Chapter 510:Calm after battle.

Chapter 510: 510:Calm after battle.

Three weeks had passed since the beast tide swept through Hollow Creek, yet the consequences of that night continued to spread throughout the territories surrounding Alpha Three Sanctuary.

What had initially been reported as an isolated outbreak of abnormal beast migration had gradually developed into one of the most complicated military investigations the region had experienced in recent years.

The destruction of the research facility, the deaths of its scientists, the appearance of unusually aggressive beasts, and the subsequent containment failure involving a Tier Seven creature had forced regional command to establish a joint investigative committee.

Military personnel were dispatched to abandoned research outposts, patrols along the Green Zone boundaries were increased, and several settlements that had previously operated independently were placed under temporary emergency supervision.

The official explanation remained that a classified containment accident had disrupted the movement patterns of several beast populations, but the explanation had done little to reassure the public, particularly after footage of Hollow Creek’s destroyed northern wall began circulating through the sanctuary’s information networks.

The settlement itself had become a symbol of the disaster. Nearly half of its residential district had been rendered uninhabitable, and thousands of displaced residents were now being accommodated in temporary shelters throughout the surrounding territories.

Relief organizations, military contractors, and private merchants had arrived to assist with reconstruction, although reports of missing supplies and delayed compensation had already begun appearing. Families who had lost their homes complained about the inadequate assistance, while relatives of those killed during the evacuation demanded to know why the military had failed to detect the approaching tide earlier.

Several independent journalists had attempted to investigate the matter, but access to the most heavily damaged areas remained restricted.

At Alpha Three Academy, the atmosphere was considerably different from what it had been before the incident.

The students had returned to their normal schedules, but the instructors had become noticeably stricter about safety regulations and field deployment procedures. Every first-year student who had participated in the Hollow Creek mission was required to undergo a medical examination and psychological evaluation, while Class Four received additional assessments because of the casualties it had suffered.

Peter Kanister had personally supervised several of those evaluations, although his usual stern expression had become even more pronounced whenever someone mentioned the possibility of another field assignment.

And among the students of Class Four, one particular absence had become impossible to ignore.

Elias Thorn.

His death had been officially recorded as a combat casualty during the evacuation of Hollow Creek, and the academy had held a memorial ceremony attended by instructors, military representatives, and students from several classes.

His family had traveled from Delta One to receive his belongings, and his older brother had personally thanked the surviving members of Class Four for bringing back the account of his final moments.

Silver had attended the ceremony alongside Ravenna.

He had spoken briefly with Elias’s brother, a twenty-five-year-old Rank Five Contractor whose resemblance to the deceased student had made the encounter considerably more difficult than he expected.

The man had listened quietly as Silver explained what happened at the communications tower, and although his expression had remained composed, his hands had trembled when he received the damaged academy identification tag recovered from the wreckage.

Silver had apologized but Elias’s brother had simply shaken his head and basically comforted him instead.

"My brother made his own decision," he’d said, with a sad smile on his lips. "He always wanted people to see him as someone capable of standing on his own. I just wish he’d lived long enough to realize that he already was."

Those words had remained with him long after the memorial ended.

Now, standing inside one of the academy’s advanced training chambers, he exhaled slowly as he raised his right hand toward a reinforced training dummy positioned fifteen meters away.

[Spatial Sense Lv3 Activated.]

The surrounding environment unfolded within his perception, revealing the positions of several training targets, the reinforced walls, and the faint disturbances produced by the chamber’s automated mechanisms.

Unlike the uncontrolled battlefield at Hollow Creek, the training room provided a relatively stable environment in which he could experiment without constantly worrying about civilians or collapsing buildings.

Silver narrowed his eyes.

"All right. Let’s try that again," he quietly said.

[Spatial Displacement Lv1 Activated.]

A faint distortion appeared around the training dummy.

For a fraction of a second, the space surrounding its lower section seemed to contract, causing the dummy’s base to shift sideways by approximately half a meter.

The movement wasn’t particularly impressive compared to the enormous displacement he’d managed during the beast tide, but the energy consumption was considerably lower.

He smiled.

"Better."

[Spatial Displacement Lv1 Proficiency Increased.]

[Spatial Manipulation Efficiency Improved.]

[Precision Targeting Progress: 47%.]

He lowered his hand and glanced at the training chamber’s monitoring display.

His soul energy consumption had decreased by nearly twenty percent compared to his previous attempt.

That was significant.

When he’d first acquired Spatial Displacement, using it against large targets had nearly destroyed his spatial pathways. The skill was powerful, but it demanded precise calculations and a considerable amount of soul energy, particularly when the target resisted the spatial manipulation.

Over the past three weeks, Silver had been experimenting with smaller applications. Moving an opponent’s foot several centimeters. Displacing a projectile away from its original trajectory. Shifting an object just far enough to disrupt someone’s balance.

He had discovered that Spatial Displacement was considerably more efficient when used to alter an existing movement rather than forcing an entirely new one.

A charging beast didn’t need to be thrown across a street, sometimes, moving one foot was enough.

A sword didn’t need to be blocked by an enormous spatial barrier, sometimes, changing the angle of its trajectory by a few centimeters could prevent the blade from reaching its intended target.

And an opponent didn’t always need to be defeated through overwhelming force, sometimes, the smallest adjustment could create the largest opening.

He raised his handgun.

[Phantom Draw Lv4 Activated.]

His weapon moved almost too quickly for the eye to follow as three shots rang out. The first struck a moving target near the left wall, the second hit a smaller target positioned behind it, and the third missed its intended mark by several centimeters.

Silver frowned while looking around at his results.

"Still too slow."

He lowered the handgun, then activated Short-Step.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

His figure disappeared and reappeared beside another training dummy, drawing his sword in the same motion.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Lv3 Activated.]

The blade flashed as he cut. A clean strike appeared across the dummy’s reinforced shoulder.

He immediately pivoted.

[Space Slash Lv3 Activated.]

A compressed spatial blade swept toward a second target, leaving a deep cut across its surface.

He followed with another Short-Step, appearing several meters away before raising his handgun again.

He took two shots and both hit.

He exhaled.

"Not bad."

[Advanced Swordsmanship Lv3 Proficiency Increased.]

[Short-Step Lv3 Proficiency Increased.]

[Space Slash Lv3 Proficiency Increased.]

[Combat Integration Efficiency Improved.]

He lowered his weapons and looked toward the monitoring display. His overall performance had improved considerably, and not merely because his skills were becoming stronger.

Since Hollow Creek, Silver had begun approaching combat differently.

In the past, he’d often relied on his superior abilities to create openings, using Short-Step to reposition, Space Slash to overwhelm enemies, and his enhanced physical strength to compensate whenever an exchange became unfavorable. It had worked against weaker opponents, but the Tier Five creature at Hollow Creek had exposed the limitations of that approach.

Against something significantly stronger, raw power wasn’t enough. He needed efficiency, judgment, and most importantly, to understand when fighting wasn’t the correct answer.

He smiled faintly.

"Guess I’m finally learning," he mumbled to himself.

A familiar voice came from the entrance.

"Learning what? How to destroy academy property more efficiently?"

He turned.