The Life I Gained From Dying

Chapter 43 - Expectations

The daily temperature on the water continent was just starting to subtly drop as the winter season grew near. Some animals began to stockpile in preparation for hibernation, while some trees continued to litter the ground with their yellow and orange leaves. Down in Aestus, the day was calm and peaceful as per usual. Except in one particular area...

VWOOOSH!!

Via whizzed through the forest with her air essence, just narrowly avoiding trees at an impressive speed. She was being followed closely behind by a rapid stream of water, which seemed to be tracing her exact movements. She glided her hands on the trunk of a tree as she used it to quickly change directions before kicking off of it and continuing her flight. The stream continued to pursue her without letting up in the slightest. Dashing over, under, and between obstacles at speeds of at least sixty miles per hour.

"Keep at it, Kade! You're getting close this time." Aaron exclaimed.

"Please don't disrupt his focus." Mai stated.

"Oop, sorry."

Kaden was sat with his legs crossed on the sand stump at the center of the pond. He was directing the stream of water with his index and middle fingers, which he had shaped into a gun. His pupils were locked onto Via, and no matter the amount of obstructions she flew by, Kaden was not losing track of her.

"This is fun. He's getting good at this." Via thought.

A large pile of leaves caught the attention of the excited Via, and within a split second, she thought of a plan to use it. In a swift motion, she blasted the pile of leaves with a gust of wind, scattering them all through the air. Then, in the blink of an eye, Via vanished.

"Huh?" Kaden said in confusion.

A few seconds passed, but Kaden was unable to locate her through all of the falling leaves.

"She got him." Aaron said softly.

Suddenly, Via launched herself through the top of the trees and shot a rapid gust of wind at Kaden, who couldn't react fast enough to block it. The shot sent him tumbling into the pond, which made him completely drenched with water.

"Time?" Via asked as she ran up to Mai and Aaron.

"Two minutes and forty-three seconds." Mai answered. "He's getting better at pressuring you."

"Nice job at the end there." Aaron stated. "You used the leaves to cover up when you jumped into the trees. Any leaves that fell off the tree blended in with the leaves you scattered, so he had no idea you went up."

"That brings the record to '13-0'." Via happily declared.

Aaron grinned and patted Via on her head as a reward. As for Kaden, he was abnormally slow to get up from the water. He rested on his hands and knees and watched as the droplets of water leaked off of his bare face and back into the pond below. He gazed upon the surface of the water as the ripples disturbed his own reflection. Kaden's capacity for both his air and water essence had significantly grown over the past week as he trained with Mai and the others, but it was easily noticeable that his behavior had changed ever since returning from the gate.

"Hey, you alright?" Mai asked, squatting down.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kaden answered as he slowly made his way onto his feet.

"... You're progressing at a commendable rate. You actually remind me of when I first met Kumori. It's like she only needs to see a technique once to figure it out."

"Maybe she'll be an elder in the future."

Mai couldn't help but notice the disconnected look in Kaden's eyes. He talked in a softer tone than before and moved around a lot more quietly.