05:45 A.M
At such an early hour, the Bastion of Phalanx had not yet reached the steady rhythm that usually filled its halls with officers, clerks, reports, and the constant movement of personnel attending to their respective duties.
A handful of early workers had already begun passing through the professional department above, but beneath them, the vast sunken Training Arena remained almost entirely undisturbed.
The open sky overhead still carried the final traces of night. Deep violet stretched beyond the upper edges of the stone bleachers, slowly giving way to the faintest suggestion of dawn. Cool morning air settled over the packed pale sand, and without the usual presence of knights, instructors, and training groups, the enormous amphitheater felt even larger than it had the previous day.
Only one set of footsteps broke the silence.
G6 had been running for nearly an hour.
She had no intention of attempting twenty complete laps around the full perimeter of an arena large enough to accommodate military formations, large-scale magical exercises, and entire groups of sparring knights. Even she considered that an unnecessary waste of energy in Reise's current condition.
Instead, she had marked a smaller circuit across one section of the training floor, using the edges of several training markers and the base of the lower stone seating as her boundaries.
Her pace was not impressive by her old standards.
That was precisely why she hated it.
I am not rushing. I just cannot stand this body being weak.
Her boots struck the pale sand with a steady, disciplined rhythm as she completed another circuit. Despite the unfamiliar weakness of Reise's muscles, the mechanics of running remained deeply ingrained in G6's body memory. Her shoulders stayed relaxed, her arms moved close to her sides rather than wasting energy, and every breath was controlled and timed around her stride.
The form was correct.
The body was simply failing to match it.
"Cannot master anything if this vessel is useless," G6 muttered to the chill air.
Her voice vanished across the empty arena.
No one answered.
That was preferable.
She rounded another marker and continued running, though her thoughts refused to remain focused solely on conditioning.
Not only that. I need to get to that Adventurers' Guild.
My soul is screaming for the fight that has been absent for two weeks.
The Adventurers' Guild had become increasingly difficult to ignore since Tina first mentioned its existence.
Unfortunately, reaching it was not as simple as walking out of the Royal Collegium.
The Collegium itself stood remotely within the enormous palace grounds, separated deliberately from the more populated residential sections by distance, layered security, and the Ivy Wall. Beyond that lay the wider royal estate, and farther still was the Capital itself.
G6 had already begun calculating the problem.
Routes. Security. Transportation.
Which servant could leave the palace without attracting suspicion.
Whether my Professional Card would be enough once I reached the Capital.
Whether Edmund's secret activities as an adventurer could become useful.
The idea of actual combat after nearly two weeks of noble nonsense felt increasingly appealing.
Another circuit passed beneath her feet.
Her breathing became heavier.
G6 ignored it.
Yesterday remained fresh in her mind—not the fact that Prince Dio had caught her. That was irrelevant.
The humiliating part had been the collapse itself.
Her legs had simply stopped obeying. Her hands had lost responsiveness, and her vision had blurred until the Bastion staircase seemed to move beneath her feet.
Then—nothing.
G6 hated nothing more than losing control over her own body.
Pain could be catalogued.
Fatigue could be measured.
An enemy could be eliminated.
But unconsciousness removed every choice she had.
That could not happen again.
I can't claim my reward from the liquor storage yet.
I don't deserve it.
She completed another turn, and the absurd thought of whatever collection Edmund had hidden within the West Villa almost improved her mood.
What kind of heavenly vintage awaits in that paradise…?
The corner of her mouth nearly lifted.
Then her left thigh tightened painfully.
The smile disappeared before it could form.
G6 finished another circuit anyway.
Then another.
By the twentieth, the body had made its opinion unmistakably clear.
Her stride shortened as fatigue settled deeper into her legs, gradually disrupting the precise rhythm she had maintained. Her lungs burned with every breath, and despite the cool air, sweat had already dampened the back of her neck and darkened portions of the black fabric beneath her arms.
G6 slowed rather than stopping abruptly. She forced herself through several additional walking steps before finally bending forward and bracing both hands against her knees.
Her chest rose and fell violently.
"I swear, I am going to kill you," she growled at her own trembling body.
There was something uniquely irritating about threatening the body she currently occupied.
She could not shoot it.
Could not stab it.
Could not replace it.
Unfortunately, she needed the damn thing.
G6 closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated on breathing instead of anger.
A slow inhale through the nose.
Hold.
Controlled release.
Again.
She walked several paces while her heart rate gradually lowered. The technique was familiar, learned long ago during childhood conditioning when stopping completely after extreme exertion had been considered unacceptable.
Back then, Akira's body had adapted. Eventually, it had become capable of continuing long after most people would have collapsed.
Reise's body had never been forced through anything remotely similar.
That difference remained maddeningly obvious.
When her legs finally stopped shaking enough to trust them, G6 lowered herself onto the sand rather than allowing them to collapse beneath her. She rolled onto her back and spread her arms loosely at her sides.
The sky above had begun shifting, black receding into violet and violet softening slowly toward grey-blue.
G6 stared upward.
This weakness was maddening.
She was not accustomed to delaying gratification. She was even less accustomed to waiting for her own body to catch up with her mind.
Still, there was one useful fact.
Yesterday, she had nearly reached the office before collapsing.
Today, she had completed a controlled running regimen without losing consciousness.
Progress was progress.
