Ares pushed the door open to the training room, his footsteps echoing lightly across the metallic floor. The sight that greeted him made him stop dead in his tracks.
His gaze immediately fell on the the woman in the center of the chamber. It was the same commander who had saved his life in the forest, only now, she wasn't in her standard ZMA uniform.
Instead, she wore a sleek, black athletic training suit that clung to her toned, lithe frame, designed to endure the rigorous conditions she was currently facing.
She was inside an Advanced Training Chamber, a highly sophisticated training room used only by the highest-ranking officials and Bloodliners.
Ares had never seen one in person. He had only heard stories. As he watched, he quickly understood why this training was for elites.
All around her, massive football-sized iron balls shot out from holes placed at different angles, each moving at breakneck speed.
They were moving too fast for Ares' eyes to track, almost blurs of motion that seemed to fill the room with deadly intent.
Bang!
One of the iron balls slammed into the floor with a deafening thud, leaving a massive crater before the floor automatically repaired itself.
Ares' eyes widened in shock. Each of those balls must weigh several tonnes. At such fast speeds, the sheer power needed to stop them was mind-blowing.
Yet the commander wasn't using her hands or any physical strength to stop them. She was using her telekinesis.
With a mere flick of her fingers, the commander used her telekinesis to deflect or stop the balls just before they hit her, sending them smashing into the walls or the floor.
Her face remained hard and focused as she deflected one ball after another.
Based on the speed of the balls and her ability to keep track of the dozens of holes releasing these balls, her mind was definitely working faster than Ares could even hope to keep track of.
The sound of the impacts echoed through the room, and Ares felt his heart pound in his chest.
The sheer force needed to stop them, let alone redirect them, was mind-blowing.
But as fast as she was, the training was brutal.
Suddenly, one of the iron balls came in at an unexpected angle. The commander was still deflecting 5 balls when this ball hit released.
She could not react in time before the ball reached her and smashed directly into her side.
Crack!
Ares winced at the sound. It was unmistakable. It was the sharp crack of bone breaking.
The commander gritted her teeth but didn't falter. Another ball slammed into her shoulder, then another into her leg.
Crack! Crack!
Ares watched in shock as she fought through the pain. Her body was bruised and battered but she refused to quit.
He could barely believe what he was witnessing. The commander was taking hits that would break most people and she wasn't stopping.
Each time she was struck, she gritted her teeth and kept going, using her telekinesis to stop the next attack, despite the visible pain on her face.
She was bruised, battered, but unyielding.
The sheer brutality of her training left him speechless. This wasn't a simple training any longer. This was pushing the human body and mind to its limits, and she was enduring it without hesitation.
Ares clenched his fists. 'She's a monster… how can anyone endure this?'
And yet, he couldn't help but feel a wave of admiration.
Despite the pain, despite the seemingly impossible odds, she persisted. Every time a ball made contact with her, she'd fight back with even more ferocity, her telekinetic power pushing harder and faster.
Suddenly, in the middle of deflecting another ball, the commander's gaze snapped towards Ares. Her sharp eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, the room seemed to freeze.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice carrying an edge that made Ares' spine tingle.
Caught off guard, Ares stood frozen for a moment before he stepped forward calmly. He was no stranger to intense situations, but there was something about her presence that made his nerves spike.
"I'm sorry for intruding," he said, his tone steady despite the intensity of the moment. "I was curious about the sound and wandered in. I didn't mean to interrupt."
Her gaze remained icy, scanning him as if trying to decide whether to crush him with her mind. "Curiosity could get you killed," she said, her tone unforgiving. "You're in a restricted area. Do you have a death wish?"
Ares met her stare and shook his head. "No. Just admiration for what you're doing. But… maybe you should ease up a little? You've already taken some pretty hard hits."
The commander blinked, clearly not expecting him to say that. Her hard expression didn't change, but something flickered in her eyes, perhaps the slightest hint of acknowledgment.
Ares continued, "You're strong. No doubt about that. But even the strongest need to know when to hold back. Don't break yourself before the real fight even begins."
Without waiting for a response, Ares nodded respectfully and turned to leave the room, his heart still pounding from the encounter.
As he stepped into the hallway, he exhaled slowly. The image of her bruised and broken body flashed in his mind, but so did her determination.
'What kind of determination does it take to handle that kind of punishment?' he thought as he walked away. The amount of willpower she possessed at such a young age was quite shocking.
Soldiers got wounded at war, agreed. But soldiers don't willingly risk their lives in the name of personal training.
'That's the kind of mindset I need.' He thought, his resolve hardening.
_____
The next morning, the calm hum of the carrier was interrupted by the voice of an official over the intercom.
"We have arrived at our destination. All youths should assemble on the main deck immediately."
Ares stirred from his small bed in the cabin, the comfortable warmth of sleep slipping away as the weight of reality pressed down on him. He blinked, rubbing his eyes before sitting up and opening the system interface.
The familiar screen blinked to life before him, and his heart sank a little when he saw the numbers.
[Bloodline Absorption: 62%.]
It hadn't progressed much since the last time he checked 10 minutes ago.
'Damn,' he thought, feeling a rising wave of anxiety.
Would he be able to hide his true bloodline in time? If the absorption wasn't complete by the time they started testing, his secret would be exposed.
Ares ran a hand through his hair, trying to push the worry away. He had no choice but to trust that the system would do its job in time. Until then, he needed to keep his head down and blend in.
He stood up, stretched, and prepared to head to the main deck, his mind racing with thoughts of the challenges ahead.
But one thing was clear—he had to be ready.
'Whatever's coming, I can't afford to be weak.'