I feel subtle movements and wake up, instantly alert.

But my wary eyes soften as they meet hers, her face so close, her beautiful eyes glistening with a quiet intensity.

"I hope you had a good rest," she says.

Memories of last night flood back. If I'm honest with myself, I've never experienced pleasure so intense in my entire life. It was… intoxicating.

I lift my hand, brushing her cheek gently.

"I was in heaven."

She grins, her expression lighting up. Then, abruptly, she jumps out of bed.

Before I can say anything, she's already dressing, securing her gear piece by piece. Fully equipped, she pauses, staring at me before sliding her mask into place. "I also liked it… a lot," she says, her voice softer, almost shy, before the mask clicks into position.

With swift precision, her tendrils lift her sword from the ground, placing it firmly in her hand. In a single fluid motion, she points the blade at my face, the tip hovering just inches away from my nose.

"We're sparring today too, right? Same time?"

I softly shake my head, a chuckle escaping as I meet her gaze through the mask, ignoring the sword entirely. "Absolutely."

"Alright," she says, sheathing her sword. "But I'll warn you—be ready for this one. I won't go easy on you. I'll be stronger than yesterday… so… try to keep up." She blinks once, her usual confidence flashing through, and strides out of the cave.

I watch her receding figure for a moment, enjoying the pleasant view, before letting out a deep breath and running a hand through my hair.

Guess it's time to get up. But then something comes to mind.

"Houston, are we doing that now?"

"Ready whenever you are. But, just a suggestion," he adds, his tone laced with amusement, "you might want to… cool down a bit first. I haven't assessed the consequences of disconnecting your body while your blood is busy downstairs."

I glance down. Yeah, well, morning wood and vivid memories of last night aren't exactly helping.

I take a deep breath, pour some water over my face, and start getting dressed. As I strap on my gear, I stretch, pausing to take in the pleasant view from the window.

Moments pass, and my thoughts slowly settle as I begin to relax. I eventually lie back down on the bed, the idea of grabbing a quick snack crossing my mind. But something tells me eating before this might not be the best idea. The memories of fasting before hospital operations come back vividly.

I rest my head on a bundle of leaves and close my eyes.

The next thing I know, I'm in the arena, Darius standing in front of me.

I nod in greeting and glance around, quickly noticing Houston is missing.

"Houston says he'll meet you after the spar," Darius says, a sword materializing in his hands.

"Alright," I reply, conjuring my own blade. "Shall we begin?"

Darius nods and immediately rushes at me.

I press the attack.

A quick thrust toward his chest forces him to retreat again. He counters with a chop aimed at my neck, but I step inside his arc, my pommel striking toward his wrist to disrupt his grip.

The blow lands, though not hard enough to disarm him.

He remains unfazed and brings his blade around in a wide sweep.

I duck, feeling the rush of air above my head, and respond with a diagonal slash. It's a glancing blow, barely enough to catch his tunic.

Before I can capitalize on the moment, my vision darkens, and I curse as my surroundings shift.

When it clears, my body has reappeared at the other side of the arena.

I died… again.

Yet, as I stare at him, I notice it: a shallow mark on the fabric of his tunic, evidence of my strike.

I grin. Even if he was holding back, for the first time in what felt like forever, I had grazed his cloth.

"Not bad," he says, smiling as the damage to his tunic regenerates, though he's clearly left the mark just for me to see it.

Darius was a chill guy. Unlike...

"Well, that should be it for today," a voice calls from the other side.

Talk about the devil.

But something feels off. It seems like less time than yesterday.

I turn back, and there he is.

Before I can say anything, he speaks.

"We'll keep it to two hours for today," he says. "And probably for the rest of the sessions too."

Huh?

I stare at Darius, but he just nods and disappears without a word.

I shake my head and glance back at Houston, a bit confused.

"Why? I feel I'm making good progress in swordsmanship, and the status screen confirms it's paying off."

"Well, your time here is limited. And there's another type of training I want you to focus on during the remaining hour."

I raise an eyebrow. Different training? Odd.

According to Houston, I can't use EM waves in this virtual space, so other types of training would be… ineffective.

