Two days after Kael's visit, Sara stood at the edge of the training grounds, her guardian-marks still tingling with the memory of his recognition. His words echoed in her mind: "Difference is strength, when properly understood." Around her, other survivors of Haven's Rest gathered - soldiers who had felt divine corruption trying to rewrite their very essence. The morning air hummed with tension and purpose.
"Gather round," General Varok's voice carried across the field. His void-marks still showed traces of gold where divine power had tried to corrupt them, but instead of fighting the change, he had somehow adapted it. "What we faced at Haven's Rest was new. Today, we learn to survive it. Today, we learn to understand our differences."
The training ground had been specially prepared, reality anchored by stabilization runes that kept void energy contained. Veteran warriors formed a wide circle, their marks pulsing with controlled power. At the center, Varok stood with three other commanders - Elena with her tactical precision, Marcus with his battle-scars, and Koros whose marks spoke of countless divine encounters.
"Divine corruption isn't like normal combat," Varok began, his voice carrying the weight of fresh experience. "It doesn't just attack your body or your power. It tries to rewrite what you are." He held up his arm, showing how his void-marks had evolved to incorporate traces of divine energy. "But adaptation is survival."
Sara's own marks tingled in response as she remembered Haven's Rest - that desperate moment when Icarion's power had tried to turn her protective marks back into instruments of divine control. She'd reacted on instinct then, her unique patterns flowing in ways she still didn't understand.
"You," Varok pointed to her suddenly. "The one Kael noticed. Show us what he saw."
Sara stepped forward, nervousness warring with determination. Yesterday, the supreme commander of their forces had seen something in her strange marks. Today, she would learn what that something was.
"Show them," Varok commanded. "Show them how your shield moved against divine corruption."
Drawing on memories of Haven's Rest, Sara gathered power into her marks. The shield that formed wasn't perfect - it wavered and rippled unlike the solid barriers other defenders created. But as she remembered Kael's words about difference being strength, she stopped trying to force it into familiar patterns.
"Watch closely," Varok told the assembled soldiers. "Most of you try to make your shields unbreakable. But look how hers moves - not rigid, but flowing. Divine power expects resistance - gives it something to break against. But when the shield flows..."
He demonstrated by hurling void energy at her barrier. Sara didn't try to block it entirely. Instead, she let her shield curve, redirect, absorb. The attack dispersed harmlessly.
"Now," his eyes gleamed, "let's see how you handle corruption."
Golden light blazed from his adapted marks - not as strong as Icarion's power, but enough to make Sara's defensive patterns burn. This time she was ready. Instead of fighting the corruption directly, she let it flow through her marks, using its own rigid nature against it.
"Good," Varok nodded as the divine energy dissipated. "You're learning. The rest of you - spread out. Those who faced Icarion's corruption, each of you take five who haven't. Experience must be shared to be valuable."
The training ground erupted into controlled chaos. Near the eastern edge, Elena worked with new recruits, teaching them the basics of channeling void energy without burning themselves out. "Power means nothing without control," she called out, adjusting stances and techniques. "Feel the flow. Direct it, don't force it."
Sara found herself moving between groups, helping newer defenders understand what she'd learned at Haven's Rest. She watched Marcus drilling offensive specialists in energy conservation, showing them how to make each strike count. "Divine power might be unlimited," he barked at a recruit who'd overextended. "Ours isn't. Learn efficiency or learn defeat."
By midday, the more experienced soldiers had begun practicing coordinated attacks. Three units demonstrated different approaches - one using overlapping energy fields to amplify their power, another striking in perfect synchronization, a third showing how different mark types could complement each other.
"Notice their timing," Varok commented as he and Sara observed the formations. "Shield-bearers create openings exactly when strikers need them. Strikers hit precisely where defenders have weakened barriers. This is how we overcome superior power - with superior coordination."
The afternoon brought a shift in intensity as elite void-marked veterans took the field. These weren't just survivors of divine encounters - they were warriors who had learned to thrive against impossible odds. Sara watched in awe as Lady Seraphine moved like living shadow, turning four attackers' power against them without ever launching a direct strike. Brother Ruuk demonstrated techniques that seemed to break reality itself, laughing as he scattered eight opponents at once.
"Divine warriors fight alone," Varok noted, watching Sara study their movements. "They never learned the strength of unity. Remember that - it's their greatest weakness."
As evening approached, Varok called for mixed combat exercises. Sara found herself working with a mid-level strike team, her defensive barriers supporting their coordinated attacks against a veteran opponent. The lesson became clear through practice - even the strongest void-marked warriors were more effective with proper support.
"Your marks are unique," Varok told her during a brief rest. "Kael saw it yesterday - you're not meant to be a wall. You're meant to be water. That's why you survived Icarion's corruption when others broke." He studied her spiraling patterns thoughtfully. "He was right about you. You could be as strong as Thrain one day, if you learn to trust what makes you different."
The final hour of training focused entirely on countering divine corruption. Soldiers paired off, those with experience teaching others to recognize and resist the golden power that sought to rewrite their marks. Sara worked with a group of defenders, showing them how to flow rather than resist, how to turn corruption into adaptation.
"Remember this feeling," Varok addressed them as darkness fell. "Remember how it feels to choose adaptation over resistance. Icarion thinks divine power makes him unstoppable because it's pure. But purity..." he smiled, his hybrid marks pulsing with transformed energy, "purity breaks. Adaptation survives."
Sara touched her guardian-marks as she watched the final drills continue in the gathering dark. Yesterday, Kael had seen potential in her strangeness. Today, she'd begun to understand it. They had all chosen this path, chosen to bear the void's pain in exchange for freedom. But freedom, she was learning, meant more than just breaking chains. It meant becoming what you were meant to be, not what others expected.
"Next time," she whispered, her marks pulsing with new understanding, "we'll be ready." Now she knew - her different patterns weren't a flaw to overcome, but a strength to master.
And somewhere above, in their eternal realm, the gods watched their chosen champion of pure divine power prepare to face an army that had learned to turn corruption into strength, rigidity into adaptation, and attempted dominance into defiant growth.
The real battle was about to begin.