Chapter 105 Episode 105: The ‘Still’

Akira’s POV

The training yard was empty when I arrived. Night had already settled over the complex. Only a few low lights stayed on along the edges of the open space.

I had reached forty-five seconds of mana suppression during the last session with Kael. The number was better than before, but it was still not enough. Sixty seconds was the goal. I needed the hold to feel natural and strong.

I stepped into the center of the yard and closed my eyes. The air felt cool against my skin. I took a slow breath and began the work the way Kael had taught me.

First I felt the mana the way I always did. It sat bright and full inside me. Then I pulled it inward. I folded it close and held the shape until the edges stopped leaking into the air around me.

The first try lasted forty-two seconds. The mana slipped out in a soft rush. Mild frustration rose in my chest. I shook out my hands and started again.

The second try reached forty-six seconds. A little pride mixed with the concentration. I kept going.

I practiced the same motion again and again under the dark sky. Each hold grew a little steadier. The night stayed quiet around me.

No other hunters came to use the yard. The silence of the place made it easier to focus.

After many tries I noticed something new. When the suppression stayed clean for a full forty-five seconds, a different kind of quiet formed inside me. It was not only the absence of leaking mana. It was a still place in the pathway itself.

The still place felt deep and soft. All the usual noise of my own power dropped away. I had not felt anything like it since the day I first arrived on Dune.

Back then everything had been loud and sharp and new. This quiet was the opposite.

Curiosity rose first. Then a calm feeling spread through my chest. I wanted to stay inside the silence longer than the training timer required.

I folded the mana again and held it. Forty-five seconds passed. I did not release the hold. I kept the suppression in place and let myself rest inside the still place.

The quiet grew wider. Thoughts slowed down. The leftover worry about the Death God network and the public pairing talk sat further away. Even the soft ache of wanting Kael nearby eased into something gentle.

Peace filled me. Real peace. Not the short rest between missions. Not the tired sleep after a hard day. This peace lived inside the mana pathway itself and made everything else feel distant and small.

I stayed there longer than I had planned. Time stopped mattering. The dark yard and the cool air and the distant sounds of the complex all faded. Only the still place remained.

My breathing grew slow and even. The usual weight in my shoulders loosened. I felt present in a way that did not need effort. The still place asked for nothing. It simply held me.

Memories drifted through without sharp edges. The first days on Dune. The long recovery after the service road. The moment Kael asked me to be his boyfriend. The Death God’s gaze. All of them moved past like soft clouds. None of them pulled me out of the quiet.

I stayed even longer. The peace deepened. It felt like standing in clear water that reached every part of me. No current. No demand. Only stillness.

When I finally let the suppression go, the return of normal mana feeling came slowly. The bright edges of my power settled back into their usual shape. I opened my eyes and drew a long breath. The yard looked the same, but I felt different inside.

Gleam’s attention touched the bond between us. The feel of her gaze was different from her usual checks. It held more weight. More focus. She had been watching the whole time.

"You found it," she said inside my mind.

Surprise moved through me. I stood still in the center of the yard and answered her.

"Found what?"

"The still place."

I thought about the deep quiet I had just left. The name fit perfectly. Understanding and wonder mixed in my chest.

"Is that what it is?" I asked.

"It’s where everything real lives," Gleam said.

Her words settled over me like a soft blanket. I stayed quiet for a long moment and let them sink in. Emotion rose slow and strong. Gratitude. A quiet kind of awe. Comfort. Safety.

I sat down on the cool ground of the yard and rested my arms on my knees. The still place was still close enough that I could almost reach for it again. I did not. I only sat with the knowledge that it existed inside me.

"How long have you known about it?" I asked Gleam.

"Since before you arrived," she answered. "Most never find it. You reached it through the suppression work. The holding created the silence. The silence showed you the door."

Pride and humility moved through me together. I had not gone looking for any special place. I had only wanted to meet Kael’s sixty-second goal. The still place had appeared on its own while I practiced.

