The Twins managed to make it home with half an hour to spare before curfew. They were greeted by Morgranna, who scanned them as they had grown accustomed to and ushered them upstairs to go through their now nightly routine: bathing, eating, and winding down on the sofas, reading with hot chocolate before turning in for the night.
At dawn, they were once again woken by Morgranna, who silently tutted at their atrocious sleeping postures and swore she would do something about Er's bad habit of stuffing his face into his pillow, making her worry he might suffocate himself one of these days.
After a good breakfast and while sipping their now-expected and anticipated fresh coffee with hints of chocolate and salted caramel, Morgranna informed them that from today, they would be sparring, and only with sparring bots to prevent mass overnight stays in the Med Bay.
With this information, she handed each of them a large chest, telling them that this was their personal armoury containing all their training weapons, generated for them by Tian Dao according to their preferences and styles.
They thanked her for the arsenals and, with that, headed toward the training grounds where they were to wait for Teacher Drakos at the entrance.
They arrived at a quarter to eight and sat on a bench just outside the entrance of the training ground, drinking the last cup of coffee Morgranna had packed for them to go while they waited for Teacher Drakos.
At five minutes to eight, Teacher Drakos appeared with another Infernal in tow. As he drew near, Drakos greeted the Twins, introducing the newcomer: "Good morning, brats. Good to see you in high spirits today. This is my brother, Teacher Beelzebub. He will be assisting me today as we put you through your paces."
He started walking toward the open arenas with Teacher Beelzebub and the Twins following behind. "You should have received your arsenals today. First, we're going to get you used to the gauntlets and shin guards generally used in unarmed close combat, using your free-form styles. Then you'll be doing non-stop live sparring against sparring bots."
"We'll start you off nice and slow at one bot at a time; when you adapt, we'll start increasing them until you're inundated. All you need to do is defeat every sparring bot. You're going to start in separate arenas, and in the afternoon we'll have you team up and do the same so that you can develop the cooperation and tacit understanding you'll need. Understood?"
The Twins nodded and, when they got the signal, called out their arsenal chests and opened them. Ignoring all of the weapons, they retrieved the gauntlets and shin guards before closing and storing the chests again.
They put on the gauntlets and shin guards, made some tentative gestures, and at the signal, each entered their designated arena and began their free-form combat drills, getting used to the added weight of the gauntlets and shin guards.
Once Drakos determined they had adapted, he and Beelzebub split up and positioned themselves at the control panels of an arena. "Ready for the bots to appear. Generating bots, START!"
Off they went, each fighting against a single bot and easily taking them down. New ones started to appear as soon as the previous bot was out of commission, while both Teachers kept an eye on the data being generated, ramping the settings up by one level every time the Twins showed signs of adapting.
Soon, the arenas were full of bots surrounding each Twin, and the Twins were going all out, fighting them. The Twins were taking the bots out faster than the system could generate new ones, until a beep came from both arenas, indicating that the siege had been completed and no bots were left that were capable of fighting.
By this time, it was half an hour before lunch, so the Teachers decided to go over the data they had recorded with the Twins so they could see their flaws and how to resolve them. They had the Twins come down from their respective arenas and sit with them.
"Okay, you brats did well. You made good time taking those bots out, but there are still areas for improvement, and that's what we'll be discussing with you now."
"Starting with Er, I know you have a more berserker style of fighting, but you still need to pay attention to your defences so you don't take unnecessary damage like you did on several occasions." Drakos lectured the Twins as he showed them the footage and data, pointing out Er's defensive flaws—highlighting instances where Er took hits that could have easily been avoided without sacrificing his attacks.
Er nodded as Teacher Drakos addressed his flaws. At the same time, Teacher Beelzebub added, "Chaos Er, if you had shifted your elbow or shoulder slightly in each of these cases, you could have avoided the unnecessary hits and continued your attacks without interruption." He pointed out the specific moments on the footage, and Er nodded again to show his understanding.
"Yi, your defence is perfect—the bots have a hard time landing any hits on you, so well done with that. However, your attacks could be fiercer. You are showing hesitation when it's not necessary, and that's a flaw you'll need to overcome. Please remember that during a fight, it's most likely an 'us or them' situation: either they live or we do. It would be wise to keep that in mind at all times." Drakos both praised and criticised Yi as needed.
"Chaos Yi, if you're struggling with the idea of hurting others, remember this: if you don't take them out, they are likely to try to kill or hurt your Mate. Keeping this in mind should help you find the right mindset," Teacher Beelzebub advised Yi, who nodded in acknowledgement.
By this time, it was lunchtime, so the four of them headed toward the cafeteria. Other students who had witnessed and filmed the Twins' training session had uploaded the footage to the Academy section on Conclave, where comments were now flooding in.
'It's so unfair that they're getting preferential treatment as one of the new batch—we didn't have this for our batch!'
'Say that only if you can clear arena siege mode while Unawakened, using only unarmed combat! That kind of performance gets you preferential treatment anywhere!'
'I heard they get special treatment because they have to complete the lesson plan in three months—we have six months to learn the same content. The reason is that within three months, they'll have no choice but to Awaken; they're already teetering on the edge!'
'I'm from their batch and can confirm this is true! The Elders confirmed it themselves—since coming out of the Med Tank, they're almost fully Awakened!'
'Hells!'
'+1'
'+2'
'Is no one going to talk about the fact that it's only their third day of training and they've already completed the arena siege mode using unarmed free-form fighting?!'
'Crap'
'...'
'I thought I was the chosen one, but now I see I'm just a background character to a monster genius!'
