"A wolf’s strongest weapons are usually its claws and bite."
Lyra 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.
"Claw when mobility matters. Bite when commitnt is needed."
Arthur liked the idea imdiately.
This wasn’t teaching a skill. It was teaching combat sense.
Foundation.
And that mattered a lot.
Lyra looked at Arthur next.
"You’ll guide her."
Arthur blinked.
"?"
"You know her best."
Arthur glanced at l proudly.
"That’s true."
Lyra ignored him smoothly and continued explaining.
"Direct her toward important strike points."
She tapped several spots on a dummy.
"Eyes."
"Throat."
"Inner thigh."
"Joints."
Arthur nodded carefully while morizing it.
"Also teach restraint," Lyra added.
"A bite that holds too long becos dangerous in real combat."
Arthur understood that too.
If she committed too hard, she could get punished.
"Alright," he said while crouching beside l.
"You heard the commander."
l stared at him seriously.
Arthur pointed ahead dramatically.
"Today..."
He grinned.
"You beco a hunter."
Her tail imdiately started wagging.
Lyra sighed quietly.
"...You really treat her like a child."
"She is a child."
l barked proudly in agreent.
And just like that... Training started.
l dashed into the obstacle course imdiately.
Even with the weights still attached, her movent looked far cleaner than yesterday.
Arthur could already see the effect of her skill naturally blending into her movents.
"Left dummy!"
l reacted instantly.
She swerved sharply around an obstacle before slashing her claws across the marked area of the dummy’s neck.
"Good!"
Arthur pointed again.
"Bite next!"
Another dummy swung toward her.
l leaped and bit directly toward the marked throat area before imdiately letting go and landing smoothly.
Lyra nodded once.
"Again."
The course reset.
And l ran again.
This ti faster.
Arthur stayed fully focused beside the course while guiding her constantly.
"Lower!"
"Claw!"
"Don’t overcommit!"
"Move first!"
At so point even Torren and the other squad mbers stopped briefly to watch.
"She’s learning way too fast."
Selene nodded while drawing another arrow.
"She really understands him."
Honestly... It barely even felt like commands anymore.
Arthur and l moved together naturally.
When Arthur pointed, l already understood halfway.
When he raised his voice slightly, she adjusted imdiately.
At one point a dummy appeared suddenly from her blind side.
Arthur reacted instantly.
"Behind!"
l twisted mid-run, used the obstacle wall to push herself sideways, then clawed across the dummy while passing it.
Arthur’s eyes widened.
"...That was clean."
Even Lyra looked impressed.
Her footing had improved again too.
The weights still affected her slightly, but instead of slowing her completely now...
They sharpened her movent.
Every leap looked more controlled. Every landing cleaner.
And slowly...
l started making choices herself.
Arthur noticed it first.
A lower dummy appeared.
Instead of biting, she clawed and kept moving.
Then a stationary dummy appeared right after.
She imdiately committed with a bite.
Arthur grinned proudly.
"She’s getting it."
Lyra nodded.
"She’s thinking for herself now."
That was the important part.
Not random attacks, but decision making.
Hours passed surprisingly fast inside the hall as everyone kept pushing themselves harder.
Nox beca faster.
Selene sharper.
Althea steadier.
Torren tougher.
And l...
l looked completely absorbed in training.
Every successful hit excited her even more.
Especially when Arthur praised her afterward.
"Nice!"
"Good girl!"
"That one was perfect!"
Her tail wagged almost every single ti.
Eventually even Lyra stopped correcting Arthur’s overly proud reactions.
Because honestly... The encouragent worked.
The training hall stayed loud for most of the day.
tal clashed.
Targets broke apart.
Footsteps echoed across the floor.
And sowhere in all that chaos...
l kept attacking every dummy like it personally offended her.
Arthur laughed as she rushed through the obstacle course once again, clawing one target before biting another cleanly around the marked neck area.
"Good!"
Her tail wagged proudly.
Commander Lyra watched quietly from the side with her arms crossed.
"She’s keeps adapting faster than I expect."
Arthur smirked imdiately.
"She’s talented."
"She’s spoiled."
Arthur looked offended.
"She earned it."
Lyra sighed.
Not too far from them, Torren blocked another heavy projectile with his shield before stumbling backward.
"Ow..."
Nox burst into laughter from her obstacle course.
"You almost fell again!"
"I didn’t fall," Torren defended instantly.
"You were halfway to the floor."
Selene released another arrow while speaking calmly.
"That counts."
Torren pointed at all of them dramatically.
"One day I’ll beco strong enough to ignore all of you."
Ryn snorted from his corner while continuing his training.
"That day isn’t today."
Torren looked betrayed.
Arthur laughed quietly while l circled another obstacle.
Honestly...
The atmosphere had gotten much lighter compared to the first day.
The pain was still there. The exhaustion too.
But everyone had started settling into the rhythm of training.
Even Lyra’s brutal thods slowly made sense now.
Everyone was improving.
Little by little.
And because of that, the long hours inside the hall didn’t feel unbearable anymore.
After awhile, l rushed through the obstacle course again before sliding to a stop proudly in front of Arthur.
Tongue out.
Tail wagging.
Waiting.
Arthur crossed his arms seriously.
"Hmmm."
l stared at him.
Then he finally smiled.
"You did amazing."
Instant happiness.
Lyra shook her head quietly from the side.
"...Hopeless."
But despite her words...
Even she looked satisfied watching the cub improve this quickly.
Lyra started preparing to wrap up the training session for the day.
But then...
Hurried footsteps echoed outside the hall.
Fast and urgent.
The entire squad turned instinctively toward the entrance.
The doors pushed open shortly after.
Two explorers entered quickly, both carrying tense expressions.
Arthur imdiately noticed sothing was wrong.
Not just because they rushed in...
But because they went straight to Commander Lyra.
One of them lowered his voice the mont he reached her.
They began speaking in hushed tones.
Arthur couldn’t hear the words.
None of them could.
But that sohow made it worse.
Because Lyra’s expression slowly changed while listening.
The calm look she normally carried disappeared slightly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)