Awakened Rock did not bother with a ceremony this time.
Unlike his long winded speech on the first day, he moved with purpose, guiding the group through the dojo at a brisk pace, pointing out training areas, demonstrating how the machines worked, and outlining the rules. Sleepers were allowed to use their Aspects during training, but any use of the gym outside class hours required notifying a staff member, the tour lasted only a few minutes.
"Alright," Rock said, turning to face them. "Now that you're familiar with the place, we'll begin with a quick evaluation to determine where you stand."
He gestured to the staff lined up behind him.
"Listen carefully. These instructors will be evaluating everyone here, from seasoned fighters to those who have never thrown a punch in their lives. So save us all some time don't lie about your experience. They'll know.
We'll begin with a simple strength assessment. Form four lines in front of the measuring machines and strike them with everything you've got. You're free to use your Aspect to reinforce your attack.
If you have no combat experience whatsoever, move to the far left line. If you've received any form of combat training, join any of the other three lines. Follow the instructions, and keep the lines moving."
The group quickly organized.
Elizabeth and Nephis chose the far right line, waiting silently for their turn.
She watched in silence as a young man stepped forward toward the measuring machine. Standing before the towering construct, he looked almost absurdly small compared to it. It wasn't surprising, the device had been built to withstand every known Aspect, its reinforced frame could endure everything from searing flames to crushing force without Breaking into many pieces.
It was the pinnacle of human engineering.
The young man settled into a fighting stance, drawing in a slow, measured breath. The air around him stirred.
A faint breeze curled around his feet before rapidly intensifying, streams of wind spiraling around his arm like invisible serpents. His clothes fluttered violently as the pressure mounted, the gathering gale humming with power over his fist.
Then he moved, his fist shot forward so quickly that his arm became a blur, vanishing for a moment. The instant it connected, a sharp gust of wind erupted from the impact, slicing through the air with a thunderous crack that echoed throughout the hall.
The machine didn't budge.
A number flickered, then stabilized: 17.
The young man frowned, clearly surprised and disappointed. He tried again, gathering more wind, and striking faster yet the result only increased by one point.
One after another, the candidates stepped forward to take their turn.
Elizabeth watched each attempt with quiet attention, quickly discerning a pattern. Most scores fell between twelve and eighteen, a level of physical power that would have been extraordinary for ordinary humans, rivaling that of elite athletes. Unsurprisingly, those blessed with enhancement type Aspects consistently achieved the highest results, their supernatural gifts elevating them well beyond normal limits.
Her gaze drifted toward the line on the far left.
The numbers there were noticeably lower. Even those who activated their Aspects rarely scored above twelve, with most falling somewhere between eight and twelve.
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
'Technique really does make the difference huh.'
She lowered her gaze to her fist, flexing her fingers as quiet thoughts rippled through her mind. Testing her strength wasn't complicated, she already had a plan on how to go about it. she'd start with her raw, unenhanced power, and feel the true power of her body without using her aspect.
Her eyes drifted to the water bottle resting in her hand.
"Then… I'll drink," she murmured, her thumb brushing the cap. "And test my strength with the boost."
'Too bad I can't test this under the open sky… I also wonder how strong I'd be near the sea.'
Her thoughts scattered as Nephis stepped forward.
Elizabeth watched her with mild interest, her eyes following the silver haired girl. More than the result itself, she was curious about something else entirely. What kind of Aspect did Nephis possess?
Nephis approached the machine calmly, waited for the operator's signal, and struck. The blow was clean and efficient, even though she hadn't bothered to assume a proper fighting stance.
The number slowly settled at 16.
She glanced at the display without the slightest change in expression. Making no attempt to use her second try, she simply stepped aside.
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
"That's it?"
"I thought someone with a True Name would be stronger… looks like they aren't all that."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.
'That strike was precise and controlled. But… was that everything? No Aspect? she Just used technique and raw strength? Interesting... why was she hesitant to use her Aspect?' Elizabeth wondered. Nephis didn't seem like the type to hide her strength.
'Ah... because there's nothing to gain.'
The few times Nephis had willingly revealed something about herself had always served a purpose. She had exposed her True Name and most likely some of her ability because it earned her free soul shards. Every action she took was deliberate, and measured against what she stood to gain.
