Rey lay sprawled across the cold training room floor, unmoving.
For a brief moment, all three spirits stiffened.
Then his fingers twitched.
His hand rose, covering his eyes, and a faint smile crept across his lips.
"So you were just basking in the afterglow," Aiden said, exhaling as his shoulders relaxed. "I thought you'd actually passed out."
Rey chuckled softly and pushed himself up on one elbow.
Before he could stand, Zero was already in front of him, her presence calm yet protective. Aiden walked past them, inspecting the battered dummy with narrowed eyes.
Rey looked around instinctively.
"…Where's my sword?"
He spotted it near the wall, half-buried beneath a thin layer of retreating black particles as Zero withdrew them toward the dummy.
His gaze shifted to her.
[You expected that fragile toy to survive your strike?] Zero replied coolly. [That blow displaced force even my particles had to actively compensate for.]
Rey nodded, unsurprised.
"I felt it too. The sword gave way before my body did."
He rose to his feet and turned toward the weapon rack.
The room was simple. Four basic options.
A sword.
A spear.
Daggers.
And a wooden pole.
Rey stood there for a second, tapping his chin.
"So… fate decides."
He muttered a ridiculous rhyme under his breath, counted on his fingers, and stopped at the daggers.
"…Figures."
He grabbed them and rolled his shoulders, adjusting to their lighter weight.
Zero immediately moved again, coating the dummy in a dense layer of black armour. A thin veil even brushed across the blades themselves, reinforcing them.
Rey exhaled.
He lunged.
The first strikes were rough. Aggressive. Heavy.
Wrong.
He slashed and stabbed with the same intent he used for a sword, but the movement felt clumsy, inefficient.
Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Stop."
Rey paused, panting.
"You're forcing it," Aiden said. "Daggers don't obey brute strength. They demand continuity."
Rey frowned.
"With swords, you cut through resistance. With daggers, you slip past it. One break in rhythm and you're dead."
Aiden raised a hand, tracing an invisible current through the air.
"Think of water. Soft. Continuous. But once it finds rhythm and speed, it shreds stone without hesitation."
He waited.
Rey blinked.
Scratched his head.
"…So I stab faster?"
Aiden sighed deeply.
"Just train."
Rey nodded and stepped forward again.
This time, he changed his grip.
One dagger forward.
One reversed.
He dashed in, struck the chest, pivoted, and struck again before the dummy finished falling back.
No pauses.
No hesitation.
He checked his system.
======
Daggers & Knives: F {12% → 14%)}
======
"Okay… it works."
He glanced at Zero.
"Can you… make weak points?"
She hesitated, then complied. Parts of the armoured dummy softened subtly, rippling as if unstable.
Rey didn't waste the opening.
He attacked again.
But now, he didn't aim for power.
He aimed for motion.
His strikes multiplied. Short. Sharp. Relentless.
Where a sword demanded commitment, daggers rewarded momentum. Rey circled the dummy, cutting, slipping, repositioning. His body learned before his mind did.
Time blurred.
Sweat soaked his clothes.
His hands burned.
His legs trembled.
Yet the flow didn't break.
One final sequence.
Both shoulders.
A lateral slash to the side.
A blur behind the dummy.
Neck. Back. Spine.
Then a tired, desperate thrust into the head.
The daggers slipped from his grip.
The dummy collapsed.
Rey dropped backwards, landing hard, gasping for air.
/Clap/ /Clap/ /Clap/
Victor stepped forward, smiling faintly.
"Impressive. From nothing to something in a single session."
He tilted his head.
"Even the system seems moved. Why don't you check?"
Rey swallowed and opened his interface.
======
Daggers & Knives:? {??????????}
======
His breath caught.
The room fell silent.