The silvernit sword arced cleanly through the air and carved through the shadow of a simulated Wagur. My arms ached, and I felt my muscles constrict as more ether than intended surged through them. Breathing heavily, I backtracked with swift strides as I moved through the combat simulation room, escaping the charge of another 1-Star Wagur.
Three more simulated beasts—nimble Tibera Wolves—closed in as I retreated, and they pounced when I failed to draw back the excess ether from my arms.
I was only a moment too slow, but the simulated beasts noticed my struggle and took advantage of it.
Something about my technique didn’t feel quite right, but it was hard to tell what it was. I pressed my left foot into the ground, grasped the silvernit sword tightly, and adjusted it slightly—while still far from perfect, I managed to push the excessive ether back into the silvernit sword, reducing the strain on my arms. I pushed toward the right and rammed the blade into the fastest Tibera Wolf. The shadow disintegrated with little resistance, and I advanced forward.
Spinning around, I grimaced at my lackluster performance. If that hadn’t been a simulation, the weight of the Tibera Wolf would have slowed me—if it hadn’t deprived me of my weapon, or, worse, even knocked me to the ground. There was also a high probability of the silvernit sword missing the Tibera Wolf’s heart, or that the beast wouldn’t have died instantaneously. In either case, the beast would have clawed me, wounding me severely.
But this was a simulation, not reality. The simulation was still active, and I had unlimited chances to fix my mistakes. All I needed was time, practice, and a better understanding of those damn videos and instructions.
Daniel, why the fuck are you so busy these days? Didn’t you say you would help me?!
I knew it wasn’t right to be angry at my friend. He had already done so much for me in the last few weeks, but it felt like I was growing too slowly. How was I supposed to join the Camp if I stayed like this—weak and pathetic?
As far as I could tell, my current strength put me below the standards of last year’s weakest participant in the exam. Forget about the minority who actually made it to the Camp—I wasn’t even strong enough to face the weaker participants head-on.
Why is that damn chatterbox so silent?
I didn’t believe he was lying to me. He was sincere when he asked me to join the Camp, but was Daniel delusional, or did he have a plan? Then again, if he had a proper plan, he wouldn’t be silent all of a sudden. He must have realized how nonsensical his request had been.
So why… why was I unwilling to give up?
I want to. I want to join that god-forsaken Camp too!!
Clenching the sword tighter than before, I watched the Wagur and two Tibera Wolves approach me. The Wagur charged past the wolves, ignoring them, whereas the wolves spread left and right.
It was hard to focus on multiple enemies simultaneously, but I knew I would have to fight beast packs in the future. Pursuing lone wolves all the time was not feasible. The chances of another surprise like the Bloodbath Deer incident were high, and I wanted to be prepared for it.
I tried to recall the videos I had watched repetitively in the last few weeks. Every angle—alongside a tremendous amount of information—had been displayed in the files that were forming in my head in quick succession. The videos shifted and combined, displaying the techniques I’d been trying to copy for the last few days. A familiar voice flowed in my head. Her soothing yet steely voice smashed into my mind, reminding me to fix my footwork and to get my act together. It was exactly the same thing she had said in the videos, yet her voice reached me.
I exhaled deeply, side-stepped, and sliced the Wagur’s side with the silvernit sword. Glowing with ether, I swung the sword around, tilted my body to the side, and pushed toward the Tibera Wolf. A growl resounded behind me, but my focus stayed on the beast before me. Utilizing my accumulated momentum, I executed a swift step and charged through the disintegrating simulation. My feet carried me back as I lifted my sword defensively, imagining the final Tibera Wolf charging at me.
But no simulated beast was charging at me. The Tibera Wolf's shadow distorted, revealing a... middle-aged woman.
“The fuck?” I blurted aloud.
Nobody else was supposed to be in the combat simulation room at this time of day. If I had known someone else had rented the room, I would have never gotten out of bed in the middle of the night.
I stumbled and lost control of the ether coursing through my body. It wasn’t much ether—just barely enough traces to keep my muscles from cramping when I executed those nasty movement techniques. They stretched my ligaments more than any stretching exercise could.
The loss of focus released all ether outward, and a bad cramp assaulted my left leg almost instantly.
“Shit!” The curse escaped my lips as I stumbled to the ground. I put the silvernit sword to the floor and tended to my cramp, trying to ignore the middle-aged woman staring at me with an oddly bright smile.
“Did you not hear me?” she broke the silence first.
I looked up and shook my head, still trying to fathom who she was and how I didn’t notice her earlier.
“Sense me?”
What? I shook my head again, and frustration replaced confusion as she sighed deeply.
“I’m... sorry?”
Why did I feel like apologizing to her? Did I do something wrong? No, I didn’t! ...Probably?
