Arthur paid attention quietly.
He wanted to know how serious everyone was ntally before training started today.
And honestly, he liked what he saw.
Nobody looked lazy. Nobody looked distracted.
The ergency from yesterday had affected them all.
They wanted to grow stronger.
Fast.
The joking atmosphere they usually had was still there, but underneath it was a sharp focus.
Exactly what Arthur expected.
Before they could continue talking, Commander Lyra walked into the hall.
Everyone straightened imdiately.
She nodded once.
"Sorry for coming later than expected. Sothing ca up."
She didn’t wait for responses before moving directly toward Arthur.
In her hands were several dark tallic weights.
Much heavier than the previous set.
Even Arthur felt the strain imdiately the mont she handed them over.
His eyes widened slightly.
"These are for l?"
Lyra folded her arms. "I promised heavier weights."
Arthur looked down at them again.
l sniffed the weights curiously.
The commander continued, "I had to pressure a few people to get those prepared quickly. Luckily, they finished during the night."
Arthur nodded honestly. "Thanks."
Lyra waved it off.
"Don’t thank yet. Use them properly."
Her eyes shifted toward l.
"Take it gradually. I know the cub adapts fast, but don’t get reckless because of that."
Arthur understood what she ant imdiately.
The new skill changed a lot, but it didn’t an they should lose common sense.
"I get it."
Lyra nodded.
"Today’s training combines both previous drills. Agility and attack application together."
Arthur imdiately understood the reasoning.
Movent alone wasn’t enough.
Attack instinct alone also wasn’t enough.
Combining both would sharpen l’s combat foundation naturally.
The commander continued explaining.
"The obstacle course stays. The dummies stay too. She’ll move through the course while deciding when to claw, when to bite, when to disengage, and when to keep montum."
Arthur listened carefully.
"Guide her while she moves. Correct bad habits imdiately."
Then Lyra looked directly at him again.
"And Arthur."
"Yeah?"
"Don’t push her until she collapses."
Arthur looked down at l before nodding.
"I won’t."
Satisfied, Lyra finally turned away.
"I’ll co monitor things later."
Arthur exhaled once the commander left.
Then he looked down at the heavy weights in his hands.
l stared right back at him.
Excitent.
Pure excitent.
Arthur laughed.
"You really are insane."
l barked proudly.
A few minutes later, they arrived at their usual section of the training hall.
Arthur placed the weights down carefully.
"Alright then."
l imdiately stood up straight.
Arthur smirked while lifting the first piece.
"Let’s see how crazy this training gets today."
And with that, the training resud.
Arthur watched l carefully as she adjusted to the new weights.
The cub moved slower than before at first, but compared to the first ti she wore weighted gear, this was already a huge improvent. Her paws pressed firmly against the ground while she moved through the obstacle course, weaving past wooden poles before slashing at the dummies placed around the field.
"Left side," Arthur called.
l reacted instantly, twisting her body and raking her claws across the marked section of the dummy.
"Good. Don’t stop. Keep moving."
The cub pushed forward again, her tail swaying behind her as she jumped over a low barrier.
Arthur smiled lightly.
She really was learning fast.
anwhile, Commander Lyra had already moved away from them and returned to the rest of the squad.
Her eyes landed on Selene first.
"You’ve improved," Lyra said directly. "Your accuracy is cleaner now and your shooting speed has increased."
Selene wiped the sweat near her chin and nodded.
"I still miss too many openings."
"That’s because you’re thinking like a normal archer."
Lyra folded her arms while staring at the training range.
"Your arrows are fast enough already. The problem is predictability."
Selene imdiately understood what she ant.
The others nearby also listened quietly.
Even Nox and Torren paused their own preparation for mana training to pay attention.
Selene herself looked unusually serious.
She had seen Arthur and Ryn improve too quickly recently and she refused to stay behind.
Especially after seeing Ryn pressure the commander yesterday.
That image was still stuck in her head.
"I want to get stronger," Selene admitted honestly. "Not just stronger... harder to deal with."
Lyra smirked faintly.
"Good. Then stop shooting like people expect."
From one of her pockets, she brought out a thin rope.
Very thin.
So thin that Nox frowned imdiately.
"What’s that supposed to do?"
Torren scratched his cheek.
"Looks like sewing thread."
Selene herself looked confused.
But Lyra ignored all of them and tossed it over.
"Tie it to your arrow."
Selene caught it.
"To the arrow?"
"To the hilt."
Selene didn’t question further.
She tied the rope carefully around one of her arrows before fitting it into her bowstring.
"Now shoot."
Selene drew the bow naturally and released.
The arrow shot forward cleanly and pierced a dummy positioned at a difficult angle.
A solid shot.
But Lyra shook her head.
"Again. This ti pass your mana through the rope."
Selene blinked.
"The rope too?"
"Yes."
That part sounded strange even to Arthur who was listening from l’s side.
Mana infusion into weapons was common enough.
But using it through a tiny rope?
Selene clearly thought the sa thing.
Still, she trusted the commander enough to try.
She closed her eyes briefly and pushed her mana into the rope.
The first attempt failed imdiately.
The mana scattered halfway through.
The second attempt lasted longer.
By the third try, the mana finally flowed properly through the rope and reached the arrow.
Selene’s eyes widened slightly.
She could feel it.
The connection.
Like the arrow was still attached to her hand even after leaving it.
The others noticed her expression imdiately.
"You got sothing?" Nox asked.
Selene slowly nodded.
Lyra crossed her arms.
"Good. Now shoot again."
This ti Selene took a deeper breath before firing.
The arrow shot out quickly.
But instead of aiming at a target, it flew wide into open air.
Torren blinked.
"Huh?"
Nox burst out laughing.
"You missed that badly?"
Even Arthur looked confused for a second.
Only Lyra remained calm.
And then...
The arrow suddenly curved.
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