The bread was the same as yesterday.

  The tea was just as bitter.

  And Nael, as always, was talking with his mouth full.

  「…See, when the water moves, the outline vibrates too, right?

  You can’t think of water as water. You have to see it as what the water wants to be.」

  「…Did you even sleep last night, or were you philosophizing the whole time?」

  「I slept. Dreamed I stabilized an entire waterfall.」

  Sera let out a small laugh.

  Whether he meant it or not didn’t matter.

  If Sera laughed, that was already an improvement to the morning.

  And of course—

  「Good morning.」

  Selem was there.

  As if he’d been there from the start.

  「Have you eaten already?」

  He asked while looking straight at our empty bowls.

  None of us answered.

  He hadn’t expected one.

  「Then listen.」

  He stepped to the edge of the veranda.

  Morning sunlight slanted into the courtyard.

  Sera squinted. I rubbed one eye.

  Nael stopped chewing.

  「Do you know what stagnant mana is?」

  We exchanged looks.

  No one answered.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  「…Like energy that doesn’t flow?」

  Nael said, uncertain.

  Selem nodded.

  …Wait, he got that right?

  You just said that off the top of your head.

  Selem continued calmly.

  「Mana is meant to flow.

  All living things persist because something moves within them.

  When that flow stops, distortion is born.」

  「Sometimes it happens naturally—through death, or abandonment.

  Other times, it is caused by humans.

  By forcing things. By taking without returning.」

  「When mana rots, it corrodes what surrounds it.

  Creatures. Plants. Even the air.

  And in time, it becomes something else entirely.」

  「To erase it, it must come into contact with flowing mana.

  Only by returning it to circulation can it be dispersed.」

  The image came back to me.

  That thing in the forest.

  Skin collapsing like mud.

  Air clinging to everything.

  The stench that wouldn’t leave my nose.

  「…We almost got killed by something like that,」 I said quietly.

  「On the way here.

  I don’t know if it was the same thing, but… it didn’t really have a shape.

  And the air felt… wrong.」

  Selem nodded, unsurprised.

  「That was it.」

  After a brief pause, he continued.

  「Two days ago, the monks sensed a reaction in the forest.

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  What remains of a pack—

  a partially decayed core of corrupted mana.

  Dormant, but still breathing.」

  His gaze settled on Sera and me.

  「Today, you will go.」

  「…The two of us?」

  Sera’s voice tightened.

  「Yes.

  Nael will stay.

  He has work to do.」

  「Hey, wait a second! I wanted to go too!

  Wasn’t today supposed to be the day we smashed something!?」

  Nael shouted, still chewing bread.

  「You two need to confirm something—

  whether your bond still functions outside the temple.」

  I looked at Sera.

  She looked back.

  No need to argue.

  No need to doubt.

  We nodded and stood.

  The path into the forest held no special magic.

  Just stones, broken branches, and the damp smell of earth that already knew my steps.

  But today—

  I wasn’t alone.

  That feeling alone changed everything.

  Sera walked beside me. Silent.

  But her steps wavered slightly.

  She wore a cloak borrowed from the temple.

  A little short. Not quite settled on her shoulders.

  The clothes weren’t the problem.

  She just hadn’t settled into herself yet.

  We didn’t speak.

  But there was something there.

  Not silence.

  Not tension.

  A shared pause—

  like we were both waiting for the other to say something before crossing an invisible line.

  「…Is something bothering you?」

  I asked, without looking at her.

  「What do you mean?」

  「Your shoulders are stiffer than yesterday.

  And that’s saying something, considering we almost got beaten to death by cloth balls.」

  She exhaled softly.

  Not so much to explain as to empty her head.

  「I’ve been thinking.」

  「…That sounds serious.」

  She glanced at me.

  Not annoyed. Not amused either.

  The look of someone still figuring out how much nonsense to tolerate.

  「About yesterday.

  About when we connected.

  …I’m not sure I can do it again.」

  「Me neither.」

  「But I want to.

  Next time, I want to be able to call it up before we’re cornered.」

  I nodded.

  After a few more steps, I spoke again.

  「Then we need a signal.

  Something we can react to at the same time, without hesitation.」

  「A word, maybe.」

  「One that’s just ours.」

  I stopped.

  She did too.

  Our eyes met.

  And the word came naturally.

  「Resonance.」

  Sera’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  I could tell the word had reached somewhere deep.

  「…That’s what it was, wasn’t it?

  Not magic. Just… resonance.」

  「You didn’t push.

  I didn’t just receive.

  Something that was already there just… opened.」

  When we started walking again, our strides no longer ran parallel.

  They matched.

  Not by effort.

  Not by thought.

  As if the distance between us had learned how to adjust itself.

  One word.

  To open together.

  So we wouldn’t break alone again.

  The air changed before any sound did.

  Not sound—

  pressure.

  Something approaching from far away, pressing faintly against my chest.

  I stopped.

  She did too.

  No words.

  Between the trees, shadows began to move.

  Fast. Low.

  Not a normal wolf.

  But not something else entirely, either.

  「…Is that it?」

  I whispered.

  「Yes. What Selem mentioned. The unprocessed pack.

  But…」

  She swallowed.

  「…It doesn’t look like it’s attacking. It looks like it’s waiting.」

  One of them burst from the undergrowth.

  Its movement ignored gravity—

  its limbs touched the ground, yet the body twisted as if half-floating.

  The skin on its hind legs was split open,

  and inside wasn’t flesh, but something else.

  Stone-like.

  Like solidified mana.

  It lunged the moment it saw us.

  「Now!」

  I shouted.

  Sera turned.

  No words were needed.

  I reached out my hand.

  She took it.

  「…Resonance.」

  It wasn’t a shout.

  Not a spell.

  It was the center.

  The sensation ran up my arm, pierced my chest,

  emptied something out—and filled it with something else.

  Mana slammed into me.

  Not lightning.

  Not fire.

  Like a gale, screaming forward.

  My body lightened.

  My muscles moved before my thoughts.

  I didn’t run.

  I didn’t jump.

  I was launched.

  Before the ground could even sound beneath my feet,

  I was already there—

  the instant the beast lifted its forelegs.

  I collided with it.

  With everything.

  Not magic.

  Mass. Speed. Intent.

  I felt it—

  bones grinding, air tearing.

  Behind me—

  An explosion.

  I didn’t need to turn.

  Sera had extended her arm.

  Another beast was trying to rush in from the side.

  She didn’t let it reach us.

  Compressed mana—like crushed air—

  shot out in a visible arc through the mist.

  Impact.

  The creature was hurled back, smashed into a tree with a dry crack,

  and collapsed as if something inside it had gone dark.

  「…That’s not just moving things around.」

  「No.

  And it wasn’t the strength of just one of us, either.」

  A third one rushed in from the right.

  And then—I heard it.

  Not with my ears.

  Sera’s thought.

  「From the right—duck!」

  Not a voice.

  But absolute.

  My body reacted.

  I dropped my weight, slipped under the rush of wind.

  Turned.

  Countered.

  Elbow to the jaw.

  Knee to the throat.

  The beast fell.

  Soundless.

  We were moving.

  Not in perfect unison.

  But in resonance.

  And for the first time, I thought—

  We might win this.

  We might actually survive.