The virtual pods lined the side wall of Training Hall No. 9; ten sleek capsules arranged in a row.

Their surfaces were smooth and white, humming faintly with stored mana.

A door slid open beside them, revealing the entry point to the simulation server.

Aria Jasmine and Edwin Dove had come a long way in five months.

Both had been [Bronze 2] during the District Kazi mission. Now, they had achieved [Silver 1].

Brania Winter was [Silver 2]. She had earned her rank through years of training, and the traumatic experience of losing two teammates had turned her into a training manic.

She did not advertise her past, but her eyes held the weight of it.

So, when Cael said he wanted to fight all three of them at once, they were skeptical.

He was only [Silver 3]. Two sub ranks above Aria and Edwin. One sub rank above Brania.

In theory, the gap should not have been insurmountable. But three against one was still three against one.

Still, seeing his confidence, they reluctantly agreed.

...

The four of them connected their pods to a single server.

The capsules hissed open, revealing cushioned interiors lined with glowing inscriptions.

Cael lay back and felt the mana settle around him. He had been in this world for nearly six months, but this was his first time entering a virtual world.

The blankness before him glitched.

Then he was standing in a coliseum.

The sky above was artificial, a perfect blue with clouds that did not move.

The stands were empty, stretching upward in silent rows.

The ground beneath his feet was packed sand, coarse and pale. Opposite him, thirty meters away, stood Aria, Edwin, and Brania.

Cael stretched his body, adjusting to the new virtual body, and said,

"Let’s begin."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Edwin vanished from his spot and reappeared in Cael’s shadow.

Shadow Step.

A shadow movement that allowed him to travel through shadows and emerge anywhere darkness touched.

But Cael had been using ’Black Lightning Step’ for more than five months.

His sensitivity to shadow was not low either. The moment Edwin used ’Shadow Step’, Cael waved his hand backward.

As soon as Edwin appeared, a concentrated gust of wind slammed into his chest.

The force sent him flying backward across the coliseum’s sand floor as he violently crashed into the wall, the impact cracking the virtual stone behind him.

Dust and debris were scattered.

Since this was the virtual world, and since they had agreed to brutal sparring, Cael did not hold back.

If this were just a normal sparring match, there would be no reason to enter the virtual pods.

Aria and Brania moved immediately when they realized Edwin had taken a hit.

Aria drew three arrows at once and released them.

They were covered in ice, their edges sharp, their tips glinting under the artificial sun. The arrows split the air toward Cael’s chest, his throat, his thigh.

Cael waved his hand. A sudden gust of wind changed the trajectories of the arrows.

They curved upward, passing over his head harmlessly, and embedded themselves in the sand behind him.

While Cael focused on Aria’s arrows, Brania took the opportunity.

She was a striker who used gauntlets. A close combat fighter.

Since Cael was using wind from a distance, she guessed he was not a close-combat fighter. She closed the distance.

Sand from the ground rose and attached itself to Brania’s gauntlets, adding weight to her fists. She punched at Cael’s back.

But Brania’s eyes widened as Cael took one simple step sideways, without even looking back.

’What? How?’

Cael glanced at Brania over his shoulder and kicked back.

Brania dodged. At least, that was what she thought.

Along with Cael’s kick, wind moved in a circular motion, drawing sand from the ground into a miniature tornado.

The spinning sand blurred toward her, sharp and fast.

Just as the attack nearly reached her, she activated her skill.

"Gravity Zone."

Instantly, the sand dropped straight down. The increased gravity pulled the particles to the floor, canceling the wind’s momentum.

The tornado collapsed as sand scattered across the ground in a wide circle.

At the center of the gravity zone, Cael stood without any issues.

His posture was relaxed. His breathing was steady. The increased pressure did not seem to affect him at all.

"Nice skill," Cael said.

Since this is a virtual world, Cael wasn’t able to copy the skill.

That said, he already decided to fuse it with Battle Reaper’s Dominion later, after copying the skill.

Brania gritted her teeth.

"How are you still fine under such gravity?"

Cael smirked. He raised his hand and pressed his palm downward.

