Chapter 295: This Is Nice.

Time passed, and the sounds of grunts and explosions continued to fill the training chamber as Kael and Varek sparred.

The two moved constantly, exchanging attacks while Varek continued pointing out the flaws in Kael’s movements. Whenever Kael made a mistake, Varek would explain what he’d done wrong, sometimes demonstrating the proper movement himself before letting their sparring continue.

Kael listened carefully to every correction, keeping them in mind as he fought and trying to apply what he’d learned.

And slowly, he began to improve.

The changes weren’t astronomical or anything. His movements hadn’t suddenly become flawless, nor had he mastered the Sword Saint’s techniques after a few hours of practice. However, the improvement was certainly visible.

His attacks gradually became less predictable, and the transitions between his movements grew smoother.

Most importantly, he was finally beginning to land a few clean hits on Varek.

Naturally, Varek still managed to predict and counter far more attacks than Kael could land. There was still a considerable difference between their understanding of combat, especially when it came to something as complicated as concealing one’s intentions through movement.

Nevertheless, those few successful hits were enough to satisfy Kael.

They were proof that he was moving in the right direction.

With that encouragement, he continued training, paying even closer attention to Varek’s corrections as the hours went by.

Their sparring session lasted until much later in the day before they finally decided to stop.

By then, Kael had gained a much better understanding of the areas he needed to improve, although he knew it would take considerably more practice before he could properly utilize the techniques in actual combat.

Once their training was over, Varek gathered the materials Kael had prepared for Lyra’s awakening and headed toward the underground portal connected to the rift.

He still had preparations to make before Lyra could begin awakening her power.

Kael, meanwhile, decided to stay in the training chamber a little longer to practice. It was only after some time that he finally decided he’d done enough for the day.

He left the chamber and made his way upstairs to join Lyra and their mother.

From there, the rest of the afternoon passed relatively quickly.

The three spent most of their time together, talking about everything that had happened during the years Hannah had been unconscious.

And there was certainly a lot to talk about.

After all, several years weren’t something that could be covered in a single afternoon. There were countless things Hannah had missed, from the small changes in their everyday lives to the much bigger events that had shaped the people her children had become.

Lyra naturally had plenty to say, and Kael occasionally joined in, answering their mother’s questions whenever they were directed at him.

Sometimes their conversations turned serious, while other times they found themselves laughing over things that would have seemed completely ordinary under different circumstances.

For Kael, however, even those ordinary moments felt precious.

Being able to sit together with his mother and sister, listening to them talk without the weight of too many burdens on his mind, was something he hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

And before he knew it, evening had arrived.

It was around this time that another piece of good news reached them.

Ezra had finally woken up.

Just as Varek had predicted, the Mindbloom Lotus Seed had successfully repaired the damage to her soul and spirit. Not only had her injuries fully healed, but her Mind World had also grown considerably more durable than before.

In other words, the treatment had been a complete success.

Although they had already been expecting her to wake up soon, actually hearing that she had regained consciousness still came as a pleasant surprise.

Naturally, they went to see her.

Ezra was understandably disoriented when she first woke up. From her perspective, she had only lost consciousness recently, so learning that several days had already passed came as quite a shock.

And that was before she learned everything else that had happened.

When Lyra explained the Dark Viper Guild’s involvement in her condition, Ezra was furious.

However, her anger soon gave way to an entirely different set of emotions when she learned what Kael had done afterward.

He had wiped out the Dark Viper Guild.

The entire Guild.

At first, Ezra felt a certain satisfaction upon hearing that the people responsible for her suffering had received their punishment.

After all, she knew just how dangerous those people were. Even if she had been given another opportunity to face them, she doubted there was much she could have done against opponents of that level.

Knowing that they would no longer be able to hurt anyone else was certainly reassuring.

But that satisfaction didn’t last long before worry began creeping in.

Wiping out an entire Guild wasn’t a small matter.

Even if the Dark Viper Guild had been responsible for what happened, the consequences of destroying an entire organization could be enormous.

What if the Hunter Association decided to investigate? What if someone tried to hold Kael responsible?

The more she thought about it, the more concerned she became.

And then there was the other problem.

How had Kael even managed to do something like that?

She knew he’d grown much stronger recently, but wiping out an entire guild single-handedly was on a completely different level.

Just how powerful had he become?

Between her anger, relief, worry, and shock, Ezra had so many questions that Lyra barely knew which one to answer first.

It took quite a bit of explaining and reassurance before Lyra finally managed to calm her down.

Even then, Ezra still seemed to have trouble processing everything she had heard.

Fortunately, there was no need to force her to understand it all immediately.

She had only just woken up, after all.

With Ezra finally awake and recovering well, the rest of the evening passed without any further surprises.

Before long, night arrived.

Naturally, Lyra and Hannah insisted that Ezra join them for dinner.

Ezra initially seemed a little hesitant, considering that she had only just recovered, but neither of them was particularly interested in letting her spend the evening alone in her room.

In the end, she agreed.

A proper celebratory meal was prepared, and soon everyone gathered around the dining table.

There was plenty of food, and the atmosphere was much livelier than usual as everyone settled into their seats.

Kael sat quietly for a moment, looking at the people around him.

There was Lyra, his younger sister, who had gone through so much over the years.

There was Ezra, who had finally recovered from injuries that could easily have left her in a much worse condition.

And then there was his mother.

Hannah.

Sitting there with them, smiling and talking like she had never spent years unconscious in a hospital bed.

For a moment, Kael simply watched them.

These were the people he cared about more than almost anything else in the world.

And for the first time in a very long while, he was sitting down to have dinner with all of them together.

No hospital visits to worry about. No uncertainty about whether his mother would ever regain consciousness. No immediate fear that Ezra might never recover from her injuries.

Even the worries that had occupied his mind for so long seemed to have grown quieter.

There were still many things he needed to do, of course.

His responsibilities hadn’t disappeared, and he knew there would be plenty of challenges waiting for him in the future.

But right now, sitting at this table, none of those things seemed particularly important.

Without even realizing it, a brilliant smile spread across his face.

"This is nice," he muttered.