I looked up at the dark sky. A few stars showed between the soft clouds. The complex lights glowed at the edges of the yard. Everything looked ordinary. Inside my chest the discovery felt large and quiet and true.

I thought about Kael. He had taught me the suppression technique so I could walk into a gate without broadcasting my real strength. He had not mentioned any still place.

Maybe he had never stayed in the hold long enough. Maybe the door opened differently for each person.

A warm wish rose in me. I wanted to tell him about it. I also wanted to sit with the feeling alone for a little longer. Both desires lived side by side without conflict. Love for him stayed steady while I protected the new quiet inside myself for a few more minutes.

I stood up and began the suppression practice again. This time I knew what waited inside the clean hold. When the forty-five seconds passed I stayed in the silence on purpose. The still place opened like a quiet room with no walls.

I rested there and let the peace fill every tired corner of my mind. Fear about the future sat outside the room. The pressure of public eyes sat outside.

Even the memory of the Death God’s gaze stayed outside. Inside the still place only calm and clear existence remained.

The longer I stayed the more familiar the door became. I learned the exact feeling of the mana fold that opened it. I learned how soft I needed to keep my focus so the silence would not break. Each visit made the next one easier.

When I finally released the hold I felt rested instead of drained. That was new. Usually the suppression work left my head aching. The time spent in the still place had given something back to me instead of only taking effort.

Gleam’s presence stayed close in the bond. Her attention felt approving and calm.

"You will return to it," she said. It was not a question.

"Yes," I answered. "It feels like the first true rest I have had in a long time."

"It is not rest," she said. "It is the ground under all the noise. Now that you know the way, you can step there when the noise grows too loud."

Gratitude filled me again. I nodded even though she could not see the motion with ordinary eyes. The bond carried the feeling clearly enough.

I spent another hour in the yard. I practiced the suppression to keep the skill growing. Each clean hold of forty-five seconds became a door I could choose to open.

Sometimes I only touched the still place for a few seconds. Sometimes I stayed longer and let the peace settle deep. Every visit made the quiet feel more like home.

My body grew tired in a clean way. The mental strain of earlier practice had changed into something softer. I could feel the difference in my shoulders and in the way my breath moved.

At last the late hour pressed on me. I released the mana fully and stood in the empty yard for a final quiet moment. The still place waited inside me like a room with the door left unlocked.

The discovery changed something basic in the way I stood inside my own life. The system still had plans I did not know. The Death God network still held my name. The hunter community still watched the pairing with pointed interest.

All of those facts remained true. Yet the still place now lived under them like solid ground that could not be taken away.

I walked back toward the residential buildings with calm steps. The night air felt softer than it had when I first arrived at the yard. My mind felt clear and quiet. Each step carried the new knowledge without heavy effort.

I passed a few night-shift hunters on the paths. They glanced at me and nodded. I nodded back and kept walking. Their eyes did not pull me out of the calm the way they once might have.

When I reached the condo I found it dark and quiet. Kael was already asleep in our bed. I stood in the doorway of the bedroom and watched him for a short time.

Love rose warm and steady in my chest. The still place and the man in the bed both felt real in the way Gleam had described.

I washed up slowly in the bathroom. The mirror showed the same face as always, but the eyes looked less tired. I touched the center of my chest lightly with two fingers and felt the quiet still living there.

I slipped under the covers beside Kael. He shifted in his sleep and reached for me the way he always did.

His arm settled over my waist and pulled me closer. Safety and belonging joined the earlier peace in a way that made my throat feel tight for a moment.

I closed my eyes and let my breathing slow to match his. For a moment I touched the edge of the still place again without full suppression. The quiet answered me like an old friend who had been waiting.

Everything real lived there. Gleam had said it and I believed her. The quiet inside the mana pathway. The man holding me in his sleep. The simple fact that I could return to the still place whenever the world grew too loud.

Sleep came gently. The last feelings I noticed were calm gratitude and soft love. The day had given me a new tool and a new place inside myself. Both would stay with me when the harder days returned.

I slept beside Kael with the still place resting quietly under my heart. The night passed without sharp dreams. Only peace remained, deep and steady and real.