Nailah sat in the dimly lit room with Tommy and Olivia, savoring the sandwiches Ayao had given her. The scent of fresh bread and seasoned meat filled the space, momentarily distracting them from their usual struggles.

  “This is so good!” Tommy exclaimed, devouring his portion.

  Olivia looked at Nailah curiously. “Where did you get this?”

  Nailah smirked. “It was given to me.”

  A shadow of concern passed over Olivia’s face. “By the way, we heard you were being chased by bandits earlier today. Why did you leave the workhouse? It’s dangerous, you know!”

  Nailah leaned back, gazing at the ceiling. “I was tired of barely living. I want more.”

  Olivia sighed but didn’t push further. After a moment, Nailah glanced around. “Where are Cindy and Rose?”

  Tommy and Olivia exchanged uneasy glances.

  “We don’t know,” Tommy admitted. “They just vanished.”

  “We’ve been searching for them,” Olivia added, her voice laced with worry. “I hope the Crimson Bandits haven’t gotten to them…”

  Nailah placed a reassuring hand on their shoulders. “I owe you, Cindy, and Rose a lot. I’ll keep an eye out for them.”

  As she stood, Olivia and Tommy beamed at her.

  “Thank you so much for the food! It was yummy!” Olivia said.

  “Yeah, thanks a bunch!” Tommy chimed in.

  Nailah chuckled. “That’s nothing, really.” With that, she left, her mind already set on the challenge ahead.

  The next morning, Nailah arrived at the designated meeting spot. The air was crisp, the sun barely rising over the horizon. Ayao stood there, arms crossed, her stern gaze unwavering.

  “Ready for training, kid?”

  Nailah grinned. “Absolutely.”

  Ayao nodded. “Very well. But first, you need to understand what the Arcane Arts are before we begin.”

  “Yesterday, you said it was the power to manipulate matter,” Nailah recalled.

  Ayao’s expression softened slightly. “Exactly. And that is done with Vistra.”

  “Vistra?” Nailah repeated, intrigued.

  Ayao spread her arms. “It’s the energy that animates everything.”

  “So, I need to learn how to use Vistra before mastering the Arcane Arts?” Nailah’s brow furrowed. “How do we do that?”

  Ayao pointed at a towering tree nearby. “See that tree? I want you to break it with your bare hands.”

  Nailah blinked. “Say what?”

  “Did I stutter?” Ayao raised a brow. “Ready to quit already?”

  Nailah huffed and marched toward the tree. “Not a chance. I’ll make it happen, even if it takes months.”

  “Oh, and by the way,” Ayao added casually.

  Nailah paused, glancing back. “What now?”

  “If you fail to make that tree fall by sundown, you’ll have 100 push-ups to do and a 20-kilometer run as punishment.”

  Nailah gaped. “And here I thought the workhouse was the worst…”

  Determined, she clenched her fists and struck the tree. Pain shot through her arm, and she recoiled, clutching her hand. “It hurts!!” she yelped.

  Panic set in as she stared at the unyielding bark. How the hell am I going to do 100 push-ups and run twenty kilometers? she thought. But wait…! Breaking the tree with my bare hands is even crazier!

  Hours passed. The sun began to set, and Nailah stood before the tree, breathless, her knuckles bloodied. She had tried everything, yet the tree remained firm.

  A sudden clap echoed behind her. Ayao approached with an unreadable expression.

  “Time’s up.”

  Nailah grit her teeth. “Oh no…”

  Ayao pointed at her. “You know what that means, right?”

  “If I fail the punishment… our training is over,” Nailah muttered, her heart sinking.

  Ayao nodded. Then, she called out, “Sakichi!!”

  In an instant, a figure appeared behind her, kneeling. “Yes, Boss.”

  Ayao gestured at Nailah. “Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t cheat.”

  Sakichi smirked. “Got it.”

  Ayao turned on her heel and left, leaving Nailah to face her daunting punishment.

  Sweat dripped from Nailah’s brow as she struggled through her push-ups. Sakichi watched, seated on the vehicle as he casually sipped his drink.

  “Twenty… fff…” she panted.

  “Your breath,” Sakichi remarked.

  “Huh?” she gasped, looking up.

  “You need to breathe out properly, or you’ll never make it.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Taking his advice, she exhaled with each push-up. Surprisingly, it became easier. But as she reached the final stretch, her arms trembled, joints aching.

  “Ngh!”

  Finally, Sakichi counted, “One-Hundred! You made it!”

  Nailah collapsed onto her back, gasping. “How… am I supposed… to run now?”

  Yet, she forced herself up. She couldn’t quit now.

  She started running, each step sending jolts of pain through her body. Her breath came ragged, her vision blurred.

  It hurts! My whole body hurts! she thought. My back… my feet… every step is agony.

  Memories flashed before her eyes—Jason’s death, her arrest, Edward’s “death,” Keisha’s loss, her hunger. Every hardship she had endured. She clenched her fists.

  This is nothing compared to all I’ve been through! I must become strong to avenge my father, reclaim what is mine, and become the Elysian!

  At last, Sakichi checked his stopwatch. “That’s 20 kilometers!”

  He watched as she staggered forward, barely conscious. Still… he mused. This is true determination.

  Nailah’s legs gave out, and she staggered backward, straight into Ayao’s chest. A firm hand caught her shoulder, steadying her before she could collapse completely. Ayao did not step away or showed concern, only quiet acknowledgment. "You’re still standing," Ayao said, her tone neutral, but not dismissive.

  Ayao smiled, her tone softer than before. “I’m impressed. I thought you’d fail.”

  Nailah, panting heavily, looked up at her with a weak grin. “Sorry… but we’re not… parting ways… until I learn the Arcane Arts.”

