After two more hours of intense counterplay training, Orlen finally signaled the end of the class.
Despite their exhaustion, the students remained focused, knowing that the real challenge was yet to co.
"Before I give you your individual missions for the exams, I want to make sothing clear," Orlen's voice carried across the training grounds. "What you learned today was useful, but it was only the beginning. You fought against the sa class or compatible classes, but that won't always be the case. You won't always have the luxury of familiarity."
The students listened intently, so of them still catching their breath from the earlier exercises.
"What you need to learn is not just how to counterplay the attacks you saw today," Orlen continued. "You need to develop an understanding of counterplay itself—an instinct. It's not about morizing reactions to specific techniques; it's about training your mind and body to create solutions the mont an attack reaches you."
Silence filled the air as everyone absorbed his words.
Orlen's point was simple: learning to counter a single opponent wasn't enough.
True counterplay wasn't about predicting an enemy's next move based on past encounters—it was about analyzing the situation in real ti and adapting accordingly.
A good fighter could react. A great fighter could anticipate.
A master could manipulate the flow of battle itself.
After ensuring everyone understood his point, Orlen walked between the students, assigning their individual missions one by one.
Since the matchups for the exams would be randomized, students couldn't rely on training with the sa partner. They had to be prepared for anything.
"Zack, your mission is to break through an enemy's guard without brute force."
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"Sia, learn to create openings instead of waiting for your opponent to make a mistake."
"Carole, focus on your footwork. You're too predictable when moving defensively."
Orlen went down the line, pointing out their weaknesses and assigning them objectives tailored to their fighting style.
He talked to all the students and gave precise missions. Arlon wasn't sure if he could do the sa thing, no, if he could even watch everyone.
When Orlen was done assigning missions, he clapped his hands together. "That concludes today's training. Use your ti wisely."
Hell Week had a different structure compared to normal academic schedules.
Except for Monday, students would only have formal lessons until 2:30 PM.
Technically, there was still a period allocated for Physical Education (PE), but in reality, this was free ti.
It was ant for students to study, train, or conduct research related to their missions.
The students wouldn't waste their ti if they weren't under a teacher's observation since this was still the best academy, but PE allowed the students to be able to reach resources they couldn't outside.
Thursday was a full day off, giving everyone ti to refine their skills before Friday's exam.
And Friday…
That was when everything would be tested.
---
"None of us except Arlon won…" Zack said in a solemn voice.
"Won what? We weren't fighting. It was a counterplay lesson," Lei said, frowning.
"That is correct," Sia added, nodding. "Also, if there was sothing to win, I am also here. And I won against you."
Zack sighed. "You know what I ant." This was an answer to Lei. He tried to ignore Sia who was trying to irritate him.
"I do not," Lei replied imdiately. "And I refuse to assu."
Zack shook his head but didn't argue further. What he ant was that none of their group—except Arlon—had perford particularly well.
But since their group also included five academy students—Sia, Laefa, Alia, i, and Mirek—who didn't share the sa background, he couldn't exactly say it outright.
As they walked toward dinner, Evan turned to Arlon.
"You ntioned pizza last ti. Where can we eat it?"
"I didn't say pizza, I said sothing like pizza," Arlon corrected.
Evan narrowed his eyes. "Which ans it's not pizza, and you just got my hopes up for nothing."
"It resembles pizza," Arlon said. "That's all I ant."
i, walking beside them, glanced around before suggesting, "Actually, we can eat outside if you want."
By 'outside,' she didn't an outside the academy—students couldn't leave freely. She ant the restaurant district within the academy, where she and Arlon had eaten during lunch.
Since no one objected, they changed course toward the more expensive dining area.
This part of the academy was quieter, mostly because eating at these restaurants daily was a luxury few could afford.
Only the wealthier students ca here regularly. The rest only visited on special occasions—birthdays, celebrations, or when they wanted to pretend their finances weren't suffering.
Naturally, the academy's cafeteria food was still excellent. Free didn't an bad—it just ant you weren't paying extra for a chair with armrests.
"Wait," Mirek said suddenly. "If we eat at these places too often, will we start losing our appreciation for the regular als?"
"Impossible," Alia said flatly. "Even if the academy served food in a wooden trough, I would still eat it."
"You've eaten from a trough before?" Lei asked, looking mildly disturbed.
"That's not the point."
As they approached the restaurant district, Laefa stretched. "So, do we try to find this mysterious dish Arlon keeps talking about, or do we let him keep leading us into confusion?"
Laefa was one of those who hadn't eaten outside food in the three years she had been here. It wasn't that she couldn't afford it—she just didn't care.
"Let's find out what he ant," Evan said. "Because if this resembles pizza but isn't pizza, I need to know just how much disappointnt I should be preparing for."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Arlon said.
Evan gave him a wary look. "We'll see."
"By the way, I don't think I've heard of this pizza before," Alia said. "What kind of dish is it?"
Since it was from Earth, none of the students knew what it was. But the bigger problem was that the players were undercover.
They couldn't just introduce a dish from another world. This entire conversation was a mistake—one started by Evan.
But now that the topic had co up, they had to answer.
Arlon took the reins.
He used the sa excuse he had once before. "It's from my hotown. Since it was invaded by the Keldars, pizza is lost now."
The players instantly caught on and went quiet.
This way, they gave the impression that it wasn't sothing Arlon wanted to talk about, and the students didn't press further.
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