The training room was quiet again. Twenty more constructs lay shattered on the ice floor. Maria stood in the center, her chest heaving, her white hair clinging to her damp face. Her arms ached. Her legs trembled. Every muscle in her body screamed for rest.
She ignored them all.
The wounds on her arms were already closing. Super regeneration working its slow magic. But the deeper wounds, the ones no one could see, those remained open and bleeding.
She dismissed her daggers and walked to the control panel on the wall. Her finger hovered over the button that would summon another wave.
One more, she told herself. Just one more.
But even she knew when her body had reached its limit. Her hand dropped to her side.
"Enough," she whispered to the empty room.
The runes on the walls dimmed. The blue torches flickered. The training room acknowledged her surrender.
She turned and walked out.