Even irritatingly slow progress.
06:30 A.M
Tina descended the Bastion's internal arena stairway with a woven basket hanging from one arm and an expression suggesting she had already been inconvenienced several times before sunrise.
Lilia followed beside her, carrying a neat bundle of spare clothes. Edmund came last with a folded towel and water flask.
The three emerged from the upper archway and looked across the Training Arena.
They found G6 almost immediately.
Their lady was no longer lying on the ground.
Apparently, rest had already become unacceptable again.
G6 was several meters away performing a set of sit-ups on the sand. Her movements remained controlled, with none of the frantic jerking Tina might have expected from someone who had collapsed only yesterday.
Tina stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"I truly do not know how to react anymore."
Lilia sighed beside her.
"Lady Reise is really something else."
"I am quite certain she is pushing herself again," Edmund added.
Tina turned slowly toward him.
"You sound surprised."
Edmund considered that.
Then wisely said nothing.
They walked toward one of the lower stone benches near the edge of the training floor and placed their belongings there.
G6 continued exercising.
Her abdomen burned, and her lower back had already begun protesting. The final repetitions required noticeably more effort than the first, but her form remained disciplined.
Tina watched with increasing disbelief.
"Can you even believe her?"
Edmund folded his arms.
"I cannot believe a woman of her upbringing could maintain such a regimen."
There was genuine concern in his voice, but also something else.
Interest.
He had spent enough time around adventurers and combat professionals to recognize experienced conditioning when he saw it.
The body performing the movements was weak.
The person directing it clearly was not inexperienced.
G6 noticed all three of them from the corner of her eye.
Great. The nagging committee is here.
Her gaze drifted toward Tina.
Specifically her.
G6 completed the final repetition, rested long enough to regulate her breathing, then changed position and began bicycle crunches.
Lilia leaned forward.
"Whoa… that looks terribly difficult."
G6 ignored her.
"It is certainly not a common exercise among noble households," Edmund said. "I have genuinely never seen anyone train exactly like this. Not even the knights."
Tina adjusted her glasses and finally looked away from G6 toward the otherwise quiet arena.
"Come to think of it, why is this arena so empty? I thought it was packed with knights at this hour."
"The majority of the corps was sent on expeditions. Some were assigned to reinforce the borders," Edmund explained. "They are not due back for three weeks."
Lilia looked toward him.
"So no knights left? Only palace guards?"
"Not quite," Edmund replied. "There are still active Bastion personnel, and not everyone assigned here belongs to the same field unit. But the palace does not keep the entirety of its military force stationed within these grounds."
He rested the water flask beside him.
"Many of the mages attached to current operations are away as well. I also heard talk of a new recruitment drive once Captain Kepler returns. His Highness awaits his report."
Lilia brightened.
"I heard Captain Kepler is incredibly strong! They say he has Water magic and fully acquired the peak of Physical Enhancement."
"And he looks remarkably young," Tina added.
Edmund turned his head toward her.
Tina caught the look.
"What?"
He wisely chose silence.
A short distance away, G6 completed another repetition.
Then another.
The muscles through her abdomen finally refused to cooperate cleanly.
She stopped, rolled onto her back, and remained there for several breaths.
"Fuck. This is infuriating," she mused, chest heaving.
Yesterday's failure still needed proper analysis.
She had made a basic mistake.
Too many systems. Too many unknown effects.
Perfect Assassin Form. Eclipse-Step. Eyes of Chronos.
One after another, while the body was already fatigued from conditioning and sparring.
There had been no way to determine which skill consumed the most physical energy or whether the collapse had resulted from one ability in particular or from stacking all of them.
That was unacceptable testing methodology.
"Alright. I will run the Perfect Assassin Form drills today. Must have been a mistake to activate multiple skills at once yesterday."
She pushed herself upright.
The three servants were still watching.
G6 walked toward them, sand clinging to her trousers while damp strands of rose-gold hair escaped from the secure knot behind her head.
"Yo. Up so early?"
"Lady Reise! Good morning!" Lilia answered brightly.
G6 winked at her before lowering herself onto the sand directly in front of the bench.
Tina stared.
The previous Reise Worthon would have complained if a single wrinkle formed in her gown.
This one was sitting in sand while visibly sweating through black training clothes.
"Should we even bother correcting her?" Tina murmured to Edmund.
"I do not believe it would be effective," Edmund replied. "She is already deeply dissatisfied with her progress."
G6 slowly looked toward them.
They had apparently forgotten her hearing worked perfectly well.
Before she could comment, Tina reached into the woven basket and retrieved a small bottle.
The liquid inside was thick, murky green, and deeply suspicious.
"Here, Lady Reise."
G6 stared.
Tina extended it farther.
"Alistair was forced to wake at a most uncivilized hour for this, since you saw fit to sneak out before dawn."
Tch. She is going to die alone if she keeps nagging like that.
G6 accepted the bottle and removed the stopper.
She sniffed.
Her expression immediately became distrustful.
Then she took one sip.
The liquid touched her tongue.
G6 spat it straight onto the sand.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
Lilia jumped.
Edmund's mouth twitched.
Tina remained completely unaffected.
"He insisted it would strengthen your body. The more effective, the worse it tastes."
G6 looked down at the bottle as though it had personally betrayed her.
"It is quite potent, my lady," Edmund vouched. "The same tonic Alistair used for me in my youth."
