A week has passed by.

Since the party, Stella's routine could now be described as:

1. Wake up;

2. Breakfast;

3. Train Saniya with Hōkō;

4. Lunch;

5. Strength training with the Knight;

6. Hang out with Lien, one of the twins, or Locci;

7. Combat training with Lien;

8. Dinner, followed by an hour of tutoring by Asra;

9. Sleep;

Needless to say, her schedule was filled to the brim. Who knew being social was so exhausting! However, she was also grateful for the people around her. The elder became less of a douche, Lien was as cute yet relentless as ever, her gaming skills were honed with Euraidd's help, Hufen introduced her down to the YA supernatural romance rabbit hole, Locci kept her posted about the updates in his romantic life, and Asra... Well, he was as goofy and made sappy speeches as usual. Still, thanks to him, Stella became tougher and finally read a few book pages without acquiring a migraine.

As for this moment, she was in his Saniya training. Since yesterday, the old coot's training has become less sitting and standing around and more action-heavy, much to her glee.

"Are you ready? Concentrate all your Saniya in your arm." Hōkō instructed.

Stella scoffed. "Easy."

In a few seconds, the muscles on her right arm bulged and throbbed with the excess energy coursing and cycling through her veins. It shimmered with a glorious golden light like the Goddess of Light had blessed it.

The elder Wolf smiled. "Now, your leg!"

The girl raised her foot, willing the energy to travel through each muscle fiber that composed her physical body, descending and reuniting into the chosen location. Her sole tingled with the searing heat that radiated from it.

"Gimme a harder task, teach!" Stella's lips twisted into a cocky, toothy smirk.

The elder laughed. "One more! Use your shield!"

Finally! A challenge!

Stella let go of her Saniya, spreading naturally through her body. Then, after taking a deep breath, she willed her inner energy to escape through the pores of her skin, forming an amorphous golden mass around her.

Sweat dripped from every inch of her skin. "Almost there! Gotta make it the right shape!"

After picturing the image of her seeping Saniya perfectly in her mind, she commanded it to morph into a dome with a plain, smooth surface. Her entire body shook with the strain, but she slowly but surely approached the desired result.

She fell to her knees, yet a satisfied smile graced her expression as a full-fledged Saniya barrier circled her.

"Ha!" She breathed heavily. "I-Is this good enough for ya?!"

Two branches of the pego tree slammed together as a form of clapping. "Congratulations, child! Your growth is a spectacle in itself! Bravo!"

The barrier fizzled out, allowing the wind to touch her burning skin, resulting in a pleasant chill. "Ah... I gotta admit, these classes are making me more and more excited." She clenches her fists, flexing her developed muscles, now as sturdy as tree trunks. "I never thought strength like this was possible. I feel like I can break everyone I ever knew in Namadi with my bare hands."

Hōkō giggled. "Yep. Breaking the limits of your physical shell must be a gratifying experience for you!" A branch scratched his chin. "I still find it odd that Humanity seems to forget about Saniya for the most part."

Stella crossed her arms, frowning. "Probably the higher-ups don't wanna see the poor bastards like me with that kind of power."

He hummed. "That might be it. Well, be grateful you're in the hands of the queen now. I believe it is quite the improvement."

"No doubt about it." Stella jumped back to her feet. "I want to meet her so bad! She's a Dragon, right?! A real one! The Knight said she's the strongest Monoke around!" Her eyes were sparkling with wonder.

The elder broke into a raspy cackle. "Girl, you're sounding a lot like Lien!" That remark made the girl shyly avert her gaze. "As for being the strongest, I suppose some Monoke would question the validity of this claim..." He snickered. "But yes, she is definitely up there in terms of power. Her mastery of fire magic is unmatched among all."

Stella's eyes were locked back onto his. "Speaking of, when will you teach me elemental magic? I think I have a good hold on the basic stuff already." Her confident attitude returned.

Hōkō closed his eyes, pondering for a few seconds. "You still have to master your Saniya barrier. But introducing you to the first steps of the elemental routes won't hurt."

The girl started shaking her arms with overwhelming excitement. "YES! Teach me your ways, sensei!" She clasped her palms together and bowed.

The elder shook his head, stupefied. "Sit down and start meditating."

She knew better than to question the old Wolf, so she quickly complied. Her eagerness did make clearing her mind a more difficult task than usual. However, a few breathing exercises were all it took to calm her hammering heart.

The subtle tones of color from the few rays of light that broke through her eyelids were replaced by total darkness. Then, a white dot popped into existence a couple of miles away. Literally, it came with a loud pop.

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Before Stella could even deduce the speck's identity, a powerful gust of wind pushed her towards it! Her surprise only lasted a second, as she was accustomed to the cooky old canine's antics. However, what astounded her was the lack of pain when her cheek scraped the invisible floor when she landed. This was worse than the Baku interaction.

A clicking sound of claws hitting the floor approached. "Here's a neat little trick. If you think about getting up at once, you won't need to use your arms and legs!"

That couldn't be right. Although Stella was inside her own mind, she assumed.

And surprise, surprise! Her body flickered from one position to another with only a thought! Neat!

The girl could finally glimpse her teacher in his authentic form. He wore a tattered, dirty blue kimono with a yellow sash. His posture was curved with age, his shoulders slumped, and his arms and legs had the structural integrity of a twig, caused by his muscles wasting away for centuries without exercise yet somehow still supporting his weight.