The woman cocked an eyebrow and waved dismissively.
“No worries. I just saw you practice a familiar technique and got curious. I probably shouldn’t have expected too much,” she replied, her voice soothing yet as sharp as the blade that materialized in her hand.
It appeared out of nowhere and looked like a python’s fang—a massive fang, to be precise.
She is not going to attack, is she?
My eyes met a brilliant auburn as the middle-aged woman stared straight at me, and I shuddered. Locking eyes felt like staring into the calm before the storm.
Even though the woman was just standing there, lightly grasping the python fang in her tightly fitted gym clothes, looking like a lost bunny that had grown fangs—or a fang—I felt apprehensive. As harmless as she looked at first glance, the firm, well-trained muscles hidden beneath her clothes attracted my attention. They protruded through her tight fit and squirmed, and I tensed involuntarily.
As if on command, the air in the combat simulation room shifted. My body felt heavier, as if a Wagur or two weighed down on me, and my hair stood on end.
The kindness in the middle-aged woman’s eyes vanished like it never existed, and it was replaced by something else. Her posture was no longer calm and harmless either.
If it hadn’t already been painfully obvious, it was now: the middle-aged woman wasn’t normal. She... was a predator.
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Was that killing intent she emitted? Bloodlust? Regardless, it was dangerous. She was dangerous.
“Help me a little, and I will forgive you for nearly stabbing me.”
What? That never happened! I wanted to shout, but my mouth wouldn’t open.
Even if I had stabbed her, I doubted I could actually hurt her. The silvernit sword was more likely to shatter.
“You nearly killed me!” she added with a dramatic flair, though her acting was a mess.
So, ignoring the mad woman’s antics, I did what I had to do. I got up, clutching my sword, and attacked.
She smiled at me as I closed the distance between us, but her words never reached my ears. The only thing I could hear was an uncomfortable, high-pitched ringing that only grew louder as I neared the middle-aged woman.
She lifted the python fang and swung it downward in a simple cleave, even though I hadn’t even entered her range of attack. Yet, even with the blunt side facing downward, the attack hit me—and it hit hard.
The ringing in my ears intensified, and a late scream of warning reverberated through my bond with Aureus as a gust of air—or was it a boulder?—crashed into my shoulder.
There was nothing I could do but grit my teeth and stifle a pained scream as I pushed forward, but it didn’t help.
My World trembled as a scream escaped my lips, yet nothing happened. My legs caved in, and I landed face-first on the cold floor mere moments before I welcomed darkness’s embrace.
The last thing I saw was a strange look in the mad woman’s eyes. Her auburn eyes regarded me curiously.
“That was atrocious,” her words rang in my ears as I lost consciousness, and I didn’t like any of it. “But where’s the fun without a challenge?”
***
POV – Selene
The boy was miserable. Not even calling him atrocious seemed fitting. His footwork was as smooth as a Howler is silent, and his sword technique was akin to a toothless kitten.
Well, the technique itself wasn’t bad. On the contrary, the technique was excellent. The boy was just useless.
Who has been teaching this boy, and why does his teacher hate him? I shook my head in disappointment, but I summoned the boy’s gym records anyway—after calling for someone to tend to him, of course.
“So, you are Adam Savier from…” My eyes locked onto the screen floating before me. I cocked an eyebrow at the unconscious boy, and the corner of my lips twitched. “You are from the ninth sector?”
How did someone from the ninth sector end up in my gym? Sure, it was the best, but it should’ve also been too expensive for anyone living in the ninth sector.
“You were vouched for by Daniel… Zerog? Isn’t that Zerog’s youngest spawn?”
If that wasn’t interesting, I didn’t know what was. Reading through the remaining notes and details written in the boy’s file dispelled the rising annoyance and replaced it with something I hadn’t felt for a while. I licked my lower lip in anticipation as the boy’s worth and ambition unfolded before me.
The boy was determined, and he visited the gym daily—three times a week to spend several hours in the combat simulation room, and four times to work on his body, pushing it to new heights. Successfully, at that. In the two months since the boy had joined the gym, he had changed tremendously. His growth was tremendous, yet it was even more surprising to see just how weak the boy had been when he first joined.
Not even unBlessed should be this weak at his age, I thought, which made everything all the more impressive. Especially that look in his eyes—the golden glimmer that manifested for a mere moment—as my aura descended.
Something had been at work in his eyes, and it was only obvious that a reputable instructor would have taught him how to make use of that.
The boy was definitely not trained by a veteran, let alone someone affiliated with the Zerog family. If that had been the case, Adam wouldn’t be like this.
My head tilted to the side as I regarded Adam with rising curiosity.
What a mysterious boy.
