Rui followed Madam Yao into the training chamber, her stomach knotting with familiar dread.
The circular room with its austere stone walls and glowing sigils had been the site of countless humiliations throughout her childhood.
Each rune and training circle marked a memory of failure.
"I see you remember this place well," Madam Yao noted, observing Rui's hesitation.
"Centuries of instruction," Madam Yao continued, running her finger along a weapons rack, "and so little progress to show for it."
Rui's jaw tightened. The criticism stung precisely because it was true.
For hundreds of years, she'd struggled where others excelled, her chaos core dormant despite the finest tutors in the realm.
"Until recently," Rui countered, summoning a flicker of pink-gold energy to her fingertips.
Madam Yao's eyes narrowed at the display of pink-gold energy.
"Indeed. Your chaos core has finally awakened."
She circled Rui like a predator assessing prey.
