Fii set dow training dummy, sighing with relief as the heavy weight left her ag shoulders. The training dummies were crudely fashioned and painted, with misshapen faces and bulging eyes. Edith made them from scrap metal, using recycled car parts, and they were built to withstand a fair bit of punishment.

  Finding a big enough spot to use for her training, while also being secluded enough to ehey wouldn't draw attention, took a bit of time, but she finally found the perfect location: an old, abandoned warehouse oskirts of the slums, he Wall. The building itself was run-down and rusted, with graffiti spray-painted on the sides.

  Squatters and vagrants sometimes lived here, but they ayed long. It wasn't like the building was in the ter of town. Most of the time, it was empty, save for the rats.

  She gnced around the room, wiping the sweat from her forehead, admiring her handiwork. She had ma all the training dummies into the building without being spotted, and she even had time to set them up properly.

  Edith had set up a small desk in the far er of the room, covered with all sorts of plicated-looking traptions. Her fingers ccked against her keyboard, and her eyes were glued te monitor as she muttered to herself, not b to look over at Fii.

  "Okay, I got the rest of the stuff you asked me to get," Fii said, rolling her shoulder and stretg. "What do you wao do now?"

  Edith raised a hand, shushing her. "One sec."

  Fii waited impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground, drumming her fingers on the side of her leg.

  After what felt like forever, Edith finally looked up from her s. "Ah, there we go. Everything's ready. Let's get started on today's training then. Put on yloves."

  Fii grabbed the pair of boxing gloves Edith had given her, sliding her hands into them. She ched her fists, enjoying the way the leather molded to her hands. She'd only had them for a short time, but she already loved the feeling of having them on. They were fortable, sturdy, and most importantly, fit her perfectly.

  Ohe gloves were on, Fii stretched her arms out in front of her and bounced on the balls of her feet, warming up her muscles. She hadn't trained yet today, and her limbs still ached from yesterday's session. However, her excitement helped her ighe soreness in her body. The more training she got in, the faster she could bee a hero a out of this dump.

  "Alright, let's review what we've been w on for the past month," Edith began, pig up a clipboard from her desk. "To recap, you've been w on maniputing yravity field until you do so without sciously fog on it—automatic reflexes. And I have to admit, you've e a long way."

  "Thanks," Fii responded, her voice eg throughout the cavernous room.

  "Don't celebrate yet, I'm not fihis isn't a game, and I'm not going to sugarcoat things. While you're showing improvement, you have a long way to go before you eveely sider yourself profit." Edith paused, letting her words sink in. "Maniputing your weight and the weight of things you touch is only the basics of basics, the very foundations of Gravikinesis. We 't progress further until you've at least grasped the fuals."

  Fii nodded. "Okay, gotcha. So, what's ?"

  ", we move on to advanced basics. In essence, we'll be c the same material as before, but we're going to apply the principles in bat-oriented sarios. Each dummy is equipped with a weight sensor and an array of shock absorbers to record your progress. By monit how you hit, I gauge yrowth." Edith rubbed her thoughtfully. "Now, where was I...? Ah, yes. Since yetting more aced to trolling yravity field, you'll be fog on learning to maximize the effects of your attacks. Let's call it, 'Gravity-Enharikes'."

  Fii cocked her head, curious. "So, what exactly does that mean?"

  "It's simple," Edith expined, her eyes narrowing in tration. "Normally, you gee more force with your strikes just by increasing your ow, right? You punch harder by being heavier. However, with Gravity-Enharikes, yoing to do something a bit more... nuanced."

  Fii raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Go on."

  Edith turo the raining dummy, pg her hand on its head. "Imagine you're about to pune of these dummies. Just before your fist makes tact, you momentarily increase your entire body's weight, multiplying the force of your strike. Then, immediately after the impact, you revert to your normal weight. Think of it as a split-sed gravitational surge."

  Fii frowrying to her head around the cept. "So, I'm going to be... what, turning myself into a human wreg ball for a split sed?"

  Edith chuckled. "In a manner of speaking, yes. But it's more trolled than that. By maniputing yravitational field, you increase your weight expoially in the split sed before your strike nds. This will amplify the force of your punch or kick. Then, you'll decrease your weight to more manageable levels immediately afterward. This way, you don't crash through the floor or cause unnecessary colteral damage."

  Helix's voice chimed in from one of the speakers at the desk.

  [To put it in simpler terms, it's like adding the weight of a car to your punch for just a fra of a sed. The feed would be immense.]

