Morning arrived quietly at the academy.
Golden sunlight spread across the stone buildings.
Students had already woken up.
Some were heading to classes.
Some were training.
And some were still half asleep while walking through the corridors.
The training ground was already lively with activity.
Clang!
Thud!
Voices echoed across the field.
Meanwhile—
Three familiar figures walked together toward the arena.
Riven stretched his arms lazily.
Sylven walked beside him while twirling his spear.
Kael followed calmly behind them.
Soon they reached the training ground.
But the moment they stepped inside—
They stopped.
Someone was already standing in the middle of the arena.
A lone figure.
Black hair swaying slightly in the morning breeze.
It was Iren.
Hearing their footsteps—
He slowly turned around.
Riven's eyes widened in surprise.
"Whoa!"
He pointed dramatically.
"It's you?"
"And you're actually on time today?"
"What happened?"
Sylven and Kael quietly looked at Iren.
Iren rubbed the back of his neck lazily.
"…Maybe I just had proper sleep last night."
Sylven raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you go to help Lyra with her training?"
Iren nodded.
"Yeah."
Kael crossed his arms.
"Then?"
Iren shrugged.
"I don't know."
"I just woke up early today."
Riven stared suspiciously.
"…That sounds very suspicious."
Sylven chuckled quietly.
But Kael stepped forward.
"Well then."
"Since everyone is here…"
He looked at the arena.
"Let's start our training."
Everyone nodded.
But Kael suddenly raised a finger.
"But today… it will be different."
Riven blinked.
"…Different how?"
All three looked at him.
Kael explained calmly.
"Today the attackers will learn how to defend."
Riven frowned.
"You mean we don't know how?"
Kael shook his head.
"No. That's not what I meant."
Iren tilted his head slightly.
"Then?"
Kael continued.
"In battle we won't know what kind of magic our opponents will use."
"So we must be prepared for anything."
He pointed at himself.
"If attackers can defend themselves…"
"Then the pressure on me as the main defender becomes lower."
He paused.
"And if necessary…"
"I can also switch to offense to reduce pressure on you."
Iren nodded.
"…Sounds good."
Sylven grinned.
"Yeah."
"That's actually logical."
Kael clapped his hands once.
"Then today's training will be a 2 versus 2 match."
Everyone focused on him.
"Me and Sylven…"
He pointed behind him.
"Against Iren and Riven."
Riven smirked.
"Oh?"
Kael continued.
"You two will focus on defending yourselves and working together."
"But remember…"
He raised a finger seriously.
"Don't get too serious."
"This is just training."
"Otherwise someone might get injured."
Riven stretched his neck.
Crack.
"Sounds good."
"I'm in."
Iren nodded.
"Same."
Sylven spun his spear once.
"Let's do it."
Soon—
Both teams moved to opposite sides of the training ground.
Kael and Sylven stood together.
Across from them—
Iren and Riven prepared their weapons.
The wind passed across the arena.
Fwoooooosh…
Kael raised his hand.
"…Ready?"
Everyone tightened their grip.
Then—
He lowered his hand.
"Begin."
WHOOSH!
Sylven dashed forward instantly.
His spear pierced through the air.
"Haah!"
At the same moment—
Kael launched a spatial thrust.
BZZZT!
Compressed space shot forward like an invisible spear.
Riven reacted instantly.
WHOOSH!
He dodged the attack using his speed burst technique.
Then rushed straight toward Kael.
Meanwhile—
CLANG!
Iren's sword collided with Sylven's spear.
A shockwave spread across the arena.
The force pushed both of them back.
Scrrrr—
Their feet slid across the ground.
But neither stopped.
WHOOSH!
Both rushed forward again.
CLANG!
Sword and spear clashed once more.
Sylven suddenly activated his reinforcement magic.
A faint glow covered his body.
His muscles tightened.
His speed increased.
Iren narrowed his eyes.
At the same time—
His ring glowed.
Level One — Ignition.
Fwoooosh!
Flames wrapped around his blade.
Sylven attacked repeatedly.
"Haah!"
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
His spear strikes were powerful.
Iren stepped back slightly.
Creating distance.
Then—
Shing!
His sword split into twin blazing daggers.
Flames danced across the blades.
Iren smirked slightly.
"You're too strong, Sylven."
Sylven laughed.
"You too, Iren!"
Then—
WHOOSH!
Iren leapt forward.
Their weapons collided rapidly.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Daggers and spear flashed across the arena.
Meanwhile—
On the other side—
Kael continued attacking Riven.
BZZZT!
Spatial thrusts pierced the air one after another.
But Riven avoided each one.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Using burst movement—
He vanished from Kael's sight.
Then—
WHOOSH!
He appeared beside Kael.
His longsword swung instantly.
SLASH!
But—
BZZZT!
Kael's spatial barrier formed instantly.
CLANG!
The sword struck the invisible wall.
Kael smiled slightly.
"Nice."
"Your attacks are faster and stronger now."
Riven grinned.
"And your spatial barrier is still ridiculously tough."
He jumped back.
Then—
Both rushed forward again.
CLANG!
Sword and spatial defense clashed repeatedly.
Meanwhile—
The other battle continued just as fiercely.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
The arena echoed with the sound of weapons.
Minutes passed.
Eventually—
All four of them stopped.
"Haaah…"
They stepped back.
Everyone was breathing heavily.
They rested briefly.
Then—
They started again.
Another round of battle began.
Then another break.
Then another match.
Training continued repeatedly.
And slowly—
The sun began to descend.
Golden light covered the arena.
Finally—
The sun dipped below the horizon.
Evening arrived.
All four of them stopped.
"Haaah…"
They collapsed onto the ground.
Sylven wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Today was really exhausting."
Iren stretched his back.
"Yeah…"
Crack.
"That was intense."
Riven laughed.
"Still…"
"It felt good."
"After so many days we finally fought seriously again."
Kael looked at all of them.
"You all did well today."
They looked up at him.
He nodded.
"…Enough for today."
"We should let our bodies recover."
Everyone agreed.
Then Iren stood up.
"Well…"
"I'm leaving."
This time—
No one teased him.
Riven simply waved his hand.
"See you tomorrow."
Sylven smiled.
"Don't oversleep again."
Kael nodded.
"Rest well."
Iren waved back casually.
"See you all tomorrow."
Then he walked toward the academy buildings.
The sky slowly darkened.
Night returned once again.
And somewhere—
Another quiet training night was about to begin.
---