There was no reward for displaying her Aspect in a combat class, there was no advantage, no reason to reveal information about herself to others.
Elizabeth found herself understanding Nephis a little better. The girl wasn't driven by pride, fame, or the desire to impress others. She simply had no interest in revealing anything unless it benefited her. They weren't so different, really. She'd only revealed her own True Name to squeeze a few more benefits out of the sponsorship and, fine, to brag to Tessie a little.
Then it was her turn to test her strength.
As she stepped forward, a few people snickered.
"Careful, grandma. Don't break a bone."
She glanced at them and rolled her eyes.
'Idiots. My strength isn't diminished by my flaw.'
Setting her water bottle aside, Elizabeth straightened her hunched posture into a fighting stance, she looked at the towering machine. She inhaled slowly as her body quickly entered battle mode, then struck as she exhaled.
A loud crack echoed, as the machine processed the impact slowly stopping at: 25.
"No way…"
"That has to be her memory enhancement!"
"Is that even fair? If i knew i would have used my memory as well."
Elizabeth didn't react at the number. She picked up her water bottle, the bottle contained at least 2.5 liters of water, and she drank all of it, absorbing the water as she did. Power surged through her body. It was not as overwhelming as before when she was training in the dreamscape, but it was still significant.
She stepped forward again.
This time, when she struck, the machine trembled slightly.
The number climbed and slowly stopped at 33.
Nearly ten points higher.
A slow smile spread across her face.
'Now that's more like it.'
She stepped back toward Nephis, who was watching her with mild interest.
"Not bad, right?" Elizabeth said.
Nephis gave a small nod.
"Do you think you could've matched that if you'd used your Aspect?" Elizabeth asked, probing.
Nephis only gave a faint smile and offered no answer.
'Yeah… figures.'
Elizabeth looked away and inspected her hand again.
'My base strength has increased a lot… Last time I tested, I scored around 14 and that was before becoming a Sleeper.'
Now she stood far above the average.
'Storm God lineage… and an extra soul core. Guess that might do it.'
Her Attribute had refined and strengthened her body. Even so, Elizabeth could tell she was nowhere near her limit. Especially without a full reserve of water. At her current level, she was confident she could hold up to fifteen liters before reaching her maximum capacity.
'If I were fully saturated and under a sky and next to the sea… I might have doubled that.'
Her expression turned thoughtful.
'Let's hope the Spell is merciful and doesn't drop me in a desert.'
After everyone had finished, Instructor Rock clapped his hands once with a small smile on his face.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
His gaze lingered on Elizabeth for a brief moment before his usual stern expression returned.
"Now we move on to sparring. I need two volunteers."
Nephis stepped forward without hesitation.
A tall, muscular Sleeper followed her into the ring. Elizabeth recognized him immediately. He had been one of the highest scorers on the strength testing machine, his punch ranking among the best in the class.
"The rules are simple," Rock said. "Knock your opponent down or force them out of the ring. Use whatever abilities and techniques you see fit."
Both them noded.
"You may begin."
The moment he said that, the tall guy attacked without wasting any time. His muscles bulged, threatening to tear the soft fabric of his white dobok. He advanced like an unstoppable mountain, sending a vicious kick flying.
Nephis didn't retreat to maintain distance.
Instead, she stepped into the attack. Her weight shifted by a hair's breadth, just enough for the kick to whistle past her cheek. Before the Sleeper could recover from the overextension, she was already inside his guard.
Her hand shot out, gripping the front of his dobok and planting firmly against his chest. Using the momentum of his own kick, his hips still turning, and his balance still compromised, she twisted sharply.
The towering Sleeper's eyes widened as he realized the mistake a moment too late.
His feet left the mat. For an instant, his massive frame hung weightless, suspended by the force of her throw, before crashing down with a thunderous boom.
The impact drove the air from his lungs.
The man lay on the floor, staring up with a dumbstruck expression as he struggled to catch his breath. Nephis returned to her original stance, as composed as if she had never moved at all.
Instructor Rock shot her a cheerful look and grinned.
"Next."
What followed could only be described as a massacre. One after another, Nephis managed to defeat almost every single Sleeper present in the dojo. She didn't seem to be faster or stronger than them, but each time someone entered the ring to fight her, they would inevitably end up beaten and thrown to the ground.
