right.“Meditation isn’t about thinking about nothing,” Lein said. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly to the end of the branch. “That’s the most common misconception. Meditation is about focusing your entire attention on a single point until everything else fades away on its own.”Ryn gave a slight nod, taking every word in.“That point is your dantian. It’s located here.” Lein placed a finger on his lower abdomen, about two finger-widths below his navel. “This is the center of your body's spiritual energy. The spiritual energy whose pathways I opened earlier is now flowing there. During meditation, you only have one task: feel it. Don’t pull it, don

Half a second.That was all it took before the two of them met in the middle.Lein's white aura sword and Edric's rapier collided at a single point between the two Ironcrown trees. The sound that erupted wasn't the ring of ordinary steel. It was deeper, more resonant—the sound of two energies born from different origins rejecting each other at point-blank range.Several demonic beasts hiding among the massive roots nearby wasted no time fleeing. That single clash was enough to convince them to seek a quieter part of the forest.Lein and Edric stood face to face at the point of impact, their faces separated by no more than half a meter.Edric smiled despite the pressure surging through his arms."It's rare for anyone to withstand my attack in a head-on clash." His voice remained steady beneath the force still locked between their weapons. "It seems I was right to come here.""You'll soon realize that I'm stronger than you."Edric's smile widened."Interesting."They pushed away from th

Darkness had completely fallen by the time Edric's eyelids stirred.He opened his eyes.A ceiling woven from wood and thick leaves instead of ordinary beams. A bed made from layers of leaves, far more comfortable than such materials had any right to be. Beside it stood a small table crafted from neatly cut branches.Before he could fully process his surroundings, a voice came from his right."Are you hungry?"Lein stood there holding a bowl, wisps of steam still rising from its contents."You were unconscious for more than ten hours. You must be starving."Behind Lein stood two children. A boy whose posture no longer carried any trace of uncertainty, and a girl who looked at Edric with the open curiosity of someone still too young to hide it.Lein placed the bowl on the table beside Edric."Eat."Edric sat up, moving carefully as he examined his condition. His right shoulder. His left ribs. The places where Lein's fists had landed during their battle.Nothing felt wrong.Not a single

Ten minutes passed.The pile no longer retained its original form. In its place was a single, dense, irregular mass, jet-black in color with a surface that gleamed from certain angles.Lein lifted the mass with both hands.Its weight was disproportionate to its size. It was far heavier than it appeared, yet not in a way that made it difficult to hold.He tapped it once with his knuckle.The sound that rang out was neither the sound of bone nor ordinary metal. It was something between the two, yet denser than either."It's harder than diamond," Lein murmured, more to himself than anyone else.On Earth, diamond had been the hardest naturally occurring material known. What he held in his hands now could no longer be measured by that same standard.Ryn stepped a little closer, his eyes fixed on the black mass in Lein's hands."What are you going to make with that?"Lein looked down at the mass."A sword."---The second stage required more than concentrated heat.Shaping something that ha