The sky finally cleared.
For the first time in weeks, the academy yard wasn't soaked in misery. But the blood stains were still there, faint on the stone tiles. Ashen walked past them, her arms bruised and wrapped, her eye still healing.
A bell rang once.
A new notice was pinned to the board:
"Combat Rankings – Class 0 Transfer Eligible."
Ashen's name—or rather, her ID number—was listed. Beneath it: "Temporary Assignment: Instructor D."
She read it again. Then again. Her heart pounded.
Instructor D was rumored to be insane.
The training room was buried beneath the academy, hidden behind rusted doors that required blood to open. Ashen pressed her thumb against the symbol. It burned. The door creaked open.
Inside stood a man wrapped in black chains from neck to toe. One eye glowed red. The other… was gone.
"You're the nameless one."
Ashen didn't flinch.
He grinned.
"Good. I don't train cowards."
He turned, and the chains dragged behind him like serpents.
"From today on, you belong to me. Not the academy. Not the church. Not Lucifer. Me."
Ashen opened her mouth to speak.
"Shut up. You're weak. You're slow. You have no hax, no magic, no divinity. Nothing. But that's fine. I don't teach gods. I train monsters."
For the next six hours, he broke her.
Bones.
Muscles.
Breath.
And every time she collapsed—he made her get back up.
"Pain is fuel. Fear is strategy. Crying? Cry while punching."
She screamed. He laughed. She bled. He spat blood back at her.
"You're going to learn 107 ways to disarm someone with no weapon."
"What if they're stronger?" she gasped.
"Then use their strength against them. Everyone bleeds if you find the right spot."
At the end of day one, she couldn't move. But her eyes burned with a new fire.
He saw it.
"Good girl."
He tossed a rag to her.
"Clean up. We start again in three hours."
AI SCALING SYSTEM UPDATED...
durability: C
experience: C
strength: C-
biq: C
iq: C+
hax: Locked
ability: Locked
endurance: B-
agility: C
intelligence: C+
power: C-
weaponry: D
stamina: B
combat: C+
feat: C+
AP: C
DC: C
attack speed: C
combat speed: C
base movement: C
narrative speed: C+
healing restoration: C
soul speed: C
reaction speed: C
combat movement: C
physical speed: C
teleportation speed: Locked
attack speed: C
healing speed: C
Emotion Detected:Obsession. Rebellion. Hunger.
Stability: 61%
That night, Instructor D stood alone beneath the broken arch of the yard. His chains shimmered in the moonlight.
"She's not human," he muttered.
"She's something worse. And better."