***
POV – Adam
I deliberately arrived two hours later than usual on my regular combat simulation training day. The encounter with the madwoman had been strange and painful, but it was also an eye-opener. I saw a new peak and realized how much of a mess I was—and still am.
Attacking the madwoman had been incredibly helpful, even though I barely had the time to analyze anything before her attack impacted me. Regardless of the pain I had to endure, I wanted to use my new understanding to fight a few more simulated beasts.
“Oh no!” I yelped as the door to the combat simulation room swung open, revealing none other than the middle-aged woman from two days ago.
“You’re late,” was all she said before picking up the dark-grayish wooden staff.
Her stance shifted and the atmosphere grew heavy again. I considered backing up for a moment, but the woman motioned for me to come to her.
Who in the Rulers’ names is she? I wondered, taking a heavy breath as I stepped forward, unsheathing the silvernit sword the moment my feet crossed the doorstep to the combat simulation room.
The door behind me closed, and the woman attacked. However, this time she did not attack me with an invisible boulder. She relied on the wooden staff to beat the living shit out of me instead.
I tried my best to defend myself, but it only took me one strike to realize that we were leagues apart. She wasn’t even trying to overwhelm me with her superior physique and refrained from snapping my bones as her swift stabs and strikes landed. However, as painful as the hard wooden staff was, the look in her eyes was the worst.
Not only was she bored, but she was disappointed as well. Disappointed in… me?
I couldn’t tell how many hours had passed—it could have been no more than five minutes—before she knocked me out cold. I was tended to by the gym staff when I regained consciousness, and they told me to go home to rest. Training with injuries like mine would only worsen my situation. Thus, I returned home with a chaotic mind and a broken body.
Yet, as painful as the black and blue bruises were, no bones had been broken, and I felt good enough to return to the gym a few days later, on the regular day of my early combat simulation training.
This time, I went even later, hoping the presence of other gym members would force the ghost of a middle-aged woman to stay away. To my misery, that was not the case. No matter the time or day I arrived at the gym, the middle-aged woman was present. Even worse, she barely said anything and simply motioned for me to attack her. The python fang manifested in her hand, and our fight began—if one could call it a fight in the first place.
I was beaten black and blue. Sure, it wasn’t as bad as it used to be, and I survived a little bit longer every time, but my entire body was bruised. Even my bruises had bruises.
Sparring with her was weird. It didn’t make any sense, yet I felt good. In fact, after the first week filled with thrashings, I discarded my initial plan and visited the gym every day. Why? There was no particular reason—well, maybe one: the fading disappointment in her eyes.
The middle-aged woman was no longer bored sparring with me. She wasn’t excited, nor did it look like she anticipated anything great from me, but I caught a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes after days of pain and struggle. Somehow, that alone made my suffering worth it.
Two weeks of suffering passed, and I would have loved to keep going for as long as it’d take to hit her once. That was all I wanted—to successfully hit her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore my family problems any longer.
Aureus was hungry. The little glutton devoured the last bit of kibble in the morning, and even the meat Mom and Dad had purchased for Aureus, hoping my Soulkin would grow faster on a high-protein diet, would only last for possibly two meals.
To be honest, I didn’t even want to know how many Credits my parents had used on our meals, but I was fairly sure they didn’t purchase anything for themselves. Even worse, I was fairly sure nothing was left after they paid our rent—especially with Dad struggling to find a new job.
The time had come.
“No more wake-up beatings,” I muttered as I went to bed early.
My eyes shut in exhaustion, but my ears perked up as I heard my parents talking next door.
“You didn’t look well all day, honey,” Mother’s worn voice reached my ears through the thin walls. “Another rejection?”
“That’s not it,” Father grumbled quietly, his voice laced with frustration. “The bills are getting out of hand. If I don’t get a job soon, we may even lose our apartment. The interest fee for our oldest loans increased because we failed to repay it. Again.”
My heart tightened as I listened to them. It was obvious they underestimated a Blessed’s hearing sense, because they would never talk about our family’s financial crisis if they knew I could hear it all. They tried to keep me away from their problems since I was a child, but I was no longer a child. I was a Blessed, and officially considered an adult by the Council’s standards—and I could help. No, I would help.
I shouldn’t have wasted the last few weeks studying and training. Why didn’t I go hunting at least once a week? I’m such an ass!
I cursed myself and reached for my phone to message Daniel.
[Hey Daniel, hope you’re doing fine. It has been a while since we chatted, but I was a bit busy with…everything. Surely, you were busy too. Either way, do you have time? How about we go for a long hunt tomorrow?]
I stared at the phone screen and waited, but no response arrived no matter how long I waited.
I put the phone aside after turning off all alarms, went to bed, and closed my eyes again. I’d need some good sleep to be at my peak for tomorrow’s hunt.