When Shirei finished, Ada was visibly shaken. Her voice trembled:

“You're right, we need to stop the monsters and destroy the rift as soon as possible.”

“Definitely,” Shirei agreed.

“Wait, how do you know where the next fault is if Aena and Lyceum haven't told us anything yet?”

“Reno.”

“The demigod you resurrected?”

Shirei nodded and thought about the last word, had he really resurrected the son of Aor? He wondered whether creating a tenebrae could be considered resurrection, but he did not share his doubts.

A heavy silence fell between the two.

Cragar's son considered sharing something else. Finally, he took a deep breath and decided to reveal the whole truth.

“The dream doesn't end here, in reality. I also saw a younger version of myself.”

Ada looked at him with renewed interest.

“What did he want from you?”

“He told me that I need to become more powerful, to understand what I have in my hands and to get help from...” Shirei stopped, leaving the sentence hanging.

From the bringer of darkness, he completed in his mind.

The silence stretched on as Shirei thought. His eyes fell on Ada, suddenly realizing that she, with her ability to convey darkness, must be the carrier the young man mentioned in his subconscious.

“By whom?”

The boy stared intensely at the dark irises of the Equinox Flower. His voice was low, almost reverent, when he spoke again:

“Can I ask you something?”

"Tell me," replied the girl, still confused by his speech, perceiving the importance of the request.

“How do you cross a divine path?”

The question seemed to fill the entire room. Ada was silent for a moment, surprised and intrigued. His normally confident gaze betrayed a moment of hesitation.

“Did your subconscious tell you about it?” She finally asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and caution.

Shirei nodded slowly, her dark eyes reflecting the dancing light that filtered through the windows.

“Marina vaguely explained what it was, but I didn't know that this place could be accessed as if it was a physical location.”

Ada took a deep breath, as if gathering her thoughts.

“I'll try to give you a general overview,” she began, her voice taking on a more formal tone.

“Each deity has its own godly pathway, which we demigods can follow to discover new aspects of our powers. The divine path, the one you actually walk, is defined by the type of mana that is held within your divine core during its development."

As she spoke, Ada touched the hollow point just above her sternum, an almost unconscious gesture that seemed to connect her more deeply with the divine essence she spoke about.

“In my case, Rutia's occult magic. In yours-“

“Cragar's,” Shirei concluded.

“Exactly,” Ada confirmed with a nod. Her gaze became distant for a moment, as if she was contemplating realities beyond human perception.

“There are special cases such as the rejection of one's inheritance.”

“Marina told me about this, don't fall into a godly pathways in order to live safe from monsters.”

Ada nodded, her face becoming more serious. “Then you can choose to change path, but it's a very risky process.”

“How come?”

Ada's expression darkened slightly. “If something goes wrong you could suffer rejection and lose all your powers, or indirectly destroy your god particle.”

“What does this process consist of?”

Ada hesitated, visibly searching for the right words. The silence between them grew longer, full of tension and unspoken meaning. “I hope you don't want to try that,” she finally said, her voice a clear warning.

“Anyway, I know of a ritual...” She stopped, shaking her head slightly. “Unfortunately, it was Elaine who was most interested in this, unlike her I don't know much about it.”

“Why would she like to try a change of path?” Shirei asked.

Strangely, the curiosity that gripped him allowed him to converse in a rather simple way, he wasn't used to it. He felt, however, that Ada shared something with him. The two were similar, he realized, but he couldn't definitively figure out what they had in common.

It was an anomalous sensation, especially for someone like him, who never spoke to anyone.

“She said she was interested in treating those who fail in the ritual, to make it safer,” Ada finally replied.

Shirei was distracted from her thoughts and heard his tone of voice, which betrayed great skepticism.

“You don't seem convinced.”

“Because I'm not,” Ada admitted, a hint of concern crossing her face.

“But I'm sure Aena won't let it, so it'll be fine.”

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She paused, as if to chase away the disturbing images of Elaine rehearsing the ritual of passage, before changing the subject.

“Going back to the paths, they are mental places that only a few can access. It's a sort of epiphany of one's powers that can happen even in unexpected moments.”

“Like an awakening?”

Ada nodded slowly, a small smile curling her lips. “You can also think of it in that way, yes.”

Then, her gaze became distant, as if she was observing a landscape invisible to Shirei's eyes. “The path comes in a different form for everyone, depending on your life, the places you've seen, the people you love,” she continued, her voice softening almost imperceptibly.

“It's very personal in that way.”

Unbeknownst to the two demigods, a slight tremor ran through the sky, as if Ada's words had touched something fundamental in the cosmic order.

“Along your journey you will encounter obstacles that will allow you to discover your powers and explore them to the fullest,” Rutia's daughter continued, her tone now more serious. “Keep in mind, though, that the path has specific rules, so you're not free to do whatever you want.”

Shirei nodded, “If I unlock a power in the path, will I also be able to use it in the real world?”

“Yes and no.”

Her enigmatic response confused Shirei, but the boy hid his emotions behind the calm mask of his face.

“You possess the knowledge of that power, but you have never actually used it. You can't master it if you don't train."

“How can I access my divine path?”

A flash of excitement crossed Cragar's son's purple eyes as he realized he might be close to understanding how to become more powerful.

“Meditating,” Ada replied. “Darryl told us that we should try to send mana to our nervous system and relax our body.”

“I understand.”

Rutia's daughter looked at him with a mixture of amusement and concern. “You sure? I already told you, demigods can't get in there on command. We try and try until it happens.”

Despite the warning, Shirei sat cross-legged on the ground, determination evident in every line of his body.

“Then you have to hope that the connection doesn't drop,” she added in an attempt to make him desist.