That made G6 look at him instead.
Then back at the bottle.
Lilia took the towel and moved behind her, gently dabbing the sweat along G6's neck before brushing sand from the back of her training clothes.
"You should drink it. If you wish to endure a full day here, you will need strength."
G6 slowly turned her head.
Lilia smiled.
Apparently, everyone had joined the conspiracy.
With a look of profound disgust, G6 lifted the bottle and forced herself to swallow the entire contents in one desperate gulp.
Her face twisted.
She immediately handed it back.
Lilia resumed wiping her neck.
G6 raised one hand.
Enough.
The child stopped.
"I am kind of hungry."
Tina did not even look surprised. She reached into the basket and produced a roll of bread.
G6 took it and began eating with the appetite of someone who had already spent nearly an hour physically abusing herself.
She made no attempt to preserve noble elegance.
Tina stared at her.
There was something deeply exhausting about watching the daughter of House Worthon consume bread like a soldier who had missed three meals.
G6 finished.
Then stood.
She brushed crumbs from her clothes and turned her back toward the others.
"Listen."
Something in her voice made all three straighten.
"If I collapse again and you force another potion on me… you will not like what happens next."
Tina's expression immediately hardened.
G6 had already argued this point yesterday.
She did not want her body artificially restored every time it reached exhaustion. She needed the consequences—needed to know when the muscles failed, which symptoms appeared first, and whether the heart, lungs, nerves, or joints were taking the largest burden.
Otherwise, she would never understand the actual limits of this body.
Without waiting for an answer, G6 walked toward the center of the arena.
A wooden practice sword rested with the training equipment.
She picked it up and tested the grip before rolling one shoulder.
Okay, now let us see what this body can handle.
<< Activating: Perfect Assassin Form >>
The activation produced no visible light or dramatic surge of mana. Nothing that Tina, Edmund, or Lilia could immediately identify from where they sat.
The change occurred within G6.
Perfect Assassin Form did not create new muscle. It did not heal yesterday's fatigue or suddenly give Reise's body the conditioning Akira had accumulated through years of relentless training.
Instead, the skill refined control.
The small corrections G6 had been making unconsciously since waking in this body became cleaner. Her balance settled more naturally through her feet, tension disappeared from muscles that did not need to be engaged, and her breathing aligned with movement without requiring deliberate thought.
More importantly, Perfect Assassin Form gave her access to the specific subskills she had not yet properly isolated.
G6 selected the first.
< Speed >
She lowered herself into a ready stance.
The wooden sword remained in her hand, though she was not testing swordsmanship yet. Her attention fixed on a point roughly fifteen strides away across the sand.
She bent her knees slightly, shifted her center of gravity forward, and allowed the body to settle into the starting position.
Then she pushed.
Her rear foot drove into the sand.
The first step accelerated her forward, and the second followed with far less hesitation than Reise's ordinary body could manage.
Perfect Assassin Form removed wasted transitions from G6's movement, allowing the trained sequencing she remembered from Akira's body to pass through this one with far greater efficiency.
Her boots still touched the sand.
Her body still crossed the full distance.
There was no teleportation involved.
What made the movement difficult to follow was the absence of wasted motion between each stride. Every step fed directly into the next.
Tina's eyes widened as G6 crossed the space.
Lilia turned her head quickly, trying to follow.
Edmund leaned forward.
He could see the movement itself, but the speed did not resemble ordinary noble training.
G6 approached the end point and began decelerating before reaching it. Her final strides shortened, and she angled one foot slightly, allowing her hips to rotate through the remaining momentum rather than opposing the entire force through her knees.
The stop remained clean.
Still, something felt wrong.
G6 lowered the sword.
Her breathing had quickened.
She frowned.
Hmm. That felt right, but wrong.
Like the system is lagging.
The movement had responded.
Just not immediately enough.
A fractional delay existed between intention and maximum output. It would have been invisible to anyone watching.
To G6, whose survival had once depended on fractions of seconds, it was glaring.
She adjusted the subskill.
< Speed 1s >
Her attention returned to the position she had started from.
This time, she knew what she was looking for.
G6 lowered her center of gravity again and prepared her legs for a stronger initial drive.
One second.
A compressed speed output.
She inhaled.
Then moved.
The first push struck much harder.
Sand burst away from her rear boot as her body accelerated. The second stride followed almost immediately, and the increased output forced her legs to cycle faster while Perfect Assassin Form kept the movement aligned.
Air displaced sharply around her.
The disturbed sand behind her no longer formed only shallow footprints. The first few steps had dug harder into the packed surface, leaving visible sprays where she had accelerated.
Tina's gaze struggled to keep up.
Edmund managed better, but even he lost portions of the sequence between strides.
Lilia simply turned her head after G6 had already passed.
G6 began reducing her speed several paces before reaching the opposite point.
This time, deceleration demanded more care.
She shortened one stride, then another, deliberately transferring the remaining momentum through several steps rather than forcing one joint to absorb it. Her final foot landed at an angle, her hips rotated, and she stopped.
A sharp ache traveled through both knees despite the controlled braking.
G6 stood still for several seconds and assessed the sensation.
No instability. No tearing. Just overload.
As expected.
Her lips curved.
"Now we are talking."
The difference was significant.
Useful and dangerous.