Instantly, as if the weight of the wind itself had increased, Brania felt a pressing force.

Her knees almost buckled under the pressure. The sand beneath her feet compressed.

Meanwhile, the moment Brania had charged at Cael, Aria had arrived at Edwin’s side.

He was still on the ground, clutching his back where the stone wall had struck him.

Aria activated her skill and began healing Edwin.

She also used ice and water to slow the bleeding. The wounds were not real, but the pain was.

The virtual world simulated everything.

Soon, Edwin’s injuries healed. He stood back up, rolling his shoulders, testing his limbs.

In that moment, the invisible force pressed down on them, trying to pin them to the ground.

"It’s wind," 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Aria muttered, her eyes widening.

"How much has he mastered the wind element?"

Edwin took a deep breath. He drew his daggers and activated his skill.

"One with Shadow."

His own shadow rose from the ground and enveloped his body like a cloak.

In this state, his physical prowess increased threefold: speed, strength, and reflexes. Everything.

He vanished from his spot.

He appeared in Cael’s shadow.

This time, Cael had no time to use wind to defend or attack.

He was focusing his wind presence on holding Aria and Brania in place.

But that did not mean he was helpless. He did not need to dodge.

Cael raised his palm and moved towards Edwin’s dagger thrust.

With a simple motion, he caught Edwin’s wrist and gripped it tightly.

The blade stopped an inch from his chest. Edwin strained, trying to push forward, but Cael’s hold did not break.

Then Cael kicked.

The blow sent Edwin stumbling backward, his shadow enhancement flickering.

Cael lowered his hand and looked at his three teammates. His expression was calm, almost bored.

"Is that all?"

Edwin cursed, rubbing his wrist where Cael had gripped it.

"You are too damn strong."

Aria nodded in agreement, her bow lowered.

The fight had lasted barely a minute, and they had accomplished nothing.

No openings. No weaknesses. Nothing.

Cael removed the wind pressure from Aria and Brania, letting the invisible force dissipate into the artificial air.

The sand settled. The tension in the coliseum faded.

Cael looked at Edwin briefly. That last strike from Edwin had been a little dangerous.

If Cael had not caught his wrist in time, the dagger would have pierced his chest.

Not lethal in the virtual world, but the pain would have been real.

Since Cael was not using Black Lightning or Battle Reaper’s Focus to enhance his speed and reflexes.

In that second, Cael was momentarily puzzled about what to do when Edwin appeared in his shadow.

Since Cael wasn’t able to use wind in that short moment.

But thanks to practicing the Mana Strengthening Body Technique for the past three months, his own physical prowess far exceeded his expectations.

Even without fully mastering the technique, he was easily able to overpower Edwin’s ’One with Shadow.’

Actually, Cael knew this was not even a spar. He was outright bullying them.

He was aware of that.

He had no solution to give. What could he say?

"Train harder?"

"Get stronger?"

Those were not answers. They were platitudes.

That said, this spar reminded Cael that without Black Lightning, he might lack the speed to react to faster opponents.

After all, he could not always use Battle Reaper’s Focus buff, can he?

Sure, his physical prowess was more than enough to deal with [Silver] rankers, but what about [Gold]? Or even [Platinum]?

Even with wind enhancement, Cael might not match [Platinum] rankers’ speed. Let alone the ones who specialized in speed.

Cael smiled as he noted the issue.

A problem identified was a problem half-solved.

He pushed the thought aside for now and turned to his teammates,

"Did any of you realize what you are lacking?"

Aria, Edwin, and Brania looked at Cael with speechless expressions.

"No," Aria said flatly.

"I did not learn anything."

Edwin crossed his arms.

"At least let us use our skills properly. You countered everything before we could even show what we can do."

Brania nodded, flexing her fingers inside her gauntlets.

"Yes. They are right."

Cael thought for a bit. He considered their complaints.

They were not wrong. He had ended the fight too quickly, too efficiently.

They had not learned anything because they had not been given the chance to fail properly.

He shook his head and said,

"Let us go back to the training hall. I will invite another team to join us for training."