Chapter 42
Elijah sat below the bar, the dim light casting long shadows over the worn wooden walls.
The scent of alcohol and smoke lingered in the air, blending into the background of murmured conversations and clinking glasses.
This was where he always met Mai and Sylvia, Mai's mother.
But tonight, Elijah's mind was elsewhere.
The words of Alter Elijah still echoed within him.
Their conversation had left a deep impression, but something within him had shifted.
The hesitation, the self-doubt it no longer weighed him down.
Instead, a burning certainty had taken root in its place.
He exhaled slowly, his crimson eyes narrowing.
It was time.
He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, blocking out the distractions around him.
His body had been absorbing Ki for months, refining and strengthening it, but he had yet to take the next step to condense it, to forge his Ki Core.
