Chapter 14|Working out

Chapter 14: Chapter 14|Working out

Arena Two was empty at 9:00 PM.

It was part of the first year practical complex . A separate building from the main academic block, set aside exclusively for intake year students during their first semester. Three enclosed arenas side by side, each one slightly different in layout and floor composition to expose first years to varied combat environments early. Arena One was the largest, used for group observation sessions. Arena Two was mid-sized, individual focused, the one instructors used for paired assessments. Arena Three was the smallest. Barely enough room for two people. Built specifically for close quarters work.

The complex stayed accessible until 10:00 PM on weeknights for students who wanted additional training time outside scheduled sessions. After that the building locked automatically. No exceptions.

Zane had forty minutes.

He dropped his bag at the edge of the floor and stood in the middle of the arena for a moment.

Zane had checked the booking system during his last class. No reservations after 8:30 PM on weeknights unless a session was formally scheduled. The arena lights ran on motion sensors. They came on when he pushed through the door and the space opened up around him, clean composite floor, observation rails empty, the reinforced wall at the far end waiting.

He dropped his bag at the edge of the floor and stood in the middle of the arena for a moment.

Two Sigils. Both C-rank. Combined for the first time in a real space with room to actually see what they did.

’Let’s find out what I’m actually working with,’ he thought.

The training dummies were standard issue . Weighted composite frames on spring loaded bases, designed to absorb impact and reset position. Six of them lined up along the far wall. He dragged three into the open floor space and spread them at different distances.

Close range. Mid range. Far edge of his aura.

He stood at the center and looked at the closest one.

’Overdrive first,’ he thought. ’Then Impact Breaker into the activation window.’

He activated Overdrive.

The enhancement hit immediately. Four second window. Everything sharpened .legs loaded, hands faster, reaction time pushed up a clean notch above baseline. He crossed the distance to the first dummy in two steps instead of three and drove his palm into its chest plate.

Impact Breaker fired on contact.

The shockwave rolled through the dummy’s frame and the spring loaded base absorbed most of it but the dummy rocked back hard enough to hit the wall behind it before resetting. A clean circular impact mark on the chest plate where his palm had landed.

Zane stepped back.

’That’s at 40% Impact Breaker inside a 60% Overdrive window,’ he thought.

『 Correct. Combined output is multiplicative within the activation window. Overdrive’s strength enhancement amplifies Impact Breaker’s physical delivery force. Estimated combined effectiveness at current output levels: low B-rank equivalent for the duration of the window. 』

’Low B-rank,’ Zane thought.

He stared at the impact mark on the dummy’s chest plate.

’From two C-rank Sigils,’ he thought. ’Combined.’

『 Synergy between enhancement and contact-based output Sigils is well documented. You chose well. 』

He moved to the second dummy. Mid range. He activated Overdrive, covered the distance in the burst window, fired Impact Breaker on contact before the four seconds expired.

Same result. Slightly less force because he’d used half the window closing distance.

’Activation timing,’ he thought. ’I need to activate Overdrive closer to the target so more of the window goes into the strike and less into the approach.’

He adjusted.

Stood closer to the third dummy. Activated Overdrive. One step. Palm contact. Impact Breaker.

The dummy hit the wall hard enough that the spring base compressed fully before snapping back. The chest plate had a deeper indent this time.

’There it is,’ he thought.

He ran the sequence six more times. Different distances, different timing, different approach angles. By the tenth rep the activation sequence was starting to feel like one connected movement instead of two separate Sigils being fired in sequence.

Activate. Close. Strike.

Three beats. Under two seconds total.

He was breathing harder than usual when he stopped. Not from exertion. From the focus of running precise sequences repeatedly without letting the activation windows bleed into each other.

’How does that look on paper?’ he thought.

『 Current assessment: 』

『 Impact Breaker — C-rank — Activation time 1.1 seconds — Output 40% 』

『 Overdrive — C-rank — Activation window 4 seconds — Output 60% 』

『 Combined sequence — Activate/Close/Strike — 1.8 seconds total 』

『 Effective output within combined window — Low B-rank equivalent 』

『 Weaknesses: Window dependency. Outside Overdrive window Impact Breaker reverts to base C-rank output. Chaining requires recovery gap. Sustained combat against high B-rank or above remains disadvantageous. 』

’Low B-rank equivalent for less than two seconds,’ Zane thought. ’Then back to C-rank baseline.’

『 Correct. You are not a B-rank fighter. You are a C-rank fighter with a two second window where you hit like one. Use it correctly and it is enough. Use it incorrectly and it changes nothing. 』

Zane looked at the three dummies. Two of them had impact marks on the chest plates. The third had a dent.

From a Sigilless student.

’Enough,’ he thought. ’I just need it to be enough for rank trials.’

He picked up his bag and killed the arena lights on the way out.

The corridor outside was empty. Cool air filled the perimeter of the building, the kind that settled into open spaces late at night when the day’s warmth had fully pulled back and left everything quieter and slightly sharper than it had been a few hours ago.

He walked back toward the main building and let the night run around him.

’One thing at a time,’ he thought.

Gerald wheezed when he got back to room 714.

Dex was asleep.

Zane sat on the edge of his bed in the dark and looked at his hands.

It was going to have to be enough.