If she became careless, Perfect Assassin Form could drive Reise's body far beyond what the joints and muscles were prepared to survive.
That meant control mattered more than raw output.
G6 rolled one shoulder.
Then her attention shifted.
Let us try the other one… the Eclipse-Step… Silence?
<
Nothing visible changed.
G6 waited.
She looked at her hands, her clothing, and the shadow falling beside her.
Everything remained visible.
She turned toward Tina, Edmund, and Lilia.
"HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ANYTHING?"
None of them reacted to the sound.
Tina was already looking at her, so visibility clearly had not been affected.
Lilia tilted her head in confusion.
Edmund narrowed his eyes.
All three could see G6 standing in the middle of the arena.
None had heard the shout.
G6 walked closer.
"TINA! EDMUND! LILIA!"
Still nothing.
Lilia's eyes widened when she saw G6's mouth moving so dramatically without hearing a single sound. The child turned toward Tina, who looked equally confused.
Edmund stood.
G6 stopped several meters from them.
Hmm… so they cannot hear me.
The field must be a sphere.
This could work for my attacks, too. Like a built-in silencer.
Incredibly useful.
She snapped her fingers beside her own ear.
The sound reached her.
Interesting.
She stretched her hand away from her body and snapped again.
Still audible to herself.
The effect was therefore not simply removing sound altogether. It was preventing sound from escaping whatever range Eclipse-Step had established around her.
G6's expression sharpened with interest.
If weapon movement could be contained as well, the application was obvious.
Footsteps. Fabric. A blade leaving its sheath. A body hitting the ground.
Potentially all of it.
She would need proper testing later.
For now, the result was enough.
G6 looked toward the next functions still available beneath Perfect Assassin Form.
"Alright, next is… perception and strength control?"
A stationary target would be safer than using another person.
Yesterday had already given her enough information about human sparring.
I cannot test that without a target or a partner.
Her gaze swept across the training equipment.
Should I ask for a bow and have them set up a target? Yeah.
She selected Speed again.
< Speed 1s >
G6 turned toward the bench.
She lowered herself.
Then drove forward.
The one-second output forced the same aggressive acceleration as before, but this time she began managing the eventual stop much earlier. Rather than maintaining full speed until she reached them, she gradually reduced the length of her stride over the final several meters.
The transition allowed her momentum to dissipate instead of crashing into her knees.
Even so, Tina flinched when G6 came to a stop directly in front of them.
Lilia stared.
Edmund's posture shifted instinctively as though preparing to catch her if necessary.
G6 smiled.
"I need a—"
<
<
The rest of the sentence disappeared.
The internal control vanished.
Every physical consequence the skills had allowed G6 to ignore arrived at once.
Her thighs began trembling, the muscles through her lower back tightened painfully, and cold spread beneath her skin as the body struggled to compensate for the sudden end of exertion.
Her knees gave way.
G6 dropped onto them with a sharp inhale.
"Lady Reise!"
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia moved simultaneously.
Edmund reached her first. He caught one arm before she could fall sideways, but G6 remained conscious.
That was the first thing she checked.
Vision clear. Hearing normal. Fingers responsive despite the tremor. Heart racing, but rhythm steady.
Yesterday had been worse.
Much worse.
This is bearable. Just the tremors.
A system reboot, she assessed clinically, even as her body shuddered.
"I am okay," she managed, though her voice was faint. "I just need to rest."
Edmund shifted his grip as though intending to help her stand.
"Put me on the ground," G6 commanded.
He stopped immediately.
Instead of lifting her, Edmund carefully helped her sit beside the stone bench, lowering her until she could lean her back against it.
Lilia hurried forward with the water flask.
"Here, Lady Reise."
G6 accepted it.
The bottle trembled faintly between her fingers.
She drank several controlled sips.
"Thank you. I am fine," G6 repeated, though her pallor and trembling hands said otherwise.
Tina stared at her.
Fine was clearly a flexible word in G6's vocabulary.
Still, there was a measurable difference.
Yesterday, several stacked skills had left her barely able to reach the Bastion staircase before consciousness disappeared.
Today, the combination of Perfect Assassin Form and Eclipse-Step had produced tremors and severe fatigue, but G6 remained awake, coherent, and capable of controlling her limbs.
That mattered.
The three servants could only watch with visible concern while G6 quietly analyzed herself.
She was not as deathly pale as yesterday.
But the violent shivering remained unmistakable.
"Edmund…" she called.
The butler straightened.
"Set up a target. Fetch me a bow."
Tina closed her eyes.
Of course.
Edmund, however, did not argue with the request itself.
"It will be done. However, I must insist you grant yourself a longer respite. The day is still young."
G6 looked toward him.
You do not understand.
Waiting had never been something she enjoyed.
More importantly—
I never had the luxury to dilly-dally.
Training in the Gemstone household had never cared whether she was tired. Assignments had never waited for perfect conditions.
Enemies certainly had not.
But Reise's trembling legs chose that moment to remind her that this was no longer Akira's conditioned body.
But… this body sucks, so I will rest.
G6 gave one short nod.
Tina released a long breath.
"Miss Tina," Lilia chirped, apparently relieved that the argument had ended before it began, "let us set out breakfast."
"Very well. Edmund, the folding table from beside the storage room."
Edmund inclined his head and left to retrieve it.
