"Utterly humiliated," Ax replied to Valve's question.

  "That's how I feel, Valve. Utterly humiliated," Ax continued as he got up to his feet after tasting dirt the 5th day in a row.

  Training like hell for almost a week, his body feels different. Lighter, sturdier, stronger, and yet.

  "I still can't nd a finger on you," Ax finished as Valve put his helmet back on, the mist dissipating from the area.

  Ax was covered in dirt, his clothes a bloody and sweaty ruin from the week of training.

  "Today's over; tomorrow will be the st day of training. Good luck."

  Ax dropped his sword; his gun soon followed.

  "Pathetic. Couldn't even scratch you," Ax compined to himself.

  "Remember the group of Numans I fought that day?" Valve asked Ax.

  "Yeah, what about it?".

  "If I didn't step in, you would've been heavily injured trying to beat them," he stated.

  Ax's shoulders immediately dropped.

  "However, as you are now. They would stand no chance; you may not see it, but I see progress," Valve revealed.

  "How do you reckon that?" Ax asked curiously.

  "Reaction speed faster. You've always been resourceful, but now your body can keep up. Stronger, much stronger. Enhanced senses, etc.," Valve continued.

  "However, the true testament is..." Valve stopped as he raised his left hand, pointing at it.

  Ax looked closely, squinting his eyes. At the palm of the bck glove, he sees steam emitting off of it.

  "Is that—"

  "A tear, yes. You were able to tear through my glove, almost injuring me. That doesn't happen often," Valve revealed as he saw Ax rejoice.

  "Hell yeah!" he screamed out.

  "Anyway, tomorrow will be the final day; get back to training," Valve commanded as he turned around to leave.

  "Oh right! Sorry." Ax got embarrassed.

  Valve looked up at the sky, darkening. "It's nightfall; train for two more hours and hit the hay. As it is now, you'll do alright."

  ***

  Hours have passed.

  As Ax walked towards the castle, he stretched his shoulders, yawning. He stopped at the castle door. One was already open for everyone to use. However, the other door was already closed shut.

  He stared at the door for seconds, his curiosity growing more and more.

  "I wonder..." he continued, before he stood firm in front of the door.

  He reached out for the door with both his palms, grasping onto the cool, heavy metal.

  As he leaned forward, he took a deep breath and pushed.

  Pushed with all his might, gritting his teeth. He could feel his muscles pump up, his sleeves tightening slightly. But as, it didn't budge.

  Ax let out a heavy sigh as sweat dripped down his temples.

  "Forget it," Ax said as he headed towards the showers.

  As he walked up the stairs, he ran into Eine, who had just taken a shower, her bck and white hair going straight down her head, unbraided.

  "Done for the day?" she asked.

  "Yea—" Ax got distracted and slipped, falling down, headfirst, onto the hard stone floor.

  "OW!" he screamed.

  "Pfft," Eine tried to hold in her ugh.

  "WHY IS THE FLOOR WET?!" Ax screamed as he was lying on the floor.

  "Oops," she said as he walked off.

  Ax flipped her off.

  Ax got on his two feet and walked towards his room to get a spare change of clothes and a towel.

  ***

  Yawn

  Baron yawned as he walked through the castle doors; he stopped midway and walked backward and stared at the foot of the left door.

  "It's... about an inch off where it st was... isn't it?" he thought to himself as the moved door left a faint trail of dust.

  He grabbed the door and aligned it back, closing it, and walked back into the castle.

  ***

  It was the afternoon, and Ax was waiting for Valve at their usual battleground.

  Ax was stretching his knees, his joints crackling.

  'How long is he going to take?' he wondered.

  Eine made her way towards him, looking confused.

  "Did... Valve call you here too? You're supposed to be sparring with him, right?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

  Mist surrounded the both of them, and then it immediately vanished.

  Valve was now standing right in front of them, his helmet nowhere in sight.

  "Oh, you're finally here," Ax replied.

  "Do we finally start cshing or...?" he asked.

  "No, actually, you will be fighting... Eine," Valve answered.

  Ax looked to his left, seeing Eine staring back at him. Her right hand is pointing at herself, just as confused.

  "I would crush him into a pulp!" she excimed.

  "YOU HEARD THE WOMAN, SHE WOULD CRUSH ME INTO A PULP!" Ax repeated, but this time much louder.

  "There are two properties within my fog; one is to make it invisible. The other is to make all inhabitants within the fog be of equal strength and speed," he expined thoroughly.

  "Also, here," Valve said as he threw two bnk iron tokens with chains going through them.

  "The rules are, the first one to grab the token off of the other wins. Anything goes; if something goes out of pn, I'll step in. This is training because you'll go against foes you'll least expect to. I can guarantee it.". He finished.

  ***

  They both fastened the tokens onto their bodies, inspecting the tokens as they prepared.

  "This looks good on me," she uttered.

  "I know, right? These could be fashion statements. Whichever person came up with this idea really knew how to accessorize," Ax excimed uncharacteristically.

  "Abso-fucking-lutely.". She uttered.

  They then stood a few meters away from each other, Ax holding his sword in his right hand, the dagger in his left.

  Eine is standing in her metal boots and arm.

  "No sword?" he asked.

  "None needed," she replied.

  They both took deep breaths.

  "Begin!" Valve screamed.