At the same time, while Grey was guiding Lia, another man sat not far away. He had long black hair, an utterly average face, and wore a black T shirt with the bold print "I Love Nova City." His expression, however, was filled with gloom.
He checked his phone again. Still no reply from Lia.
"That was five thousand Union Credits…" Daniel Carter muttered with a bitter sigh.
Having rushed all the way to the training zone, he had realized one thing. The person he was supposed to meet, Lia, had already left. She had not even bothered to reply to his message.
He did not know whether to laugh or cry. Misfortune seemed to chase him relentlessly. Worse still, his wife had gotten angry earlier, and as her husband, all he could do was try his best to coax her back into a good mood.
Just then, as he was drowning in self pity, two large shadows suddenly loomed over him.
Daniel Carter's brows furrowed. He turned around, and his expression shifted to surprise the moment he recognized them.
"Those two…" His eyes narrowed. "The Twin Iron Fangs."
They were well known throughout Nova City, the top ranked Evolvers of the city. Whenever disaster struck, these two were always the first to charge into the front lines.
"Little brother!" One of the Iron Fang twins, Leo Fang, spoke in a booming yet kind voice. Though identical to his sibling, his tone carried an elder brotherly warmth. "Are you here to train your muscles? You look far too skinny for an Evolver of your standing!"
"Indeed!" Duke Fang, the other Iron Fang, laughed heartily as his arms bulged like steel pillars. "How can someone with your status look so frail? Come, let us brothers help you build muscle and restore the dignity befitting a true ranker!"
"???"
Daniel Carter blinked in surprise, his face stiffening.
Can these two see through my actual strength? He thought warily, his mood instantly tensing.
"Yes, little brother," Leo Fang declared with absolute certainty, crossing his massive arms over his broad chest. "As someone of the first rank, you must temper your body well. We can see you practice the martial evolutionary path!"
Hearing this, Daniel quietly let out a sigh of relief, as if the secret he was hiding had not been exposed.
"Excellent! Then let's get started!" Duke Fang's booming voice echoed like a war drum. "First, one hundred thousand push ups!"
"Huh?" Daniel froze, dumbfounded. "This… Fellow experts, I am but a mere first rank Evolver, and my wife is still waiting for me at home. So if you will excuse me…"
Before he could finish, Leo Fang's grin widened. With a single swoop, he hoisted Daniel onto his shoulder as if he weighed nothing.
"Help! I'm being kidnapped!" Daniel shouted helplessly, his voice ringing through the training zone. Inwardly, he cursed endlessly.
If not for the fact that I can't reveal my true strength, I wouldn't even bother speaking with these muscle headed freaks.
But his cries only earned him sympathetic glances. The evolvers in the open training zone looked at him with pity etched across their faces.
This was a common occurrence. Every time the Iron Fang brothers showed up, they would always "recruit" some poor soul to train.
Everyone immediately turned a blind eye. The last time someone tried to intervene and save a victim, they too had been dragged off to train, returning days later as a broken man with bulging muscles and hollow eyes.
…
Back in the private training room, Lia charged forward with a furious shout, her sword gleaming as sweat dripped down her cheeks. Her body trembled, her breath ragged, and she looked as though she might collapse at any moment.
Whoosh!
Her grip was lighter now, her stance refined, just as Grey had instructed. She brought her blade down with all the momentum she could muster.
Grey, however, stood motionless with a bored look on his face. For a moment, he even felt tempted to take out his phone and play a game, but he dismissed the thought. He had to maintain his mysterious aura as a peerless master.
Two hours had already passed since the training began. In that time, Grey had drilled the fundamentals into her bones. Her movements were faster, her posture cleaner, and her strikes sharper. Now, the only thing left was for her to actually land a hit.
And for the past thirty minutes, she had failed repeatedly.
Still, Lia's eyes burned with determination as her blade inched closer to his chest. This time, this time I'll hit him.
But—
Whoosh!
Grey calmly stepped aside, his expression unchanged.
Lia stumbled forward, lost her balance, and hit the floor with a dull thud.
"Grrr…" She growled through clenched teeth, glaring up at him with frustration burning in her eyes.
She honestly began to doubt whether Grey was truly teaching her or merely toying with her. Although she had undeniably gained a lot in the past two hours, she could not shake the feeling that this so called instructor was deliberately bullying her.
Grey's calm voice rang out. "What are you doing on the ground? Resting? Get up and keep attacking."
If this were a comic, a large red vein mark would have popped up on her forehead.
"Hmph!" Lia snorted, puffed up like an angry cat. She pushed herself off the floor, her eyes blazing with indignation. Without another word, she tightened her grip on the sword and rushed forward again.
This time, she forced herself to focus even harder, pouring all of her strength and concentration into the strike as she closed the distance with Grey.
Grey's eyes narrowed slightly. All this time, he had not been paying attention to her sword alone, but to the rhythm of her energy flow. By now, he had practically memorized every rise and fall of Lia's spiritual circulation and its pattern.
And then, through the lens of his Origin Insight, he caught it.
A faint spark, barely the size of a firefly, flickered within her meridians. For an instant, it disrupted the otherwise smooth flow of her spiritual energy, and within that disruption, something far more lethal was born.
Sword Energy.
But the spark dimmed almost as quickly as it appeared, vanishing without a trace. Lia failed to land a hit once more, her blade cutting through nothing but empty air.
She stumbled slightly, panting, her brows furrowed in frustration. Unlike Grey, she had not noticed the fleeting change within her spiritual energy. To her, it was simply another failure.
Grey's calm voice rang out again. "Why are you resting? Stand up. Attack with everything you have."
Lia clenched her fists, irritation flashing in her eyes. Before she could retort, Grey's gaze sharpened, his tone turning serious.
"What is your sword to you?" He asked abruptly.
Lia froze, caught completely off guard.
"My sword? Isn't it just a tool to fight with?" She asked hesitantly.
"No," Grey replied firmly. "That is where you are wrong. The very first line of the Zenith Sword Art makes it clear. The sword is not a mere tool. It is an extra hand, a hand with only one purpose. To cut down everything that dares stand in your way. Why demean it by treating it as nothing more than an object?"
"An extra hand…" Lia murmured, her grip unconsciously tightening around the hilt.
"That's right," Grey said. "Now charge at me again. And this time, treat it as a part of yourself, not something you're merely holding."
Lia lowered her gaze to the simple sword in her hand. For the first time, she adjusted her grip with intent, holding it not as cold steel, but as if it were her own flesh and blood. Strangely, the hilt felt warmer, more natural in her palm.
Her eyes sharpened. Then she charged.
This time, she poured everything into her strike. Focus, strength, even her very will. The world around her blurred and faded away. In her sight, only one figure remained. Grey.
Grey's pupils contracted. Once again, he saw it. That subtle disruption in her spiritual energy. But unlike before, this time the spark did not vanish.
Buzz!
A crimson light flared violently as Lia's blade descended, a searing beam of energy surging forth with unstoppable momentum.
Buzz!
The training room's defensive barrier roared to life. Runes lit up across the walls as it absorbed the violent strike. If not for the shield, the ground itself might have been torn apart by that single slash.
Lia stared ahead, but to her surprise, Grey was nowhere to be seen.
Then, a voice came from behind her.
"Congratulations. You've awakened Sword Energy in three hours. You're welcome." Grey said with a smirk.
At the same time, he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. Just now, if he had been a moment slower, he would probably be six feet under. Fortunately, he had managed to activate his technique in time and change positions.
He truly appreciated his Instant Recoil Step Technique.
"This is Sword Energy?" Lia asked, her expression dazed, as though she were still dreaming.