Chapter 476: A Journey Without a Destination

Damon returned to Mirath late that afternoon.

This time, nobody was waiting for him in front of the Transfer Point with their arms crossed.

He considered that progress.

Aria was busy comparing the records of Arvell with the little information Damon had brought back from Veyra. Aurelia was insisting that she shouldn’t try to reconstruct genealogies that the people involved had deliberately chosen to abandon, and Jian Yue was training in the courtyard.

The routine had returned so quickly that Damon almost forgot he had spent much of the past few weeks trying to understand a bodily structure that predated the very division between vampires and incubi.

Almost.

The following morning, he trained for an entire hour.

Without interruption.

Without Ester appearing to tell him to stop.

Without any significant reaction from the ancient connections.

When he finished, he was tired, sweaty, and perfectly normal.

He sat near the courtyard wall to catch his breath.

Jian Yue remained standing in front of him.

"One hour."

"Yes."

"Without complaining."

"I complained internally."

"That doesn’t count."

"Disagree."

She sheathed her sword.

"Then it’s over."

Damon looked up.

"What?"

"Your recovery."

He thought for a few seconds.

"Probably."

"You look disappointed."

"I’m not."

"You have that look."

"I’m trying to remember the last time I wasn’t recovering from something."

Jian Yue thought about it.

"Before Caelum."

"That was a long time ago."

"Then try not to break anything else."

Damon stood up.

"That kind of advice is useless."

"Why?"

"Usually, I’m not the one who decides."

"You decide to get involved."

"Details."

She started walking inside.

Damon followed her.

It was in the corridor that they encountered Ester coming from the opposite direction, holding her black tablet.

Damon looked at the device.

"No."

"No what?"

"If this is about me, no."

"It isn’t."

"Great."

Ester handed him the tablet anyway.

There was a message from Neria.

I WANT TO RETURN TO MIRATH.

Damon read it.

Then looked at Ester.

"You gave her permission?"

"She asked first."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Seven days."

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"More than twice as long."

"Her body has remained stable. So have the structures she decided to keep. There’s no medical reason to limit her to three days."

"Is she coming with Eir?"

"No."

Damon stopped.

"With Liora?"

"Not her either."

Now he was genuinely interested.

"She’s coming alone."

Ester nodded.

"That’s the point."

Another message appeared.

MY MOTHER IS TRYING NOT TO COMPLAIN.

Damon smiled.

He typed:

IS SHE SUCCEEDING?

The reply took a while.

It wasn’t from Neria.

YES.

Eir.

Damon stared at the screen.

Jian Yue approached to read it.

"She’s definitely complaining."

A new message appeared.

NO.

Damon began laughing.

"And she’s listening."

YES.

He put the tablet away.

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Is her room available?"

"Jian Li already prepared it."

"Naturally."

Neria arrived the following morning carrying a bag much larger than the one she’d brought on her first visit.

Damon noticed immediately.

"That looks dangerous."

She stepped through the Transfer Point and looked at him.

"It’s clothes."

"Last time, a bag meant you wanted to go out without permission."

"Now I have permission."

"You’re making progress."

Neria smiled.

The physical difference was also clear.

She still hadn’t regained all the weight she had lost during her captivity, but she no longer looked as though she might collapse after standing for a few minutes. She walked without support, and the structures near her spine were less visible beneath her skin.

Ester stepped through after her.

Alone.

Damon looked toward the passage.

"No one else?"

"No."

The Transfer Point closed.

Neria took a deep breath.

Damon watched her.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"Did you feel Eir disappear?"

"Yes."

She lightly touched her chest.

"But this time, I knew exactly what it would feel like."

"Better?"

"Different."

Damon nodded.

That seemed like the right word.

Neria looked around.

"Is the room still mine?"

"As long as you’re here."

"With the same key?"

"Jian Li kept it."

She seemed satisfied.

Damon noticed.

"You really liked that lock."

"Yes."

"More than Mirath?"

"No."

"You took a while to answer."

"I was considering it."

He started walking.

"Come on. Before Ester turns your arrival into a medical examination."

Ester, behind them, replied:

"That’s happening anyway."

Neria closed her eyes.

"I knew it."

The examination was quick.

Ester confirmed that her circulation remained stable, the regulator Neria had chosen to retain was still functioning, and the alternative pathway her body had created during her first visit became more active almost immediately after she left Eir’s territory.

Damon observed the projection.

"Faster this time."

"Yes," Ester replied. "Her body already recognizes the situation."

Neria looked at it.

"So it’s adapting to the distance."

"To the situation," Aurelia corrected, having appeared in the middle of the examination. "Not necessarily to the distance itself."

"What’s the difference?"

"If tomorrow you were far from Eir but receiving a similar external source of energy, your body might choose a different response."

Neria thought about it.

"So it isn’t learning a rule."

"It’s learning possibilities."

Damon smiled.

"That sounds familiar."

Aurelia looked at him.

"Because it is."

Ester closed the projection.

"Everything is normal."

Neria immediately stood up.

"Great."

"I didn’t say you could go running around."

"I don’t run."

Damon discreetly coughed.

Neria looked at him.

"Anymore."

"Better."

Ester pointed at both of them.

"Don’t encourage each other."

"I’m practically a responsible influence now," Damon replied.

All three women looked at him.

Damon waited.

"That was unnecessary."

Neria spent her first day doing exactly what she had said she would do.

Nothing extraordinary.

She walked around Mirath.

Ate with the others.

Spent some time with Aria examining more recent maps.

This time, she didn’t ask what the world had been like before she was captured.

She asked what it was like now.

Which cities had grown.

Which routes were safe.

Where the ports were located.

