Timing created opportunity.
Distance decided survival.
Ethan stood alone, his Ten active, his breathing controlled. His body no longer reacted with fear when struck. It reacted with adjustment.
Correction.
Learning.
The door opened.
The fighter returned.
This time, he carried something.
A knife.
Not raised.
Not threatening.
Held loosely at his side.
Ethan observed it carefully.
A weapon changed everything.
Not because of its strength.
Because of its reach.
The door closed.
Locked.
The man stepped forward.
"Distance," he said.
Not explanation.
Lesson.
He moved.
Fast.
Faster than before.
The knife came forward.
Not toward Ethan's body—
Toward the space he occupied.
Ethan activated Silent Authority.
"Stop."
The man hesitated.
Not enough.
The knife continued.
Ethan moved.
Not backward.
Not randomly.
He stepped to the outside.
The blade passed beside him.
Close.
Too close.
But it missed.
The man adjusted instantly.
He turned.
Struck again.
No hesitation.
No wasted motion.
Ethan understood.
Silent Authority did not stop the weapon.
It created time.
Time he had to use correctly.
The blade came again.
Ethan did not speak.
He activated Ren internally.
Defined the rule.
Not through words.
Through intent.
The man's motion slowed.
Barely.
But enough.
Ethan stepped inside the knife's reach.
Closer.
Where the blade was weakest.
His hand reached the man's wrist.
Not grabbing.
Not fighting.
Positioning.
Controlling distance.
The man stopped.
Immediately.
Silence filled the room.
He looked at Ethan's hand.
At the distance Ethan had chosen.
Correct.
The man stepped back.
"You learn," he said.
Not praise.
Truth.
"A weapon extends reach."
He raised the knife slightly.
"Reach defines threat."
He lowered it.
"Distance defines control."
He turned toward the door.
"If you control distance…"
He paused.
"…you control outcome."
Then he left.
The door closed.
Ethan remained standing.
The image of the knife remained in his mind.
Silent Authority created hesitation.
But hesitation alone was meaningless without positioning.
Distance.
Timing.
Authority.
Three structures.
One outcome.
Ethan activated Ren slightly.
Not outward.
Not wasted.
Defined.
He stepped forward.
Then stopped.
Exactly where he intended to stop.
And for the first time—
He understood how close survival truly was.