G6 leaned her head back against the stone bench.
Above the arena, the sky had brightened considerably. Violet had faded into a soft morning blue, and sunlight now touched the highest edges of the surrounding bleachers.
G6 watched it silently.
This… is going to take much longer than I thought.
07:55 A.M
Morning sunlight stretched across the rear grounds of the West Villa, catching along the stone path that eventually led toward the secured Royal Collegium.
Lord Keith was already walking.
That fact alone would have surprised almost anyone familiar with his usual relationship with mornings.
A voice came from behind him.
"Profoundly unlike you to be awake at this hour, Keith."
Lord Keith lifted one hand without turning.
"Morning, Earl."
Lord Earl approached at an unhurried pace and eventually fell into step beside him.
"What motivated this sudden embrace of the morning?"
He adjusted his glasses.
"Made a promise. To help with someone's training."
Lord Earl glanced toward him.
"Miss Eliza, I presume?"
Lord Keith groaned immediately.
"Ugh, no. Gave up on that. She drives me mad. Every mistake ends with her on the verge of tears. Not attractive; feels like a ploy."
His hands disappeared into his pockets.
"No, I am talking about my Reise."
Lord Earl looked at him over the edge of his glasses.
"That is a great deal of criticism for a mere commoner."
Lord Keith shrugged.
"Well, I shall be spending more time at the Bastion as well," Lord Earl added.
Lord Keith stopped walking.
"Why? Thought you had your fill of combat training. Are you not a master of both now?"
"I will be helping Reise, too."
Lord Keith stared.
"No way! I am already doing that!"
Lord Earl continued another step before turning back toward him.
"And I cannot?"
Morning light flashed against his lenses.
"I find myself just as… intrigued by this new side of Reise as you are."
"Well, I came first!"
Lord Keith pointed toward himself.
Lord Earl's expression flattened.
"Do not be such a child. This is not 'first come, first served.'"
A third voice reached them from behind.
"Fancy the both of you discussing my fiancée with such… familiarity."
Both men turned.
Prince Dio approached along the path, dressed for the Bastion and looking considerably more awake than Lord Keith had any right to be.
Lord Keith immediately recovered.
"Fancy you calling my Reise your fiancée."
"Well said," Lord Earl added.
Prince Dio passed them.
"I do not particularly care for your opinions."
Lord Keith and Lord Earl exchanged a glance before following.
"In any case, Earl, you will be at the Bastion soon," Prince Dio continued. "There is to be a recruitment drive once Captain Kepler returns."
"Then I shall simply start my visits early," Lord Earl replied.
Lord Keith scoffed.
"Do not you have a mountain of papers? Ancient tools to geek over?"
"I do."
Lord Earl's mouth curved into a faintly superior smile.
"But unlike some, I am competent enough to multitask."
Lord Keith looked offended.
Prince Dio exhaled slowly.
"Enough words for one morning."
Both men glanced toward him.
Prince Dio looked back.
"I suggest you stop behaving as though Reise is some prize to be claimed merely because she allowed one of you near her training."
Lord Keith blinked.
Lord Earl raised one brow.
Prince Dio turned away before either could respond.
Lord Keith looked toward Lord Earl.
A grin appeared.
Lord Earl immediately recognized the expression.
"Do not."
"Oh, that sounded territorial."
Prince Dio did not turn.
"It sounded irritated."
"Naturally," Lord Keith replied, sounding delighted.
Lord Earl adjusted his glasses and continued walking, though the smallest trace of amusement had appeared around his mouth.
Whatever Prince Dio intended the remark to mean, he had reacted.
That alone was enough material for Lord Keith to become insufferable for the rest of the morning.
The three men continued toward the Royal Collegium.
Because the West Villa was the palace residence nearest to the secured professional compound, the route could reasonably be traveled on foot. Even so, the distance was enough that the architecture and gardens gradually changed as they moved farther from the residential sections of the palace grounds.
The Royal Collegium had been deliberately established in a more remote part of the estate.
Security mattered.
The Three Professional Departments housed within its walls dealt with military operations, magical research, restricted inventories, bloodline techniques, dangerous artifacts, and information unavailable to ordinary citizens.
Eventually, the ivy-covered security perimeter became visible ahead.
A melodic voice came from behind them.
"My, the three of you are out quite early."
They slowed.
Miss Eliza approached accompanied by two servants. She stopped before Prince Dio and offered a graceful curtsy.
"Good morning, Your Highness."
Her gaze moved toward the others.
"And to you, Lord De Lune, Lord Nocturne."
Lord Keith waved dismissively.
"I feel old. Lord Keith will do."
"The same goes for me," Lord Earl added.
Miss Eliza smiled.
"Then I will dare to do so."
She quickened her steps enough to join them.
"A rare sight to see the three of you journeying together."
Prince Dio remained silent.
Lord Earl answered instead.
"I shall be paying a visit to someone today."
Lord Keith glanced toward him.
"Hey, man, mind your own amusement."
Lord Earl stopped just short of sighing.
"'Mind your own business.'"
"Yeah, nerd, I know. I went to the Academy."
Lord Keith's irritation was genuine.
Miss Eliza allowed herself a small smile before speaking again.
"I do wonder how Lady Reise is faring today."
That immediately changed the atmosphere.
"I imagine she will not be coming in, not after yesterday's… incident."