  For days, Nailah struck the tree with all her strength, but it never gave way. No matter how hard she kicked, punched, or rammed against it, the stubborn trunk remained unyielding.

  Each failure was met with punishment. Push-ups until her arms burned, laps around the clearing until her legs trembled beneath her weight. Sakichi watched over her, ensuring she completed every grueling task. Exhausted, she collapsed onto her bed each night, her body aching, but her resolve never wavered.

  One morning, After weeks of failure, Nailah was standing before the tree as she inhaled deeply. Her body had changed. She was leaner, stronger, her muscles hard-earned through relentless training.

  She clenched her fists, now wrapped in bandages. Sweat beaded on her brow as she steadied her breath.

  "I can do it. I'm getting closer!" she thought, determination flaring within her.

  She pulled off her jacket, draping it around her waist. Her newly defined muscles flexed as she rolled her shoulders. But as she readied herself for another strike, a realization struck her.

  "My body's getting stronger... but that's not the only reason I'm improving. There’s something else…"

  She tied her jacket firmly, her mind racing. "Is it my mind? No… that can’t be it."

  Ayao approached from a distance, ready to scold her for another failure but stopped short. She saw the look of fierce concentration on Nailah’s face. Instead of interrupting, she folded her arms and watched.

  "I'll give her one more shot," she thought.

  Nailah closed her eyes, memories flashing. Grueling push-ups, long runs, every breath she took during training. And then, it clicked.

  Her eyes snapped open. That’s it!

  She stomped her foot into the ground, drawing in a deep breath. Her chest expanded, lungs filling to their limit. Then, with perfect control, she exhaled. A strange energy flared around her—Vistra, raw and untamed.

  With a final breath, she lunged. Her fist met the tree’s trunk with a force unlike anything before.

  CRACK.

  The wood splintered, breaking apart in a deafening crash. The tree, once immovable, toppled to the ground.

  Nailah stared at the fallen giant, wide-eyed. Then, as the realization hit, a triumphant scream tore from her throat.

  She had done it.

  Ayao smirked, pride glimmering in her eyes. "She finally did it."

  She clapped as she approached, the sound crisp in the morning air. "Not that hard, right?"

  Nailah’s eyes lit up with excitement. “The punishment was the training, wasn’t it? Breaking the tree was the real test!”

  Ayao nodded. “Correct.”

  Nailah grinned, but Ayao’s expression turned serious. “Now, let me explain why I made you do this.”

  “It’s about pushing my limits by controlling my breath, right?” Nailah guessed.

  Ayao shook her head. “Not quite. It’s deeper than that.”

  She pointed at Nailah’s stomach, making her flinch. “This is where Vistra is produced.”

  Nailah glanced down, intrigued.

  “When you controlled your breathing, you weren’t just increasing endurance—you were enhancing the flow of Vistra through your body,” Ayao explained. “That’s what allowed you to push beyond normal human limits. Whether you realized it or not, you’ve awakened your Vistra.”

  Nailah’s brow furrowed. “How does that help me use the Arcane Arts?”

  Ayao’s gaze sharpened. “There’s still a lot we don’t understand about the Arcane Arts, but one thing is certain: Vistra is the key. It lets you rewrite the properties of matter. Every Arcanist’s Vistra imprint is unique. To unlock your ability, you must enter the atomic realm.”

  “The atomic realm?” Nailah echoed. “What is that?”

  Ayao spread her arms. “It’s a place that can’t be reached physically—only through your Vistra. Inside, certain atoms will resonate with you. These atoms determine the type of matter you can transmute: liquid, solid, or gas. That’s how you unlock your ability.”

  Nailah’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. “So… I won’t be able to do what you did back there?”

  Ayao shook her head. “No. No two Arcanists in the same lifetime have the same abilities.”

  Her tone turned instructive. “There are two types of Arcanists. The most common are Alterors—they modify the attributes of matter. They can make liquid acidic, purify gas, and so on.”

  “Then there are Converters—they’re much rarer. They transform one type of matter into another, like freezing water or crystallizing gas. But unlike Alterors, each Converter is limited to a single process. Two Converters might turn liquid into solid, but one does it by freezing, while the other crystallizes.”

  She lifted her hand, and the air around her compressed into a dense, solid shape. “I’m a Converter. I can compress air until it becomes solid.”

  Nailah’s mind raced. “So, Converters change matter completely, while Alterors only modify an attribute. And Converters are locked into one method, while Alterors aren’t.”

  Ayao nodded. “Exactly.”

  Nailah’s thoughts drifted to the past—to the man who had turned her father’s murderer into dust. Her expression darkened.

  “Do you know of an Arcanist who can turn things to dust?” she asked, her voice low.

  Ayao blinked, her usual stern expression wavering for a fraction of a second. It was subtle, but Nailah caught it—she knew exactly who it was. And she clearly wasn’t fond of him.

  “Yes… that would be Lucius Ashloween,” Ayao admitted. “He’s a business partner of mine. Why?”

  Nailah’s fists clenched. “I never told you this before… but after my father defeated that swordsman, a man appeared. He turned the corpse to dust—and vanished. Because of him, the murder was pinned on me.”

  Ayao’s eyes widened slightly. “What?!”

  A silhouette formed in her mind, and her voice dropped. “He’s a Dark Lord like me. The Lord of Destruction. A very powerful Arcanist. You don’t want to face him.”

  She exhaled, pushing aside her own unease, and refocused on Nailah. “But enough of that. You’ve just awakened your Vistra. Your body will feel the effects soon. Rest now before you collapse.”

  As Nailah walked away, Ayao’s frown deepened, her mind racing.

  What the heck, Lucius? Looks like I need to have a word with him.

  That night, Nailah lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Exhaustion settled into her bones, but it couldn’t smother the fire burning inside her.

  Lucius Ashloween… I’m coming for you.