Chapter 87: New Training 2

Adam took a deep breath.

Then he began to compress his mana.

The familiar pressure reappeared in his circuits.

But unlike the first few days...

It no longer demanded his full attention.

A part of his mind automatically monitored the fluctuations.

Adam checked.

Stable.

Selene stepped back to the edge of the room.

"Ready?"

Adam drew a training sword.

"No."

Selene placed her hand on the control.

"Perfect."

"Selene—"

The runes glowed.

The first golem leaped.

Adam raised his sword.

Too late.

BAM.

A training mace struck him squarely in the chest.

Adam was launched into the air.

Then he rolled several meters.

Silence.

The golem stopped.

Adam remained lying down.

"..."

Selene raised an eyebrow.

"Impressive."

Adam slowly turned his head toward her.

"I take it back. Don’t say it again."

She burst out laughing.

First try.

Zero golem.

Adam stood up.

"Again."

Second try.

This time, he knew the speed of the first.

He dodged.

His sword struck.

But he focused too much on his weapon.

His mana compression fluctuated.

Half a second.

Enough.

The golem pivoted and struck him in the shoulder.

Adam fell.

Zero.

Third try.

Adam blocked.

Riposte.

Changed his angle.

The golem parried.

Adam attempted a weapon change.

The sword vanished.

A mace appeared.

But his grip wasn’t yet properly positioned when it materialized.

The golem sent him crashing to the ground.

Zero.

Adam gritted his teeth.

"Again."

Selene smiled.

"With pleasure."

Time began to pass.

Adam was learning.

Not just the weapons.

The opponents.

Their movements.

The differences created by each piece of equipment.

A golem using a spear naturally maintained more distance.

One using a dagger constantly sought to close the distance.

The hammer relied on momentum.

The rapier favored quick, direct attacks.

The scythe created unusual angles.

The chains forced Adam to watch a much wider area.

And the ranged weapons completely changed the fight.

After several attempts...

Adam finally succeeded.

One strike.

Dodge.

Counter.

The first golem collapsed.

Adam remained silent.

Then he raised his sword slightly.

"One."

An arrow whizzed past his head.

"What—"

The second golem had already appeared.

Another arrow.

Adam tried to dodge.

The third hit him in the shoulder.

He fell a few seconds later.

Selene raised a finger.

"One."

Adam looked at her from the ground.

"Thank you, I can count."

"I was checking."

"Again."

Another attempt.

This time...

Two.

Then he fell.

Again.

One.

Again.

Two.

Again.

Zero.

A bad compression fluctuation.

Again.

Three.

The fourth golem nearly crushed his side with a training hammer.

Adam continued.

His body was accumulating pain.

But Adaptation was working.

Each blow became information.

Each defeat corrected something.

Each weapon taught him a different principle.

And Weapon Mastery transformed all these separate experiences into a shared understanding.

The sword taught him line.

Mass, the transfer of force.

The spear, distance.

The dagger, entering the guard.

The bow, anticipation.

The chain, rhythm.

The scythe, angles.

The hammer, inertia.

Adam no longer thought of each weapon as a separate tool.

He began to think of combat itself.

Distance.

Angle.

Movement.

Force.

Opening.

Trajectory.

Half an hour passed.

Then three-quarters of an hour.

And after about an hour of being hit, thrown, knocked off balance, and slammed back down...

Something changed.

New attempt.

First golem.

Sword.

Adam dodged.

Two strikes.

The end.

Second.

Spear.

Adam switched his sword for a dagger just before the point passed.

It entered the hilt.

Strike.

Third.

Mace.

Adam stepped back.

His weapon vanished.

Bow.

The arrow flew almost instantly.

The golem fell.

Fourth.

A crossbow.

Adam dove sideways.

Fifth.

Hammer.

He switched to a spear.

Maintained the distance.

Sixth.

Scythe.

Adam used a short mace.

Seventh.

Two golems were now active simultaneously.

Adam frowned.

One carried a sword.

The other had a bow.

The arrow flew.

Adam dodged by leaping to the side.

His sword vanished while he was still airborne.

A bow appeared in his hand.

He didn’t even land before firing.

FWOOSH.

The practice arrow struck the archer golem squarely in the chest.

He collapsed.

Adam immediately sheathed the bow.

A mace appeared in his hands just before landing.

His feet touched the ground.

He used the force of his fall directly.

BAM.

The mace struck the sword-wielding golem.

He also collapsed.

Selene straightened up.

Her smile vanished for a few seconds.

She watched intently.

"Interesting..."

Adam heard nothing.

Eighth.

Ninth.

Tenth.

The tenth fell after Adam used a spear to force his opponent back before switching to a throwing knife.

Eleven.

Adam dodged.

But he was already too tired.

His compression wavered.

The twelfth golem struck him.

He tried to recover.

The thirteenth entered his guard.

BAM.

Adam was thrown to the ground.

The end.

Selene looked at the counter.

10 golems eliminated.

She remained silent.

