The morning sunlight, blocked by pollution, never truly pierced the windows of No Name Corporation's headquarters.
Yet inside the brightly lit executive dining hall, the atmosphere was far from gloomy.
Arrow sat stiffly on an overly soft leather chair.
His eyes, used to seeing wooden huts and clay floors, widened in disbelief as he stared at the automated food machine in front of him.
In his hands was a plate stacked with waffles drenched in maple syrup and crispy fried chicken.
"Eat, Arrow. You look like someone who hasn't eaten in a year," Tora said from across the table, his mouth full of smoked meat. His giant axe was casually leaned against the dining table.
"I-it's not that..." Arrow swallowed nervously. "It's just... this box thing just made warm food by pressing a button with a chicken picture on it. What kind of magic is this?"
Scyte, who had been happily licking an enormous chocolate ice cream, burst into laughter so hard he nearly choked.
"Bwahaha! Magic, he says! Tora, look! He's even better than we were when we first came here!"
Arrow's face turned red with embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Rare, sitting beside Arrow, calmly cut his waffle using the tip of his gigantic Excalibur sword.
"Eat, Arrow. The waffles are good," Rare said innocently as he offered a piece of waffle on the blade, a sword nearly as tall as he was.
Arrow broke into a cold sweat as the razor-sharp blade hovered only five centimeters from his nose.
"U-uh... yes, Rare. Thanks. But please move your giant sword a little farther from my face."
After the absurd breakfast ended, Tora wiped his mouth and stood up.
"Alright, warm-up's over. Since No Name seems busy dealing with whatever he's doing in the underground lab, we're taking over today. Let's head to the Hologram Room."
Scyte instantly jumped in excitement.
"Whoa! Training?! Awesome! I wanna try cutting digital grass again!"
When they arrived at the Hologram Room, the empty white chamber instantly transformed into a vast rocky wasteland arena. Artificial wind blew through the space, making everything feel surprisingly realistic.
Tora stood in the center, arms crossed over his chest.
"Listen. The four of us are one team now. But our fighting styles are still a mess. Scyte swings wildly, Rare just smashes things, and you, Arrow..." Tora pointed at the archer. "I still don't know how useful you are besides nearly shooting my head yesterday."
Arrow let out a small snort, his pride slightly wounded. He raised his wooden bow.
"I'll show you. Don't underestimate me just because I'm from a village."
"Good! Then attack me. All three of you, at once!" Tora challenged as he lowered his stance, pulling back both of his axes.
"Hehe, don't cry when you lose, Tora!"
Scyte dashed first. His body was incredibly light. He leapt into the air, spun his iron scythe, and launched a crescent-shaped wave of energy toward Tora.
At the same time, Arrow drew three arrows at once, aimed for Tora's blind spot on the right side, and fired with lightning speed.
Tora grinned beneath his eye covering.
"Too slow!"
With a single mighty swing of his axe, Tora not only split Scyte's energy wave in half, but the pressure of the strike also blew Arrow's three arrows far off course.
"Hey, that's cheating! Your strength makes no sense!" Scyte protested after landing in a very ungraceful manner, thrown off balance by the blast of wind.
"Rare! Your turn!" Tora shouted.
Rare obediently nodded. The smallest child in the room lifted his super-heavy Excalibur with one hand.
He charged toward Tora. But because the sword was far too large for someone his size, Rare accidentally tripped over a hologram rock.
"Eh..."
THUD!
Rare fell face-first, but Excalibur flew from his hands due to momentum.
The massive sword shot forward at terrifying speed, spinning through the air like a helicopter blade, straight toward Tora.
"Hey! Hey! HEY!"
Tora panicked. He held his breath and blocked the flying sword with his axes.
CLANGGGG!!!
The collision of the two giant weapons created a shockwave that sent Arrow flying backward into the hologram barrier wall.
Even Tora himself was dragged back five meters, his hands trembling from the absurd force of impact.
Excalibur finally fell and embedded itself into the ground.
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Rare hurriedly got up, rubbing his knees. He ran over to his sword, then looked at Tora with wide innocent eyes.
"Sorry, Tora... I tripped. Are you okay?" he asked, full of guilt.
Tora steadied his ragged breathing and stared at the child with a look that clearly said you almost killed me but you're too innocent for me to be mad.
From the corner of the room, Scyte and Arrow looked at each other. A second later, both of them exploded into uncontrollable laughter.
"Pffft... BWAHAHAHA! Amazing, Rare! Deadly throw!" Scyte clutched his stomach from laughing too hard.
"Hahaha! Tora, your face went pale!" Arrow laughed freely, forgetting all his awkwardness and status as the new kid.
Tora clicked his tongue, his face slightly red.
"Shut up, both of you! This was just warm-up! Come here so I can cut you down one by one!"
Instead of being afraid, Scyte ran off to avoid Tora's chase, while Arrow occasionally fired blunt arrows from afar just to annoy him.
Rare, confused at first, soon let out a small laugh and joined in chasing Scyte.
The training room that was meant for deadly battle simulations now looked more like a children's playground.
Laughter, Tora's irritated shouting, and Scyte's carefree cackling echoed throughout the chamber.
Unbeknownst to them, from behind the glass control room above the arena, No Name stood watching.
In his hand, a holographic tube displayed the children's vital data and energy synchronization.
Their synchronization rate had risen drastically.
Not because of harsh training, but because a genuine bond had begun to form between them.
The man in the black suit turned off the display and walked away, returning to the lab.
There was no smile on his face this time, yet his steps felt slightly lighter.
One thing was certain.
The Four Pion had truly become a family.