"Bath ti."
l imdiately backed away.
Arthur stared at her.
"...Don’t do this."
She looked genuinely betrayed.
"No escaping."
She resisted for a full minute before Arthur finally managed to convince her.
Mostly by promising another steak tomorrow.
But the bath itself took forever.
Because l hated water.
And because Arthur ended up drying her first before washing himself properly.
By the ti he finally finished and changed into lighter clothes, his body felt like jelly.
He let out a long breath while walking lazily toward the bed.
Then stopped.
As he noticed l was already asleep.
Curled up comfortably and completely knocked out.
Arthur’s expression softened imdiately.
"...Yeah. You really pushed yourself."
The skill helped her endure it.
But it didn’t erase the strain completely.
Not the physical exhaustion.
And definitely not the ntal one.
Arthur carefully laid down beside her.
The mont he pulled her slightly closer, she instinctively snuggled against him without waking up.
Like she was already used to it.
Arthur smiled faintly.
His eyes slowly closed while thoughts drifted through his head.
Today had been good. Better than he had expected.
The squad had grown stronger.
The ally system worked as Ryn awakened a ridiculous skill.
l awakened one too.
And tomorrow...
Tomorrow would probably be even crazier.
Arthur let out one final breath as he let sleep finally take him.
Morning ca quietly.
Light slipped through the small window of Arthur’s room and stretched across the floor.
And just like always...
l was the first to wake up.
Arthur only felt sothing soft land on his chest before small paws started pushing against him.
"...Five more minutes."
l huffed in response.
Arthur opened one eye and stared at the overly energetic cub above him.
"You’re way too excited this early."
Her tail wagged imdiately.
Arthur sighed.
He honestly couldn’t tell anymore if she was excited for training...
Or for the steak he promised her afterward.
Maybe both.
"Fine, fine. I’m awake."
The mont he sat up, l jumped off the bed proudly like she had accomplished sothing important.
Arthur laughed tiredly before getting himself cleaned up.
l behaved much better during cleaning today too.
Well...
Mostly because Arthur reminded her about the steak reward.
"You’re easier to negotiate with food."
Her tail wagged again without sha.
After cleaning her fur properly, Arthur polished his armor carefully before finally gearing up.
Soon enough, they headed toward the training hall together.
The mont Arthur entered, he noticed the changes imdiately.
Not huge changes.
But enough.
Commander Lyra had clearly adjusted the training after observing everyone yesterday.
Typical of her.
Nox was the first thing Arthur noticed.
The obstacle course she trained on looked tighter now.
The gaps between platforms were smaller and the turns sharper.
And around her ankles were slightly heavier weights.
Nox dashed through the course quickly, but Arthur could already see the strain on her face.
"Faster!"
Lyra’s voice echoed.
Nox gritted her teeth and pushed harder.
Arthur chuckled softly.
"...Rough."
Selene’s side wasn’t any easier.
The moving targets around her had increased in speed, and now so of them moved unpredictably.
Worse...
Different colored markings had been added to the targets.
So points were worth hitting.
Others were not.
So now she had to aim while moving and thinking at the sa ti.
Arthur watched her loose an arrow cleanly through a moving red mark before imdiately shifting position.
Another dummy appeared.
She fired again instantly.
But missed by a little.
Selene clicked her tongue.
"Too slow."
"You hesitated," Lyra corrected imdiately from nearby.
Selene nodded seriously and adjusted herself again.
Arthur could already tell she was improving though.
Her movents flowed more naturally now.
Then there was Althea.
She sat across from several floating tal spheres while sweat rolled down her face.
Her binding threads stretched between them shakily.
Arthur noticed imdiately...
She was holding more objects than before.
But barely.
One sphere slipped slightly and Althea imdiately struggled to stabilize the rest.
"Focus on control before expansion," Lyra reminded her calmly.
Althea nodded while breathing heavily.
Arthur smiled faintly.
She really was working hard.
Torren’s side looked the loudest as usual.
A giant wooden dummy stood behind him while arrows, swinging logs, and heavy projectiles attacked from different directions.
And compared to yesterday...
He was handling it much better.
He intercepted cleaner now.
And his footing looked more stable too.
A heavy boulder swung toward the dummy.
Torren stepped forward instantly and blocked it head on with his shield.
The impact echoed loudly.
But he didn’t lose balance this ti.
"Yes!"
Torren grinned proudly.
Then imdiately got hit in the side by another training projectile.
"Ow!"
Arthur laughed.
"Still rough around the edges."
Torren pointed at him.
"Co stand here then!"
"I value my life."
The training hall already felt more alive than yesterday.
Everyone had improved a little.
And everyone knew it too.
But the biggest difference today... Was l.
Lyra walked over toward Arthur and the cub shortly after.
"The weights are still not ready."
Arthur nodded.
"That was expected honestly."
Lyra crossed her arms.
"I tried to rushed them even."
Then her eyes fell toward l.
"But since the previous training stopped being effective, I prepared sothing else."
Arthur imdiately paid attention.
Lyra led them toward another section of the hall.
This obstacle course looked different from yesterday’s agility focused one.
Dummies stood around different corners now.
So hanging.
So standing.
Others partly hidden behind barriers.
Arthur quickly understood the setup.
Lyra explained while walking beside them.
"Yesterday focused on movent and adaptation."
She looked at l.
"Today focuses on attack instincts."
Arthur nodded slowly.
Makes sense.
l already had speed.
Now she needed to learn how to apply it properly.
Lyra continued,
"A wolf’s strongest weapons are usually its claws and bite."
She pointed toward the dummies.
"So she’ll learn when to use each."
Arthur looked down at l who stared at the course seriously already.
"She has to choose correctly while moving?"
"Exactly." Lyra nodded.
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