Crosun stood before Calien, arms crossed, studying the boy with an expression that was half pride, half suspicion.
"How long," Crosun asked slowly, "have you been training with knife techniques?"
Calien scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Um… just today?"
Fergan's eyes narrowed. Buch raised an eyebrow.
Crosun turned to them, and both men nodded silently in affirmation.
Crosun's gaze returned to his son. "And yet, you moved like someone who's been training for years. That wasn't raw instinct."
"Well," Calien said with a sudden grin, "Teacher Nolan taught me."
Crosun's brow twitched.
Calien's eyes lit up. "He brought me to his Special Arcane Realm. It's… not like this place. It's a different world—no, a simulation of another world. He calls it Earth."
Crosun blinked. "Earth?"
Fergan and Buch leaned in slightly.