Lord Earl turned toward Lord Keith.
"What happened to Reise?"
"She collapsed from overexertion. She is fine now."
Lord Keith's answer was brief enough to make it obvious he did not intend to discuss the matter in detail.
Lord Earl's expression sharpened.
Prince Dio looked toward Miss Eliza.
"Reise is not nearly as fragile as you seem to believe."
Miss Eliza blinked.
Prince Dio's gaze dropped briefly toward the side of her throat.
"I would think the memory of that hairpin would have taught you as much."
Miss Eliza's fingers tightened slightly against her skirt.
She had not forgotten.
The cold metal beneath her jaw had been difficult to forget.
Lord Keith released a quiet whistle.
Lord Earl said nothing.
The three men resumed walking.
Miss Eliza followed with her attendants, though she did not attempt to reopen the subject.
Soon after, they reached the shimmering barrier surrounding the Collegium.
Professional Cards were presented.
The barrier allowed passage.
❈.❈.❈
The Bastion of Phalanx was already active when they arrived.
Knights crossed the first-floor receiving hall while clerks moved between offices carrying documents and sealed reports. The professional department had properly begun its morning.
Lord Keith barely acknowledged any of it.
He immediately turned toward the interior corridor leading to the arena access.
Footsteps followed.
"Go back to the Omnia, geek."
He did not bother looking behind him.
The footsteps continued.
Then another set joined.
Lord Keith finally turned.
Lord Earl was following.
Prince Dio was as well.
"Must you both interfere during the only time I can talk to Reise without her implicitly insulting me?"
Lord Earl brushed past him.
"I have no concern for your needs."
Prince Dio followed.
"She is my fiancée."
Lord Keith's face twisted.
"Stop using that card, you cold Prince of Fire!"
He hurried after them.
They moved through the corridor and reached the broad internal archway leading downward. The stairway descended beneath the Bastion's ground level toward the open Training Arena.
As they went lower, the stone corridor brightened.
Daylight opened ahead.
At the upper edge of the sunken arena, all three men stopped.
An arrow was already in flight.
It crossed the open distance with clean precision and buried itself in the center of a hardened wooden target.
Lord Earl's eyes sharpened immediately.
Below them, Tina, Edmund, and Lilia sat on one of the lower stone benches.
Their mistress stood several dozen paces away.
G6's black training clothes were no longer clean. Sweat had darkened portions of the fitted top, while pale sand coated the knees of her trousers and dusted the surface of her boots.
Her rose-gold hair remained tied in a secure training knot, though several damp strands had escaped around her face and neck.
A bow rested in her left hand.
Another arrow was already prepared.
Nothing about the way she handled the weapon suggested inexperience.
Her stance had been adjusted to the target rather than chosen for appearance. Her feet were stable without becoming rigid, her shoulders remained lowered, and her bow arm extended naturally.
G6 nocked the next arrow and raised the bow. Her right hand drew the string backward until it reached the same anchor point she had been using consistently throughout the session.
She inhaled.
Then—
<
< Perception: Zoom >
The subskill settled into place.
G6 did not suddenly see a different world.
Instead, information became easier to process with precision: the distance between herself and the target, the tension stored through the bow limbs, the weight of the arrow, the faint movement of air passing through the open arena, and the minute instability in Reise's tired arm.
All of it became clearer.
She adjusted accordingly.
Just… twenty percent of strength.
Her fingers released.
The bowstring snapped forward.
The arrow launched.
G6 felt the mistake the instant the recoil struck her hand.
Too much.
—BANG!
The projectile slammed into the hardened target.
Wood exploded outward from the center.
The arrow punched completely through the reinforced layers and continued into the thick stone backstop constructed behind the target zone.
The arrowhead buried deep.
A visible fracture spread through the stone.
G6's left shoulder jolted from the force transmitted through the bow. The fingers of her drawing hand stung, and muscles along her upper back tightened in immediate protest.
She lowered the weapon.
At the upper stairs, Lord Keith stared.
"WHAT THE HELL? THAT WAS FASTER THAN YOURS!"
He struck Prince Dio on the shoulder.
Prince Dio looked slowly toward him.
Lord Keith pointed toward the destroyed target.
"That!"
Lord Earl adjusted his glasses.
"Not only that, her arrow fractured the wall."
Technically, it was the reinforced backstop rather than an ordinary wall, but the damage remained impressive enough that no one corrected him.
Lord Keith finally decided subtle observation had lasted long enough.
"HEY! REISE! I AM HERE!"
G6 turned.
Her expression flattened immediately.
Lord Keith waved from the upper arena access.
Lord Earl stood beside him.
Prince Dio stood on the other side.
Oh, great. That annoying brat.
And he brought his buddies.
The three men began descending.
Lord Keith gestured cheerfully toward the benches as though informing the others they were welcome to sit with G6's servants.
Apparently, permission from the person actually using the arena was unnecessary.
G6 looked back toward the target.
Why did he bring that annoying bag of cement?
Tsk. He is an untrained dog.
Her attention returned to the arrow.
Anyway, twenty percent is still too much.
And this stupid arrow is stuck.
She set the bow aside.
The arrow was buried deeply enough that only part of the shaft remained exposed.
G6 gripped it with both hands and tested the resistance.
Nothing.
Her brows lowered.
Alright, five percent of strength…
She adjusted the subskill output.
