In the evenings, she went to the secluded training room she had rented off-campus, one where no nosy classmates could interrupt. There, she practiced combat techniques, blade handling, and most importantly, mental resilience. Every strike of her practice sword against the wooden dummy carried her frustration and her fear. She remembered the countless corpses from her past life, the despair of fighting too late, and the regret of not being prepared.
This time, she wouldn't make that mistake.
Between each training session, she sat cross-legged in meditation, regulating her breath, guiding the faint energy of the core that flickered within her. She could feel it growing stronger by day; it wasn't much yet, but her body was stronger, sharper, quicker than the ordinary girl she had once been.
By the fifth day, the pressure mounted.
[Remaining Time: 2 days 4 hours]
