The days that followed settled into a steady rhythm. Wake up, run, train, eat, sleep, then do it all again.
Kael had no gym membership, no equipment, no trainer. He didn't have the money for any of that, and frankly, he didn't need it. He had the apartment building's stairwell, the park two streets over, and twenty years of accumulated knowledge about exactly what a body needed before it could fight anything worth fighting
So he used all three, every single day.
The changes weren't dramatic, nothing that would turn heads or earn second glances. But they were there. The small things came easier now. Movements that had left him winded a week ago barely registered. His grip was steadier, his footwork cleaner, the deep ache that used to settle into his legs after a run now fading faster than it arrived.
Small things. But small things added up.
And the changes didn't stop at his body. Something else, quieter and more fragile, began to shift as well.
Lyra.
Their meals were still mostly silent, awkwardly so. She still moved carefully around him, like she was afraid of stepping on something unseen, but it wasn't the same as before.
He noticed it in the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. The fear was still there, but now there was something else mixed into it. A faint, cautious hope, as if she was waiting to see whether this version of him would last or fade away like something temporary.
Kael noticed it, and it mattered more than he expected. The change was small, barely there, but it was real. And that was enough to keep him going. He would fix this. No matter how long it took, no matter how slow or awkward it felt, he swore to mend what he had broken.
And like that days slipped past without him noticing, one blending into the next until suddenly, it was time.
The Hunter Exam.
Kael woke before dawn and got ready without hesitation. He moved quietly, dressing in the gear he had prepared the day before. Nothing impressive. A set of worn leather armor from a second-hand hunter supply shop, softened by use but still sturdy. His boots were solid, the soles reinforced enough to handle rough ground, and a pair of light gauntlets fit snugly around his hands without restricting movement. He flexed his fingers once, then again, making sure they responded the way he needed.
No weapons. Too expensive. He would deal with that later.
When he stepped out of his room, the apartment was quiet. Empty.
On the table sat a plate, neatly covered, with a small sticky note beside it. Lyra's handwriting.
He picked it up and read it quickly. She had already left, gone ahead to the Hunter Association.
Kael paused for a moment before letting out a quiet breath. Right, she was taking the exam too.
If it were up to him, he would have stopped her. The life of a hunter wasn't something you stepped into lightly. It was dangerous, unpredictable, and far too easy to lose yourself in. He didn't want that for her.
But wanting wasn't enough. Not right now.
They needed money, and he didn't have the right to stand in her way when he couldn't offer a better option. His grip tightened slightly on the note before he set it back down.
That would change. He would make sure of it.
He just needed time, time to earn enough so she would never have to make choices like this again. Only then could he pull her away from that path without it turning into an argument.
Kael ate quickly, then grabbed his things and booked a transit. The ride passed in silence, and when he stepped off, the first thing he saw was the building.
The Hunter Association.
It stood taller than everything around it, rising above the district like it had something to prove. Clean stone walls and reinforced glass caught the morning light, giving it a presence that felt unshakable. At the entrance stood a signpost bearing a silver emblem, a stylized knight with one hand braced against a massive shield and the other holding an oversized blade. Beneath it, in sharp block letters, were the words: HUNTER ASSOCIATION.
Kael stopped for a moment, staring at it. It felt familiar, and yet not quite. He let out a quiet breath, then walked in.
Inside, the air felt different, almost sterile. There was already a line at the reception desk, not long but steadily growing. Kael joined without a word, counting nine people ahead of him as he waited.
No one talked much. Just the occasional shuffle, the faint hum of movement, and the steady tapping of keys from behind the desk.
When his turn came, the woman at the front didn't look up. Her fingers moved across the keyboard with practiced ease, her eyes fixed on the screen.
"Purpose of visit."
"Hunter exam."
"Registration number."
He gave it, and she typed without pause. After a moment, she stopped as if waiting for something to load, then finally looked up.
"It says here this is your first time taking the exam. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
She nodded, already reaching for the desk phone. A short call, a few quiet words, then she hung up.
"Step to the side. Someone will be with you shortly."
"Alright."
He moved clear of the desk and let the queue resume behind him. He heard her voice as the next person stepped forward.
"Purpose of visit."
It didn't even sound like a question anymore.
With nothing else to do, his thoughts drifted to the exam itself.
The exam had three stages, the first being the most important.
Mana affinity test.
It hadn't always been part of the process. That change came after years of mistakes paid for in blood. When the rifts first appeared decades ago, no one understood what they were. They tore open the world and spilled monsters and a strange energy into the atmosphere, something people would later come to call mana.
The first response was simple. Fight back.
Governments gathered their forces and launched attacks, managing to push the monsters back. Then came the first exploration into a rift, a decision driven more by desperation than understanding.
It went badly. Many died.
But they also found something.
The Tower.
A massive structure located within those strange worlds. Its purpose was a mystery, yet people couldn't resist it. Some reached out to it and vanished, sending waves of panic through those who watched. Hours later, a handful of the missing returned, battered but alive, bringing with them knowledge that would change everything.
It turned out the Tower wasn't just a structure. It was a trial.
Those who touched it were sent into a tutorial, and those who survived awakened powers that defied everything humanity thought it knew. That was the beginning of it all.
More rifts appeared after that, each one containing its own world, its own dangers, but always the same Tower waiting at the center. People began chasing the power it offered, and just like that, the age of hunters began.
Over time, the Hunter Association was formed to regulate them. Every year, new candidates took the exam and entered the Tower, but many never came back. At first, they thought the tutorial was simply too difficult, so they made the exams harder.
It didn't help.
The deaths continued until the truth was uncovered years later. Not everyone could handle mana. Some simply lacked the ability to contain it, and when those people entered the Tower, they were destroyed.
That discovery led to the addition of the first stage of the exam.
Mana affinity test.
A simple test that saved countless lives.
Kael let out a quiet breath as the memory settled.
Then a voice cut through his thoughts.
"Hey. This way."
He looked up to see a young man in a Hunter Association uniform standing a few steps away, motioning for him to follow.
Kael straightened and stepped forward.
It was time.