>>Aelin
The room was quiet now, save for the soft hum of mana still pulsing faintly in my veins. I stood at the center, breath slowly returning to normal, the warmth of power gradually fading from my fingertips.
Seraphine watched me with her usual composed calm, her hair tied back neatly, not a single line of weariness on her face despite having been here for the entire session. She always carried herself with that graceful kind of endurance—like nothing could shake her.
"Well?" she asked gently. "Do you feel any different?"
I nodded slowly. "Yes… actually, I do."
Her eyebrows lifted, interested.
"I feel… lighter. Not just in my body, but…" I hesitated, trying to put the feeling into words. "When I use the magic now, it doesn't feel like it's consuming me anymore. It listens. Flows."
Seraphine's smile was immediate, wide with pride. "That's good. That means you're syncing with it. Mana that settles is mana that serves—it's no longer just a storm inside you."
