Pain was nothing new.
But this time, it wasn’t what weighed on his body and mind.
It was the decision he had made the night before.
Daron stood alone in the training grounds.
A sword rested in his hand.
His breathing was steady, unusually so.
The cold air filled his lungs with a sharp, biting clarity.
He wasn’t waiting for anyone.
He wasn’t trying to sense anything.
Today, I won’t use it.
He didn’t say the words aloud.
But he felt them settle deep inside him like a chain he had willingly chosen to wear.
Footsteps approached.
He didn’t need to look.
Karl.
Gene.
Amy.
The three of them stopped in front of him.
Karl crossed his arms.
“We heard you’ve decided to become a real fighter.”
Daron answered calmly.
“I decided to stop running away.”
A faint smile appeared on Amy’s face.
Gene studied him with evaluating eyes.
“Good.”
His voice was low.
Then he stepped forward.
“Today, we won’t go easy on you.”
Daron raised his sword.
“That’s exactly what I want.”
Karl moved first.
He didn’t wait.
He charged.
But this time, Daron didn’t search for that feeling.
He didn’t try to perceive Karl’s attacks through some other sense.
He relied only on his eyes.
His body.
Everything he had learned through days of relentless training.
The first strike—he dodged.
The second—he blocked.
The third—
Too slow.
A shallow cut appeared.
He stepped back.
Slow…
The thought echoed in his mind.
But he didn’t stop.
He lunged forward.
His attack was weaker than before.
Slower.
Yet it was real.
Built on a conscious decision rather than a mysterious sensation.
They exchanged blows.
One.
Two.
Three.
Five.
Then he fell.
His breathing was heavy.
Yet he smiled.
I’m fighting.
Not like before.
But as himself.
Gene stepped forward next.
He gave him no time to recover.
“Get up.”
Daron rose.
Gene’s axe was already waiting.
The lesson returned to him.
Don’t attack directly.
He rushed forward.
A strike.
Gene blocked it effortlessly.
Then the massive shield slammed into him.
Daron crashed to the ground.
The earth was becoming familiar.
He rose once more.
This time, he didn’t attack immediately.
He circled.
Observed.
His defense isn’t absolute.
A feint to the right.
Gene’s shield shifted.
A tiny opening appeared on the left.
Daron lunged.
He failed to break through.
But Gene smiled.
“Finally…”
“You’ve started thinking.”
Third came Amy.
She stood before him and smiled.
“You’re really not going to use it?”
“I won’t.”
She vanished.
Her body moved at full speed, enhanced by her ability.
A kick.
He fell.
Before he could rise, another strike landed.
Fast…
He stood again.
Tried.
Failed.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
He couldn’t touch her even once.
His body barely responded anymore.
He stood there with difficulty and looked at her.
“This is my real level.”
Without it…
“I’m weak.”
Silence followed.
Then he laughed softly.
Not in mockery.
But in acceptance of a simple truth.
He lowered his sword.
“Enough…”
His body said the word before his mouth did.
But Karl stepped forward.
“We’re not finished.”
Gene tightened his grip on his axe.
Amy disappeared once again.
At that moment, Daron realized something.
I can’t compete with them without it.
I’ll be crushed.
His grip tightened around his sword.
His body screamed.
His mind was exhausted.
Not yet.
He closed his eyes.
Not yet.
Then he opened them again.
This time, he didn’t try to summon the sensation.
Instead, he let everything collapse.
The pain.
The fear.
Take it.
Take everything.
Just let me see.
And in that instant—
The world exploded.
It wasn’t a feeling.
It wasn’t a faint sensation.
It was awareness.
Complete.
Terrifying.
Karl was no longer just an opponent.
Daron could see every possible movement.
Every available path.
Gene—
Every defensive angle.
Every weakness hidden beneath the layers of his defense.
Amy—
Every route her body could take.
Every possible trajectory.
Not only that.
He saw the reasons behind them.
Why they would move.
When they would move.
How they would move.
The world became slow.
Clear.
Brutally clear.
This is impossible.
He moved.
For the first time, he dodged Amy’s attack.
He blocked Karl’s strike without visible effort.
He slipped past Gene as if the giant were standing still.
I can see everything.
Then the pain began.
His head felt as though it were being torn apart.
His eyes burned.
His breathing collapsed.
But he refused to stop.
More…
Just a little more.
He surged forward.
A strike.
Karl fell.
Another movement.
Gene stepped back.
For the first time—
Amy was too slow.
“Enough…”
His body refused to continue.
The world trembled.
His vision warped.
No…
not now.
But everything suddenly cut out.
His knees struck the ground.
His fingers loosened.
The sword slipped from his grasp.
His skull felt as though it were splitting apart.
And he fell.
Distant voices echoed around him.
“Daron!”
“Back away!”
“What happened to him?!”
He couldn’t answer.
There was only darkness.