The ghostly harpies, now regular residents of the Interworld, were perfect for what he had in mind: fast, ferocious and numerous, they were the ideal training. If he could fight against them, then perhaps he would find the key to mastering his own power.

Shirei stretched out his right hand towards the void, his breathing became slower and his heartbeat became rhythmic, controlled. The cold began to seep through his skin as the veil between worlds thinned. He felt the energy flow through him to the glittering ring on the index finger of his right hand.

Under the sound of the wind whistling through the trees, another noise took shape. It was shrill, high-pitched, like a sinister croak piercing the silence. From the darkness that began to lengthen, a larger shadow formed. Then another, and yet another. The ethereal figures of the harpies slowly appeared in front of him, floating on the ground waiting. Their wings opened and closed with nervous movements, while their empty eyes stared at Shirei.

He had summoned five of them.

Cragar's son smiled slightly and slid his feet in the grass, thus lowering his center of gravity.

“Attack me,” he ordered them.

The harpies waited for no further directives. The first launched itself towards him with impressive speed, its wings cutting the air like knives. Shirei barely managed to avoid the blow, ducking to the side and rolling on the ground as the creature narrowly missed him, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it. The second harpy was no slower: it lunged at him from above with claws pointing forward. This time Shirei was ready. Using his new control over spectral travel, he froze in one place and partially vanished, allowing the claws to pass through him harmlessly, as if he was made of smoke.

He had succeeded, he realized as he quickly stood up, but there was no time to digest the success. The other three harpies were already in the air, ready to attack. Shirei decided to react. With a swift gesture, he summoned the Blade of Discord from the Interworld and threw it towards the creature. The blade streaked through the air like dark lightning, striking the harpy with precision. The tenebrae let out a distorted scream but did not fade away. However, the attack had been strong enough to disintegrate its left wing and cause it to fall to the ground.

That brief moment of respite was enough. Shirei concentrated once again and, with a single thought, rekindled the power he had been harboring within himself. He had to keep his concentration, otherwise he would be overwhelmed.

The second harpy charged back, lunging again with a shrieking cry, but Shirei was ready. Instead of dodging, he planted his feet in the ground and allowed the creature to pass through him without inflicting damage. As soon as the harpy passed him, the demigod deactivated the technique and hit her in the back with a horizontal blow. The creature writhed, screaming in pain, as a dark glow passed through it, making it disappear completely,

A pang of pain forced the boy to his knees, a sign that the tenebrae had been defeated. Immersed in the battle, Shirei had forgotten that important detail.

I must not destroy them. This is training, they don't have to suffer.

He apologized to the newly vanished tenebrae and canceled the summoning of the Blade of Discord with embarrassment. He shouldn't exaggerate with his subordinates.

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He turned to the remaining tenebrae and said, “Let us begin again.”

The harpies were fast and ruthless, but Shirei was beginning to predict their movements. Every failed attack, every blow he dodged, increased his confidence. He felt his mastery over the evolved spectral travel becoming more fluid, more natural.

Another harpy attacked, but the demigod decided not to avoid it and ran towards it while activating his new technique. When it passed cleanly through her, the other harpies stopped for a moment, as if disoriented. Their connection to Shirei was evident; they were his creations, and now they began to sense that their master was taking control.

The first harpy, the largest, swooped down from above, its claws glittering like metal blades. She seemed to be unnerved by Shirei dodging her.

He wouldn't have time to defend himself from another attack. With a sudden jerk, Shirei took a step back, trying to avoid the claws reaching towards him, but the creature was too close. The tension canceled out the spectral lightning travel and Shirei felt the sharp scratch of a claw graze his arm.

The second harpy lunged at him in a last-ditch effort to overpower him, but Shirei wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He spun around activating the new technique, let himself be crossed and, with a held blow, the creature was struck by a hammer fist on the head.

“I went too far again,” he scolded himself, “Better stop.”

When everything calmed down, Shirei remained still in the center of the field, breathing heavily, but with a small smile of satisfaction on his lips. The harpies were gone, dissolved, but the test had been passed. He had summoned, fought, and dominated the creatures. And most importantly, he had proven to himself that he could do it, he could become stronger and evolve the spectral travel even further.

The shadows around him slowly retreated, as if sucked in by an invisible force present in the Interworld. He felt the pain of the attack on his arm, a superficial wound that reminded him of how thin the line between success and failure was.

He looked at the sky above him, where the clouds were now thinning. A slight bitterness surfaced on his face. He had to return to the thirteenth house.

“It's already evening,” he murmured, closing his eyes for a moment and letting the feeling of triumph pass through him. It had been a worthwhile workout, but if he truly wanted to master his new spectral travel, he would have to repeat that routine again tomorrow, the next day, and many more.

The road was infinitely long.

While Shirei was training in the woods, in the thirteenth house, however, Dalia was alone in Kore's garden, intent on repeating the gestures she had secretly observed. She had kept herself away from others for days, determined to master the spectral travel without anyone's help. However, each attempt ended in failure: either she was unable to move into the Interworld, or she was immediately repelled from it.

She had succeeded when her brother was in danger, but the same event had never been repeated since. Sweat dripped down her forehead, and she hated it. Her hands trembled as she tried to concentrate once again. She took a deep breath, summoning all her available. That time she felt a different sensation: an icy shiver running through her body. For a moment, the place disappeared and she found herself enveloped in a sea of evanescent shadows.

She had succeeded, but the triumph lasted only an instant. When he reappeared, something went wrong. Instead of reemerging with grace and control, she materialized off balance and stumbled onto the carpet of colorful flowers. Her foot caught, and she fell forward, landing face first on the ground with an embarrassing thud. She stood there, for a moment, with her face pressed against it, cursing under her breath.

“Perfect,” she murmured sarcastically as she tried to get up, rubbing her sore nose.

She didn't want to see anyone of her own and those workouts only ruined her mood further.

She stood up and sighed before feeling a strange sensation.

Something trembled beneath her.

The little girl looked down and saw a crack begin to open in the ground.

“Dad?” she whispered in amazement, before smiling sadly, “You're right, I need a hand.”