"Right. Dreamscape, dummy." Her eyes widened as her direct inner dialogue was laid bare on the mental plane.

The elder's voice echoed through the void without his lips ever separating from each other. "Careful to not get careless with your thoughts, girl." He cackled, still with his mouth shut. "Now, before you expose too much..."

Hōkō's paw glowed with an azure light. He swung his right arm vertically, then his left arm horizontally, forming two straight blue lines that converged into a cross that shot toward Stella. She braced for impact, but it only passed through her like a ghost.

Before the girl could make some snarky remark, a white cross opened between her and the elder, from where an oppressive light overwhelmed her senses and brought her to her knees. The world around her spun as the angry ramblings of a thousand angels blared in her ears.

Fortunately, it all lasted for a few seconds. Stella opened her eyes, and what she saw was... trippy, to say the least. Multiple landscapes blended into one, fighting for dominance in the girl's senses. Her skin sensed the sizzling wrath of a volcano and the cold waters at the bottom of the ocean simultaneously. Her feet touched the sturdy, reliable stone floor beneath her while her toes danced in the freedom of the skies.

The living, breathing paradox was overwhelming. The Human's mind threatened to split into four to adapt to her new situation. However, her eyes found themselves locked on the only constant element amidst the environmental kaleidoscope, Hōkō.

"You've found me faster than I expected! Good job!"

Stella's veins coursed with frustration. "What is this? Mental training?! Can't this guy focus on one subject?!" Oops! Another thought slipped out.

The old coot shrugged it off. "What can I say? I love the juggler approach!" He stretched his back. From this act, his misused spine caused sick pops to reverberate through the chaotic scenery. "Now, focus on a single plane. The first that comes to mind!"

On instinct, she did what he instructed, closing her eyes and concentrating her will on the wavering borders between planes. Her first thought was to run away from this overstimulation of her globes. She craved a safe space, a solid ground to stand on.

So, naturally, when her eyes opened again, she and the elder were at opposite borders of a gigantic canyon, both sides stretching beyond what her eyes could process. However, the plunging gap between them was not that wide in comparison.

Hōkō's eyes analyze their surroundings. "So this is your choice... Interesting."

Stella blinked. "Is this a problem? Did I... choose wrong...?"

He shook his head. "There's no right or wrong answer, child." He stepped one foot forward, and a platform came from one edge to the other, closing the gap.

The elder stepped forward. "Earth is commonly seen as the element of stability. Commanding what lies beneath your opponent's feet means controlling the pace of the battle."

Stella remembered the difficulty in keeping her balance over the overwhelming earthquakes when she witnessed and suffered through the battles against Grýla and the Oni. Just thinking about the former made her blood boil.

"However, this is only scratching the surface of this path. Not every soil is as firm as stone. Some can be almost as fluid as water, even." When his feet touched the other side, the stone beneath her transformed into quicksand, consuming everything below her knees.

"That's cute, but can you stop with this unnecessary flair?" Her eyebrows furrowed with displeasure.

"Say that to your own mind!" He grabbed her by the collar of her tunic and yanked her out of the ground like a vegetable. "As you deduced earlier, this is also mental training."

"Fine." She slapped the dust away from her pants, then steeled her resolve to avoid any pesky distractions. "Go on."

The elder clasped his paws around his back, his eyes locked on a distance gaze at the vast canyon. "This path allows you to manipulate the very elements that compose the core of this world, including their refined state by the hands of nature or not."

Stella scratched the back of her mind. "I don't get it."

"At the heart of a volcano, there's nothing but heated rock. Crystals are just the exceptional hand of nature acting upon the earth. Glass, metal, concrete, all byproducts of the natural elements when repurposed to our needs."

"So, in theory, I could control all that!?" Her eyes sparkled with wonder.

Hōkō laughed, turning his eyes at her with a bright smile. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves! All elements must be wielded by one who understands their own Saniya and how it reacts to each one. Even then, mastering a single element demands a lifetime of training. Time most species do not have the luxury of obtaining."

The old Monoke took a deep breath and assumed an unmovable stance. "To understand the earth route first, you must be stable and reliable as the earth, make the ground react to your Saniya, and respect your power."

He unsheathed his claws and then buried them deep in the stone. Suddenly, the ground roared with a relentless earthquake as the canyon closed its gaping maw. Stella became slack-jawed at the god-like feat of her mentor, forgetting that nothing was real around here in the first place.

He dusted his paws. "Once you're acquainted with the solid material, you can mold the more structurally complicated and granular ones with a softer or rougher approach." Curious by her quietness, he turned to his student again. "Stella?"

The girl watched the blurry background. Even her mental landscapes had their limitations. She wondered what would happen if she touched the wavering barrier. Would she pass right through it? Would she fall down the abyss of her own making? Why was she so distracted in a lecture of such importance?

The Wolf chuckled. "Staying lucid on your mindscape can be tricky for the first time." His white tail swerved and danced in a mesmerizing pattern. "Shall we attempt at another plane?"

The Human's attention regained a solid point of focus. "We're going through all four?"

"This is a lesson about ALL elemental routes, after all."

Stella closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm ready, coach!"

She clenched her fists and furrowed her eyebrows, her determination to see this through taking the shape of an untameable flame.

...

......

Why was her skin feeling so tingly all of a sudden?