Which regions had changed rulers.

Where ordinary people usually traveled.

Damon entered the room while she was examining a coastal map.

"Planning to run away?"

Neria didn’t look up.

"Maybe."

Aria immediately replied:

"She wants to travel."

"That’s significantly worse."

Neria smiled.

"I spent a hundred and seventeen years in Vermillion."

"Strong argument."

"Then I returned to Eir."

"Also fair."

"Then I came to Mirath."

"Starting to see a pattern."

She pointed at the map.

"I want to see the sea."

Damon stopped.

"You’ve never seen it?"

"I saw it before."

"So you want to see it again."

"Yes."

Aria asked:

"Why the sea specifically?"

Neria thought about it.

"Because it’s probably still there."

Damon understood before Aria did.

After entire maps showing vanished roads, new cities, and rivers that had changed course, Neria wanted something that hadn’t completely changed during her absence.

"The coastline has changed," Damon said.

"I know."

"The ports too."

"I know."

"But the sea is still there."

"Yes."

He nodded.

"Good choice."

Aria was already looking for routes.

Damon pointed at her.

"Not today."

"I know."

"Not tomorrow either."

"I know."

Neria looked at him.

"You’re turning into Ester."

Damon looked offended.

"Take that back."

Aria began laughing.

On the second day, Neria appeared in the training courtyard.

Not to watch.

Damon noticed immediately because she was wearing lighter clothes and had tied her hair back.

"No."

Neria stopped.

"You don’t even know what I want."

"I learned from Ester."

"That’s annoying."

"Now you understand."

She crossed her arms.

"I want to learn."

"Swordsmanship?"

"Not necessarily."

"Then what?"

Neria looked at Jian Yue, Xue Lian, and then Damon.

"I want to learn how not to fall."

Damon fell silent.

That was different.

"You can walk just fine."

"Now."

"You want balance."

"I want to control my body when something pushes me, pulls me, or shifts out of place."

Damon understood.

It wasn’t about combat.

It was about physical autonomy.

"Did you ask Ester?"

Neria made a small face.

"Yes."

"And?"

"She said controlled movements are allowed."

"No impacts."

"No impacts."

Damon looked toward Ester, who was conveniently sitting on the other side of the courtyard.

She raised two fingers.

"Twenty minutes."

"Why am I getting a time limit too?"

"Because you’re participating."

"That doesn’t make sense."

"Eighteen."

"Twenty is perfect."

Neria began laughing.

Damon led her to an open area.

"First, no swords."

"I didn’t ask for a sword."

"Great. You’re already a better student than I am."

He started with her feet.

Stance.

Weight distribution.

How to bend her knees slightly without locking her joints.

How to let her body absorb a small amount of force without resisting all of it.

Neria understood quickly.

Putting it into practice was another matter.

On the third weight shift, she lost her balance.

Damon caught her arm before she could fall.

She stared at her feet.

"Again."

"Slowly."

"I was going slowly."

"Even slower."

On the fifth attempt, she succeeded.

On the sixth, too.

Damon lightly pushed her shoulder.

Neria nearly lost her balance, but corrected herself.

"Better."

She smiled.

"Again."

"Don’t get addicted to that word."

"You talk too much."

"That’s a lie."

Jian Yue, passing nearby, replied:

"No, it isn’t."

Damon ignored her.

The twenty minutes ended without any falls, pain, or concerning changes.

Neria was tired.

But she was smiling.

"I want to do it again tomorrow."

"If Ester allows it."

"She will."

Damon looked toward Ester.

She raised an eyebrow.

Neria corrected herself:

"I’ll ask."

"Better."

That night, Eir sent a message.

NERIA OKAY?

Damon took the tablet to her.

Neria was sitting in her room with the door open, examining her key.

"Why do you keep looking at that?"

"Because I like it."

"Fair enough."

He handed her the device.

Neria read the message.

Then typed:

I’M FINE. I TRAINED.

The reply came immediately.

TRAINED WHAT?

Neria smiled.

HOW NOT TO FALL.

There was a pause.

DID YOU FALL?

Neria looked at Damon.

"She’s learning bad questions."

"I didn’t teach her."

Neria replied:

NO.

Another pause.

GOOD.

Neria stared at the word.

Then typed:

AGAIN TOMORROW.

This time, Eir took longer.

ALRIGHT.

Neria smiled.

Damon noticed.

"Were you expecting resistance?"

"A little."

"Disappointed?"

"No."

She placed the tablet beside her.

"It’s strange."

"What is?"

"She’s getting better at letting me do things she can’t observe."

Damon leaned against the doorframe.

"That’s difficult for her."

"I know."

"For you too."

Neria looked at him.

"A little."

"Why?"

"Because part of me still expects someone to tell me what happens next."

Damon remained silent.

Neria continued:

"In the Order, there was always a next step. Another examination. Another intervention. Another expected result."

She looked at the key in her hand.

"Now I’ve come to Mirath for seven days."

"Yes."

"And afterward?"

"You decide."

"That still feels strange."

"You’ll get used to it."

Neria smiled.

"That’s what you told my mother."

"I’m recycling advice."

"Lazy."

"Efficient."

She began closing the door.

Before finishing, she stopped.

"Damon."

"Yes?"

"When I’m strong enough, I want to see the sea."

He nodded.

"Then let’s go."

Neria looked at him.

"You’re coming?"

"If you want company."

"I do."

"Then it’s settled."

She closed the door.

Damon remained in the corridor for a few seconds before heading to his own room.

No ancestral destiny.

No new threat.

No hidden answer.

Just a trip to the sea that didn’t even have a date yet.

Curiously, Damon was beginning to discover that he liked plans like that much more.