CHAPTER 69: TRAINING

"This is not normal training," Helena continued, pacing in front of us like a drill sergeant. "Normal training makes you better. This training breaks you completely. Then rebuilds you stronger, step by step." She stopped, meeting each person’s eyes. "Some of you won’t make it through. Some of you will get seriously injured. One or two of you might die."

A few people shifted nervously.

"If that scares you, leave now with no judgment. This isn’t for everyone."

No one moved.

"Good. Then let’s begin with a simple test." She gestured to the training dummies at the far end of the field. They are standard practice targets. "Destroy one. Use whatever method you want. You have ten seconds."

"That’s it?" someone muttered.

"Go."

We charged. Twenty people of various combat styles, all targeting the dummies.

I hit mine with a shadow-enhanced sword strike. The dummy’s enchanted shell absorbed the impact, glowing briefly but remaining intact.

Around me, similar results. Fire spells scorched but didn’t break. Holy light cracked but didn’t shatter. Even Seraphina’s full-power strike only dented her target.

"Time," Helena called.

All twenty dummies stood, still fully functional.

"Congratulations. You all failed." Helena walked to the nearest dummy. "These are rated for SS-rank combat. Your current strength can’t break them." She placed one hand on the dummy’s chest and pushed.

It exploded into fragments.

"That’s the difference between where you are and where you need to be." She turned back to us. "The cultivation methods you provide will assist you in getting there. But first, you need to understand your current limits. How far you can push before breaking. Where your weak points are. What you’re truly capable of."

She pulled out a crystal that’s different from Victoria’s, this one pulsing with red light.

"This is a combat tempering array. It creates manifested opponents based on your own power level. They’ll push you exactly as hard as you can handle. Then push harder. You’ll fight until you physically can’t continue." Her smile was cruel. "Pair up. We’ll start with two-on-two against manifested enemies. Survive for twenty minutes. Begin."

The first session nearly killed me.

The manifested enemies were perfect. They knew my fighting style because they were literally pulling data from my mana signature. Every technique I used, they countered and every weakness I had, they exploited shamelessly.

I paired with Damian. We lasted twelve minutes before we both collapsed.

Lucille and Ravenna managed fifteen.

Marcus lasted eight since support fighters weren’t built for prolonged combat, but he pushed through on pure stubbornness.

Seraphina went solo and lasted the full twenty, but she was barely conscious at the end.

"Pathetic," Helena said, though her tone suggested she’d expected this. "Again. Fifteen minute rest. Then another twenty-minute bout."

"We can’t..... " someone protested.

"You can. Or you’ll die when your enemies come at you! Your choice."

We went again.

And again.

And again.

By noon, everyone was bleeding. One student had a broken wrist. Three others had cracked ribs. Lucille was limping from a manifested enemy’s strike to her knee.

I’d taken a shadow blade to the stomach, fortunately it’s manifested, not real, but it felt real enough. The pain was genuine even if the wound wasn’t.

"Lunch," Helena announced. "Thirty minutes. Eat, heal, and prepare for round two."

"There’s a round two?" Marcus groaned, nursing bruised ribs.

"Round two is mana core refinement. Much less violent. Mostly just excruciating pain as we force your mana channels to expand beyond their natural limits."

"Oh good. Just excruciating pain."

Mana core refinement was indeed excruciating.

Victoria’s crystal contained detailed instructions. The process involved flooding your mana channels with more energy than they could handle, forcing them to expand or rupture. If you did it right, your mana capacity increased. If you did it wrong, your channels ruptured and you needed weeks of recovery.

Or died. That was also an option.

"Focus on your core," Ravenna guided us through the process. She’d studied the technique and volunteered to lead this portion. "Feel the mana flowing through your channels. Now draw in ambient mana. More. More. Feel it pressing against the walls of your channels. Good. Now push."

The pain hit like being stabbed in every nerve simultaneously.

I gritted my teeth, maintaining focus. Pushed more mana through channels already at capacity. Felt them stretch. Strain. Nearly tear.

"STOP!" Ravenna shouted. "That’s your limit. Hold there for sixty seconds. Don’t let up. Don’t push further. Just hold."

Sixty seconds felt like sixty years.

When she finally called time, I collapsed backward, gasping. My mana channels felt like they’d been scrubbed with broken glass.

"Good," Ravenna said, checking readings on a crystal device. "Hadeon’s channels expanded 1%. Not much, but it’s growth. Everyone else, report."

The results varied. Seraphina got 2%. Lucille got 2%. Marcus got 1% but nearly ruptured completely, Ravenna had to pull him out early.

One student pushed too hard. His channels ruptured.

The scream was horrible.

Ravenna stabilized him immediately with dark magic, but he’d need weeks to recover. His training was over.

"This is what happens when you push wrong," Helena said, not unkindly. "Remember that feeling. Don’t chase power so hard you destroy yourself."

The injured student was carried to the medical ward. Nineteen of us remained.

☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆

Day two was worse.

Day three, two more students dropped out. One from injury, one from simply deciding the risk wasn’t worth it.

Day four, we started bloodline awakening exercises.

This was the most dangerous technique.

Everyone had latent magical bloodlines, genetic markers from ancestors who’d been powerful mages or some kind of entity. Usually these remained dormant. The awakening process forced them active. And some times, most times the bloodline are even much useless than the present.....

If you had a strong bloodline, you gained significant power.

If you had a weak bloodline, you gained almost nothing.

If you had an incompatible bloodline, it could kill you.

"This isn’t mandatory," I told everyone before we started. "Victoria’s notes say bloodline awakening is high-risk, high-reward. If you’d rather skip this..."