I'm just wondering, but are any of my readers from Kansas? It would be really neat if that were the case~!

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After Laura had cleaned up a bit, the two were led by Master Thales to another area. Thera knew that they had passed through several barriers on their way there. Therefore, she was not surprised when they arrived in an altogether peaceful part of the jungle.

It was a rather pretty-looking scenery.

The rocks and trees were all covered in a green moss, and brightly-colored wild flowers dotted the clearing. The nearby trees created cool-green shadows on the soft-looking grass. Butterflies flit about here and there.

The nearby lake was as clear as glass, with not a single ripple upon its surface, and the air felt clean and calming, as if it had a purifying effect.

This!…This is a naturally-formed cultivation treasure! Thera was quite surprised as she surveyed the area.

These treasures were desired by both magicians and martial practitioners, as it was the perfect environment for cultivation of both the body and the spirit.

Most naturally-formed treasures had already been claimed by major martial sects. If you weren’t strong enough to defend it from others, it would soon be taken away from you.

Therefore, the only ones who were publicly in possession of such places were usually big martial or magic sects, which were under the protection of a black-class or a Magi.

For Master Thales to have one all to himself, moreover such a large area as this, showed just how strong he was.

Thera felt it was a shame that she couldn't train her magic here, because of the mana shackle on her wrist.

Laura had seen this scenery before, so it didn’t have any impact upon her. The relaxing atmosphere was also wasted, since she was focusing on the next challenge.

He chuckled to himself. “Now I will explain the next challenge to you.” He said, as he stood before the two. He held up three fingers.

“Three days. I’ll give you a three day time limit for this task. If you cannot encompass shadow and light by noon of the third day, then you will fail and have to start over again from the first test. The second test starts now!”

Thera was beginning to understand why Laura looked so distraught.

‘To encompass shadow and light’ It was such a vague phrase, yet it seemed they could not move forward without understanding the concept.

Laura immediately ran into the forest area, but Thera sat herself down upon a stone next to the lake, and stared into it, thinking about the words.

Encompassing shadow and light…Darkness and light, yin and yang: two seeming opposites, yet both can be obtained…

A breeze blew through the glade, creating a ripple upon the lake’s surface. Staring down into the depths, Thera saw the ripples create light patterns upon the floor of the lake.

After staring at the rippling light patterns, Thera had an idea. To encompass shadow and light, did it have something to do with camouflage, perhaps?

The ninja using the cloak of darkness; If one wants to hide a tree, place it in a forest; using the sun’s position to blind your opponent; hiding in plain sight: the concept of camouflage was not a new idea in Thera’s old world.

Therefore to encompass shadow and light should mean being able to hide both in the shadows, and in the sunshine alike: a perfect form of camouflage, per-se.

Thera’s eyes sparkled. She felt that she had touched upon the true meaning of ‘encompassing shadow and light.’ And it wasn’t an unfamiliar concept at all!

Thera grinned as she looked at the pond. There was some preparation that needed to be done to be sure, but it would be a shame not to take advantage of the benefits of this cultivation treasure.

And so, Thera sat by the pond the rest of that day, and that night, and the next day and night as well, cultivating her martial spirit. Only doing a few things during this time.

Master Thales said nothing as he simply observed the two girls, whatever thoughts he had during this time, he kept them to himself.

The morning of the third day, Thera finally stood up, stretching her stiff limbs. It was time to make preparations, after all.

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At the start, Thera had spread her cloak out on the ground besides her, and placed some local grasses upon it in random patterns, making sure not to cover it completely. She also did this for a scarf and gloves which she would use.

On top of the grasses, in certain places, she also smeared mud mixed with berry juice in sporadic shapes, until she had acquired the broken pattern and green and brown coloring that she desired. She even worked a bit of moss and grasses into the hood.

Next, she checked all of her gear. Anything that was shiny, she slapped mud onto it.

Anything that made noise, she either wrapped in cloth, or oiled until when she jumped up and down, the only thing she could hear was the subtle tamp of her boots. The rest she stored in her magic bag.

Last of all, she smeared mud around her eyes, and on the top part of her face, before covering the lower half of it with the scarf that she had treated. After donning the hood and gloves, her camouflage would be complete.

Knowing that Master Thales was watching her, she took off into the woods, looking for a good place to disappear.

Master Thales smiled and closed his eyes. He did not need to look to know where they were, since he could simply feel their presence. Laura was hiding in a hollow tree, and Thera was-huh?

Master Thales frowned and opened his eyes. Thera’s presence had suddenly vanished. He quickly flashed over to the section where he had last felt her presence.

As soon as Thera had found a good spot and made a few preparations, she had donned her cloak, and lay down amongst a group of tall grasses.

Breathing as shallowly as possible, Thera lay still. In her previous world, this was about as far as she had gotten. But now, perhaps it was the atmosphere, but Thera’s heartbeat slowed down as she slipped into a strange calm.

It was as if she were a member of the forest itself, a rock or a tree: she was living simply in the state of being, at peace with herself and the world around her.

If any of the Magi were to be looking at her, right now, they would be shocked to see her mana harmonizing and mingling with the mana of the forest. She was neither absorbing, nor radiating mana. The mana that was hers simply changed its patterns to match those of the forest.

Thus, although Thera herself didn’t completely realize it, she had masked her presence to the point where even Master Thales couldn’t distinguish between her and the forest, alarming him of the absence of her presence.

