Chapter 35: The Instinctive Fighter
The training hall was empty, except for Rei.
The black cat from last night was gone, but its movement was burned into his mind.
Rei (thinking): It didn't think before moving. It just reacted.
And if he could learn that…
Maybe—just maybe—he could compensate for his weak body.
Step One: Erasing Hesitation
Rei stood still, eyes closed.
✔ His ears listened to the air shifting.✔ His skin felt the subtle change in the wind.✔ He tried to move before his mind even processed it.
💥 Dodge left.
Too slow.
💥 Step back.
Too stiff.
💥 Counter.
Too much thinking.
Every instinct he had as a human was working against him.
Rei (panting, frustrated): "I'm still too slow…!"
Step Two: Learning from the Wild
Rei spent the next week observing animals around the academy.
✔ Squirrels moved in unpredictable bursts.✔ Birds changed direction mid-flight with zero wasted motion.✔ Stray dogs shifted their weight before attacking.
And Rei mimicked them all.
He crawled, leaped, twisted, and shifted—abandoning human combat principles.
At first, he failed.
He tripped.He misjudged angles.His legs cramped.
But slowly—he adapted.
Step Three: The First Test
A few nights later, Rei stood before the training dummy again.
This time—he didn't think.
💨 The moment the wooden arm moved—Rei's body shifted.
💥 The strike missed by an inch.
His feet adjusted automatically.
Another attack—he weaved around it like a wild animal.
💨 Faster. More precise. More natural.
For the first time—he wasn't reacting late.
Rei (breathing hard, eyes wide): "…It's working."
His body was still weak.His attacks were still light.But his movement—his movement was becoming something different.
Something no one at Aether Academy had ever seen before.
And this was only the beginning.