'Geez… maybe I was wrong about her after all. She is willing to show off,'
Elizabeth watched with a sheepish smile as Nephis sent yet another Sleeper crashing to the ground with effortless ease. Despite the overwhelming display, Elizabeth knew the girl still wasn't fighting at her full capacity. She could tell from the way Nephis moved; although highly proficient, her technique revealed that she was not truly a fighter who relied on her fists.
'hmm...i would say she is most likely a blade expert...no, a sword expert.'
A short while later, only three Sleepers remained. One was a girl who looked thoroughly intimidated by Nephis and was already dragging her feet away from the ring. The second was Caster, watching Nephis with an intense, analytical stare.
"Next."
When Nephis body‑slammed her current opponent into the mat, neither of the remaining two made any move toward the arena.
Elizabeth sighed and stepped forward. With a silent command, she dismissed the armored portions of her Memory, leaving only the tight leather suit beneath.
She had never liked wearing it alone. The material hugged her form far too closely, giving her the uncomfortable sensation of walking around exposed. Still, she wanted to fight Nephis fairly. Facing her while protected by layers of armor felt wrong.
Nephis watched Elizabeth approach with her usual cool indifference. However, the moment Elizabeth settled into a proper fighting stance and her posture shifted into battle mode, Nephis's expression changed ever so slightly.
For the first time since entering the arena, she assumed a stance of her own.
"Begin."
Nephis moved first.
There was no warning or shift in expression, heck there was no tell in her stance as well. One moment she was stood still, the next she was gliding forward in a sudden, fluid advance meant to smother Elizabeth's opening and deny her momentum before it could form.
'Good. She's taking this seriously.' Anything less would have been an insult. If Nephis had approached their match with the same relaxed attitude she'd displayed against the others, she would have been deeply offended.
Elizabeth merely smiled in response. Her expression settled into calm focus as she slipped into true battle focus, every distraction falling away. Her senses sharpened, and the world seemed to narrow until only Nephis remained. She burst forward without hesitation, meeting her opponent head on rather than surrendering an inch of ground.
Her fist lashed toward Nephis's ribs, swift and unerring. It was a probing strike, designed to measure her reaction speed, but one carrying enough force to end the match outright if Nephis failed to respond.
Nephis intercepted it with surgical precision. Her forearm redirected the blow as though she had been waiting for it, and her other hand flashed toward Elizabeth's throat.
Elizabeth dropped her weight and tilted her head just enough for the strike to graze past her cheek. In the same motion, she pivoted around Nephis's guard, attempting to slip to her flank. Yet Nephis tracked her flawlessly. Her stance adjusted in perfect harmony with Elizabeth's movements, there was no wasted motion, or hesitation, only cold disciplined efficiency. It was almost eerie, the way she moved with such flexibility.
Then Nephis's heel cut toward Elizabeth's knee.
Elizabeth twisted out of range, but Nephis flowed with the miss, stepping in close. Her elbow shot toward Elizabeth's jaw meant to end the exchange quickly.
Elizabeth raised her forearm, absorbing the impact through her shoulder. She immediately shoved forward, trying to break Nephis's rhythm, but the girl barely gave an inch. Instead, Nephis pressed the advantage, advancing with relentless composure. Her presence became strangely overwhelming, as though she occupied far more space than her slender frame should have allowed.
Nephis's hand darted toward Elizabeth's wrist with sudden speed, aiming to seize control of it. Elizabeth tried to pull away, but she was a fraction too slow. Nephis capitalized immediately, her fingers closing around Elizabeth's wrist and locking it in place as she twisted sharply.
She stepped behind Elizabeth, shifting her weight and positioning herself for a throw. But instead of resisting, Elizabeth simply sighed. Her arm lost its solidity, flowing and transforming into water beneath Nephis's grip.
For the briefest moment, Nephis froze, caught off guard by the unexpected change. The opening was small, but it was enough. Her back was exposed for a fleeting instant, an opportunity Elizabeth had no intention of wasting.
She moved immediately.
Her fist shot forward, striking with precise force. Nephis reacted on instinct, turning just in time to bring her arms up and absorb the blow. However, the sudden twist left her unable to properly anchor herself or put her full weight behind the block. The impact forced her arms apart, and the momentum lifted her slightly off the ground.