When he arrived, Thera could sense his presence, but nonetheless, didn’t move a bit. She was of the forest, now. Whatever happened had nothing to do with her. She was simply an observer.

Master Thales flashed over to where Laura was hiding, checking to make sure she was really there.

Laura was there, all right. Anyone running through the treetops would be able to see the blonde hair shining from the middle of the hollow tree trunk.

While, on the ground, she remained unseen, she hadn’t quite managed to hide all of herself yet.

Master Thales then returned to Thera’s area. He knew she was here, since no one had left the barrier. He frowned as he carefully examined his surroundings, looking for signs of the hidden girl.

A slight depression on the ground marked a footprint, a few bent grasses signified her passage, but still, he couldn’t find Thera.

He frowned and grinned at the same time. It was frustrating, but he had to admit that she had done an excellent job in hiding, to the point where he was at a loss.

Still, he kept looking for her. Checking the bushes and the undergrowth, as well as the bases of the trees, but she could not be found.

Soon enough, noon came, and Master Thales hit a gong to signify that the test was over. The gong jerked Thera out of her calm state, and brought her presence of mind back.

Her heart beat came up, as she was startled by the loud clanging noise of the gong. Her mana became out of sync with the forest, as she started.

As soon as her presence of mind returned, Thera realized that half a day had gone by, and it was time to return to the clearing.

Even though it was time to return, Thera did so as stealthily as she could, treading lightly, and making sure that she was not seen.

Laura was already at the clearing, standing in front of Master Thales, with an impatient look on her face.

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Laura heard a rustling sound to her right, and turned to look, but there was nothing there.

It must have been my imagination. She thought to herself.

When she turned back, Thera was standing right next to her.

“Uwah! Thera, when did you get here? Oh, that’s right, where were you?! We’ve been waiting for over ten minutes, you know!” Laura scolded.

Thera nodded, her amused expression hidden by the hood of the cloak.

“My deepest apologies. I was practicing the art of encompassing shadow and light, and completely forgot the time.”

“ Goodness! Pay more attention, next time, okay? And what you’ve done to your cloak will take ages to wash out! Make sure you take better care of your gear, next time.” Laura warned.

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind.” Thera replied.

Master Thales cleared his throat.

“I will now announce the results of the three-day test:

Laura, you spent most of your time these past few days hiding in that hollow tree by the rocky hill. Since I was easily able to spot you from the treetops, every time, I’m afraid that you’ve failed to understand the concept behind encompassing shadow and light.”

Laura looked shocked. “No way!” She groaned. Failing meant that she had to go back and run through that blasted jungle again. She looked as though her soul had already left the body.

“Wait, I’m not finished!” Master Thales said hurriedly, before turning to Thera.

“Thera, I’ll admit, I had no idea what you were up to, sitting next to the lake these past few days. I even thought that, perhaps, you had decided to take it easy and fail on purpose. But when your presence vanished this morning, I was very impressed.

Not only did you mask all signs of your presence, you were completely hidden to the point where even an expert such as I could not find you, even if I knew you were in the area.

You have fully grasped encompassing shadow and light. Therefore, seeing that one of you has passed, you both are allowed to continue to the fifth test.”

“The fifth test?” Thera asked. “But what about the third and fourth tests?”

“Seeing that even I couldn’t find you, even while you were right in front of me, you have already passed the tests of silence and stillness. Also, considering we’re quite ahead of schedule, you two are allowed to have the rest of the day to rest up in preparation for the test tomorrow.”

Thera nodded. “Thank you, Master Thales!” She said.

Laura looked a bit dazed, before slowly collecting her soul back into her body.

Thera passed, which meant….that Laura didn’t have to run through the jungle again…right?

Having never passed the second test, Laura couldn’t believe that they had so smoothly advanced, moreover, to the fifth test!

It seemed more like some sort of dream. "We...passed?"

She grabbed Thera’s hands. “Yipee! We passed, we passed! Thank you, Thera!”

Thera smiled. “You’re welcome~!”

“More like, when are you going to stop relying on your junior and get your act together.” Master Thales pointed out.

“How cruel! Thera was originally my first teacher, you know! There’s no way I could measure up to such monstrous talent!”

Laura replied, feeling that it was unfair to compare the two, when obviously Thera was far ahead of her in rank, already.

“Suit yourself. But if you don’t get your act together soon, she’s going to leave you in the dust~.” Master Thales sighed, looking away. Having observed Laura for five years, he already knew which buttons to press to spur her motivation.

“Just you wait and see!” Laura pointed at Master Thales. “This time, I’ll be the one to pass the next test, and bring us both forward!”

She stated it with such absolute certainty that Master Thales couldn’t help but observe. “Ah? Even when you have no idea what the next test is going to be about?”

Laura said nothing, she looked like she regretted what she said, but she couldn’t back down in front of Thera. “Of-of course! I’ll accomplish anything that you throw at me!”

Thera made a complicated face. Ah. Now she’s done it. I can’t help you if you dig yourself deeper into the hole you’ve made. She sighed, and watched as Laura fell into Master Thales’s trap.

“Since you’re so sure, how about we have ourselves a little wager?” Master Thales asked.

Laura froze, remembering the last time they had a wager. Then she cautiously asked. “What kind of wager?”