Chapter 113: Training Amidst The Crisis

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: Training Amidst The Crisis

Keira led Derrick deep into the lower levels of the estate, navigating a series of secure corridors until they arrived at a heavy metal door.

She pressed her palm against the scanner beside the frame, and the door slid open with a soft hiss.

Inside was a compact, high-tech room that looked like a centralized control room.

One entire wall was replaced by a massive, see-through glass mirror that overlooked a vast chamber below.

Keira walked up to the glass and gestured toward the colossal space on the other side.

The entire room was completely enclosed, its walls, ceiling, and floor lined with thick, high-density cushioned padding.

"This is where I used to practice my movements and throwing skills," Keira explained, tapping a few buttons on the nearby console. "The shock-absorbent material can handle high-velocity impacts without taking a scratch."

She turned toward a reinforced side door attached to the control room and pulled it open.

Beyond the threshold, there were no stairs or ladders.

The drop to the cushioned training room floor was a straight ten feet down.

Keira looked over her shoulder at Derrick with a subtle smirk.

"Jump down," she instructed, her fingers hovering over the main control panel. "I’ll start up the program."

The drones hovered effortlessly in mid-air, fanning out to take strategic positions around the wide, padded arena. Within seconds, a dozen glowing red laser grids flared to life, locking directly onto Derrick’s chest, shoulders, and legs.

Keira’s voice crackled clearly through the room’s intercom system, her tone laced with casual amusement.

"Here are the rules," she announced.

"Dodge the lasers before they hit you.

Your goal is to reach 100 points.

One successful dodge equals one point.

But if even a single laser grazes you, your score resets all the way back to zero."

She paused for a beat before adding with a smirk, "And just so you’re prepared, as time goes on, the lasers will speed up and fire simultaneously."

Derrick nearly swore out loud.

A single touch wiping out all his progress while the lasers sped up and doubled down was pure sadism.

He took a deep, steadying breath, letting the air fill his lungs as he pushed the frustration aside, calming his racing pulse and sharpening his focus.

Every muscle in his body coiled like a spring.

He settled into a low, light stance, staring straight toward the heavy glass window of the control center.

"Start it," Derrick said firmly.

A red beam shot out.

Derrick slipped to the side, letting it pass right by his head.

Another beam fired.

He tilted his chest back slightly, moving effortlessly.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

He dodged laser after laser with tiny, simple movements, wasting as little energy as possible.

The counter kept climbing higher.

Forty-eight.

Forty-nine.

SWISH!

The fiftieth laser shot straight at his hips.

Derrick jumped sideways to avoid it, but as his feet hit the padded floor, he realized his mistake.

It was a trap.

The angle forced him into an awkward, off-balance stance.

Before he could adjust his feet, three red beams shot out from three different sides all at once.

Derrick twisted his body sharply and ducked low.

He managed to clear the first two beams, but the third one grazed his skin.

A sharp, burning pain zapped through his arm like a whip.

Derrick hissed, pulling his arm back as his knee hit the ground.

On the wall display, the counter flashed once and reset back to zero.

Keira’s voice came through the speaker, sounding entirely casual.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," she said. "The lasers hurt if you let them touch you."

Derrick gritted his teeth, rubbing his stinging skin.

"You don’t say," he replied sarcastically, glaring straight up at the glass window.

Behind the controls, Keira merely grinned and watched as the drones reset to fire all over again.

The drones repositioned themselves.

Red beams lit up the dim room once more.

Derrick shook off the sting in his arm and got back into position.

During the first hour, it was pure agony.

The program was designed to break his habits. Every time he got comfortable, the drones changed their timing.

They laid trap within traps.

A fast beam to force a jump. A low beam to catch his landing. A barrage from behind the moment his back turned.

He got hit again and again.

At point thirty, a beam scorched his shoulder. Back to zero.

At point forty-five, a twin blast clipped his ankle. Back to zero.

Sweat soaked through his shirt. Red, stinging singe marks covered his arms and back.

Keira watched silently from behind the glass, resting her chin on her hand, occasionally sipping a drink.

"You’re reacting after they fire," her voice rang out over the speaker. "By then, it’s already too late."

Derrick wiped the sweat from his forehead and closed his eyes for three seconds.

She was right.

He was relying on his eyes and speed, but light was faster than muscle.

When the second hour started, Derrick changed his approach.

He stopped looking directly at the red beams. Instead, he relied on other senses to see if there were any changes before signaling the firing of a laser.

Before a drone fired, its thrusters shifted slightly. Its body angled by a fraction of a millimeter.

He began reading the drones, not the lasers.

His movements became much more fluid than before.

He didn’t jump when a simple tilt of his torso was enough. He didn’t take a large step when slipping half an inch to the side spared his energy.

Fifty points. Sixty points.

The room turned into a chaotic grid of red lines. The drones were firing four at a time now, the high-pitched hum of energy filling the air.

At point seventy-eight, a low beam grazed his calf.

BZZT!

Pain shot up his leg. The digital counter on the wall flashed red and reset to zero.

Damn it! Just how many times do I have to keep repeating it. Derrick almost punched the padded floor.

He gritted his teeth, forced a deep breath into his burning lungs, and stood back up.

By the third hour, fatigue was heavy in his limbs, but his mind had gone dead quiet.

He entered a state of pure rhythm.

He didn’t think about the score. He didn’t think about the pain on his skin.

The drones buzzed, shifted, and fired.

Derrick moved like a shadow through a forest of red light.

Ten. Thirty. Sixty.

Eighty points.

The drones went wild.

They accelerated to maximum speed, dropping lower, swirling around him in tight circles.

Lasers crisscrossed the room like a solid wall of fire.

Ninety points.

Derrick ducked beneath a horizontal beam, spun past two vertical blasts, and dropped flat onto his chest as a grid swept over his head.

Ninety-five.

Three drones converged directly above him, pointing their lenses down. Another two rushed him from the front and back.

A complete kill box.

The air hissed as all five fired at once.

Derrick didn’t freeze.

He pushed off the floor with his hands, twisting his body mid-air through the narrow gap between the crossing beams, landing softly on his feet.

Ninety-nine.

The final drone hovered right in front of his face, its lens glowing bright red.

It fired.

Derrick tilted his head just a hair to the left. The beam brushed past his ear, singeing a few strands of hair.

DING!

A loud chime echoed through the speakers.

The glowing red beams vanished instantly. The drones cut their power and floated back up to lock into the ceiling.

On the wall display, the big bold numbers glowed bright green: 100.

Derrick collapsed onto the padded floor, breathing heavily, his chest heaving up and down.

Through the glass wall, Keira slowly clapped her hands, a genuine grin on her face.