The next day, Tony was abruptly awakened by a splash of icy water straight to the face.
He slowly opened his eyes, his dark gaze landing directly on Hikiri.
"What the hell are you trying to do?" Tony growled, soaked to the bone.
"I just wanted to see your reaction… and honestly, I'm disappointed. I was expecting you to jump. Come on, get up—we've got training to do," Hikiri said with a grin.
Tony got up reluctantly, clearly annoyed. He had planned to spend the day quietly cultivating in his consciousness, not exhausting himself outside.
"Come on, move it. I'm not running five hours straight just because you're slow," added Asti, stretching.
Tony quickly got dressed, and the three of them left the room, heading to the training grounds.
When they arrived, all the soldiers were already assembled, as were the superiors. One of them spoke:
"Alright, everyone. Same program as usual, so get started."
Asti turned to Tony.
"We'll be running, but we'll be attacked from both the front and the rear. It's to teach us how to improvise in real situations."
As soon as the order was given, all the soldiers began to run. Tony chose a moderate pace, while Asti and Hikiri sped off at full speed. Within seconds, he lost sight of them.
After five minutes, everything still seemed calm. But he noticed the soldiers around him were constantly glancing nervously behind them. Curious, Tony turned around.
"Uh… yeah, they're not messing around," he murmured, seeing over thirty people on the ground.
He barely had time to face forward again before an arrow shot from his right blind spot. He instinctively transformed his body into lightning—letting the arrow pass through him harmlessly.
He kept running. In ten minutes, several arrows had tried to hit him, all in vain.
Around him, everyone was falling one after the other—even those in front.
"This is ridiculous… he's toying with us. If this weren't just training, I'd have already taken care of that bastard," growled a superior.
"Forget it. If you've had enough, nominate his name for the mission," replied another.
"You mean the one no one wants? Perfect. That'll teach him some respect," concluded the first.
After fifty minutes, the run ended. Tony looked at the soldiers on the ground—almost all of them were down, including Asti.
"You're still standing?" Hikiri asked, a bit shocked.
"What did you expect, honestly?" Tony replied.
"I just hope the one who was supposed to take you down doesn't have a complex… or you might be in trouble," Hikiri said.
But Tony didn't care. All he wanted was to go back to the room.
"Where do you think you're going? We've got three hours of strategy now. Get ready to suffer—and don't fall asleep, or it's five more hours of running as a bonus," Hikiri warned.
Tony sighed deeply and followed, resigned.
Three hours later.
Back in the room, none of the three spoke. Their faces revealed absolute emotional emptiness.
"Aaaah… never again. Honestly, I'd rather run five hours nonstop," Tony groaned.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Asti said, almost sympathetically.
"No, I refuse. Three hours of listening to a guy spew nonsense, with his awful jokes that make everyone uncomfortable… And his voice, my god. Just hearing it makes me want to sleep," Tony muttered.
"You say that, but you caught Crazy Dina's eye. She stared at you the whole class," Asti added.
"No, I just ran into her at the library, that's all," Tony replied, confused.
"Oh yeah?" said Hikiri, giving him a piercing look.
"Whatever. I'm going to sleep. This whole thing wore me out," Tony concluded, turning over in his bed.
Asti and Hikiri exchanged a discreet glance. Asti stifled a laugh and left the room. Hikiri headed to the bathroom.
Tony, still wide awake, turned over on instinct… and saw a black puddle from which Dina's head was slowly emerging.
He almost jumped.
"What do you want now?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to see you," Dina said in a neutral tone.
"You know you can knock on the door like everyone else, right? And seriously… what do you want from me?"
"I'm just intrigued by your black sword. Can I see it?" she asked calmly.
Embarrassed, Tony simply replied:
"No."
Dina seemed disappointed, then disappeared into the puddle.
Completely overwhelmed by the interaction, Tony turned back and closed his eyes.
"I'm never gonna get used to this place…" he mumbled before drifting off to sleep.