An hour earlier...

Adam hadn’t managed to defeat the first one.

Now, he had just taken down ten.

And above all...

His style was changing.

Selene had trained a great many adventurers.

She knew the specialist fighters.

Swordsmen.

Archers.

Spearmen.

Hammer wielders.

Hybrid fighters.

Even those capable of using multiple weapon types almost always retained a preference.

A core.

A primary style they naturally returned to.

Adam...

Have hardly any left.

His weapon has become a temporary response to a situation.

Need range?

Spear.

Distant target?

Bow.

Heavy armor?

Hammer.

Closed space?

Dagger.

Multiple opponents?

Wide-area weapon.

Then he would immediately abandon the weapon as soon as it ceased to be optimal.

Selene crossed her arms.

"He’s already stopped choosing his opponent based on their weapon..."

Her smile returned.

"He chose the weapon based on the second."

Adam was still on the ground.

He was breathing heavily.

But a few seconds later...

He got up.

"Again."

Selene raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?"

Adam wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Yes."

The mana compression was still active.

Unstable.

But active.

Selene smiled.

"Very good."

Another attempt.

Eleven.

Fall.

Again.

Thirteen.

Again.

Nine.

Again.

Fifteen.

Adam’s body was beginning to reach its limit.

His arms trembled.

His legs felt heavy.

Several parts of his body ached.

And yet...

He continued.

Selene slightly increased the difficulty.

The transitions between golems became faster.

Adam had to abandon all unnecessary thought.

He no longer named the weapons.

He summoned them.

A thought.

A function.

A weapon.

Then another.

Sometimes, he didn’t even hold onto it for two seconds.

A sword blocked an attack.

She vanished.

A dagger appeared to counterattack.

It vanished.

A javelin was thrown.

Then a training shield appeared just long enough to block an arrow.

Then a mace.

Then a bow.

Then a spear.

Her Adaptation skill seemed to work with Weapon Mastery in a particularly effective way.

One allowed hem to understand weapons.

The other gradually adjusted his body to the constant changes.

And behind it all...

The mana compression continued.

It was no longer the primary focus of his concentration.

It had become a constant constraint.

A second rhythm beneath the first.

Selene watched.

The more Adam fought...

The more serious her expression became.

"One week..."

She almost murmured to herself.

If this progression continued...

One week.

Perhaps less.

And Adam could probably reach the final golem.

Not because he would become physically much more powerful.

But because each defeat destroyed a mistake.

Each attempt made his transitions more natural.

Each new weapon expanded his combat vocabulary.

Then came the final attempt.

Adam knew it would be the last.

His body had practically nothing left to give.

Selene knew it too.

"Last attempt."

Adam took a deep breath.

His mana compressed.

Stable.

"Okay."

The golems activated.

First.

Second.

Third.

Adam advanced.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

An arrow.

Dodge.

Bow.

Shoot.

Change.

Mass.

Impact.

Seventh.

Eighth.

Ninth.

Tenth.

He had already equaled his previous best score.

But this time...

He continued.

Eleven.

A spear struck.

Adam deflected.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Two golems at once.

He stepped back.

A scythe appeared.

A wide sweep.

One was repelled.

The scythe vanished.

Dagger.

Adam entered the second golem’s hilt.

Strike.

Fifteen.

Sixteen.

His legs began to tremble.

Seventeen.

An arrow grazed his shoulder.

He leaped.

Once again, his weapon changed in mid-air.

Bow.

Shot.

The archer fell.

Eighteen.

Adam landed.

Hammer.

Impact.

Nineteen.

The twentieth golem was equipped with a great axe.

Adam was barely able to breathe properly.

The golem attacked.

Adam dodged by inches.

The axe struck the ground.

Adam summoned a spear.

He pushed the golem’s weapon aside.

Then the spear vanished.

A mace appeared.

He used everything he had left.

BAM.

The golem recoiled.

A second blow.

BAM.

He fell.

Twenty.

Adam stood for a second.

Then two.

The twenty-first golem activated.

Adam raised his weapon.

His legs buckled.

He fell to one knee.

The golem approached.

Adam tried again to get up.

Impossible.

The safety rune activated.

The golem froze.

The red lights signaling the end of the trial appeared.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Result

Golems defeated: 20

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Adam looked at the number.

Then he fell completely flat on his back.

"Twenty..."

He took a deep breath.

"I still hate eighty of them."

A voice came from the side.

"A little more."

Adam turned his head with difficulty.

Selene was approaching.

"Thank you for that encouraging information."

She stopped beside him.

Then she looked at the counter.

Twenty.

She smiled.

"That’s it for today."

Adam closed his eyes.

"Finally, some good news."

Selene sat down beside his head.

Adam then felt two hands gently slide under his neck.

"What—"

Selene lifted her head slightly.

Then she rested it on her lap.

Adam opened his eyes.

He remained silent.

Selene watched his face calmly from above.

"What?"

Adam blinked.

"Nothing."

"Good."

