“Move.” The command was simple.
What followed was not.
Nearly two hundred students began moving across the Royal Training Hall at once.
Forward.
Backward.
Left.
Right.
At first, the exercise seemed almost insultingly easy.
Kael stepped forward.
Adrian stepped backward.
Kael moved left.
Adrian followed.
Then they reversed.
No Beastification.
No weapons.
No attacks.
Just footwork.
After several minutes, Rex’s voice drifted across the arena.
“I knew this would be easy.” Instructor Gareth Thorn heard him.
That was unfortunate.
“Calder.” Rex froze.
“Yes, Instructor?” “Faster.” “…Me?” “Everyone.” A collective groan spread through the hall.
Rex looked toward his partner.
“I’ve made a mistake.” His partner nodded.
“A terrible one.” “Sorry.” “Apology rejected.” Gareth clapped once.
“Faster!” The entire arena accelerated.
Kael shifted backward as Adrian stepped forward.
Their movements were still controlled, but maintaining balance became considerably harder when direction changed without warning.
“Left!” Gareth shouted.
Kael moved.
“Forward!” Again.
“Right!” His body responded.
“Back!” Adrian’s foot slipped slightly.
He recovered almost immediately.
Kael noticed.
Adrian noticed Kael noticing.
“Don’t.” “I didn’t say anything.” “You were going to.” “I wasn’t.” “You absolutely were.” Kael almost smiled.
Then Gareth shouted again.
“Switch!” Everyone reversed positions.
The lesson continued.
Ten minutes became twenty.
Twenty became thirty.
The simplicity disappeared.
Sweat formed across Kael’s forehead.
His legs grew heavier.
Around the arena, students who had entered with perfect posture were beginning to stumble.
A noble girl near the front stepped too far backward and fell.
Another student accidentally collided with his partner.
Rex somehow tripped over his own feet.
He landed flat on his back.
The hall went silent for half a second.
Then Rex raised one hand.
“I’m alive.” Laughter erupted.
Even Gareth’s mouth twitched slightly.
“Get up.” “Yes, Instructor.” Rex jumped to his feet.
Professor Hale watched from the edge of the arena, clearly enjoying himself far more than the students were.
Kael understood why.
The lesson wasn’t really about walking.
It was about maintaining control while tired.
Marcus had taught him something similar.
A person rarely made their worst mistakes while comfortable.
Mistakes appeared when muscles hurt.
When breathing became difficult.
When fear entered the mind.
That was when training mattered.
“Stop.” Gareth’s voice immediately silenced the room.
Students stood breathing heavily.
Several bent forward with their hands resting on their knees.
Rex simply sat on the floor.
Gareth walked into the center.
“How many of you thought this exercise was pointless?” Nobody raised a hand.
Gareth looked toward Rex.
Rex sighed and slowly raised his.
Several others followed.
Eventually, nearly half the class had their hands up.
“Good.” Gareth nodded.
“At least some of you are honest.” He pointed toward one of the students who had fallen.
“Why did you fall?” The girl straightened.
“I stepped too far.” “Why?” “I was trying to move quickly.” “Exactly.” Gareth looked around.
“Speed without control is simply another method of falling faster.” A few students laughed.
“Remember that.” He picked up a wooden sword.
“Your Beastification will make you stronger.” He moved the blade once.
A simple horizontal cut.
“Faster.” Another movement.
“More durable.” He lowered the weapon.
“But if your body doesn’t understand how to move…” He tapped the wooden sword against the floor.
“…your Beast only makes your mistakes larger.” Kael felt D-Rex stir inside his soul.
“Humans complicate movement.” Kael ignored him.
D-Rex continued.
“Four legs are superior.” “You have two.” A pause.
“That is irrelevant.” Kael nearly lost concentration.
The Queen laughed quietly.
For once, Gareth wasn’t the most dangerous thing threatening Kael’s composure.
“Take five minutes.” The class relaxed immediately.
Rex collapsed again.
This time deliberately.
“I’ve changed my mind.” Aria approached while drinking water.
“About what?” “I no longer want to become a Hunter.” Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Because of thirty minutes of footwork?” “Exactly.” “What will you become instead?” Rex thought seriously.
“A restaurant owner.” Aria smiled.
“You’d eat all the profits.” Rex stared at her.
“…You’ve destroyed my second dream.” Kael sat nearby and took a drink from his water flask.
For something called the Royal Division, the class felt surprisingly ordinary.
He liked that.
These weren’t legendary heroes yet.
They were teenagers with sore legs.
Adrian sat beside him.
“Your footwork is good.” “My father trained me.” “I noticed.” Kael looked toward him.
“Yours isn’t bad.” Adrian sighed.
“That sounded painfully generous.” “It was.” “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” Their eyes met.
For a second, neither moved.
Then both smiled faintly.
Competition.
Not hostility.
Kael could live with that.
Professor Hale clapped his hands.
“Break is over.” Rex looked horrified.
“That wasn’t five minutes.” “It was exactly five minutes.” “It felt shorter.” “Time moves differently when you’re complaining.” Rex looked toward Aria.
“Is that scientifically accurate?” “No.” “Unfortunate.” The students returned to the arena.
Gareth waited until everyone was standing.
“Now we learn the second fundamental skill.” Several students looked toward their weapons hopefully.
Gareth ignored the racks.
“Falling.” Silence.
Someone near the back whispered: “What?” Gareth continued as though teaching the most obvious lesson in the world.
“Every fighter falls.” “A beginner falls.” “An expert falls.” “A general falls.” He paused.
“The difference is what happens afterward.” He demonstrated.
One moment, Gareth stood normally.
The next, he deliberately dropped backward.
Several students flinched.
His body struck the floor.
But instead of landing stiffly, he rolled with the impact, distributed the force across his back and shoulders, and returned to his feet almost immediately.
Smooth.
Effortless.
“Again.” He demonstrated sideways.
Then forward.
Each fall became a controlled movement.
“Your instincts will tell you to extend your arms.” Gareth explained.
“That is how wrists break.” Rex slowly lowered the hand he had unconsciously extended.
“Your instincts will tell you to stiffen.” Gareth shook his head.
“That makes impact worse.” He looked across the class.
“Learn to fall before someone teaches you unwillingly.” That statement received considerably more attention.
Training mats rose from compartments beneath the arena floor.
Students formed lines.
One by one, they practiced.
The first attempts were ugly.
Thumps echoed constantly.
Groans followed.
Kael watched carefully.
When his turn arrived, he stood at the edge of the mat.
“Back fall,” Gareth instructed.
Kael nodded.
He bent his knees.
Dropped his center of gravity.
Rolled backward.
Impact spread across his upper back.
Then he returned to his feet.
Gareth studied him.
“Again.” Kael repeated it.
“Better.” That single word felt surprisingly rewarding.
Adrian went next.
His first attempt was almost perfect.
Almost.
His shoulder landed slightly too early.
Gareth noticed immediately.
“You’re protecting your right side.” Adrian frowned.
“I am?” “You expect impact there.” Adrian became quiet.
Kael suspected years of sword training had created the habit.
Gareth demonstrated the movement again.
“Don’t anticipate pain.” “Respond to it.” Adrian nodded.
His second attempt improved.
Then came Rex.
He stood confidently at the edge of the mat.
“I’ve fallen many times.” His partner looked at him.
“That isn’t something to brag about.” “Experience is experience.” Rex dropped backward.
THUMP.
The entire mat shook.
Silence.
Rex stared at the ceiling.
“I have discovered…” He raised one finger.
“…that I was falling incorrectly.” The class erupted into laughter.
This time, even Gareth smiled.
Barely.
But Kael saw it.
Hours passed.
Footwork.
Falling.
Balance.
Recovery.
Nothing glamorous.
Nothing worthy of stories.
Yet Kael found himself enjoying every moment.
Because the lesson made sense.
Power wasn’t being handed to them.
Foundations were.
Near midday, Gareth finally allowed the students to retrieve their wooden weapons.
Excitement immediately returned.
Rex practically sprinted toward his hammer.
Gareth’s voice stopped him.
