Akira slowly pushed himself upright.
His muscles screamed.
Sweat slipped down his face, stinging the cuts across his cheek. The training room still smelled like frost and burnt metal.
Across the floor, Jackson was sitting against the wall, rubbing his arm. Sora had just managed to sit up, her breathing uneven.
Kingston had already left.
The door creaked open again.
Stone walked in.
Trailing behind him was a small woman—only a year or two younger than him. Her black hair was tied neatly into a small bun, and her eyes moved across the room with unsettling precision, like she was already dissecting everything she saw.
Stone stayed silent for a moment before exhaling.
"Alright," he said lazily. "Introduce yourself."
The girl stepped forward.
But instead of introducing herself—
She pointed directly at Akira.
"You."
Akira blinked.
"You're too confident," she said flatly. "You rush opponents far stronger than you. You fight like you're alone instead of using your team. Your Tao control is sloppy, and your output spikes randomly because you don't regulate it."
Akira opened his mouth.
She was already pointing at Sora.
"You have the opposite problem."
Sora stiffened.
"You have excellent defensive instincts. Your attack output is consistent. But you lack aggression."
Her voice became almost mechanical.
"During that fight, you had twenty-nine opportunities to advance."
The room went quiet.
"You only used two."
Stone slowly covered his mouth.
"…Kingston gave twenty-nine chances?" he muttered.
The girl ignored him.
"You could have positioned yourself far better in almost every exchange."
She folded her arms.
"I understand you two have somewhat similar abilities," she continued, glancing between Akira and Sora, "but trying to match Kingston head-on was inefficient."
She paused.
Then delivered the final blow.
"And all of your Tao outputs are extremely weak."
The words landed like stones.
Without another word, she turned and began walking toward the exit.
Stone grabbed the back of her collar.
"Hey!" he snapped. "You didn't introduce yourself! You can't just insult people and walk away!"
She sighed.
Then turned toward the group and bowed politely.
"Maya Yashinori."
She straightened.
Then turned around and began walking away again.
Stone sighed and rubbed his temples.
"She's our strategist."
Before anyone could ask more—
The floor beneath them suddenly lit up.
Lines of light spread across the training platform.
Symbols unfolded across the concrete like a blooming circuit.
Then shapes began rising from the surface—translucent diagrams of movement paths, Tao circulation routes, body posture corrections, and combat sequences.
It looked almost like a hologram built directly into the floor.
Akira stared.
Jackson crouched down, squinting at the glowing patterns.
"This is… a training plan?"
Maya didn't look back.
"Yes."
The diagram shifted.
Three days.
Training rotations.
Combat simulations.
Tao conditioning.
Team synchronization drills.
It was brutally efficient.
After a long moment of silence—
The door creaked open again.
Yumi stepped inside.
Her eyes moved across the group before settling on Akira.
"Stone wants to see you."
Another Room
Akira walked down the hallway.
The warehouse felt different now.
Louder.
More alive.
He passed another training room—
And stopped.
Gaku stood in the center.
Leroy, Lorenzo, and Enma were all on the ground.
Knocked out.
Gaku was breathing heavily but still standing.
Rika stood nearby, slowly clapping.
"Excellent," she said calmly.
Akira blinked.
"…What the hell."
Gaku noticed him.
Gaku lifted a hand awkwardly.
"…Hey."
Akira gave him a thumbs up and kept walking.
The Rooftop
Akira climbed the stairs to the roof.
The wind hit him first.
The city stretched around the warehouse, but most of the buildings nearby were smaller—old structures patched together with metal and concrete.
Stone stood near the edge.
Hands in his pockets.
Looking out across the rooftops.
"It's not a very good view, is it?" he said.
Akira walked closer.
Stone waved him over.
Akira stopped beside him.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then Stone sighed.
"I wanted to apologize."
Akira blinked.
"For earlier," Stone said. "When I told you that you were wrong."
He paused.
"But you're still wrong."
Akira opened his mouth—
Stone cut him off.
"You shouldn't be willing to sacrifice your friends like that."
Akira frowned.
"But I barely even—"
Stone interrupted again.
"Even if you barely know them."
He turned slightly, looking directly at Akira now.
"You can agree that becoming King with them still alive is better than becoming King without them."
Akira hesitated.
Then nodded slowly.
Stone looked back toward the skyline.
"In a world with infinite possibilities," he said quietly, "you shouldn't limit yourself to the worst one."
The wind rustled the rooftop.
"I'm not trying to ruin your day with that advice," Stone continued. "But ignoring it will probably ruin your life."
Akira's eyes narrowed slightly.
Stone's voice softened.
"Without that…"
He tapped his chest.
"…both of our dreams would be nothing more than a thought."
Akira froze.
"…Wait."
He looked at Stone.
"You're saying—"
Stone smiled.
A real one this time.
"Yes."
He looked back over the city.
"I think both of us can achieve our dreams."
The wind carried the words out across the rooftops.
And for the first time since arriving—
Akira felt like someone truly believed it.