Chapter 203: I Want to Fight Him

There were various concepts related to striking- lovestruck, starstruck, and what have you. But there was never an instance- I stand to be corrected- where there was something like battlestruck or warstruck, or fightstruck. Maybe deathstruck.

Okay, enough with the strikes.

Kelvina, after watching that video recording of Silas and Echidna’s battle, had become "battlestruck." In her sleep, she would mutter, "I want to fight him." When eating, "I want to fight him."

Even when she visited the bathroom, "I want to fight him so bad!"

Anytime she said that, she would blush profusely, as though blood had rushed up to her brain. She was officially far gone into the realms of madness- not as if she was sane in the first place.

The problem was that the dummy was boring. It was not weak or poorly designed- just boring.

Kelvina stood in the middle of one of West Town Saints Academy’s special private training rooms, breathing heavily as fragments of a shattered training construct lay scattered across the floor.

The room itself was enormous.

It had been specifically designed for S-Rank students, with reinforced walls, mana-dampening barriers, regenerative flooring, and a simulation system capable of reproducing the abilities of high-level awakened.

Ordinary students weren’t even permitted to enter.

Kelvina didn’t care. She was currently having the time of her life, or, at least, she was supposed to be. She raised one of her enormous swords.

"Again."

The training system responded immediately.

[Simulation Restarting!]

[Target: Silas Ashard.]

[Ability Simulation: Thread Manipulation.]

[Simulation Accuracy: 41%.]

Kelvina’s golden eyes gleamed.

"Forty-one percent?" She smiled. "Pathetic."

The room shifted as mana flowed through the walls. The scattered debris vanished, replaced by a pristine battlefield. Across from Kelvina, a figure appeared. She had pink hair, pink eyes, wore silver-and-blue armor, and held two daggers.

It looked remarkably similar to Silas- remarkably- but Kelvina immediately noticed the difference, causing her smile to disappear.

"You’re not him."

The dummy raised its hand, pink threads appearing around its fingers. Kelvina’s eyes lit up again.

"Show me."

The dummy moved. Several threads shot toward her. Kelvina swung one of her massive swords.

CLANG!

The threads snapped against the blade, but another wave came from the opposite direction. She spun and deflected them one after another. Then the dummy suddenly vanished.

Kelvina’s eyes widened. "Behind me."

She ducked swiftly, and a thread passed over her head.

"Better." She grinned.

She turned and swung both swords simultaneously.

BOOOOOOM!

The dummy was smashed into the ground, but the simulation immediately reconstructed it. If Silas were here, he would’ve definitely crashed out. He was being used as a test subject.

"Again." But Kelvina didn’t know about that; neither did she care. She was just focused on fighting Silas.

The dummy attacked, and Kelvina attacked. Threads filled the room, while her enormous swords moved like extensions of her body.

Every strike was heavy enough to shake the training chamber, every dodge was precise, and every time the dummy attempted to imitate Silas’s Thread Manipulation, Kelvina adapted. Eventually, the dummy’s head exploded.

The simulation stopped.

[Simulation Complete!]

[Victory!]

[Combat Time: 3 minutes, 14 seconds!]

[Damage Received: 0%.]

Kelvina stared at the results and frowned.

"Boring."

The system paused.

[Would you like to increase difficulty?]

"Yes."

[Difficulty increased.]

"Again."

[Simulation Accuracy increased to 50%.]

"Again."

[Simulation Accuracy increased to 60%.]

"Again."

[Simulation Accuracy increased to 70%.]

Kelvina’s smile returned.

"Now we’re getting somewhere."

The dummy appeared again, and this time, hundreds of threads immediately filled the room. Kelvina’s eyes widened.

"YES!"

She charged.

The first thread came toward her face; she tilted her head. The second wrapped around her ankle, and she jumped. The third came from above; she crossed her swords.

CLANG!

The thread wrapped around one blade. Kelvina pulled, dragging the dummy toward her.

"Got you." She grinned and swung her other blade. The dummy barely escaped.

Kelvina’s eyes widened. It had actually dodged. Then another thread wrapped around her wrist.

"Interesting." She looked down. The thread suddenly tightened, and Kelvina’s body was yanked sideways, flying several meters away.

Instead of panicking, she laughed.

"HAHAHAHA!"

She twisted in midair and struck the floor with her swords. The impact stopped her momentum and launched her forward.

"COME ON!"

The dummy created a web of threads, but Kelvina charged directly into it, the threads wrapping around her, one around her arm, two around her waist, and three around her legs.

The simulation registered restraints.

[Movement restricted!]

Kelvina’s eyes widened- only for a second, then she started laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

She flexed, the muscles in her arms tightening. Her aura exploded.

"IS THAT ALL?!"

BOOOOOOM!

The threads snapped, and Kelvina emerged from the web like a monster breaking out of a cage. The dummy took a step backward.

Kelvina saw it, and her smile became almost feral.

"You’re learning."

She raised her swords.

"Good."

She charged. Several minutes later, the training room was destroyed.

Again.

The simulation ended automatically.

[Training environment integrity: 12%.]

[Emergency reconstruction recommended.]

Kelvina stood in the middle of the wreckage, breathing heavily. Her hair had come loose from its braids. Sweat ran down her forehead. She looked happy, very happy.

But then her smile slowly faded. She looked at the dummy.

"Still not enough."

She walked toward it. The simulated Silas stood silently. Kelvina stared into its pink eyes.

"You don’t fight like him."

The dummy didn’t answer.

"Your threads are predictable."

Nothing.

"You don’t improvise."

Nothing.

"You don’t adapt."

Nothing.

Kelvina’s grip tightened around her swords.

"And you definitely don’t have that ridiculous smile."

She paused.

Her cheeks suddenly became red.

"Why did I mention the smile?"

The system remained silent.

Kelvina looked away.

"Forget I said that."

[Statement recorded!]

"DELETE IT!"

[Unable to comply.]

"Tch! Stupid system."

She turned back toward the dummy, her expression becoming serious again.

"I want to fight the real one."

She lifted one of her massive swords and rested it against her shoulder.

"Not some simulation."

Her eyes gleamed.

"I want to see how those threads actually move."

She remembered the recording. Silas fighting Echidna, the way his threads moved, the way he adapted, the way he fought against something vastly more experienced, the way he’d switched between weapons, the way he’d used his body when his mana was nearly exhausted, and the moment his wing appeared.

Kelvina’s breathing became heavier, not from exhaustion, but from excitement.

"I want to know..." She smiled. "...how strong he really is."

Then she suddenly blushed.

"And I want to fight him."

She covered her face.

"Again."

She lowered her hands.

"I really want to fight him."

A pause.

"So badly."

Her face became crimson.

"Why am I blushing?!"

The training system remained completely silent. Kelvina pointed at it.

"Don’t you dare judge me."

[No judgment detected.]

"Good."

She walked toward the exit and stopped. She looked back at the destroyed simulation.

"Tomorrow."

Her smile became terrifyingly excited.

"Increase the simulation accuracy."

[Maximum available accuracy: 85%.]

Kelvina’s eyes widened.

"Only eighty-five?"

[Correct.]

She smiled. "Then I’ll make do."

She opened the door.

"And when I meet the real Silas..."

She paused.

Her expression became almost reverent.

"I’ll find out whether the real thing is as amazing as that recording."

The door closed behind her. The training system remained active, and the simulated Silas stood alone in the ruined room. After several seconds, the system displayed a final notification.

[Simulation target has been defeated 17 consecutive times.]

[User Kelvina Bradley remains unsatisfied.]

[Recommendation: Seek actual combat.]

If the system had possessed emotions, it probably would have been worried.