  Fii grinned, boung ooes. "Alright, I'm sold. Let's do this."

  Edith returo her seat at her desk, her eyes flig toward her s. "Excellent. Now, to start off, you'll be practig against this training dummy." She poio the first target. "Start with that one. You've already learned how to manipute your weight. But remember, the key is to increase your weight just before the impact. It's not about being heavy all the time, but about the timing."

  Fii nodded, rolling her shoulders to loosen them. "I'm on it."

  She faced the first dummy, holding her breath as she trated on her Gravitational Field. She pictured the invisible sphere of energy surrounding her body, imagining it as a thin b, enveloping her pletely. It was a familiar sensation by now, like slipping on an old, fortable shirt.

  She focused on the dummy in front of her, imagining it as one of the Gully Rats who had ambushed her. The memory of the beating she'd gotten was still fresh in her mind. How many times had those punks hurt her? This would be her payback.

  As she tightened her fists and drew her arm back, she imagined her fists being as heavy as a car for just a moment.

  Taking a deep breath, she lunged forward and threunch, feeling the rush of power as her gloved fist ected. The dummy rocked ba its stand, a loud g eg through the warehouse.

  "Not bad," Edith remarked, typing away at her keyboard. "But the time dey was a bit too long. Try again, but increase your weight a bit ter and release it a bit faster."

  Fii took a moment to ter herself, feeling the familiar thrum of energy c through her body. It tingled and prickled along her skin, sending goosebumps rippling down her arms and legs. She didn't feel like her body or her fist suddenly got heavier, but weirdly enough, she felt her gloves squeeze tighter around her fists right as she was about to throw the punch.

  Weird. So what was the deal with Edith saying 'weight' all the time? Nothing really felt heavier.

  She shed out with another punch, trying to be mindful of her movements. This time, she thought of increasing the weight of her fist just as she swung her arm forward, as if she were swinging a hammer. The force of the blow caused the dummy to rock violently, but Edith shook her head. "Better, but not quite what I was looking for. Try again."

  Again. Nothi heavy, but her punch definitely hit harder.

  Fii bit her lip, frustrated.

  This was hard. Really hard. Edith wasn't kidding when she said she still had a lot to learn. This wasn't something that she could master ht.

  The warehouse echoed with the sound of metal g, as Fii hammered at the practice dummy relentlessly with a barrage of blows. It had takehe better part of a week, but she had finally figured out how to increase her weight at the exaent of impact.

  Fii stood, feet pnted firmly on the ground, and squared her stance as she attacked. Sweat trickled down her ned face, pstering her hair to her skin, and she panted with exertion. But she didn't care. She had to get this right.

  She struck the dummy again and again, smming her gloved fist into its torso and head. The gloves had already been battered and torn from the tless hours of training she'd been putting in.

  Edith g her puter and shook her head, clig her tory again."

  Fii bristled in irritation, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. "What, why? The timing erfect."

  "The data doesn't agree with you." Edith poio the s. "Look, the output from the training dummy still shows a noticeable differeween when you increase your weight and when you release yravitational Field. It's not fast enough, Fii."

  "Are you sure weight has to be the only thing that matters? 't I just...I don't know, use gravity to pull their fay fist or something?"

  Edith raised an eyebrow. "Is that a question or a suggestion?"

  "Both?"

  Edith snorted, rubbing her in ption. "While I end your creativity, you actually your head around how to do that?"

  "Um, maybe?"

  "No, you 't," Edith sighed. "Your idea has merit, but I don't want to give you bad habits. Better to teach you the fuals first, before you start experimenting on your own. Look, I admit, we don't have a full uanding of how gravity works—let alone Gravikinesis—but we do know enough to theorize some things. You, oher hand, are still learning about onian physics so all you o uand is 'weight' to build an intuitive uanding before tag anything more plex."

  Fii shrugged. "Okay, if you say so."

  "Now back to work. Don't fet to focus on your timing."

  With a roar, Fii unched another barrage of pu the dummy. However, no matter how hard she punched, no matter how many times she smashed her gloved fist into its body and head, Edith didn't seem satisfied. "Again."

  Finally, with a grunt, Fii brought her leg up and smmed her foot down, stomping on the ground as hard as she could, causing the crete floor to splinter and craderh her. Her shoes sunk into the ruined t, and a huge k of the floor buckled.