"Don't overthink it. You'll see soon enough. For now, there's something I want to talk about," he begins. "It concerns your sparring session with Ayu."

My eyes narrow slightly at the mention of her name.

What's wrong with it? He isn't about to meddle… right? Add some twisted—

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Again, don't overthink it," he interrupts my thoughts. "I respect your time with her. As I always say, you can do whatever you want. But I have a few suggestions that could benefit both of you."

I stay silent for a moment, considering his words. "Alright, I'm listening."

"First, for god's sake, use your sword and, especially, your new equipment. It's the only way you'll get any real combat experience with them against another human. Training alone isn't enough," he says, locking eyes with me.

"And I know what you were thinking. You didn't want to hurt her. So your solution was to crank up an unnecessarily high Overdrive value and limit yourself to the gauntlets—because that was obviously all it took to keep the combat super controlled, right?" His sarcasm is unmistakable, each word dripping with mockery before his tone shifts back.

"But let me tell you something—you're doing her more harm than good. Not once during the sparring session did Ayu's ability reach its full potential simply because her mind never registered a serious threat. If she thought it was a good spar, it's only because it was her first time with Overdrive, and she liked the feeling. But honestly? It was lame."

I sigh and look at him, conceding to the accusation. Sure, guilty as charged, but…

"So, what? You want me to go full force and aim to severely harm Ayu?"

"Harm Ayu? Could you?" He chuckles. "If you went full-state, sure, you could. But what about going at her with 50%? Let me break it down for you. In the last session, Ayu's Overdrive averaged 13%, peaking at 17%. By tomorrow, I expect her average to be closer to 20%, so let's use that as a baseline."

He stops and conjures a virtual screen next to him. It shows me on one side and Ayu on the other, with bars labeled Overdrive next to each of us. Above the screen is a big title: Chance to Land a Solid Hit.

"Let's start with Ayu at 0% and you at 0%," he says, his tone laced with amusement.

The top of the screen shows 0%.

"Well, would you look at that!" he says, staring at the result with exaggerated theatrics. "For reference, that's your chance of landing a solid hit on her if you're both going all out with the intent to kill for a full 30 seconds. Let's keep going, shall we?"

The value on my side increases to 10%, but the top value remains 0%.

I shake my head, crossing my arms. This bastard...

"What? It's just starting to get interesting," he says, grinning from ear to ear.

The value increases to 20%, but… still zero.

Houston rubs his eyes and looks at the screen in an exaggerated display. "That can't be right? I mean, you don't want to harm her, you said… but why… why is it still zero then?"

"Alright, you've made your point. But even then, my resting state in Overdrive is currently over 30%, so all this is meaningless. You want me to fight her with lower values and still go seriously all out? You know I'll always hesitate, no matter how sure I am she can dodge."

He sighs, giving me a look. "You always spoil the fun. But… nah, come on, let's check a couple more results." His grin widens as he turns back to the screen.

The bar on my side shifts to 33%, and the top value shows a 1.2% chance.

"Well, that's your current resting state percentage," he says. "So, slightly more than 1% for landing one solid hit in 30 seconds of going full force. Let's call that dangerous, sure. But… now, watch closely. What happens when Ayu herself hits 20% Overdrive? Take a guess."

I stare into his eyes, ensuring he can see my annoyance clearly.

"What, no chance of a hit until I'm over 50%?" I shrug.

"Well, I'll spare you the detailed explanation about how Ayu's innate ability scales nonlinearly with her senses and the fact that... anyway, the answer is no. At 50% Overdrive, if Ayu is using 20%, you still have a 0% chance of hitting her."

Zero… at 50%...

I narrow my eyes. Houston doesn't make up numbers; I know how loyal he is to science. But… the fact that I can't even touch her at 50% going all out? My swordsmanship and EM wave output are leagues above hers. The same goes for magnetization and body-wave synchronization. If I can leverage all that, even if she can read my attacks... surely not zero, right?

"You really considered everything? What about using shock-like EM waves to disrupt her mind and buy time to attack?"

"Nope. At 50%, your waves aren't strong enough to breach Ayu's expected barrier at 20% and create a significant stun. And even if you managed to, guess what? Ayu's body would still defend itself."

