Oraya, Raihn, and Mische begin training together immediately to prepare for the Waning Moon trial. Oraya accepts the arrangement because she needs help and wants to study Raihn, but she also sees him as an enemy she will eventually have to defeat. That creates an impossible balance: Oraya needs to cooperate well enough to survive the trial while still hiding her own habits and weaknesses from Raihn.

Over thirteen nights, the training repeatedly fails. Raihn and Mische are used to working in sync, with Raihn leading and Mische supporting, while Oraya has been trained by Vincent to survive alone and trust no one. Every session turns into the same problem: Raihn wants closeness and coordination, while Oraya keeps distance and guards herself, so each attempt at teamwork only deepens their frustration.

By the final session, with less than a day left before the trial, Raihn arrives already angry and pushes the drills hard. During sparring and cooperative exercises, he finally accuses Oraya of fighting against him instead of with him. Oraya throws his criticism back at him, arguing that his idea of cooperation really means following his lead, and both of them reveal how little they trust the alliance.

The argument turns dangerous when Raihn steps toward Oraya and refuses to back away. Mische tries to intervene, but Raihn keeps closing the distance to prove that he will not hurt Oraya and to force her to admit she fears him. Trapped against the wall, overwhelmed by panic and Vincent's warning not to trust anyone, Oraya shoves Raihn in desperation.

At Oraya's touch, a burst of white-blue magic explodes from her. The force blinds and deafens Oraya, slams her into the wall, and hurls Raihn across the room and through the window. The chapter ends with their already fragile alliance shattered by a violent eruption neither of them can ignore.