The cliffside on which the building had been situated was connected to a vast forest filled with trees that obscured the sky. Due to realizing this, my worries regarding his safety were placated. My soul pressure and Grimoire diminished, and my body went back to its usual sensation. The cliffside was not super high, allowing me to slowly glide off the escarpment until I eventually landed on the ground. I looked around in hopes of finding him before I could hear the sounds of wriggling grass from a few meters ahead.

As I turned towards the source of the sound, I saw Lunar descending from a high tree. Despite his attire having been turned disheveled, his demeanour was as composed and calm as ever.

“Lunar! Are you okay?!”

“No worries, I’m fine,” he smiled, patting off earthly remnants from his clothes. “I’m glad you caught on with what I was trying to make you do. You took advantage of the opening I gave you. It may be a lot more convoluted in real scenarios, but at least you’ve gotten a hold of it.”

“Thanks…” I chuckled, nervously scratching my scalp. We both then held our hands on our hips as we stared at the upper cliff. I sighed, and said, “Man, I guess we’ll have to take a roundabout, huh?”

“Seems like it. T’was quite the high fall. Let us go.”

Nature was nothing new to us Ventorians. Our love and affection for the wilderness had been well known throughout many eons. Even though I, for one, had been to many forests, this one in particular seemed especially evocative.

The trees, as said before, obstructed our sights of the sky, besides the place where we landed. It was a vast place that even had small rivers and ponds scattered throughout.

We followed the outline of the cliff on which our dorm was built on, and soon found ourselves in an open space, where the sounds of wind rustling through leaves, birds calling and squirrels chatting were more prevalent. Our footsteps were also tinged by the crunching sounds of dead pine needles and twigs; accentuated by the fresh earthly smells of pines and wildflowers.

“It seems like you have an idea of what your ability may be,” Lunar began. “I noticed you were able to shoot arrows made of air, and enhance your physical capabilities by using that same air.”

“Would you say these are my only abilities?” I asked, embellishing myself with the beautiful scenery.

“Most likely. I assume Vash was hoping for us to share our knowledge with you. The training procedure we went through was quite simple; We just needed to sort of ‘demonstrate’ our abilities. Since we’re naturally born Sequencers, showcasing them was as easy as how you were able to demonstrate your abilities moments ago.”

I slightly squinted my eyes before answering.

“…I feel like I need to be sure, though. Let me try this again. I’ll summon my Grimoire and repeat one of my abilities.”

“I understand,” he nodded. “This place seems vast enough. Let’s do this here.”

“…Alright.”

***

A tree standing ten or so meters away from us had become my target. Upon materialization, my silver bow floated right beside me. I decided to send an arrow without it, so I channeled my soul pressure throughout my arms, prompting me to realize that I truly was able to also enhance my body.

“So it seems I have mastery over two different abilities.”

“Seems like it, yes,” Lunar responded next to me, his arms crossed. “Do remember that this is your base ability; meaning that you have the potential to further accentuate these abilities once you get stronger. For examlpe, the arrows made of air can be multiplied once you reach higher Sequencer levels.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Right,” I nodded.

“Try and shoot that tree down,” he said, pointing towards it. “If you manage to break it down with a single arrow, it’ll be safe to assume your strength is around the wall level range.”

He looked at the tree as if contemplating my strength. He already experienced my arrow firsthand… Since he was able to parry it with just one hand, I assumed he underestimated my strength. So I was prompted to really try my hardest to break that tree down, just to show him that the arrow he parried was evidently different than the one I was about to shoot.

And so I did. I positioned my hands, channeled my soul pressure, and shot a large arrow onto the tree, causing our hairs and clothes to flutter in the magical wind pressure.

It soared through the myriad of other trees and greenery which caused a large amount of leaves and dirt to flutter mid-air, obstructing our view right as it collided with the tree. A loud thump! Followed, a signal that my arrow did make contact with something.

As the leaves and dirt finally calmed down and fell on the soil, the tree was revealed…

…It only had a single dent. Nothing more than if someone were to punch the tree numerous times.

I ticked my tongue and got into position once more.

“Let me try again.”

After channeling my soul pressure into my arms, I shot another arrow. It soared through the area until it crashed with the tree once more.

It was only slightly more dented.

“Try and enhance yourself,” Lunar suggested. “And then break down a tree with either a punch or kick.”

“…Okay.”

I attempted to channel my soul pressure again. However, I could sense that it wasn’t as strong as before anymore.

I grew even more frustrated, as I repeatedly tried to focus and focus, just for my soul pressure to diminish. It was like ferociously cranking a geared generator in order to make a light bulb illuminate, only for that light to fade away moments after shining.

Lunar noticed this, and turned contemplative.

“…Looks like a lot of training awaits you. You’re not capable of shooting more than a handful of arrows right now.”

Suddenly, as he said this, I could see Vaelen’s face crossing my mind. This caused a shadow to fall over my face as I lowered my head. I spoke to him with a solemn tone.

“…Say, Lunar, what about Vaelen? How strong is he?”

“Oh, Vaelen? In all honesty, besides me… he may be the most talented Sequencer I’ve met so far.”

“Besides you, huh?” I responded, raising my head to meet his eyes. “…I can’t deny that.”

“You can’t, no,” he responded firmly, and egoistically. This sudden prideful change in demeanour certainly rubbed me in the wrong way… but, he was right. Even though I wasn’t able to measure the strength levels between him and the others correctly, something about him convinced me that he really was destined to become a formidable Sequencer.

“My abilities and strengths are objectively better than Vaelen’s from a fundamental perspective,” he continued. “However, even though there are differences in our base abilities, it doesn’t mean he won’t be able to grow as strong as me, or even stronger.”

He then crossed his hands behind his back, and turned towards me with a smile.

“Life is unfair, remember? You’re going to have to force yourself in if you want to be acknowledged as a great individual. Nobody will care about you until you show the results of your labour.”

“…Lunar…”

“Hm?”

“…Fight me. Fight me with your abilities.”

“…No, I won’t,” he said calmly, not a hint of fright in his voice. He turned around, his hands still crossed behind his back, and continued. “Right now is not the time. We’ll need to return and prepare until the second day begins.”

“…Tsk.”

Not uttering a single word, I followed Lunar’s trail back to the abode.

That book…

…No.

I… won’t use it.

I’ll keep using this Grimoire. That one… isn’t real. It’s not a real Grimoire.

Yes, it was all a dream…