Huh?

"As you might have guessed—and it's pretty obvious—Ayu's skill isn't about seeing the future. That's impossible. It works on a subconscious, instinctual level, based on the data I gathered so far. Her body reacts before she even consciously thinks about it. And let me tell you, when you layer Overdrive on top of that, her evasion becomes... terrifying."

I stroke my chin, deep in thought.

"So, you want me to go 50% tomorrow and really go all out?"

"Well, you could go 60%, and it'd be the same," he says with a smirk. "But it's up to you. And if it helps, fight while avoiding her head and vital organs. That way, even if you somehow manage to hit—and I'm telling you, you won't—it won't be a big deal, and she'll recover by the next morning. Sure, your nightly activities may be affec—"

"Alright, thanks, Houston," I interrupt him. "I get it. Can we move on to the next part of the training, or is this psychological torture of listening to you supposed to be the session itself?"

As the words leave my mouth, the scenario around me shifts entirely. This place… a replica of the first region of the Arthropods?

"Since you're so eager to start, let's get to it. In this stage, I've created virtual imitations of the creatures you've faced so far. Unfortunately, replicating their wave capabilities isn't possible at the moment, so this is the best I can do."

I watch as an Arthropod materializes about 100 meters away, its dark shell gleaming faintly. I quickly notice some differences: the texture in certain spots, but more than that, its size. It's roughly 20 to 30% larger than the ones I fought before.

"So, what's the catch?"

"Catch? Well, for starters, see how well you handle this slightly enhanced version without your trusty Overdrive and EM waves," he says with a grin. Before I can respond, he vanishes.

Right… I've never fought any of these creatures without Overdrive. But… against this one, it should still be relatively easy. After all, other Climbers kill these things daily without Overdrive.

I snap out of my wandering thoughts and lock in, focusing as I shift into combat mode.

I tighten my grip on my sword and rush forward.

The creature reacts, its many legs drumming against the ground as it pivots toward me.

That's when I notice the second change. Its sluggish turning rate… it's gone. Instead, it's quite fast.

I grin, unfazed. Compared to the king jellyfish, this is basically a sitting duck.

I close the distance and leap upward, aiming to grab hold of its shell, but my jumping speed feels slow, and the creature is quicker than I expected.

It shifts its head and strikes with its pincers. I block the attack with my sword.

The impact is brutal, sending me rolling across the ground. I think of stabilizing myself with EM waves and gauntlets but quickly remember I don't have any of that here.

As I get up, I notice several shallow, pixelated lines crisscrossing my body.

Ok.

No equipment, no EM waves, no Overdrive.

Alright. Alright.

My grip on the sword tightens. Perhaps you deserve a bit more respect.

Brute force won't win this fight. I need technique, strategy, and precise timing.

My gaze shifts to its antennas. Even without its EM wave capabilities, severing them could weaken its movements. And if not? Well, this is just training anyway.

Let's do it.

I rush forward but keep a measured distance, studying its movements as it marches toward me. I focus on the rhythm of its steps, the size of its legs and tendrils, and the angles of its attacks.

I need to feel it.

I close my eyes briefly, listening to the vibrations through the ground. The rhythm is clear.

I take a deep breath and steady myself.

I wait… and wait…

Now!

I leap back, but instead of retreating, I align my movement to match the rhythm of its marching left leg. My foot lands on the leg without losing balance. Using the momentum, I vault forward, narrowly dodging its pincer as it lunges at me.

I can see it now.

It's fast and strong, but its movements are rigid and predictable. Standing on its shell renders me practically untargetable.

And now that I'm here…

I grin as the creature tries to shake me off. I anticipate the motion, stabilizing my core as I drive my sword into a gap between its thick shells.

Then… I wait. It shakes to one side, then the other… now!

Using the momentum, I propel myself toward its antenna and sever one cleanly, slicing it entirely with my sword.

The effort knocks me off its shell, and without EM waves to hold my position, I land on the ground, sliding slightly but in control.

The creature charges at me again.

I close my eyes, a smile creeping across my face.

The rest of this battle… will be boring.

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