An orange hue now was added to the park's overwhelming green.
Now there were a lot more trees without any leaves.
Close to two hours had passed since Cyril first arrived at the park. Truthfully, he never thought he would spend so much time here.
The improvements to his technique were there, but minimal. He still couldn't bring down only a leaf from a tree.
Tired and breathing heavily, Cyril was lying on the ground, staring at the sky.
"I can't believe it!" Suddenly exclaimed Rhamn.
This prompted Cyril to raise his tired body with concern.
What's wrong?
"Morpho has just been telling me something. Selene gave her more hints on how to succeed!"
"What?" Cyril now fully got up from the ground.
So what? It's not a big deal...
Cyril didn't really understand her strong reaction.
Rhamn crossed her arms and looked at him with a smirk.
"That's not all. Selene specifically wants to help Morpho win this competition."
This caused Cyril to tilt his head with a bit of disbelief.
Why would Selene do that?
"I think she must be mad at us for being late! This is her way of getting even!" Rhamn paced around with a blazing intensity to her gaze.
Cyril's expression returned to his usual calm, and he sat back down on the ground; there was still a need to recover a bit of mana.
Isn't that a bit too... childish? She appears to me as a serious person.
"You too appear as a serious person to others, but you actually like to have a bit of carefree fun every now and then." Rhamn accusingly pointed her finger at Cyril.
There was no reply Cyril could give her at this moment. She wasn't wrong.
Alright, whatever. It's a good thing that Morpho gets stronger, and I don't mind doing something for her.
Cyril thought without worry. This was a completely harmless contest.
Rhamn's smirk widened, her teeth slightly bared. "Yeah, you're right. No harm at all. Might even be nice, now that I think about it."
Such a response gave an ominous feeling to Cyril.
Do you... know what Morpho will wish for?
Rhamn spun around, turning her face away from Cyril, her hands locked behind her.
"I do."
Are you not going to tell me?
"No. I can't just give her up like that."
Now Cyril was getting a bit concerned. What could possibly elicit such a response?
It's probably nothing. You are playing a trick on me.
In the end Cyril got up from the ground, having rested enough already.
"You are free to think that..." Rhanm trailed off, still turned away from Cyril.
He tried not to let this exchange influence him, instead focusing back on his task.
However, after a few more failed attempts, Cyril lay back on the ground, staring at the orange sky.
His face colored with a bit of frustration.
He took a deep breath and turned to Rhamn, who was lying on her side near him, supporting her head by an arm.
Did Morpho... tell you those hints she got from Selene?
Cyril felt like he really needed a bit of help here.
During all this time, Selene really didn't come by to check up on him. Apparently she stayed with Morpho and Tigris this whole time.
The idea of her being mad at him seemed less and less outlandish.
"Ah, right—she did. Want me to share it with you? It's only fair, I suppose." She acted as if only now remembering it.
Cyril stared at her with a piercing gaze, but she only smiled in response.
It was clear that the game was rigged against him. Morpho probably wished for something Rhamn wanted as well.
When Cyril thought about this, Rhamn's smile became even brighter, as if to confirm his suspicion.
If it's something too ridiculous, I'll just say no.
Next, Rhamn shared various hints with him.
Mostly, they were more words about how amazing water was—about moving mana through the body as effortlessly as water flows, about how his actions should feel natural.
Truth be told, Cyril didn't fully grasp what Selene meant, and neither did Rhamn. But that didn't stop him from trying.
So, he resumed practicing.
...
In the meantime, Morpho was also striking trees with increasing proficiency.
The presence of a master nearby did help a bit. But not as much as Cyril might've thought.
Selene was advising Tigris on how to properly practice the technique, leaving the butterfly mostly to her own devices, only offering the occasional advice.
For Tigris, this period was not at all enjoyable. The tiger cub had never before done anything that required much effort in his life, having been somewhat spoiled by Cyril and Rhamn.
And now he encountered Selene, who turned out to be a rather strict teacher.
Whenever something was wrong with Tigris's spell, she would not hesitate to berate him in full, using her same calm voice.
The fact that the tiger cub never received a proper introduction to spells didn't help.
Tigris wanted to cry many times, but looking at his sister nearby, who was practicing until exhaustion without any complaints, even with enthusiasm, he persevered in the end.
He also wanted to fight together with Cyril.
Actually, the image of that big tiger from the zoo remained in his mind until now.
Occasionally, when Cyril was away, Tigris would stand in front of the mirror and roar, mimicking that tiger as best he could.
The sight was somewhat cute; whenever Morpho was free, she would always laugh at his display.
That didn't stop Tigris from imagining himself to be like that, battling helpless humans on Cyril's side.
Now, he had a chance to get closer to that image, though it is a bit hard.
While Tigris was practicing with big dreams in his head, Selene suddenly perked her head up, as if focused on something.
"Just some waste... Might be even useful," she thoughtfully said to herself.
Then she lowered her head back to the tiger cub, only to discover he, again, became absent-minded.
"That's not how you do it, focus! Your mana must flow to create a stable pattern—" Selene, again, berated Tigris with her still-like voice.
Maybe it would take a bit longer for this tiger cub to make his body stronger.
...
The sky was starting to darken now.
Close to four hours have passed since Cyril first started to practice.
Currently he was standing in front of a tree, his hand outstretched and eyes closed.
After a moment of stillness, he exhaled some air, his palm quickly striking the tree, yet no sound was produced on impact.
This attack even seemed gentle, but after a delay, the crown of the tree shook, and a few leaves were brought down in an unnatural fashion.
Cyril raised his head, staring at the falling leaves with a blank gaze.
Finally, some results...
He took a deep breath, his heart calm, still as water.
"Congratulations! I knew you could do it!" Or maybe it wasn't.
Rhamn raised her hands in the air and celebrated with excitement, purely happy for his success.
Cyril waited until she was done before asking.
Can you take me to where Selene is? I have a few questions regarding the technique.
He could feel that any further improvements at this stage would come with tremendous effort, and it was already getting dark. Maybe it was time to head home.
"Sure! Just follow my directions," she replied with a radiant smile.
So Cyril finally walked away from this spot. He didn't ask Rhamn about Morpho's results, wishing to see for himself.
The trees around were all in a rather bad state. Most had no more leaves; some even had their trunks visibly damaged.
On the way, passing by the overgrown statue of the Earth Goddess, Cyril bowed his head.
"Sorry for this," he whispered. He damaged a good number of trees during his training.
At least in his imagination the statue looked a bit less sad after these words.
Cyril continued walking, talking to Rhamn about various things.
When suddenly he could hear some voices up ahead. They were right in the way.
From what he could distinguish at this distance, it was just thugs conducting some kind of deal.
Cyril stretched his body; he seemed to still have a bit of strength left.
With a curious heart, he began approaching the voices. Part of him was eager to test the results of his training.