Rather than jerking backward immediately, G6 positioned herself properly first. One foot braced against the lower structure of the target stand while her shoulders aligned with the direction the arrow had entered.
Then she pulled.
The shaft shifted.
Stone scraped harshly around the embedded arrowhead.
G6 maintained the pressure.
Another slight movement.
Then the arrow finally came free.
She stepped backward with the released momentum, preventing the sudden loss of resistance from wrenching her shoulder.
A deep cylindrical cavity remained in the damaged stone.
G6 leaned closer.
Whoa. That looks like a bullet hole.
The comparison came naturally.
The result was useful.
It also confirmed that twenty percent of whatever Perfect Assassin Form defined as her available Strength was still absurdly excessive for ordinary target practice.
She straightened.
Now, twenty minutes. Let us see how the body is holding up.
The physical strain had increased. Her shoulders felt heavier, and her arms were beginning to tire.
But there was no severe trembling yet.
No dizziness.
No threatening loss of sensation.
She could continue.
For now.
The approaching group had nearly reached the arena floor.
G6 selected the Speed subskill again.
< Speed 1s >
She shifted forward.
Her first step drove sand behind her.
The acceleration arrived immediately, but unlike her earlier testing, G6 no longer maintained the full output until the last possible moment.
Several meters before reaching the benches, she began controlling the stop. Her stride gradually shortened, and she turned through the remaining momentum rather than letting it crash through her knees.
By the time she reached Lord Keith, she had reduced enough speed to stop without losing balance.
Sand still swept outward around her boots.
Lord Keith stared.
G6 looked directly at him.
"Who told you to bring your gang?"
"They followed me!"
He sounded offended by the accusation.
G6 looked at Lord Earl.
Then Prince Dio.
Neither looked apologetic.
"Well, questions are not allowed. Not that I care enough to explain myself to lots of you."
Edmund and Tina cleared more space around the bench.
G6 lowered herself onto the sand and leaned her back against the stone seating.
Then—
<
The physical support vanished.
Not actual support in the magical sense.
Control.
Efficiency.
The ability to force tired muscles through movement with precision far beyond their natural conditioning.
Without Perfect Assassin Form actively managing that output, G6 immediately felt how much work Reise's body had actually performed.
A low sound escaped her.
"Ugh…"
Her head tilted back against the bench.
The muscles through her arms and shoulders felt heavy, and a faint tremor appeared in her fingers.
Not as severe as earlier.
Still present.
"Lilia," Tina called softly.
The child had already reached for the water.
She knelt beside G6 and helped her drink.
Edmund watched the tremor.
"Now, Lady Reise, another thirty minutes of rest."
He checked the time on the watch secured to his vest.
Prince Dio looked toward him.
"What is going on, Edmund?"
Edmund straightened.
"My lady is enforcing a mandatory rest period after utilizing her Physical Enhancement skills. Her body is still… acclimating to the strain."
A convenient explanation.
Not entirely false.
Just attached to the wrong source.
Prince Dio studied G6.
The symptoms did resemble someone repeatedly forcing high-level Enhancement through a body that had not yet developed sufficient tolerance.
That explanation was reasonable.
Still, something about the situation remained incomplete.
Yesterday's hairpin.
Today's impossible archery.
The way Edmund answered too carefully.
Prince Dio noticed all of it.
Lord Keith stepped closer to G6.
"My, my, Reise. You must stop pushing so hard. We have not even sparred."
His eyes moved over her.
"You look… rather disheveled."
G6's gaze snapped toward him.
"Shut the fuck up."
Her voice remained faint from fatigue.
The contempt did not.
Lord Keith grinned.
Prince Dio looked toward G6.
"I could instruct you in managing PhyEn magic. Accept it as my apology for my discourtesy last time."
G6 stared at him.
Do not play with me.
You are just curious.
His offer sounded generous.
That was precisely why she distrusted it.
You were described as a man of law and order.
And in this sanctuary, I am a glitch you are trying to solve.
"No, thank you. I have no desire to owe you anything."
Prince Dio's expression barely changed, though the refusal clearly irritated him.
Lilia, unaware that she was about to make the situation considerably worse, spoke brightly.
"Lady Reise is going to practice her Wind magic after she rests!"
Lord Earl immediately looked toward G6.
"I can assist you with that."
G6 turned her head.
"Mind your own business, nerd."
Lord Earl adjusted his glasses.
"I could grant you access to a rare text in the Omnia Forge on advanced spell theory."
G6 became still.
The cold dismissal vanished so quickly it was almost offensive.
"I would be most grateful for your assistance."
Lord Keith stared.
Prince Dio looked away for a moment.
Lord Earl's mouth curved faintly.
Apparently, negotiation with Reise Worthon was incredibly simple once one understood that information had considerably more value to her than charm.
Prince Dio looked back.
"Why do you refuse my offer?"
G6 raised one eyebrow.
"Why would I accept it?"
"I cannot simply offer you access to the Bastion, as you are already here. But I can teach you offensive and defensive techniques I alone have mastered."
G6 considered the proposal.
Hmm… I already know how to protect myself.
Don't need basic training.
His techniques might be interesting eventually.
But she had no intention of owing Prince Dio a favor simply because he had become curious.
"Meh… does not pique my interest."
Something in Prince Dio's composure cracked.
Only slightly.
