Velarion was already waiting for me when I arrived. His golden eyes studied me with that same unreadable expression, his aura heavy yet calm.

  "You're improving," he said simply.

  “I thought that you didn’t watch over me.”

  “Not usually,” Velarion admitted, his golden eyes gleaming with quiet amusement. “But I wanted to see how you’re progressing.”

  " That actually makes me feel better and yeah I’m getting there , I feel like I’m still too under leveled ."

  "well don’t get used to it and you’re still alive, aren’t you?" he said, tilting his head slightly. "But you waste too much energy. Your attacks are too rigid, your movements too predictable. You fight like you have infinite reserves, like a brute."

  I exhaled through my nose, forcing down my frustration. "I get it. Conserve energy. Don’t flail around. Don’t beacon myself like an idiot. Anything else?"

  "Yes. Stop talking and start learning."

  Without another word, the world around me shifted, and I was somewhere else.

  I recognized the the woods around my city it stretched endlessly, their twisted, ethereal trees casting long shadows in the perpetual twilight of the Astral. I moved quietly, my steps muffled by the soft, mist laden ground. The city’s skyline loomed in the distance, a stark contrast to the wild expanse I now tread.

  I started walking around keeping an eye out for any disturbances in the reality barrier, and soon enough I found it.

  A ripple in the air. A flicker of movement .

  I stopped. My breathing slowed.

  Three shadow beasts slithered from the darkness, their forms flickering between solid and incorporeal. They were hunched, jagged limbed things with too many eyes and mouths that clicked together in uneven sync.

  I didn’t wait for them to make the first move.

  A spear manifested in my hand, its blade crackling with energy. I hurled it at the closest beast, but it twitched sideways unnaturally fast, dodging the strike. I clicked my tongue and shifted my stance, activating levitation just as another lunged at me.

  I kicked off the ground, hovering above its reach, then snapped my fingers. A small energy trap I had placed just moments ago flared to life. The beast tripped into it, its body momentarily paralyzed as the wires snared its movement. I took the opening and dropped down, forming a short sword mid fall, driving it into the thing’s skull. It let out a gurgling shriek before dissipating.

  The remaining two lunged at me in tandem. I twisted midair, landing against a nearby tree, my boots holding firm against the bark. One of the creatures slammed into the trunk below, missing me by inches. I kicked off the tree, flipping over its head, and manifested a blade just in time to drag it across its exposed neck.

  The last one flickered, slipping into the shadows before reappearing behind me. I barely had time to spin around, raising a hastily conjured shield. Its claws scraped against the energy construct, sparks flying. I gritted my teeth and forced the shield outward with a burst of energy, knocking the beast back. A quick energy dart followed, striking it in the eye.

  It shrieked, thrashing. I stepped forward and finished it with a clean stab through the heart .

  Three down. A decent warm up.

  The next few nights were a blur of movement, battle, and relentless adaptation. Each time I returned to the Astral, I ventured further from the city, pushing into new territory.

  One night, I fought on the rooftops of a long forgotten fortress, the stone crumbling beneath my feet as I weaved between the attacks of skeletal beasts that moved like the wind. They had elongated limbs and jagged bone protrusions that they used as weapons. I had to rely on speed and precision, striking at their joints and breaking them apart before they could overwhelm me.

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  Another night took me deep into a valley filled with mist so thick I could barely see. The creatures here were different, slow, patient, lurking just beyond sight. They moved like ghosts , shifting between forms, striking when I least expected it. I had to learn how to bait them, forcing them into my traps before they could fade away again. It was a game of patience, and for once, I played it right.

  By the fourth night, I had developed a better feel for my energy. I no longer over channeled power into my weapons, and my constructs felt useful without draining me dry. I still wasn’t perfect, but at least I wasn’t blindly throwing energy at problems anymore.

  One fight stood out in particular. I had found myself in a ruined village, its buildings half sunken into the ground. The sky overhead churned with shifting hues, casting eerie, distorted light over everything. That’s when they came.

  Hound like creatures with elongated jaws and eyes that glowed with sickly green light. They moved in packs, circling, testing my defenses. I had to stay moving, using levitation to bound from rooftop to rooftop, laying down traps where I could. The fight dragged on, and I felt exhaustion creeping in, my energy reserves running lower than I liked.

  But I adapted. I stopped making full weapons, instead focusing on partial constructs, just a blade, just a spearhead, just a spike of energy when I needed it. I let their movements dictate my strikes, countering instead of attacking first. It worked. It wasn’t pretty, but I won.

  The week continued like that, fight, adapt, learn, recover. My strikes became more precise, my traps more efficient. I wasted less energy, thought more about how I moved, how I positioned myself. I still wasn’t anywhere near where I needed to be, but I was improving.

  On the final night of my training, I stood atop a high plateau, looking over the sea

  A demon like creature, twenty feet tall, its body covered in an obsidian armor with veins of molten fire running through it. It had no wings, but it didn’t need them, it exuded an overwhelming presence, its glowing eyes locking onto me with an intelligence beyond the usual beasts I had faced.

  The fight began instantly.

  It raised an arm, and a spear of fire materialized in its grasp. It hurled it at me, the heat searing through the air. I barely dodged, rolling to the side as it exploded behind me. Shards of burning debris rained down, forcing me to keep moving.

  I leapt onto a nearby boulder , my boots holding firm as I ran along its surface. A manifested blade formed in my hand, and I launched myself at the creature, aiming for its exposed joints. It saw me coming and swung its massive arm, fire coating its claws. I twisted mid air, using levitation to alter my trajectory and barely avoiding the swipe.

  The moment my feet hit the ground, I retaliated. A energy darts formed in my hand , launching toward the demon. They struck its armor, some dissipating on impact while others left faint cracks. Not enough. I needed to go harder.

  I reached out, setting small energy traps around the battlefield. The demon didn’t notice, its focus still on me. I baited it, moving erratically, forcing it to chase. When it stepped into the first trap, the spike through its footmade it stagger . That was my opening.

  I surged forward, manifesting a war hammer and swinging it toward the weakened point in its chest. The demon roared, fire erupting from its body in a desperate defense. I pulled back just in time, feeling the heat singe the edge of my face.

  I needed a final strike.

  Channeling my energy, I crafted a spear, compressing as much power into it as I dared. The moment the demon turned toward me again, I hurled it. The spear tore through the air, piercing its chest right where I had weakened it before.It fell backwards with a muted thud.

  When the dust settled, the demon lay in the ground frozen, flames flickering erratically before it finally died .

  Breathing heavily, I stood there for a moment, absorbing what had just happened. It had taken everything I had. But I had won.

  I had survived another night in the astral.

  And I was ready for what came next.

  Seeing my status made me feel much better about my progress

  Skills:

  levitation ( common) level 51

  Manifestation ( common) level 74

  Astral sight ( common) level 49 +4

  Inspection ( common) level 48

  Astral echo (unique) level 10

  Looting (uncommon) level 5

  Energy manipulation (rare) level 10

  I checked the loot I’ve gotten during this week,I looted around twenty uncommon crystals and one rare one from the last fight .

  I actually managed to contact Sylvan’dar on the third night. She told me to meet them at an unanchored world in a few days , but she wouldn’t say anything else about it, no matter how much I pushed. Instead, she gave me a set of numbers to pass on to Velarion, who, after a long silence, reluctantly agreed to take me.