“Walk.” Rex immediately slowed.
“I was walking aggressively.” “No.” “Understood.” Kael picked up the wooden longsword he had chosen earlier.
Its weight felt familiar.
Across from him, Adrian held his own.
Gareth stood at the center of the arena.
“Do not swing.” Several disappointed expressions appeared.
“Today, you learn guard positions.” He demonstrated several.
Neutral guard.
High guard.
Low guard.
Defensive guard.
“Your weapon should become part of your movement.” He explained.
“If your feet and hands disagree…” “You lose.” Kael followed each position carefully.
Marcus had taught him some.
Others were new.
His body adapted quickly.
Not perfectly.
But quickly.
D-Rex watched with interest.
“Why use a weapon?” Kael continued practicing.
“Because claws aren’t always available.” “They should be.” “We’re hiding you, remember?” D-Rex became silent.
Apparently, the Sovereign still considered that a personal insult.
Kael transitioned into another guard.
Then something strange happened.
For less than a second…
His right hand felt different.
Hot.
The sensation disappeared immediately.
Kael froze.
Nobody seemed to notice.
He continued moving.
Again.
There.
A faint warmth beneath his skin.
The same arm that transformed during Partial Beastification.
Kael’s expression remained unchanged.
Inside his soul, D-Rex lifted its head.
“I felt that.” “So did I.” The Queen watched silently.
Kael expected an explanation.
None came.
“Well?” The Queen tilted her head.
“Continue.” “That’s your advice?” “Yes.” Surprisingly, Mosasaurus agreed.
“Your body is learning.” Quetzalcoatlus added: “Let it.” Kael didn’t like receiving vague answers from creatures living inside his own soul.
Unfortunately, class wasn’t the place to investigate.
He continued training.
The warmth slowly disappeared.
Gareth walked past.
He stopped.
Kael’s heartbeat remained steady.
The instructor looked at his stance.
“Your right shoulder is tense.” Kael relaxed it immediately.
“Better.” Then Gareth moved on.
Kael released a quiet breath.
Too close.
Not because Gareth had discovered anything.
But because Kael had allowed his attention to wander.
That was dangerous.
He couldn’t afford dangerous.
Not yet.
By the end of class, nearly every student’s arms were trembling.
Professor Hale returned to the arena.
“How was your first combat lesson?” Nobody answered.
Rex raised a weak hand.
“I can no longer feel my legs.” Professor Hale smiled.
“Excellent.” “That doesn’t sound excellent.” “It does from here.” The bell rang.
Students sighed with relief.
Gareth placed his wooden sword back onto the rack.
“Tomorrow.” Everyone became still.
“We repeat everything.” The relief vanished.
Rex looked betrayed.
“Everything?” “Everything.” “Why?” Gareth looked directly at him.
“Because you still fall like furniture.” The class exploded into laughter.
Rex placed a hand over his heart.
“That was personal.” Even Adrian laughed this time.
As the students began leaving, Kael returned his sword to the rack.
His right hand felt normal again.
No heat.
No scales.
Nothing.
He stared at it for several seconds.
Whatever had happened…
He would investigate tonight.
But not here.
Not around hundreds of students.
He closed his fingers slowly.
Control first.
Questions second.
Secrets always.
Outside the Royal Training Hall, sunlight warmed the Academy courtyard.
Students poured from buildings toward the dining hall.
Rex immediately recovered enough energy to run toward food.
“Last one there buys dessert!” Adrian stared after him.
“We already paid tuition.” Rex shouted without turning.
“THEN THE ACADEMY BUYS DESSERT!” Aria laughed and followed.
Kael remained behind for just a moment.
He looked back toward the training hall.
His first combat lesson had taught him something unexpectedly important.
Not how to attack.
Not how to overpower someone.
How to move.
How to recover.
How to fall.
Earth had taught Ethan Cole that falling meant losing something.
Family.
Trust.
Hope.
This world was teaching Kael Draven something different.
Falling wasn’t the end.
Sometimes…
It was simply the movement before standing again.
Kael smiled faintly.
Then he followed his friends toward lunch.
> End of Chapter 21