Kyle pushed open the doors of Thorn Dojo just as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon.
His clothes were torn.
His lower lip had split open.
One eye was beginning to swell, and fresh bruises covered his arms.
Elias, who had been sweeping the courtyard, merely glanced at him once before returning to his work.
"So..."
Kyle lowered his head.
"You fought."
"...Yes, Master."
Elias leaned the broom against the wall.
"How many?"
Kyle hesitated.
"...Four."
Elias raised an eyebrow.
"Four?"
"They're students from my academy."
"They've trained for years."
"They're all close to reaching Rank One."
"I managed to fight back... but I still lost."
For a few moments, Elias remained silent.
Then he nodded.
"I expected worse."
Kyle blinked.
"Worse?"
"You came back alive."
"That means you made the correct decision."
Kyle remembered escaping through the narrow alleys of the Ash District.
"I ran."
Elias smiled faintly.
"Good."
Kyle looked surprised.
"I thought you would call me a coward."
Elias chuckled.
"A coward runs because he fears death."
"A warrior retreats because he refuses to waste his life."
He walked toward the weapon rack and picked up a wooden practice sword.
"Kyle."
"If you hand a child a bazooka..."
"...does that make him dangerous?"
Kyle shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because he doesn't know how to use it."
Elias nodded.
"Exactly."
He pointed the wooden sword toward Kyle.
"Your body has grown stronger."
"Much stronger."
"But your combat skills..."
"They are still crude."
"You rely too much on instinct."
"You throw punches with determination..."
"But determination alone does not win battles."
He lowered the sword.
"A strong body without technique is like a sharp blade wielded by a blind man."
"It may hurt someone..."
"But it will never reach its full potential."
Kyle clenched his fists.
"What should I do?"
Elias smiled.
"We start over."
"...What?"
"You've trained your body."
"Now..."
"We train the warrior."
...
The following morning...
Kyle discovered that Elias had not been exaggerating.
The old master attacked without warning.
A fist shot toward Kyle's face.
Kyle barely managed to dodge.
Another punch came immediately afterward.
Then a kick.
Then an elbow.
Kyle was sent flying across the training hall.
Bang!
He crashed into the floor.
"Again."
Kyle stood.
Another attack.
Another defeat.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every mistake was punished.
Every opening was exploited.
Elias never held back enough for Kyle to become comfortable.
Instead, he forced Kyle to think.
"Your feet!"
"Don't cross your legs!"
"Watch my shoulders, not my fists!"
"Your eyes are too slow!"
Kyle was knocked down dozens of times.
His body ached more than ever before.
Yet...
He slowly began to understand.
Fighting wasn't about strength alone.
It was about movement.
Timing.
Distance.
Breathing.
Reading an opponent's intentions before they attacked.
Day after day...
His footwork became smoother.
His reactions became quicker.
His punches became more precise.
Elias noticed everything.
But he rarely praised him.
The greatest compliment Kyle ever received was a single word.
"Acceptable."
To anyone else...
It sounded ordinary.
To Kyle...
It meant progress.
...
The training intensified.
Elias combined Aura with combat.
Kyle had to defend himself while enduring the crushing pressure.
The first day...
He couldn't even raise his arms.
The second...
He managed to block one attack.
The third...
He landed a single punch.
Although Elias easily avoided it...
He smiled.
"Good."
Kyle's confidence grew.
Not because he was becoming strong.
But because every day...
He was becoming less weak.
...
Two weeks before the Artificial Awakening Ceremony...
Elias called Kyle into the courtyard.
"The ceremony is close."
Kyle nodded.
"Yes."
"For the next one week...."
"You will stop attending school."
Kyle looked surprised.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"School can wait."
"The Awakening Ceremony cannot."
Elias folded his arms.
"From today onward..."
"You belong to this dojo."
"We'll train from sunrise until nightfall."
"No distractions."
"No excuses."
Kyle's eyes shone with determination.
