Dawn broke over the Royal Training Grounds. Weapon racks lined the stone walls. Training dummies stood in neat rows. Obstacle courses stretched across the dirt yard.
Commander Gideon waited in the center with his arms crossed.
The four heroes arrived. Kenji was full of energy, practically jogging. Aria stared at the equipment, while Marcus walked quietly.
Hiroshi was also with them, still mentally exhausted from yesterday events.
Gideon stared at them for some good minutes and said nothing.
When things were about to become uncomfortable, he spoke. "I've never trained heroes before, only soldiers. The last hero party died long before I was even born, so I don't really know how heroes are supposed to be trained. Still, I'll do my best to keep you alive."
He paused."But I can't work miracles."
His eyes stayed on Hiroshi longer than the others.
"Six weeks. That's how long you have to reach Level 10. The average Knight Walk into their first dungeon expedition at Level 7, Most spent months grinding through beginner zones just to scrape that high."
Gideon's eyes didn't blink as he said. "You are not like most Knights, your heroes."
He stepped closer.
"Your skills are unique. Rare enough that if you don't outpace everyone else, you'll have wasted it."
He looked at each of them. "You're all Level 1 right now. Three of you will hit that target easy."
"So Level 7 isn't your goal. It's not even a milestone. It's the bare minimum."
He stopped talking.
"Questions?"
Kenji raised his hand. "What if we level faster?"
"Then we try harder dungeons. Heroes should be confident but don't get cocky. Overconfidence kills more people than monsters do. And hero are no exceptions."
Aria spoke next. "What's the survival rate for first dungeons?"
Gideon didn't answer the question.
"Enough talk." Instead he turned toward the training dummies. "Let's see what you actually can do."
Some squires and pages training nearby stopped to watch. Heroes were always worth watching.
Gideon pointed at mechanical dummies. They had springs inside that made them swing wooden swords. "First test: basic combat. Block the dummy's swing and hit it back."
He looked at Kenji. "You first."
Kenji walked up to the dummy. Without warning, it swung its wooden sword.
His body moved on instinct. He took a step back, the strike barely missing him, and countered with a swing of his own. The wooden sword smacked into the dummy's chest. They went back and forth for a while, blows exchanged in quick succession, until Gideon finally stopped him.
Despite the strong start Kenji had made, he wasn't faring well as time passed. His breathing grew heavy, sweat covering his entire body. In the end, he could do nothing but give up.
Aria went next. She was hit three times almost immediately, stumbling twice under the dummy's relentless swings.
Gideon said. "Mages don't need to block. They need to not get hit in the first place. You should have used your magic to attack from distance."
Marcus was next. Unlike the others, the dummy couldn't leave so much as a scratch on him. Its wooden sword struck the glowing dome around his body and rebounded every time.
Still, Marcus couldn't land a hit of his own either.
"Strong."Gideon said in admiration of his skill.
Then it was Hiroshi's turn.
He walked up to the dummy.
The dummy swung.
Hiroshi's brain went into overdrive. Should I block or Dodge, Which way is it swinging? How fast is..
The wooden sword hit his shoulder.
Pain shot down his arm. He stumbled backward.
"Again," Gideon said.
Second try. Hiroshi tried to focus.
The dummy swung. Hit his chest again.
Third try. Hit his stomach.
Fourth try. Hit his leg.
By the tenth try, Hiroshi had been hit ten times. He hadn't landed a single counter-hit.
The squires watching started whispering to each other.
"Again," Gideon said. "Hiroshi, stop thinking so much. Just move."
The second round started. Kenji got even better. Unlike Aria previous attempt this time she dominated the round. Marcus didn't participate.
Eleventh try and Hiroshi got hit again.
Thirteenth try. He fell down hard.
Fifteenth try, the wooden sword caught him in the face.
Tries sixteen through twenty went exactly the same.
Hiroshi pushed himself up for the twenty-first attempt. His whole body screamed in protest.
This is impossible. I'm too weak. My stats are too low.
He stood there, wooden sword trembling in his grip.
Wait. Suddenly a thought hit him.
My skill. [Adaptive Evolution]. I've been counting my failures this whole time but... have I actually been USING it?