'+1'
As the heated discussion on Conclave continued, the Twins were devouring their C-level lunch at a speed that raised eyebrows among the onlookers. "Wouldn't it be better for you two to move up to a higher potency level, given how much you need at C-level?" Teacher Beelzebub asked, concerned about their nutrition.
"Nah, their Mammy is Morgranna. Do you really think they'd still be on C-level if she didn't think it was necessary?!" Teacher Drakos replied, waving his hand dismissively. "The fact they're still eating C-level food means they're not ready for B-level yet."
Teacher Beelzebub nodded in understanding, familiar with Morgranna's strict approach. He dropped the subject and returned to his meal, oblivious that a certain Mammy was monitoring the Twins' real-time data and had just determined that pure C-level food was no longer sufficient for them.
She decided the meat in their meals would be upgraded to B-level, while the rest of their diet would remain unchanged. Luckily, Tian Dao had provided her with a full range of ingredients, from D-level all the way to SSS-level.
After lunch, everyone headed back to the arenas, where the Twins received their instructions. "Alright, now you'll do the same drills as this morning, but this time make sure to incorporate our advice into your fighting," the Teachers announced.
"When you reach the expected standard, we'll switch to paired training so you can develop your cooperation and tacit understanding—first through drills, then against sparring bots. We'll offer advice as needed and help you develop your own unique duo-fighting style. Ready?"
The Twins nodded in understanding and entered their respective arenas. The Teachers took their places near the control panels. "Alright, generating bots, enabling siege mode. START!"
The Twins immediately launched into action, this time keeping both Teachers' advice in mind. After an hour of intense fighting, the arenas signalled that siege mode had ended—none of the bots were left standing.
The Teachers called the Twins down and went over the new data with them. "Alright, boys, that went smoothly. You've incorporated our advice. How did it feel this time?"
"I didn't hesitate anymore," Yi replied calmly. Both Teachers nodded, showing how the footage confirmed he fought just as they'd hoped. They praised his improved combat foresight and predictive reactions.
"I seem to have taken fewer hits, and it felt like I was fighting more fiercely!" Er exclaimed during his feedback. Again, both Teachers nodded and pointed out on the footage that he was defending more effectively, and his strikes were heavier and more aggressive than before, as if he had something to protect—which was exactly their goal.
The Twins hydrated themselves while discussing how to handle the duo-fighting style. Eventually, they agreed that Yi would take on an assassin's role, shadowing Er and striking unpredictably and quickly while also watching Er's back. At the same time, Er would maintain his usual fighting style.
Both Teachers listened to their discussion and plans, nodding thoughtfully. They agreed that this kind of coordinated duo-fighting style was precisely what they expected from the Twins, and both were eager to see how they would execute it.
This time, the Twins entered a single arena together to start their first duo-fighting free-form combat drills. It took them a full hour to adjust, with the Teachers offering advice here and there. After the hour had passed, the Teachers decided it was time for duo-fighting siege mode since the Twins had adapted completely, moving perfectly in sync. "Alright, generating bots, siege mode activating—START!"
For the fifth time that day, they entered siege mode, now with double the number of bots due to the duo-fight setup. They struggled a bit at first as they got used to each other amidst the chaos of battle, but gradually their cooperation smoothed out. It soon reached the point where Er began ignoring certain enemies, trusting Yi to handle them while he focused on those directly in front of him.
Soon, the arena signalled that the siege mode had ended. The Twins walked down to the Teachers for the customary discussion and advice, ready for feedback.
Both Teachers reviewed the key points the Twins needed to focus on, then sent them back into the arena for another round. Once siege mode was activated again, the Twins fought in tandem, moving as shadows of each other and taking down every enemy with a seamless, almost artistic coordination.
Finally, both Teachers nodded in proud approval. They truly had nothing more to teach; what the Twins needed now was experience. They told them as much when the siege mode ended—just as the day came to a close.
The Twins thanked both Teachers for their guidance, knowing they would be changing instructors from tomorrow onwards for the next phase of their training. After expressing their gratitude, the Twins departed for home, while Beelzebub and Drakos retired to Drakos' office to review the day's data. The two decided to convene a meeting, now that the Twins had mastered everything they had to teach them—for the time being, at least.
Drakos initiated the meeting, and soon the holo-images of the others appeared as the session began. Without delay, Drakos sent the day's data for review. As they examined the results, the others nodded in approval, visibly impressed by how quickly the Twins had mastered the unarmed combat portion of the lesson plan.
"We no longer have anything left to teach them. All they need now is experience—especially for unarmed combat and duo-fighting. That last bout was truly something to behold!" Drakos said with a proud grin.
"Do you have a recording of their final duo-fight for us to watch?" Caine asked.
Drakos nodded, cued up the video, and played it for the gathered group. They watched in mounting awe as the Twins seemed to dance across the arena, taking down each bot with flawless movement and teamwork.
"Now that's what I call a duo-fight!" Caine whistled in admiration. The others murmured in agreement, still processing the skill and synergy they had just witnessed.
"It seems they're ready to move to the next stage of their training," Soleil began, but Morgranna interjected, "They need to commence cultivation tomorrow. C-level nutrition is no longer enough, but B-level is still a bit too potent. Starting tonight, their meals will use B-level meat, while the rest stays the same."
Nocturne nodded, having reviewed their real-time data. "The data shows that pure C-level is no longer sufficient, but pure B-level provides too much. Morgranna's plan is the best compromise for now. However, this does mean they'll be taking in more energy than their bodies can naturally convert into Mana. They'll need to start learning cultivation tomorrow."
The Head Masters all nodded in agreement. They promptly updated the lesson plan and notified the instructor who would be taking over that segment of the course. After informing everyone else, the session concluded.
The remaining members exchanged farewells and logged off, satisfied with the day's progress and the Twins' remarkable achievements.