"Then what, in your opinion, would not be a waste of your time?"
G6 tilted her head.
That was considerably more useful.
A faint smirk appeared.
"Something that actually piques my interest… Or better yet—"
Her eyes settled on him.
"Something that challenges me."
Prince Dio said nothing immediately.
Lord Keith watched him with open amusement.
Lord Earl watched with considerably more analytical interest.
Prince Dio understood negotiation. He had spent years surrounded by nobles, officials, military officers, and political families bargaining over things considerably more dangerous than training.
The problem was that Reise no longer appeared to value anything he normally would have offered her.
Status?
Already hers.
Access to the Bastion?
Already granted.
His personal instruction?
Rejected.
Attention?
Apparently worthless.
He needed something difficult enough to catch her curiosity.
Something unavailable without him.
Then he remembered.
"The royal armory holds a singular artifact."
G6's expression remained neutral.
Prince Dio continued.
"A blade forged not of steel, but of star-fallen meteorite ore. Lighter than a feather, yet its edge is said to be unbreakable. It hums with dormant magic, a power that has rejected every knight, mage, and champion for a century."
G6's attention sharpened.
Prince Dio noticed.
Good.
"I will grant you the opportunity to see if it will accept you."
G6 said nothing.
"But that opportunity comes with a price."
A transaction.
Prince Dio looked toward the destroyed target and cracked stone behind it, then back at Reise.
"You grant me access to your training. You allow me to observe the methods that produce… this."
His gesture encompassed more than the target.
The impossible archery.
The strange movement.
The woman sitting on the ground recovering from methods none of them properly understood.
"Let me understand what I am truly betting my family's relic on."
G6 stared at him.
Then a deeply wicked grin appeared.
Desperate negotiation sometimes makes you lose.
Finally.
The Prince had offered something interesting.
"Sure, access granted. How nice to be acquainted with my future ex—"
A lemon cupcake appeared directly in front of her face.
G6 stopped.
Tina stood there.
"From Alistair. Prepared to your liking."
G6 looked at the cupcake.
Then at Tina.
"Oh? You have been hiding this? Hand it over."
The unfinished sentence disappeared from importance immediately.
Tina exhaled through her nose.
Again.
Successful interruption.
The moment G6 smelled the food, she became aware of something else.
Hunger.
Strong hunger.
Not the ordinary appetite following exercise.
Something deeper.
Ah, every time my skills drain me, I get hungry.
That explained another part of the physical crash.
Perfect Assassin Form was not consuming mana in the way ordinary magic did.
It was forcing the body to expend its own available energy with frightening efficiency.
Calories.
Muscle fuel.
Recovery resources.
Whatever the exact magical mechanism, the practical answer was clear.
She needed food.
Frequently.
Tina moved to offer the cupcake.
Her hand trembled faintly.
Before she could adjust her grip, Lilia brightened.
"It is okay, I will hold it! My hands are clean!"
G6 looked toward the child.
"Lilia, there is no such thing as 'dirty' with food."
Then she opened her mouth.
Lilia happily fed her the first bite.
The three men fell silent.
Lord Earl looked toward Lord Keith.
Lord Keith looked toward Prince Dio.
Prince Dio did not look away from Reise.
The scene should have been absurd.
Lady Reise Worthon, youngest child of the strongest Pillar House, was sitting directly on the sandy floor of the Training Arena with her back resting against a stone bench.
Her expensive appearance had been reduced to practical black clothing, sweat-dampened rose-gold hair, dusty boots, and the occasional tremor of an overworked hand.
And she was being fed a lemon cupcake by an eight-year-old servant.
She showed absolutely no embarrassment.
No attempt to restore aristocratic dignity.
No concern for the three noblemen watching her.
Lilia offered another bite.
G6 accepted it.
Lord Earl spoke quietly.
"Who knew she could be so… casual."
Lord Keith watched Reise for a moment longer.
"Indeed. Nothing like before."
Prince Dio remained silent.
Yesterday, he had thought about how little he understood her.
This morning was not helping.
He had spent years believing Reise Worthon was easy to read. Her attention had always returned to him. Her jealousy had always been predictable, her anger had been loud, and her desires, he once believed, obvious.
Now none of those assumptions held.
This Reise pushed her body until it collapsed because she considered physical failure useful information. She treated servants with a familiarity that would have scandalized half the Upper House, insulted her brothers, rejected Prince Dio's instruction without hesitation, and accepted Lord Earl's help the moment valuable information entered the bargain.
And apparently, she could be distracted from discussing the dissolution of her own engagement with a cupcake.
None of it fitted neatly together.
Yet that was precisely what had begun bothering Prince Dio.
Not because her behavior was irrational.
Increasingly, he suspected it was the opposite.
The problem was that he did not understand the reasoning behind it.
Before, I thought I could predict your every emotion because I believed I understood what you wanted, Prince Dio thought.
Lilia held up another piece of cupcake.
G6 accepted it without looking at any of the men.
Prince Dio's gaze remained on her.
The realization that followed was uncomfortable.
Perhaps Reise had not suddenly become impossible to understand.
Perhaps he had never truly bothered to understand her in the first place.
He had only known the parts of her that concerned him.
That was not the same thing.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
And once again, he found himself confronted by the same irritating problem that had followed him since her return.
He wanted an answer.
—To Be Continued…—