He remembered how skills in games always needed to be activated manually. But he'd assumed, stupidly, he realized now, that his skill would just work on its own. Or maybe he hadn't even thought about it at all. Either way, he'd felt nothing. No sign that it was even running. How could he have known it was working if he never turned it on?
I have to activate it. I have to will it to work.
Hiroshi closed his eyes. Focused inward, searching for same feeling.
Nothing.
He tried again, reaching deeper.
There he noticed something he tried to connect with it.
"Heat bloomed in his chest. Energizing. It spread through his shoulders, down his arms, into his trembling legs.
[Adaptive Evolution activated]
[Current multiplier: x1.1]
[Strength temporarily enhanced]
His muscles felt... different. Still sore from all the beating and exhausted, but stronger somehow. Like someone had turned up the volume on his body.
"You Ready?" Gideon asked.
"Ready."
The dummy swung.
Hiroshi moved, and got clipped on the shoulder. But he didn't fall this time. His feet stayed planted.
[Failed counter attempt recorded]
Multiplier increased: x1.2]
The warmth intensified.
Twenty-second attempt. The dummy came faster. Hiroshi tried to dodge, got hit in the ribs. But lighter than before. He absorbed it, stayed standing.
[Multiplier increased: x1.3]
"Again," he said.
Twenty-third try. This time he saw the swing coming. Moved his feet. Almost got out of the way. The dummy caught his hip but he twisted with it.
[Multiplier increased: x1.5]
The heat was a bonfire now, roaring through his veins.
Kenji called out from the sidelines. "Wait, is he... getting faster?"
Twenty-fourth attempt.
Hiroshi's eyes tracked the dummy's movement. His body responded smoother. He stepped left, brought his sword up and blocked the strike. Barely. The impact rattled his bones but he held firm.
[Partial success recorded]
[Multiplier increased: x1.8]
The squires went quiet.
"He blocked it..."
Twenty-fifth try.
The dummy came at him hard. Hiroshi's body moved on instinct, muscle memory that shouldn't exist yet. He sidestepped, angled his sword, deflected the blow downward.
[Successful counter!]
[Multiplier increased: x2.0]
His Strength stat was effectively 10 now. Double what he'd started with.
The world felt sharper. His breathing came easier. The sword felt like a feather in his hands.
"Again!" Hiroshi shouted.
Gideon's eyes narrowed. He increased the dummy's speed.
Twenty-sixth attempt. Hiroshi blocked high, redirected the force.
Twenty-seventh. He didn't just block but countered this time, wooden blade slapping the dummy's arm away.
Twenty-eighth.
[Multiplier increased: x2.3]
The burning in his muscles shifted. Not fatigue now, he felt power. Raw, building power.
"Holy shit," Marcus breathed. "He's actually doing it."
Twenty-ninth attempt.
Hiroshi saw everything. The dummy's weight shift. The arc of its swing. The exact moment to move.
He stepped inside its guard, blocked with his pommel, and drove his shoulder into its chest. The dummy rocked backward.
[Multiplier increased: x2.5]
Strength 12.5. Higher than Aria.
"AGAIN!"
Thirtieth attempt.
The dummy blurred forward. Hiroshi's world narrowed to pure instinct. His sword cracked against wood with real force.
The dummy shuddered.
"STOP."
Gideon's voice cut through everything.
Hiroshi froze mid-swing, chest heaving.
Gideon stepped forward, studying him with those cold gray eyes. "You're overheating."
"I can keep going..."
"No." Gideon grabbed Hiroshi's wrist. His skin was burning hot to the touch. "Your skill is pushing your body past its limits. Keep going and you'll tear something."
Hiroshi wanted to argue. Wanted to prove he could do more. The power was still there, still building, still begging to be used.
But Gideon's expression left no room for discussion.
"Understood," Hiroshi said quietly.
[ Adaptive Evolution deactivated ]
[Multiplier reset to x1.0]
The heat vanished instantly. His muscles went from steel cables back to overcooked noodles. His legs buckled.
Kenji caught him before he hit the ground.
"Whoa! Easy there!"
Hiroshi gasped for air. Everything hurt twice as bad now.
But through the pain, he felt something else.
Hope.
It works. My skill actually works.
Gideon looked at the training dummy. At the fresh dents in its wooden frame.
"Tomorrow," he said. "We'll work on control."