The following days passed as usual. School. Going home. Studying. Then repeating everything again the next day. For most students at Lunaris Academy, a life like that felt ordinary. For Cael, too. At least for now. After school, Cael walked past a small park not far from his home. He stopped beneath a tree. He placed his bag on a bench. Then he raised his hand. A small amount of wind began gathering in his palm. Not much. Just enough to make a few strands of his hair move. Cael focused. The wind slowly began to swirl. Then— Puff. The wind disappeared. Cael stared at his hand. “...Still the same.” He tried again. This time, the flow of wind was slightly stronger. A few leaves on the ground moved. One. Two. Three seconds. Then the wind disappeared again. Cael sighed. He did have a Wind Affinity. But having an Affinity didn't mean he could immediately use it well. He was still a Beginner. And he knew that. Cael picked up his bag again. “Maybe I just need more practice.” He walked home. --- When he arrived, his sister's voice immediately came from the living room. “Big Brother!” Cael stopped at the door. “What?” Mira ran toward him. “You're home!” “Yeah. Where else would I be?” Mira pointed outside. “To The Void.” Cael stared at her for a few seconds. “...I just got home from school.” Mira laughed. From the dining room, Elira simply shook her head at her two children. “Cael, eat first before you study.” “Okay, Mom.” Cael put his bag down. That day was no different from the others. No major events. No monsters. No spaceship suddenly crashing in front of their house. No one arriving with news that Cael possessed some extraordinary power. Just an ordinary life. And Cael didn't mind that. --- That night, Cael sat at his desk. A small screen displayed material about Core. He read through his notes from school. Energy Reserve. Affinity. Cultivation. Inner Trial. Cael stopped at the section about Affinity. He opened his personal notes. «Wind Affinity Beginner Rank Basic manipulation» That was all. Cael stared at the words. “If I keep going like this...” He didn't finish the sentence. It wasn't because he wanted to become the strongest. He simply wanted to know. How far could he actually go? Cael turned off the screen. Then he looked toward the window. The night sky of Blue Star was calm. There weren't as many stars as there were in the old astronomy books. But a few points of light could still be seen in the distance. Cael knew that some of those lights came from objects far beyond the world he knew. The Void. He had seen it in books. On screens. In the news. But everything felt different when he looked at the sky directly. Cael stood up. He opened the window. The night air entered his room. He raised his hand once again. A small current of wind moved. This time, Cael didn't try to make it stronger. He simply felt it. The flow of air moved according to his control. Slowly. Simply. But it was real. Cael smiled faintly. “At least I can do this.” He closed the window. Tomorrow was another school day. And next week, he would face his first practical Core assessment. Cael didn't know whether he would get a good result or a bad one. For now, he simply wanted to try. One small step. Then the next. Without realizing it, he was beginning to understand something. The journey to becoming strong might not be about how quickly someone reached the top. Maybe... what mattered more was how long someone could keep moving forward. Cael turned off the light. And the night passed.

Chapter 3 : An Unsteady Wind