Kara blinked in surprise, taken aback by his request. "Use it?" she repeated, her voice laced with confusion. "But... I don’t have the skill anymore. I lost it when I switched to the Vital Sage class."
Sora gave her a patient look. "I know. But who said you can not use it anymore?"
Kara hesitated, feeling a wave of uncertainty. How could she use a skill she no longer possessed? It didn’t make sense. Yet, there was something in Sora’s gaze—a calm confidence—that made her want to try, even if it seemed impossible.
Taking a deep breath, Kara closed her eyes and concentrated. She reached deep within herself, searching for the familiar feeling of casting Heal, the way she had done countless times before. She could almost feel it, like a distant memory, but nothing happened.
"I can’t—" she started, but Sora cut her off.
"Don’t focus on the skill itself," he said, his voice low but firm. "Focus on what it did. Remember how it did. Ask your body, ask your muscles and look for those memories. You have seen the process, you have felt the process."
Kara’s brow furrowed, but she nodded, trying to follow his guidance. She emptied her mind of the technical aspects, the mechanics of the skill, and focused instead on the feeling—what Heal had represented. A warmth, a flow of energy that mended wounds, restored vitality. She focused on that sensation, allowing the intent to guide her mana.
Suddenly, she felt a spark. It wasn’t as strong as it used to be, but it was there—a faint pulse of healing energy. Her eyes flew open in surprise.
"I... I felt something," she whispered.
Sora smiled slightly, pleased. "Good. That’s a start. Your body remembers, even if the system says you don’t have the skill anymore. Now, we’ll work on bringing that back and pushing you even further."
Kara looked at him, still shocked by the realization that she could tap into her lost abilities, even if it was just a spark for now. "How did you know that would work?"
Sora shrugged. "I tried it before. I’ve been in situations where I had to push past what the system allowed me to do. The limits are there, but they’re not absolute. You just have to learn to think beyond them."
He leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. "Try it"
Sora frowned as he watched Kara struggle with her attempts to channel healing energy. Her progress was excruciatingly slow, far more than he had anticipated. He knew it wasn’t supposed to be easy, but it shouldn’t have been this difficult either. Five hours had passed, and although she was improving, it was inch by inch. Something was off.
"Stop for a moment," Sora said, his voice steady but firm.
Kara, drenched in sweat and visibly exhausted, paused her efforts, looking at him questioningly. Sora’s mana eyes had been observing her intently, tracing the flow of energy in and out of her body. He could see the process she was going through—filtering raw mana before refining into life force. That first step was clean, but the second? The moment she transformed mana into life force, it vanished from his sight. It became something else, something he couldn’t track. Life force wasn’t ordinary mana; it was an entirely different kind of energy, one that he had no control over.
But after a while, even that lost its novelty. He glanced down at Hiyoko, the little bird perched on his shoulder, preening its feathers and tilting its head curiously at the strange sight of Kara in her frozen training.
"Bored too, huh?" Sora murmured, scratching Hiyoko’s head gently.
Hiyoko chirped softly, flapping its wings in agreement.
Sora smiled. "Wanna play some cards?" he asked, pulling a deck from his pocket.
Hiyoko’s eyes brightened, and it immediately hopped down from his shoulder to the ground, ready for some action. Sora shuffled the deck, then crouched down and laid out the cards, dealing them between himself and the bird.
The game wasn’t anything fancy—just a simple game of matching pairs. Hiyoko, with its sharp eyes, turned out to be an unexpectedly good opponent, picking the correct cards with its beak far more often than not. It even chirped victoriously whenever it won a round, hopping excitedly.
"Not bad, Hiyoko," Sora chuckled, watching the little bird play with an intensity that made him laugh. "Maybe I’ll train you to be a gambler instead of the ultimate bird king."
They played several rounds, Hiyoko sometimes hopping around in a circle when it got excited, and at other times nuzzling Sora’s hand when he shuffled the cards. It was a small distraction from the long wait, but it did the job of keeping Sora entertained.
Every now and then, he glanced over at Kara’s bubble, checking on her progress. Time passed swiftly for them, but Sora and Hiyoko seemed to have settled into a strange rhythm—playing cards, making light conversation (though Hiyoko mostly chirped), and watching the world move by.
It wasn’t much, but the small moments helped break up the long hours. Hiyoko’s antics, whether it was playing cards or simply fluttering around him, kept the mood light, allowing Sora to enjoy the downtime between Kara’s intensive training.
Three days later, Sora felt the time bubble collapse with a sudden pop. Kara emerged, and Sora immediately sensed the difference. She radiated with life force—an overwhelming amount of it. For the first time, Sora felt that Kara could actually be a threat to him if she wanted to be. Her entire presence had transformed.
Her hair had grown longer, nearly 20 centimeters more than when she started, and there was a profound change in her demeanor. Her eyes, sharp and steady, carried a depth of wisdom and strength that hadn’t been there before. It was like her mind had gone through years of battle, training, and reflection in the span of a few days.
Kara smiled faintly, her voice low and slightly shaky. "It feels like... forever since we last spoke."
Sora, his eyes narrowing slightly in approval, crossed his arms. "You’ve changed."
Kara nodded, a strange calm washing over her. "I tried so hard.... Recreating a skill was so difficult... But the reward... It is worth it..."
Sora gave her a slow nod, impressed but not surprised. "Good. I’m happy for you"