Ethan shook his head slowly. "I didn't think it through," he admitted. "I just followed the pattern that felt right."
Mistress Kalun didn't nod, didn't smile. She stared at him for another second, then returned to her worktable like the conversation was already over.
"Instinct's valuable. But record it. If you don't, it disappears the moment it works."
That was it—her only feedback.
It was neither praise nor critique; it was just a blunt reminder that even raw talent means nothing if you cannot ensure that talent is used effectively.
—
As they headed out of the rune engineering class and toward their final lesson of the day, Everly nudged Ethan's elbow and leaned in, her voice lowered just enough to stay between them.
"Okay, that rune thing? That wasn't a 'just felt right' moment. That was some next-level subconscious memory thing. You can't even pretend that was normal."
Ethan gave a half-shrug, not defensive—just honest. "I really don't know how I did it."
