The night after Vera's defeat was not quiet.
The campfire crackled low as Yui sat cross-legged across from Azarion, sweat clinging to her skin despite the cool mountain breeze. Her pulse still thudded from their earlier training—a brutal series of mock duels that had ended with her flat on her back, panting, bruised, and smiling.
She was getting better. Not good yet, but better.
Azarion stood beside her, arms crossed, his crimson eyes glowing faintly in the firelight. "You held your ground longer this time," he said. "You only died six times."
Yui gave him a flat look, brushing ash from her cheek. "You could try encouragement that isn't… so statistically morbid."
A shadow of a smirk crossed his face. "Fine. You fought well. Your movements are cleaner. But you're still thinking like a reader—not a fighter."
She blinked. "Reader?"
"You anticipate moves like plot beats. Real battles don't follow clean arcs." He knelt beside her, claws brushing the dirt as he traced an arc in the soil. "Your enemies are not characters anymore. They will not wait for your redemption speech or hesitate on the brink of killing you for dramatic effect."
Yui looked down at the ash on her gloves. He was right. She had seen it in Vera's eyes—the raw instinct to kill, no hesitation, no pauses between attacks. Just intention and action.
"I know," she murmured.
Azarion paused. "Then prove it."
Before she could react, his hand blurred forward—a flash of magic, a summoned blade—
Yui twisted.
A scream rose in her throat, not of fear, but of focus. The blade grazed her ribs, but she didn't falter. Her hand flew up, summoning the words from her system—
> [NEW COMBAT SKILL UNLOCKED]
✦ Resonant Reversal (Tier II)
Redirects the energy of an attack through echo memory. Can counter with increased force if timing aligns with enemy's emotional spike.
Her eyes widened as her body reacted on instinct.
She gripped Azarion's wrist, and the air shimmered.
The moment of the strike echoed—rippled—reversed.
A wave of his own force burst outward, flinging him back several paces.
Azarion landed with a grunt, steam rising from his coat. He blinked at her, visibly surprised. "You… redirected my strike."
"I didn't mean to," she said, panting. "It just... happened."
The system chimed faintly in her mind, then again:
> You have awakened your second combat skill: Resonant Reversal.
Emotion Detected: Connection.
She blinked. "Connection?"
Azarion stood slowly, dusting himself off. "Your system is emotion-bound. It grows when your soul is aligned."
She looked down at her hands, still trembling with residual magic. "So… when I trust someone enough to stop flinching…"
"You learn to turn fear into power," he said, his voice softer.
The silence between them stretched—then was broken by the crackling of the fire.
From the edge of camp, a figure stirred.
Vera.
She leaned against a stone, wrapped in bandages and shadow. Her eyes, once burning with rage, now held wary amusement. "Well," she muttered. "If that's what your training looks like, I'm glad I got my ass kicked already."
Yui chuckled weakly. "Still think I'm weak?"
Vera grinned, sharp and reluctant. "I think you're a damn mystery. But you've got fight in you, I'll give you that."
Azarion didn't look at her. His gaze stayed on Yui. "Tomorrow, we begin again."
Yui nodded.
She was no longer just a girl who fell into her own novel.
She was becoming the heroine of her own story.