The dummy reached Derek in the blink of an eye, its blade slicing horizontally through the air like a crescent moon. Derek reacted instantly. He bent his waist and dropped his upper body just in time. The blade whooshed past, missing him by barely an inch. ’It’s fast,’ Derek thought, narrowing his eyes. In the same motion, he unsheathed his sword, its edge gleaming under the light of the room. ’Let’s see if this sword’s combat performance matches its ability to shrink and extend.’ The dummy, having missed its mark, spun fluidly and slashed again. But this time, Derek didn’t dodge. Instead, he twisted his body slightly, raising his sword behind him and blocking the incoming strike with effortless precision and without even glancing back. From outside, Eva, who had been watching the entire scene unfold, gasped in shock. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth. "He... he blocked it! And so easily?!" she whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief. Inside the chamber, the dummy leapt backward, then shot forward once more with even greater speed. This time, Derek didn’t raise his sword. Instead, he stepped in close, grabbed the dummy’s wrist — the one holding the weapon — and twisted sharply. At the same time, he loosened his own grip, tilting his sword’s tip forward. The blade dropped, followed by the hilt, and in one smooth motion, Derek caught it again — this time with the blade facing downward. Derek’s fist, clutching the inverted sword, smashed into the dummy’s chest. The impact sent it flying backward like a rag doll, slamming hard against the wall. Before its body could even slide down, Derek spun on his heel and hurled his sword like a spear. The blade pierced straight through the dummy’s chest, bursting out the other side and embedding itself deep into the wall. The dummy’s limp body hung there for a moment before shimmering and vanishing into thin air. A glowing panel appeared on the wall near the control buttons, displaying a line of text that began to scroll rapidly. Previous Record Time: 1 minute 19 seconds ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽 New Record: 40 seconds Congratulations, Derek Hale, for breaking the Level One record in Weapon Mastery Training. Current Weapon Mastery Ranking: 235] Outside, Eva staggered backward, her eyes wide with shock. She lost her balance and fell onto the floor. "Wha... what the hell is he?!" she gasped, staring at the chamber door in disbelief. But inside, Derek didn’t look satisfied at all. His expression was calm, almost disappointed. ’That’s all?’ he thought, glancing at the now-empty room. Then he walked up to the control panel again and pressed the button labeled 3. And then the start button again. At once, many sections in the floor opened. One by one, new dummies started emerging and this time, there were ten of them. Once all of them had fully emerged, the ten dummies lunged at Derek simultaneously. Derek moved like a blur, weaving between blades and bodies, dodging every strike with fluid precision. He twisted, sidestepped, and ducked as though his body had become one with the rhythm of battle. ’Amazing... this training room is really something else,’ Derek thought, his pulse quickening with excitement. The thrill coursing through him was intoxicating. But little did he know — what he found fun would make even an elite Auran student break into a cold sweat. While Aurans were capable of dealing greater damage thanks to their aura emission, swordsmanship and movement techniques were an entirely different domain. Derek, though not an Auran himself, had already perfected his sword technique under Cecilia’s tutelage in his previous life. Combined with his current cultivation base at the E-Class level, he stood leagues above any Auran student in the academy. Whether first-year or fourth-year, none would match him. But Derek, unaware of this fact, simply treated the exercise as light training, enjoying it rather than struggling. A gleaming crescent arc flashed through the air, and a dummy’s head flew off its shoulders. Derek slammed the hilt of his sword into another dummy’s chest, the sheer force creating a gaping hole where its core should’ve been. Within just fifteen seconds, two dummies were already down. The remaining eight continued their relentless assault, swarming him from every side. But had they been real people instead of training constructs, they would have frozen in terror at what they were witnessing. Outside the chamber, Eva’s hands trembled as she fumbled with a pink-colored bracelet on her wrist. Activating it, she spoke in a panicked voice. "Mi... Miss Meridith! Please come to the Weapon Mastery Chamber. Quick!" From the other end, a calm but confused female voice replied, "Eva? Is that you? What happened?" "Miss Meridith, there’s no time to explain!" Eva cried desperately. "Whatever I say won’t make any sense until you see it yourself! Please, just come here right now!" "O... okay," Meridith answered, still unsure what to expect, and immediately rushed toward the Weapon Mastery Chamber. Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Derek continued to toy with the dummies. A full minute had passed, and five more were already down. Only three remained. Derek kicked off the ground and propelled himself forward like a bullet. As he spun mid-air, his sword swept in a wide arc, striking two dummies at once. Both shattered instantly as Derek landed gracefully right in front of the last one. Before the final dummy could even react... A brilliant crescent-shaped slash cleaved straight through its body. The upper half slid off and hit the ground with a dull thud, while the lower half collapsed backward a moment later. The panel beside the control buttons shimmered once again, displaying new text: [Level Three Completed Previous Record Time: 15 minutes 27 seconds New Record: 1 minute 29 seconds Congratulations, Derek Hale, for breaking the Level Three record in Weapon Mastery Training. Current Weapon Mastery Ranking: 112] The room fell still, broken only by the faint hum of the training chamber and the soft rhythm of Derek’s breathing.