"I understand."
Elias smiled.
"Good."
"Let's begin."
The next five days became a living nightmare.
Every morning before sunrise, Elias was already waiting in the courtyard.
“You’re late.”
Kyle looked at the sky.
“The sun isn’t even up yet…”
Elias pointed toward the training ground.
“The enemy won’t wait for the sun.”
“Move.”
Kyle immediately began running.
Ten laps became twenty.
Twenty became thirty.
By the time he finished, his shirt was drenched with sweat.
He thought the morning run was over.
It wasn’t.
“Push-ups.”
“Hundred?”
Elias shook his head.
“Until I tell you to stop.”
…
The training never repeated itself.
One hour was devoted to footwork.
The next to hand-to-hand combat.
Then came weapon basics.
After that…
Aura.
The invisible pressure descended over Kyle again and again.
Every session felt like his body was being crushed beneath a mountain.
Sometimes he couldn’t even stand.
Sometimes he could only kneel.
But each day…
He endured a little longer.
Each day…
He adapted a little more.
By the fourth day, he could remain standing beneath the same amount of Aura for nearly two minutes.
Even Elias was impressed.
“You’ve adapted faster than I expected.”
Kyle smiled weakly.
“I still can’t move properly.”
“You will.”
“Eventually.”
…
The days passed quickly.
Only one week remained until the Artificial Awakening Ceremony.
That afternoon, Elias finally dismissed him earlier than usual.
“Go.”
Kyle blinked.
“…That’s all?”
“You’ve earned half a day of rest.”
Kyle almost laughed.
Half a day.
That was the closest thing to kindness Elias had shown in weeks.
After changing into clean clothes, Kyle left the dojo and walked through the streets of the Ash District.
The district looked exactly as it always had.
Broken roads.
Collapsed buildings.
Hungry children.
People struggling simply to survive another day.
Kyle tightened his fists.
One day…
He would change this.
Then…
A scream echoed through the street.
“Please!”
“Don’t hit my mother!”
Kyle immediately turned toward the sound.
A few houses ahead, several men wearing the black serpent emblem of the Void Serpents stood outside a small shack.
One of them had grabbed a middle-aged woman by the hair.
Another kicked over the family’s few belongings.
A young girl, no older than ten, clung desperately to her mother’s arm.
“We’ll pay!”
The woman cried.
“Please…”
“Just give us more time!”
The thug laughed.
“Time?”
“You’ve already had enough time.”
He slapped her hard across the face.
The little girl threw herself in front of her mother.
“Please don’t hurt her!”
The thug sneered.
“Move.”
She refused.
His hand slowly rose.
Kyle’s body trembled.
His breathing became heavier.
His fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms.
The serpent tattoo.
The laughter.
The cruelty.
Everything reminded him of that rainy night.
The night his mother died.
His legs instinctively moved forward.
“I’ll kill them…”
He whispered.
Before he had taken three steps…
A familiar voice echoed inside his mind.
“A warrior ruled by anger is already defeated.”
Elias.
Kyle stopped.
His breathing remained uneven.
Another memory surfaced.
“A crouching tiger does not leap because it is angry.”
“It leaps only when the kill is certain.”
Kyle slowly closed his eyes.
His heartbeat calmed.
He opened them again.
The rage was still there.
But now…
It was controlled.
He stepped backward into the shadows between two ruined buildings.
His eyes never left the thugs.
“Three…”
He counted quietly.
“No…”
“Four.”
One stood near the entrance.
Another watched the street.
The remaining two were threatening the family.
Kyle carefully observed their movements.
Their weapons.
Their habits.
The distance between them.
The possible escape routes.
He wasn’t looking for a fight.
He was looking for an opportunity.
For the first time since his mother’s death…
Kyle chose patience over revenge.
Hidden in the darkness, he silently watched the Void Serpents.
Waiting.
Calculating.
Preparing.
The tiger had not pounced.
Not yet.