She gently ran a hand through his hair.

Adam stiffened slightly.

Then he forced himself to relax.

Selene continued to slowly stroke his head.

"Rest."

Adam looked up at the ceiling.

"I can’t move already. I think the order is pointless."

"Then obey anyway."

"Yes, Mistress."

Selene raised an eyebrow.

Adam smiled faintly.

"Sorry."

She shook her head slightly.

Then she resumed stroking him.

"You’ve made excellent progress."

Adam opened his eyes slightly.

Selene continued:

"This morning, you couldn’t even take down the first golem."

"Thank you for reminding me."

"And your last attempt ended at twenty."

Adam remained silent.

"In just over an hour," she added.

He looked at his arm.

He felt as if even lifting a finger would require considerable effort.

"Yet, I feel like I’ve been beaten for a week."

Selene chuckled.

"That’s normal."

She continued stroking his hair.

Then her expression became slightly more serious.

"But the most important thing isn’t the number."

Adam glanced slightly toward her.

"What then?"

"Your style."

"My style?"

"It’s finally starting to emerge."

Adam remained attentive.

Selene looked at the deactivated golems.

"Most fighters try to force their opponents within the limits of their weapon."

She pointed to one of the swords.

"A swordswoman looks for the right distance for his sword."

Then a bow.

"An archer tries to maintain the necessary distance for his bow."

Then a hammer.

"A hammer wielder looks for openings that allow hem to exploit its weight."

She looked back at Adam.

"You, on the other hand, are starting to do the opposite."

Adam frowned slightly.

Selene explained:

"You’re no longer trying to adapt the situation to your weapon."

A smile appeared on her lips.

"You’re adapting your weapon to the situation."

Adam remained silent.

He thought back to his last attempt.

Bow in the air.

Mace on landing.

Spear for distance.

Dagger to break through a guard.

He hadn’t even really thought about the changes anymore.

They had simply become...

Logical.

"Weapon Mastery," he murmured.

Selene nodded.

"Yes."

She continued to gently stroke his head.

"But skill alone isn’t enough. It gives you a huge number of possibilities. It’s your Adaptation and your way of analyzing the fight that begin to connect them."

Adam smiled faintly.

"Vespera would probably say I need to maintain higher compression throughout this."

Selene remained silent.

Adam immediately opened his eyes.

"Selene."

A smile appeared on his face.

"I didn’t say anything."

"Don’t give him any ideas."

"Too late."

Adam closed his eyes.

"I knew I shouldn’t have spoken."

Selene laughed softly.

Then he continued:

"At this rate, in a week, you should be able to defeat all the golems."

Adam opened his eyes again.

"All of them?"

"Probably."

"There are over a hundred of them."

"I know."

"And you think that’s normal?"

"To you?"

She thought for a few seconds.

"Less and less normal."

Adam didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment.

So he simply lay there.

His muscles were slowly relaxing.

His breathing was returning to normal.

The mana compression, too, was gradually released.

Selene continued to absently run her fingers through his hair.

For a few minutes...

There were no more exercises.

No golems.

No weapons.

No punishment.

Only rest.

Finally, Adam felt he could move again without every part of his body immediately protesting.

He raised a hand.

Then closed it several times.

"That’s better."

Selene looked down at him.

"Five more minutes."

Adam smiled.

"Now you’re giving me mandatory breaks?"

"Yes."

"I thought your job was to hit me."

"My job is to train you."

She lightly pressed a finger against his forehead.

"Letting you destroy yourself would be bad training."

Adam remained silent.

Then he nodded.

"Okay."

So he stayed for a few more minutes.

Finally, Selene gently withdrew her hand.

Adam sat up.

His legs were still heavy.

But at least...

They worked.

He stood up.

Then gathered his things.

Selene remained seated for a few seconds before standing up herself.

Adam looked at her.

"I suppose we’ll do it again tomorrow?"

"Obviously."

"With the same golems?"

"Mostly."

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"Mostly?"

Selene smiled.

"I might prepare a few surprises."

Adam sighed.

"I shouldn’t have asked."

He headed for the exit.

Before leaving the room, he turned around.

"See you later." "

Selene smiled.

"See you later. And rest your arms before Elaria."

Adam looked at his hands, still slightly trembling.

"Yes... the forge."

He had almost forgotten.

He left the training room.

He walked through the Guild halls.

Then he quickly greeted the employees he passed.

A few minutes later, he was back out on the streets of Valoria.

His body was tired.

His muscles ached.

But something had clearly changed.

Just yesterday, he was learning how to switch weapons mid-fight.

Today...

He was truly beginning to fight without a primary weapon.

Adam looked at his hand.

A sword could have appeared there.

Or a spear.

A bow.

A mace.

A scythe.

A dagger.

It didn’t matter.

The weapon was no longer the focus of his style.

It had simply become a response.

A tool chosen to solve the problem before him.

Adam smiled slightly.

Then he headed towards the Craftsmen’s Guild.

His next class was already waiting for him.