“I can,” Shirei stated confidently, his voice filled with a confidence that could easily be mistaken for simple arrogance.

The area around them seemed to hold its breath.

The leaves of the plants outside stopped rustling, the birds fell silent. It was as if nature itself waited expectantly, silently witnessing an event that would take the demigod to a new level.

As Shirei closed his eyes and began to concentrate, the atmosphere around them subtly changed.

An invisible energy began to build, like electricity before a thunderstorm. Ada remained still, holding her breath, aware of what she was witnessing.

The silence increased as Shirei dove deeper and deeper into his meditation, trying to open the door to his divine path. Ada watched him carefully, her body tense like a violin string. She had decided not to speak to avoid disturbing the young demigod's concentration, but a sense of apprehension tightened her chest.

The passage of time on the path is different from our world, she thought, chastising herself for not having let him know it, If he actually manages to reach his path, he could risk remaining like this for days.

She was almost certain that Shirei would not have been able to enter the path so easily.

Hypocritically, I didn't even tell him how to get out.

The boy's extraordinary talent always made him an unpredictable and unknown variable.

What if he had succeeded?

It took me eleven months, Rutia's daughter reflected, If he succeed on the first try I'll end up like Havel.

As these thoughts swirled in her mind, mana began to be expelled from Shirei's body in the form of light blue particles, which after a few moments changed to a deep royal purple. The air in the living room began to vibrate, charging with magical energy.

Ada held her breath, her eyes wide in shock. She could almost feel the power emanating from Shirei, as invisible waves rippled through the air, lightly shaking curtains and knick-knacks alike.

This wasn't normal, no demigod could generate so much power out of nothing.

Do you really… just, who the hell are you?

Meanwhile Shirei, immersed in his meditation, perceived the energy particles traveling around him.

That wasn't his goal.

He had to recall them to himself and convey them towards his spine.

He imagined them, still keeping his eyes closed, while they disappeared and reappeared outside his body.

His concentration was total.

Slowly, some lights began to dance in front of his closed eyes. With an effort of will, Shirei forced himself not to open them, resisting the urge to interrupt the process. He felt his mind drifting away from his body, a strange but familiar sensation, as if he had had the same experience before.

If my subconscious told me about it, it means it has already happened, it means I can do it again.

Ada watched with a mixture of wonder and concern, aware that she was witnessing something extraordinary and potentially dangerous.

A demigod who can enter a divine path on command… it would shock anyone.

The stories about that legendary general of the Daffodil Academy came back to the girl's mind.

Right, he was rumored to be capable of it. Too bad he was immediately recruited into the divine army.

Ada found herself holding her breath, torn between the desire to interrupt the process and the curiosity to see how far the young demigod could go.

As Shirei dove deeper and deeper into his meditation, his consciousness seemed to float in an indefinite space. The living room of the villa faded from his perception, replaced by an enveloping darkness.

This feeling… his inner voice echoing in that mysterious void.

Despite the total darkness, Shirei felt his body moving, as if guided by an invisible and unknown force. Gradually, something began to materialize in his field of vision: a rocky area, indistinct but tangible. With a mixture of excitement and caution, he attempted to head towards it.

I did it, he thought with a flash of satisfaction, he had truly reached his divine path.

However, his joy was short-lived. Suddenly, Shirei violently collided with what seemed to be an invisible wall.

The pain was immediate and excruciating, as if he had hit a barrier of pure energy.

The shock was enough to make him snap his eyes shut, abruptly interrupting his vision.

He recoiled backwards, losing his balance in physical reality.

His body fell to the ground, emptying his lungs of air.

Only then, Shirei felt the light filter through his closed eyelids.

With an effort, he opened his eyes, finding himself lying on the living room floor.

The sudden transition from the ethereal world of his almost-divine path to the solid reality of the mansion left Shirei disoriented and panting.

The phantom pain of the impact with the invisible barrier persisted.

Ada quickly approached, “Are you okay?”

Shirei, still shaken by the experience, struggled to focus on the room around him. Small drops of sweat beaded on his forehead.

He began to stand up, trying to process what he had just experienced.

Ada stood staring at him, her lips were slightly curved upwards, in a faint smile that Shirei struggled to interpret.

Is she happy? he wondered, confused by the girl's reaction.

“You failed.”

Shirei looked down as frustration nestled in his brain, “Yes.”

“It's perfectly normal,” Ada reassured him, “As I told you, demigods can't do it on command. It took me almost a year for my first time.”

Despite the comforting words, Shirei didn't seem relieved. His eyes hid a deeper concern from the Equinox Flower: time.

Time he felt he didn't have.

An invisible but constant pressure on his shoulders.

He had to become more powerful, he had been told until exhaustion. If he didn't get stronger, then everything would be lost.

“Are you going to get up?” The girl asked, holding out a hand which was ignored.

She sat down in front of the demigod and looked into his violet eyes.

Ada's approach hit Shirei like a slap. He suppressed that nagging feeling of disappointment and got back into position despite the failure.

“Let's meditate together until Havel wakes up, what do you say?”

Shirei took a breath before nodding, “Yes.”

As he prepared to try again, the words of his young self came back to him. For the first time in his life, he hadn't succeeded at something, he failed his first try. He had encountered the same difficulties faced by every demigod.

And, even more importantly, one of his companions was there, at his side, helping him.

He wasn't alone in that race against time.

There were people willing to be at his side.

Shirei closed his eyes, and an involuntary smile curled his lips.

In that moment, surrounded by the familiar comfort of the villa and the reassuring presence of Ada, he felt something he had never truly experienced before.

He felt normal.