Next morning, I arrived at the training grounds.

The sun had barely cleared the eastern wall, casting long shadows across the training equipment.

Kyle and Sira were already there.

They were sparring in one of the marked circles, Kyle with his wooden training sword, Sira with a pair of practice daggers. Their movements were fast, fluid.

Kyle's sword came down in an overhead strike. Sira sidestepped, one dagger deflecting the blade while the other came up toward his ribs. He twisted away, the hit missing by inches, and immediately counterattacked with a horizontal slash.

They moved like dancers, each anticipating the other's moves, pushing and testing without either gaining clear advantage.

I watched for a moment.

Kyle spotted me first, disengaging from Sira with a quick backstep. "Jin! Finally!" He grinned, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Thought you were gonna spend the whole week buried in the library with Emma."

"Needed to do some research first," I said, approaching the circle. "But now I need combat practice."

Sira sheathed her practice daggers, studying me with that sharp, assessing gaze. "For the dungeon exam?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of practice?" Kyle asked, his expression shifting to something more serious. "Technique drills? Forms?"

"Combat," I said. "Against fast opponents who won't pull their punches."

Kyle and Sira exchanged a look.

Then Sira's mouth curved into a smile. "You want us to beat on you."

"I want you to push me. Help me figure out what works and what doesn't."

"Alright," Kyle said, glancing at Sira.

Sira walked to the weapon rack, selecting a wooden short sword to replace her daggers. Kyle already had his practice blade. They moved to opposite sides of the circle, flanking me.

"Two on one?" I asked.

"You said fast opponents," Sira said flatly. "We're fast."

I drew my practice dagger.

"Ready when you are," Kyle said.

I nodded, activating Debug Vision.

The world overlaid with translucent information. Kyle's stance, weapon durability, movement patterns. Sira's positioning, weak points in her guard, probable attack vectors.

Kyle attacked first.

He closed the distance in three quick steps, his practice sword coming in a diagonal slash toward my right side. I tracked the movement, saw the optimal counter, started to adjust—

Then Sira hit me from the left.

Her wooden blade cracked against my ribs with enough force to drive the air from my lungs. I stumbled, trying to recover, and Kyle's second strike came in, slower this time, giving me a chance to react.

I raised my dagger to block. The impact jarred through my arm, making my left hand spasm. The dagger nearly fell from my grip.

Kyle pressed forward. Sira circled behind me.

Too fast.

Sira's blade caught my shoulder. Kyle's hit my thigh.

I tried to pivot, to create distance, but they stayed on me like wolves on wounded prey. Every time I started to analyze an opening, they'd already closed it or shifted position.

Three minutes in, Sira's blade hooked my dagger and twisted. The wooden weapon flew from my hand, clattering across the dirt.

Kyle's practice sword stopped an inch from my throat.

"Yield?" he asked, breathing hard.

I raised my hands slowly, feeling the bruises already forming on my ribs and thigh. "Yield."

They stepped back immediately. Kyle offered me his hand, pulling me to my feet.

"You alright?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Yeah. Just bruised." I retrieved my fallen dagger, rotating my sore shoulder. "And apparently useless."

"You're not useless," Kyle said. "You're just—"

"Overthinking," Sira finished, walking over. She wasn't even breathing hard. "You fight fine when you're desperate. In the goblin nest, you moved without thinking. But just now?" She gestured to the circle.

"You were... just thinking. By the time you decided on an action, the fight had already moved past it."

I stared at her.

She was right.

So, what could I do now?

Kyle sat down against the wooden fence bordering the training circle, gesturing for us to join him.

We followed, my mind processing.

What if I set things up beforehand? Like... pre-combat preparation instead of reactive editing?

I lowered myself to the ground beside him, my ribs protesting.

Yeah. That might work, I thought.

We sat there for a moment, drinking water.

Then I looked between them. "Can we try again? But this time, give me two minutes to prepare before we start?"

They looked at each other, blinking.

Sira then shrugged.

Kyle grinned. "Hell yeah. Let's see what you come up with."

We moved to a different training circle, one with more features. Old wooden posts set in the ground for obstacle training. A few scattered rocks. Uneven terrain where the dirt had been worn away by countless feet.

"Two minutes," Sira said, crossing her arms. "Starting now."

I activated Debug Vision and started scanning.

[OBJECT: Training Post - Weathered Oak]

The base was rotted. If someone put pressure on it the wrong way, it would snap easily.

I moved to the next post, then the next, identifying which ones were compromised. Three out of eight had significant weaknesses.

I focused on the nearest weak post and made a subtle edit.

[EDIT: Deepen Structural Weakness]

The crack spread slightly, invisible to the naked eye, but I could see it in the data.

I moved to the scattered rocks next, examining them.

[OBJECT: Stone - Granite]

Nothing to edit there, but I noted their positions.

"Time's up," Sira called.

I deactivated Debug Vision. I'd mapped the arena. Knew where every advantage lay.

Kyle and Sira moved to their starting positions again.

"Ready?" Kyle asked.

"Ready."

This time, when they attacked, I didn't try to process everything in real-time.

I'd already done the processing. Already set the traps.

Now I just had to lead them into them.

Kyle came first, aggressive as always, his practice sword high. I retreated toward the weakened post, staying just out of range, making him chase.

He pursued, closing fast.

I sidestepped at the last second.

Kyle's momentum carried him forward. His shoulder hit the post, and with that rotted base, the wood snapped with a sharp crack. The post toppled, and Kyle stumbled, off-balance.

I struck then, a quick slash that caught his arm before he could recover.

But Sira was already moving.

She came from my left, fast and low, her wooden blade aimed for my legs. I grabbed one of the scattered rocks and threw it, not at her, but at the ground directly in front of her feet.

The rock hit the loose dirt and kicked up debris. Sira's eyes reflexively tracked the movement, and in that split second of distraction, I pivoted away, gaining distance.

She recovered quickly, pressing forward, but I was already moving.

I led them in circles, using every advantage I'd prepared. Made them commit to attacks that left them vulnerable to terrain. Used the posts as cover and obstacles.

Eight minutes in, Kyle and I clashed near the center of the circle. I deflected his strike, saw an opening, and delivered a quick thrust that would've hit his side if this were real.

"Point!" I called.

Kyle stepped back, breathing hard, grinning. "Nice!"

But I was exhausted. My arms felt like lead. Sira saw it. She pressed the attack, moving faster, not giving me time to breathe or think.

I tried to backpedal, but my foot caught on uneven ground, not one I'd planned for, just bad luck, and I went down hard.

Sira's blade stopped at my chest.

"Yield," I gasped.

She stepped back, offering her hand this time. I took it, letting her pull me upright.

All three of us ended up sitting against the fence, exhausted and breathing hard.

"Eight minutes," Kyle said, passing around his water skin. "That's way better than three."

I took a long drink, feeling the cool water soothe my dry throat.

"One more round?" Kyle asked, hopeful.

I groaned. "You're trying to kill me before the exam even starts."

"Just making sure you're properly prepared," he said with a grin.

I sighed.

"Alright. One more round. But I'm getting five minutes prep time this time."

"Deal."

We stood, bones creaking, muscles protesting.

And we went again.

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