Althea kept pushing.

The farther the web spread, the harder it became to maintain.

Soon, sweat formed on her forehead.

The mana threads started shaking slightly.

She immediately stopped expanding.

"Haa…"

She breathed out slowly.

The moment her focus loosened, two nearby poles accidentally got wrapped by the binding threads.

Nox burst out laughing.

"The poles are enemies too now?"

Althea immediately flushed in embarrassment.

"I lost focus!"

Commander Lyra smirked faintly.

"Then maintain it better."

Still, there was approval in her eyes.

Because despite the mistake, the skill worked beautifully.

Althea herself could feel it.

The strain was real though.

Maintaining that many threads at once drained mana fast.

Especially while trying to control targets separately.

But instead of discouraging her, it only made her more excited.

She quickly reset herself.

"Again."

This time, she moved to the next part she wanted to test.

Selective Capture on instinct.

The web spread outward once more.

Several dummies got caught immediately.

Then slowly…

One thread loosened.

Another tightened.

A third dummy got released entirely while the others stayed trapped.

Althea froze.

"…What?"

She tried again.

This time she excluded two dummies.

Success.

Again.

One dummy got ignored completely while every other nearby target got restrained.

Her eyes widened more and more every attempt.

"It's working…"

The excitement in her voice was impossible to hide now.

Arthur smiled while watching her.

She looked genuinely happy.

Not just because she got stronger.

But because the skill felt right for her.

It fit naturally.

That was the best feeling for an awakened.

When a skill didn't feel borrowed.

When it felt like something that belonged to you from the start.

Althea kept experimenting excitedly.

She would bind one side of the field.

Release only two targets.

Then switch instantly.

The web obeyed surprisingly well.

And the craziest part…

It kept getting easier.

At first she needed full concentration.

But after repeating the same pattern several times, the casting sped up dramatically.

The threads formed faster.

Cleaner.

More instinctively.

Arthur noticed it immediately.

"Thread Memory…"

He glanced back at the system description again.

The passive was already taking effect.

Her mana was literally adapting to repeated patterns.

That meant the more she practiced one formation, the faster and smoother it would become later.

That was terrifying potential for battlefield control.

Althea noticed it too.

"…No way."

She cast again.

The same web pattern formed almost instantly this time.

Her breathing hitched slightly.

"I didn't even force it that much…"

Commander Lyra nodded slowly.

"Your body's getting used to the mana pathway."

Althea looked down at her own hands in disbelief.

The excitement in her eyes only grew stronger.

She immediately started trying more combinations.

Wide spread.

Narrow spread.

Quick capture.

Delayed tightening.

At one point, she intentionally let a dummy "escape" the first layer.

Only for leftover threads to snag its legs halfway through.

The dummy tilted awkwardly before crashing down.

Torren stared.

"That would be so annoying to fight against."

Selene laughed.

"Especially if Ryn is chasing you."

Ryn smirked slightly.

"If she traps them first, the fight's basically over."

Althea heard them and smiled proudly for a moment before quickly focusing again.

She didn't want to lose the feeling.

Not now.

The web spread again.

This time wider than before.

Too wide.

The moment she lost concentration slightly, the bindings scattered everywhere wildly.

A nearby training rack got tied up instantly.

One thread even wrapped around Nox's ankle.

"Hoi!"

He stumbled backward while everyone burst into laughter.

Althea panicked immediately.

"Sorry!"

Commander Lyra shook her head lightly.

"There's your drawback."

Althea sighed awkwardly while undoing the bindings.

The skill was amazing.

But the focus requirement was brutal.

One mistake and the web grabbed everything nearby.

Even so…

Nobody could deny how powerful it looked.

Arthur watched her continue practicing for a little longer.

The training corner honestly looked crazy now.

Threads stretched everywhere across the area.

Some glowed faintly on the floor.

Others connected pillars and dummies together like traps waiting to activate.

And in the middle of it all stood Althea, breathing hard but smiling brightly while learning more and more every minute.

Arthur finally looked away with satisfaction.

Another one had grown stronger.

Now…

It was time to focus properly again.

He turned fully toward Mel.

The cub was still charging through the obstacle course with the heavy weights attached to her body.

Her movements weren't as smooth as before yet.

But she was adapting rapidly.

Arthur smiled.

"Alright, your turn again."

Mel barked proudly and rushed forward even faster.

The cub dashed through the obstacle course again, her paws hitting the ground in quick rhythm while the heavy weights strapped to her body clinked softly with every movement.

"Left."

Mel immediately adjusted.

She twisted past a wooden pillar and lunged at the dummy ahead.

"Claw."

Her paw slashed across the marked point on the dummy's neck before she pushed off again.

Arthur nodded with satisfaction.

"Good."

Mel's tail wagged proudly even while running.

Arthur couldn't help but laugh a little.

"You really like compliments that much?"

The cub barked once happily before rushing toward the next obstacle.

Arthur watched carefully this time.

Now that he fully focused on her again, he could clearly see the changes.

Her movements still carried weight behind them, but unlike before, she wasn't fighting against the burden anymore.

She was adapting to it.

Every run looked smoother than the last.

Every jump became cleaner.

Even her attacks carried better timing now.

Commander Lyra really knew what she was doing.

Arthur glanced around the training hall for a moment.

Just as he thought earlier, Lyra had split everyone into separate drills before letting them practice on their own.

Ryn was training by himself again, practicing his footwork and timing over and over.

Selene was somewhere farther away, repeatedly curving arrows through impossible angles while muttering to herself excitedly every few shots.

Althea still had glowing threads spread across her corner of the hall like a giant spiderweb.

And honestly…

They had all grown too quickly.