Elizabeth seized the opportunity. Her hand caught Nephis by the collar, and with a sharp pivot, she used Nephis's own momentum against her. Just as Nephis had done to countless opponents before her, Elizabeth twisted her over her shoulder and drove her into the ground.
Nephis blinked a few times, looking up at her with a rare hint of surprise. Elizabeth responded with nothing more than a warm smile, the wrinkles on her old face deepening as she did.
"Just because you chose not to use your Aspect doesn't mean I have to do the same. Don't take it personal."
"I won't." She said as she slowly got up, and walked out of the ring.
"Next"
Caster was the next to step onto the stage. The cowardly girl from before had skipped practice entirely, sparing herself the humiliation. As Caster approched his expression carried a faint shadow of disappointment as his gaze flicked from Nephis to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth ignored it. For reasons she couldn't understand, Caster seemed fixated on Nephis, borderline obsessed, really. The boy had clearly developed a crush.
'Great… he's the creepy kind, isn't he? The ones who stalk their crush from a distance and call it love. ugh...poor Nephis.'
She settled into a fighting stance, and prepered to for the spar, Caster too did so.
"Begin"
No one made the first move, they simply watched each other stance examining the oppont before them. Caster sighed before he bowed slightly.
"Lady Elizabeth, I apologize for what i am about to do-"
"Spare me the nice guys chitt chat, fight me."
Caster frowned slightly for getting intrupted before he refocused anew.
"Very well."
The moment Caster finished speaking, he vanished.
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed as a surge of alarm flared through her instincts. She snapped her head to the side just in time to see his fist hurtling toward her face, only inches away.
She reacted instantly, dropping her stance into a deep bow that let the strike whistle harmlessly over her head. Using the momentum, she lunged forward, reaching to seize him before he could retreat.
Her fingers grasped nothing but empty air.
Caster had already disappeared.
A split second later, Elizabeth sensed his presence behind her. Without turning, she concentrated, and a torrent of water erupted from her back in a violent spray, surging toward the place where he had reappeared.
He jumped back in surprise retreating, but She didn't let him, the water lunged after him like it had a mind of it's own, snapping at his heels. Caster twisted aside, slipping between the streams with impossible precision, but Elizabeth didn't give him a moment to recover. She surged forward, her hands sweeping in tight arcs, pulling the water into tendrils shapes and lunched them.
Caster dodged every one of them.
He moved like a flicker of light, vanishing and reappearing just out of reach, each step was a blur. Elizabeth's attacks crashed into the stage behind him, spraying into the wood, she quickly recalled the water before she lost control of it and released back out again to attack
He leapt backward again, his feet skidding across the floor, only for a whip of water to snap toward his ankle. He vaulted over it, twisting midair, landing lightly, only to find Elizabeth already in front of him, her palm raised for a strike.
Caster's eyes widened ever so slightly before he vanished once more, reappearing at the edge of the arena. He looked down at his hands, frowned faintly, then let out a quiet sigh.
"I surrender."
Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise. A hint of annoyance crossed her face as she walked toward him.
"Hey! What was that? Why weren't you taking this fight seriously?"
Caster simply raised his hands in surrender and offered her an apologetic smile.
"I've got nothing against you, really. I just know a losing fight when I'm in one. Forgive my rudeness lady Elizabeth."
Elizabeth let out a quiet sigh as she stepped off the stage, disappointment settling over her. Maybe she should have challenged Nephis earlier. If she had, the others might have been encouraged to fight her as well.
'A pity, really.'
She had barely even worked up a sweat.
Suppressing another sigh, she returned to stand with the rest of the class.
Awakened Rock clapped his hands in approval before stepping back into the center of the dojo.
"You all have potential," he said, his voice carrying across the room. "We'll do our very best to bring it out before your journey to the Dream Realm. Class dismissed."
Elizabeth cast one last annoyed glance at Caster before turning away. With her slightly hunched posture, she left the dojo and made her way toward the cafeteria.
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NOTE:
Wow, I didn't realize I crossed the 3,000 word mark. Sorry for the longer chapter! I wanted to wrap up the Academy arc so we can get to the parts of the story I've been looking forward to writing. The next chapter will finish things up and move us into the fun stuff. As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading!