The world snapped back into focus with a rush of cold air and dust.
Kai staggered, vision swimming as the teleportation haze peeled away from his senses. His boots scraped against rough ground, uneven and cracked, the kind that hadn't seen rain—or life—in a long time.
He inhaled sharply.
The air was dry, but thick.
Not suffocating.
Heavy.
Alive.
He straightened slowly, blinking as the landscape settled into place.
Nothing.
No buildings.No roads.No sound.
Just an endless stretch of barren land under a pale, washed-out sky.
Kai frowned. "Why did we come here? There's nothing here."
Varek didn't answer.
He stood still, head tilted slightly, as if listening to something beyond sound—something buried in the air itself.
Kai watched him, uneasy.
"…What?" he asked.
Varek finally spoke.
"Don't you feel it?"
Kai hesitated, then closed his eyes.
At first—
Nothing.
Just silence.
Then—
Something shifted.
His chest tightened slightly as he reached inward, toward the familiar flow of his magic.
But instead of the usual slow drain…
It stayed.
No.
More than that—
It expanded.
His mana didn't feel like it was being used.
It felt like it was being fed.
Kai's eyes snapped open. "It's not depleting."
"Correct," Varek said, satisfied. "Your magic is being reinforced. The environment is… compatible with you. Likely because of the Gear."
Kai flexed his fingers slowly, testing the feeling.
It was strange.
Unnatural.
Like standing in a current that pushed him forward even when he stood still.
"…What about you?" he asked.
Varek shrugged. "I don't rely on external mana."
Kai glanced at him. "So your magic just… exists?"
"It regenerates internally," Varek replied. "Unlike yours, which depends on external factors."
Kai clicked his tongue. "Must be nice."
"It is."
Kai sighed, then looked around again.
"So what are we doing here?"
Varek raised a hand and pointed north.
"I teleported us near an underground organization. It's roughly ten kilometers in that direction."
Kai stared.
"…Ten kilometers?"
"Yes."
Kai's eye twitched. "Why didn't we teleport closer?"
Varek didn't even look at him.
"Because," he said calmly, "this is your first lesson."
Kai's stomach dropped.
"…No."
Varek smiled.
"Yes."
Before Kai could react—
Varek moved.
A blur.
A flicker.
Cold metal snapped shut around Kai's wrist.
And everything—
Vanished.
The flow of mana.The weight of power.The second heartbeat.
Gone.
Kai's knees buckled instantly.
He hit the ground hard, palms scraping against the cracked earth as his breath hitched violently.
"What—what did you do?!" he gasped.
Varek looked down at him, almost amused.
"I sealed your magic."
Kai's head snapped up. "You WHAT?!"
"So you don't cheat," Varek said lightly. "You're welcome."
Kai stared at him like he had just committed a crime against humanity.
"My magic is the only thing I have!"
"Exactly," Varek replied. "Which is why we're removing it."
Kai's brain struggled to process that.
"That makes no sense."
"It does," Varek said. "You rely on it too much. And when it fails you… you freeze."
Kai flinched.
Varek stepped forward.
"We're going to run."
Kai didn't move.
"…Run."
"Yes."
Kai slowly pointed toward the horizon. "Ten kilometers."
"Yes."
Kai blinked. "…With no magic."
"Yes."
Kai inhaled deeply.
Then exhaled.
"…I hate you."
"I'm aware."
Varek stepped beside him.
"We'll race. I'll match your pace. If I win, you run it again."
Kai's eye twitched again.
"And if I win?" he asked.
Varek looked at him.
"You won't."
Kai clenched his fists.
"Start."
He lost.
Instantly.
Completely.
Humiliatingly.
Kai barely made it halfway before his legs started shaking. His breathing turned ragged, uneven, painful. Every step felt heavier than the last, like the ground itself was pulling him down.
Meanwhile—
Varek walked.
Walked.
Not even breathing harder.
Just… walking.
"Your stride is inefficient," Varek commented casually.
Kai wanted to die.
He lost again.
And again.
And again.
By the fifth run, Kai wasn't running anymore.
He was surviving.
His vision blurred. His lungs burned like fire. His legs felt detached from his body, moving out of sheer desperation rather than control.
Varek walked beside him like a ghost.
"Kai," he said, "your posture is deteriorating."
Kai didn't respond.
He couldn't.
If he opened his mouth, something between a scream and a sob might come out.
So he tried something else.
The sixth attempt—
He ran in the opposite direction.
Varek appeared in front of him instantly.
"Kai," he said flatly, "wrong way."
The seventh—
Zig-zag sprint.
Varek grabbed his collar mid-step.
The eighth—
Hide behind a rock.
Tap.
"Found you."
The ninth—
Feign unconsciousness.
Poke.
"Get up."
The tenth—
Kai waited.
Watched.
Studied.
Then, the moment Varek closed his eyes—
He ran.
Not fast.
Not strong.
But desperate.
He dragged himself forward, step by step, toward the faint outline of a hidden entrance carved into the earth.
A door.
A real door.
Hope.
He reached it.
Knocked.
A man opened.
Kai collapsed against the frame.
"Please," he breathed. "Let me in."
The doorkeeper stared at him.
Unmoved.
"No entry without the handler."
Kai blinked.
"I—please—he's insane—"
"No entry."
Kai stared at him.
Then slowly—
sat down.
Right there.
On the ground.
Defeated.
He understood now.
There was no trick.
No shortcut.
No clever way out.
Only one path forward.
Through it.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time—
he didn't resist the exhaustion.
He let it take him.
Then—
A pulse.
Faint.
Deep.
Not magic.
Something else.
Kai's breath stilled.
The Chronogear.
Even sealed—
it was still there.
Still watching.
Still… waiting.
He focused on it.
Reached for it.
Not with magic.
With intent.
For a moment—
It responded.
A flicker.
A shift.
A presence brushing against him.
Then—
Nothing.
Gone.
Like it had pulled away.
Or rejected him.
Kai exhaled slowly.
"…Not yet," he whispered.
He lay back beside Varek.
Didn't argue.
Didn't think.
Didn't fight.
Sleep took him instantly.
Morning came violently.
A sharp kick to his foot.
"Kai. Wake up."
Kai groaned.
Every part of his body hurt.
His arms.His legs.His back.Even his fingers.
He sat up slowly, wincing.
"…Please tell me we're done running."
Varek looked down at him.
Calm.
Unbothered.
"There will be no more running today."
Kai blinked.
Relief hit him so fast it almost hurt.
"…Really?"
"Yes."
Kai nearly collapsed back in gratitude.
Then—
Varek continued.
"Instead, you will duck-walk to the organization."
Kai stared at him.
Silence.
Long.
Empty.
"…You're not human."
Varek smiled.
"No."