Chapter 216: Atlas Training Camp [I]

The next day started early.

Kalon woke to a message from Atlas with a location pin and a short instruction line.

[Good Morning Mr Manchester. There is a day training camp being held by Atlas Entertainment Veterans today for all newcomers with upcoming fights. Attendance is highly recommended. We hope to see you there!]

He got ready without wasting time and left the high-rise while the streets were still filling up.

The camp was not inside the main Atlas headquarters. It sat on the edge of the city in a private complex of reinforced halls, open sparring yards, and recovery blocks.

Atlas Entertainment used it for fighter preparation, media conditioning, and the kind of internal testing that never made it onto public broadcasts.

In other words, it was a place for the atlas fighters to train whilst avoiding the media. This prevented opponents from discovering their secrets until they were publicly shown in professional bouts.

By the time Kalon arrived, the place was already busy.

Dozens of newcomers and recently signed fighters moved between the yards in training gear.

Some looked sharp. Others looked nervous.

Staff in Atlas colours directed people toward different zones depending on rank, booking date, and evaluation type.

On one side of the main yard, a line of veteran fighters stood in a loose group, watching the arrivals without much expression.

These were not just your usual academy instructors that Kalon was used to. These were people who had survived years in the professional combat scene and still held active records under the organisation.

Kalon had barely stepped through the gate before he heard his name.

"That’s Manchester."

"The one who said he’d beat the Ten Dragons."

"He’s fighting Moniqart in less than a week."

A few heads turned towards him. Someone continued whispering under their breath. Someone else muttered that Atlas must have been brave or very confident to put a fresh signing against an Eighth Dragon so quickly.

Kalon ignored most of it and followed the staff route toward the evaluation board.

His name was listed under the morning combat readiness group.

That group was small. Eight newcomers with official fights inside the next two weeks.

Their test would not be drills or form work. The board made that clear.

Veteran fighters would pressure them directly in controlled exchanges to check timing, composure, skill deployment, and whether they folded once real force entered the cage.

While Kalon stood reading the board, a voice spoke beside him.

"You look calmer than the rest of them."

Kalon turned.

The speaker was a young man around his age, maybe a year older, with short blonde hair, a solid frame, and tape already wrapped across both hands. His Atlas gear looked newly issued, but he wore it like someone used to training hard. There was no hostility in his expression. He was friendly.

"Kai Renn," the man said, offering a brief nod. "Signed last month. I’ve got a mid-card match in nine days. You’re Manchester."

"Just Kalon is fine. It’s good to meet you."

Kai glanced toward the veterans, then back at him.

"Half the yard has been talking about you since the interview clip. The other half has been talking about whether Oliver Moniqart is going to make an example out of you. Thought I should at least speak to the person instead of the noise, hehe."

Kalon studied him for a second. Most people either stared, challenged, or tried to attach themselves for attention. Kai did none of that. He spoke straight forwardly.

"What are they saying?" Kalon asked.

Kai shrugged once.

"That you’re either the real thing or the fastest rising mistake Atlas has made all year. A few of the veterans think the Moniqart booking is punishment for the Ten Dragons comment. A few others think Atlas wants the spectacle and believes you can survive it."

Before Kalon could answer, another cluster of newcomers passed behind them, still talking.

"He erased an arm in the duo tournament."

"That was darkness. Then ice. Then light. The footage is everywhere."

"Doesn’t matter. Moniqart is a Dragon. He’s a veteran in this game bro."

Kai watched them go with a mild look.

"You get used to it," he said. "Or you don’t. Either way, they keep talking."

A staff official called the readiness group forward.

Kalon and Kai moved with the others into the main sparring hall. The space was built for serious work: high ceiling, reinforced floor plates, observation glass along one wall, and four marked cages already powered with a death prevention field.

Veterans entered from the far side and took positions near the centre. Their presence changed the air immediately.

One of them, a masculine looking woman with a long battle scar down her forearm, addressed the group without raising her voice.

"You all have fights coming. That means there’s no more space for fucking around. Today we check whether you freeze, rush, or actually fight when someone better than you starts applying pressure. You will enter alone. A veteran will attack you. You will use skills. The death-prevention is active, so no need for holding back. If you waste the exchange, you fail the readiness mark and your booking, and place within the organisation might be revoked by Atlas himself."

A few of the newcomers shifted where they stood.

Kai leaned slightly toward Kalon.

"Revoked? Isn’t that a bit harsh?"

Kalon nodded once.

Staff began assigning cage numbers. Names went up on the side board.

Kalon listened while the yard continued to murmur around him, still returning to the same points: the Ten Dragons interview, the Moniqart fight, the speed of his rise, the question of whether Atlas had put too much weight on him too soon.

Of all their fights, his was by far the most daring.

Through all of it, Kai stayed beside him without trying to force conversation, the first person on Earth in a long time who approached him like he was a normal human.

The scarred veteran pointed toward the first cage.

"Group One. Step in."

That was Kalon.

He walked toward the cage with the noise of the camp still following him, Kai watching from the side, the veterans already set to begin the test.