  Fii grurying not to scream in frustration. It was maddening, getting so close and still falling short. Why couldh be happy with what she did? She could have easily been bashing in the dummies' heads and breaking them in half with the force of her punches, but that wasn't what Edith was askio do. No, she wanted precise trol. A quick flick of her wrist, the blink of an eye. Like switg a light swit and off.

  A vein throbbed in Fii's forehead as she tio strike the dummy with reckless abandon. With each impact, the air thundered and the training dummy rocked and swayed, shaking the room. The thick crete pilrs lining the perimeter groaned, as if they were on the verge of colpse.

  Suddenly, a sharp paihrough her arm, causing Fii to wince, and she stumbled backward, clutg her elbow. Blood streamed freely from her knuckles, the skin peeled away. The gloves Edith had made for her had torn through at the seams, leaving her hands exposed.

  But more than that, she noticed a peculiar, dull ache in her bones, as if someone had broken her arm.

  "Damn," she swingerly prodding her elbow.

  "Stop, stop!" Edith called out from her desk. "That's enough."

  Edith rose from her chair and strode over to Fii, grabbing her by the shoulders and examining her arms and hands. "You're done for the day. Let's get you patched up."

  Fii's shoulders sagged, and she wiped the blood from her knuckles. "I was doing fine."

  "If by 'fine', you mearoying the floor, then yes. Otherwise, no. e, sit. Let me che those injuries." Edith guided Fii to a chair, making her sit. Then, she grabbed a bottle of aic solution from her desk and a roll of gauze and began ing the wounds.

  The disiant stung Fii's torn skin, drawing a hiss from her. "Ow! That hurts!"

  "Of course it hurts. That's why they call it 'disiant.'" Edith dabbed at the cuts, wiping away the blood. "Hold still. This o be ed properly."

  Fii gritted her teeth, f herself to remain still as Edith treated her.

  Oh finished, she began ing the gauze around Fii's hand. "There, that should be better. However, yoing to o learn to trol your temper. I uand you're frustrated, but if you keep this up, you'll only injure yourself more."

  Fii pursed her lips, looking away. "Sorry..."

  "I know, I know." Edith patted her on the head. "Look. I think you were right. You've got the timing down well enough. I've been pushing you hard, and I haven't given you enough praise." She pulled back, log gazes with Fii. "You're doing a great job."

  Fii blinked in surprise. "Wait, you really think so?"

  "Yes." Edith smiled reassuringly. "I'm just a bit of a perfeist when it es to these things. I tend to nitpick a lot. I apologize for that. But I promise, you've made a lot ress retly. I think you're ready to move on to the stage of your training—after you've healed up."

  "Really?" Fii brightened visibly, sitting up straight. "What's the stage?"

  "We still have to train you on how to augment your speed and agility using yravity field." Edith tapped her finger on her thoughtfully. "Hmmm. I'll e up with a course or obstacle course for you to try, and we'll see if we incorporate this into your training regimen."

  Fii grinned broadly. "Awesome! Sounds fun. I'm tired of pung things anyways."

  Edith returned her smile, nodding. "Gd you're excited. Well, then. Take the rest of today and tomorrow off. We'll resume after."

  The sun had barely risen, casting a soft e glow over the abandoned warehouse. The dipidated building, with its rusted beams and graffiti-covered walls, had bee Fii's training ground. Today, however, it looked differeh had been busy.

  A series of obstacles had bee up throughout the vast space. There were makeshift hurdles made of old car parts, narrow beams suspended in the air, and a maze of ropes hanging from the ceiling. At one end of the warehouse, a series of ptforms of varyis had beeed, leading to a zip lihat stretched across the room. The eup looked like a mad stist's version of an obstacle course.

  Fii, standing at the entraook it all in with wide eyes. "You did all this in two days?"

  Edith shrugged. "Not me personally. A few of my patients owed me some favors, and I asked them to lend a hand. I just supervised. They handled all the heavy lifting."

  "Wow," Fii breathed out. "It looks insane."

  "Insane is the point," Edith said, dusting off her hands. "Now, go suit up. It's time to test out yility."

  Fii rushed to the back of the warehouse and ged into the suit that monitored her vitals. The sleek fabric g to her body like a sed skin, making it feel slightly strig at first. She ran a few ps around the warehouse to get used to the feeling, while Edith attached various sensors to her, cheg her readouts.

  Wheh gave the green light, Fii started the obstacle course.

  Fii approached the first obstacle, a series of hurdles. They varied i, some barely reag her knees while others were almost chest high. "So, I just run and jump over these?"

