The early m air hung thick with silence as Helios moved through the dimly lit halls of Merlin's cottage. His body ached from the weight of exhaustion, the mental strain of his decisions, and the ever-looming presence of his enemies. He ched his fists, pushing the fatigue aside as he approached the room where Sephiroth stayed. The brutal m training sessions were one of the few stants in his chaotic life, but after his skirmish with Braig, Helios k was too risky to tinue for now. He o y low.

  Stopping in front of the door, Helios took a deep breath and khe sound eg faintly iillness. For a moment, there was no respohen, a calm yet anding voice came from withier.”

  Helios pushed the door open. The room arsely furnished, much like the rest of the cottage. Sephiroth sat in a wooden chair, leaning back slightly, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes, sharp and calg, opened slowly as Helios stepped inside.

  “What do you want?” Sephiroth asked, his to and ued.

  Helios hesitated for a brief moment before speaking. “We o pause our training sessions for a while,” he said, his voice steady despite the tension he felt. “It’s not safe right now.”

  Sephiroth’s expression didn’t ge. He closed his eyes again, as if the versation wasn’t worth his full attention. “Okay.”

  The simplicity of the response caught Helios off guard. He blinked, frowning slightly. “That’s it? You don’t even want to know why?”

  “I don’t care,” Sephiroth replied, his tone as indifferent as before. “Do what you want. If you don’t wish to train, that’s your decision. Now, leave me.”

  Helios stared at him for a moment, trying to process the ued dismissal. Sephiroth’s demeanor was as enigmatic as ever, and Helios couldn’t tell if he truly didn’t care or if he simply enjoyed being difficult. Either way, the versation was over.

  “Fine,” Helios muttered, turning on his heel and leaving the room. The door closed softly behind him, aood in the hallway for a moment, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. Sephiroth’s cooperation, however begrudging, was one less problem to worry about—for now.

  Since he was already awake, Helios decided to make use of the time. He returo his room, retrieving the book oransmogrification spell he had been studying. The spell intrigued him, both for its utility and its plexity. Uhe raw, essence-based transformation magic Malefit had demonstrated, this spell operated by harmonizing with the will of the world, allowing the caster to adapt seamlessly to the enviro. It was a subtler, more versatile form of transformation, but its execution required meticulous trol and a deep uanding of magical theory.

  With the book in hand, Helios made his way to Merlin’s study. The room was quiet, the air heavy with the st of aged part and ink. Shelves lihe walls, overflowing with books and scrolls that tained turies’ worth of magical knowledge. A faint glow from a ntern illumihe space, casting long shadows across the wooden floor.

  To his surprise, he found Skuld already there, seated at the study’s tral table. She was hunched over, her hands outstretched as she focused ily on a small orb of light floating above her palms. The light flickered and wavered, shifting colors as she struggled to maintain its form. Her brow was furrowed in tratioongue poking out slightly as she worked.

  Helios leaned against the doorway, watg her for a moment before speaking. “Did you even go to sleep st night?”

  Skuld jumped slightly, the orb of light sputtering out as she turo face him. Her expression was sheepish, and she avoided his gaze. “I… might have lost track of time,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Helios sighed, stepping into the room aing the book down oable. “You need rest, Skuld. Magic takes a toll on your body, and if you push too hard, you’ll burn yourself out.”

  “I was so close to getting it right,” she said defensively, though her tired eyes betrayed her. “I just wao try one more time.”

  Helios softened, pulling out a chair and sitting across from her. “You’re making goress,” he said, his tone reassuring. “But you won’t get anywhere if you colpse from exhaustion. Magi’t just about effort; it’s about bance. You o let your body and mind recover.”

  Skuld nodded relutly, her shoulders slumping. “Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll rest… after this one.” She gave him a small, hopeful smile, and Helios couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “Fine,” he said, leaning ba his chair. “But only one.”

  Enced by his approval, Skuld returned her focus to the light spell. She held out her hands again, her firembling slightly from fatigue. A faint gloeared between her palms, flickering like a dle in the wind. She furrowed her brow, her lips moving silently as she whispered the intation.

  The light grew steadier, its glow soft and warm. For a moment, it held its shape perfectly, castile illumination across the table. Skuld’s face lit up with excitement, but her tration faltered, and the orb fizzled out once more.

  “Almost,” Helios said, nodding in approval. “Yettier at trolling the flow of magic. Just a little more practice, and you’ll have it.”

  Skuld smiled at the praise, her tired eyes sparkling with determination. “Thanks, Helios. I’ll get it ime.”

  “Of course you will,” Helios said, rising from his seat auring toward the doorway. “Now, go get some rest. That’s an order from your teacher.”

  Skuld hesitated for a moment, then nodded, stifling a yawn as she stood. “Alright,” she said, her voice ced with fatigue. “But only because you said so.”

  Helios watched her leave, a faint smile lingering on his lips. Once she was gone, Helios turned his attention to the book on transmogrification. He ope to the page he had marked the night before, his eyes sing the intricate diagrams and deext. The spell’s plexity was daunting, but he relished the challenge.

  As he began to practice the intation, his mind remained focused, his movements precise. The study fell silent once more, save for the faint hum of magic as he worked. Time slipped away, and for a brief moment, Helios found so the pursuit of knowledge, the chaos of the outside world fading into the background.

  Helios stood alone in the dim study, the faint glow of the ntern casting light shadows across the room. The silence was heavy, broken only by the occasional rustle of a turning page as he worked through the book on transmogrification. The diagrams were intricate, each rune and symbol carrying yers of meaning, and the apanyi demanded his full attention.

  The spell was unlike anything he’d studied before. It required him to achieve a rare bahat bypassed the raw transformative foralefit’s method. It was less invasive, more harmonious—a request to the fabric of reality rather than a demand. Helios appreciated its elegance, but the plexity of its exeade it clear why such a spell was rare.

  He traced his fingers along the diagram of an intricate runes, his mind pieg together the spell matrix. Closing his eyes, he began murmuring the intation under his breath. Magic hummed faintly in the air, gathering around him as he focused.

  The first attempt fizzled out, the magical energy dissipating like a sigh. Helios frowned, adjusting his stand trying again. This time, he felt the spell begin to take shape, the energy flowing more smoothly through him. But before it could fully ma, a sudden knock at the door broke his tration, the magiishing in an instant.