  Edith shook her head. "Not just run. You'll use yravikinesis to lighten yourself, then you'll be able to clear the hurdles no problem. The varyis will force you to adjust your weight on the fly. If you miss the amount of weight you need, you'll either not clear it, or you'll overshoot it and float off like a balloon. Basically, the same principles you used to develop Gravity-Enharikes apply in this exercise. Time your transitions."

  "Got it." Fii nodded in uanding. She crouched down, pnting her hands on the ground. Her breathing slowed as she gathered her thoughts.

  Then, she stood, taking a deep breath, filling her lungs with air. he focused, feeling the familiar sensation of her weight decreasing. With a burst of speed, she dashed towards the first hurdle, clearing it with ease. The one, slightly higher, required a bit more effort, but she managed. As she progressed, she found herself getting the hang of it, adjusting her weight instinctively to clear each hurdle.

  Without breaking stride, she tinued on, dug under low-hanging beams and leaping over obstacles. The wind rushed past her face as she raced along the path, a wide grin pstered on her face.

  As she reached the end of the hurdles, she barely had time to catch her breath before the challehe narrow beams, suspended a few feet off the ground, required band precision. Fii hesitated, looking uain.

  "Remember," Edith called out, "use yravikinesis to lighten yourself. It'll make bang on the beams easier."

  Taking a deep breath, Fii stepped onto the first beam. She wobbled slightly but quickly regained her bance. As she progressed, she found herself moving more fidently, her steps light and sure.

  As she he halfoint, she entered her first real challenge: a series of ptforms suspended in the air. She had to jump from oo the , adjusting her weight mid-air to ensure she nded safely.

  She took a running start, leaping onto the first ptform. She felt a momentary sense of weightlessness as she flew through the air, then increased her weight just in time to nd securely oform. She repeated the process for the wo ptforms, each jump more challenging tha.

  Finally, she reached the st ptform, which was the highest of them all. She took a deep breath, then unched herself into the air with all her might. She soared upwards, the ground falling away beh her. For a moment, it felt like she was flying. Then she began to desd, adjusting her weight to ensure a soft nding.

  She touched down safely, a wide grin pstered on her face. But there was no time to celebrate. The course was far from over.

  The ropes hanging from the ceiling were . They were spaced just far enough apart that Fii had to stretch to reach them. Grabbing the first rope, she used her momentum to swing to the , her reduced weight making the process smoother.

  The ptforms posed a different challehey were of varyis and distances apart, requiring Fii to both jump and use her gravikinesis to glide betweehe first few jumps were easy, but as she progressed, the gaps became wider, f her to push herself harder.

  Finally, she reached the zip line. Grabbing onto the handle, she unched herself off the ptform, using her gravikinesis to trol her dest. The wind rushed past her as she zipped across the room, the ground a blur beh her. As she he end, she released the handle, nding gracefully on the ground.

  With one final burst of speed, Fii spriowards the finish line, crossing it with a triumphant yell. She skidded to a stop, panting heavily, sweat dripping down her face.

  Panting, she looked up to fih g slowly, a smirk on her face. "Not bad, not bad at all."

  Fii beamed with pride. "Thanks."

  "Let's go again. This time, a bit faster. We're rec everything, and I want to see how sistent you are with your use of gravity. Repeat the entire course six times a for five minutes iween. I want to see you maintain the pace for the entire exercise. Keep the heart rate steady. Then, you take a break."

  "Uh, okay." Fii turned back to the entraaking a few breaths to recover. "Ready when you are."

  Edith pressed the button, and the timer began to t down. "3... 2... 1... Go!"

  For the rest of the day, Fii speime training on the obstacle course, only pausing to take water breaks. By the time the sun began to set, she was exhausted and sore, but she couldn't help but marvel at the progress she'd made.

  pared to the days of pung training dummies, she much preferred this agility training. Sure, there were still frustrations, but she loved the way the movement made her feel: light on her feet, graceful, and fluid. This was her true element, her natural gift.

  Even though she was tired and hungry, Fii couldn't wait for the day of training. She couldn't wait to do it all ain.

  Edith approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nice work today. I'm impressed. You mao maintain the same level of iy throughout the whole workout. Good wet some rest, eat something, a me back here in two days. We'll be moving on to your final phase of training."

  "Final phase?" Fii blinked. "What's the st part?"

  Edith grinned, pressing her gsses up her nose. "Yoing to learn how to deflect bullets...and I get to shoot at you."

  Fii gulped. "Uh...excuse me?"