[Ren POV]
The warehouse was quiet when we stepped into the arena.
No walls. No crowd. Just the wide concrete floor and the containment barrier I had set up earlier. The thing gave off a low hum around the training space, ready to catch whatever damage we threw at it.
Marasuki took off her coat and rolled her sleeves up. Old scars crossed her arms, pale against muscle. Her wolf tail flicked once behind her, controlled and slow.
"You ready?" I asked, stretching my arms over my head.
She only nodded and rolled her neck until it cracked.
That was not a good sign. Smug I could deal with. Calm was worse.
I walked to the center of the arena and tapped the floor control with my boot. The barrier closed around us with a dull buzz, sealing the training space properly.
"No weapons. No powers," I said. "Hands only."
"I know." She stepped forward. "Try not to cry when I slam you into the floor."
"Heh." I grinned. "People say that to me a lot. Just don't go for the stomach. Still healing."
Marasuki raised an eyebrow, then gave a short nod. "Noted."
Then she moved faster than I expected, even after seeing her fight before.
I slipped past the first jab, stepped around a low sweep, and threw a quick cross toward her ribs. She caught my wrist before it landed, twisted, and flipped me onto my back like I weighed nothing.
I hit the floor hard and rolled before her heel smashed into the spot where my head had been.
Okay. Strong, fast, and annoying.
I pushed myself up and kept my breathing steady. My ribs ached, but that was normal.
"Done testing me?" she asked, tail swaying behind her.
"Not even close."
I went in again, low this time. I faked a left hook and spun into a knee aimed at her side. She blocked with her forearm, grabbed my leg, and threw me across the barrier.
I bounced once and skidded across the floor.
"Ow."
Veteran fighter. Not just strong. Experienced. She moved like a beastkin who had survived too many bad fights. Controlled aggression, strange angles, and worst of all, she used her tail like a third arm.
She came in again. I ducked under her guard and landed two quick strikes to her side, then a palm strike under her chin. Her tail snapped around and slammed into my ribs.
Not my stomach.
I winced, but I noticed. She was holding back, not with strength, but with aim.
Then she was behind me. One arm locked around my throat. Her weight shifted, and the floor rushed up before I could stop it.
Pinned.
Shit.
I drove an elbow into her side. She flinched, just enough. I twisted hard, broke the hold, and we rolled across the floor before scrambling back up at the same time.
Both of us were breathing harder now.
"Still with me?" she asked.
"I've fought worse." I spat a little blood to the side. "Not many, though."
She smirked. "You fight like someone who's hunted beastkin before."
"You fight like someone who survived every hunt."
We clashed again. Punches, blocks, kicks, shoulder checks. I used every trick I knew against fast opponents. Cut the angle. Watch the hips. Do not chase the tail. Break the balance before the next strike comes.
It worked for about ten seconds before she adapted. Her counters got faster, cleaner, and meaner.
Before I even knew I was falling, she kicked my legs out and locked me into another hold.
"Yield?" she asked.
I tapped her arm. "Yield."
She let go immediately and offered me a hand.
I took it. "Damn. You weren't kidding."
"You're not bad," she said.
"That sounded almost nice."
"But I've been fighting longer than you've been breathing."
"Yeah. There it is."
We stood in the middle of the barrier for a moment, catching our breath.
"That was fun," I said.
Marasuki nodded. "Needed it."
"Still don't like relaxing?"
"Relaxing makes you soft."
I chuckled. "Guess you'll stay sharp forever, then."
Her tail went still.
"Until my revenge is over."
That killed the joke fast.
"Right," I said. "Sorry."
She walked to a crate and grabbed a towel, wiping sweat from her face.
"You want to know why I asked for this spar?"
"I figured you were pissed at me."
"That too." She leaned against the crate. "Mostly, I needed to hit something. And I needed something to hit back."
"Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Maybe."
Silence sat between us for a while. The barrier hummed around the arena.
Then her voice dropped.
"Years ago, I had a unit. Special recon. Thirteen of us. I handpicked every single one."
I looked up. "The ones Riley killed?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It was supposed to be a simple intercept job. Then she tore through them like they were nothing. I was the only one who got out."
"Shit."
Marasuki did not cry. Did not shake. But her tail coiled so tight it looked painful.
"One of them was Akari. She wasn't even a front-line fighter. Scout. Barely twenty. Loved squid. Ate it every chance she got. Kept saying she'd open a restaurant one day. Some floating kitchen barge on the eastern coast."
Her jaw tightened.
"They weren't just soldiers. They were people. Riley took them from me."
"I'm sorry," I said. "For all of them."
"I don't want pity."
"I know."
"I want justice." She looked down at her hands. "But that wasn't what the spar was about either."
"Then what was it about?"
She took a slow breath.
"To remind myself I'm still strong. That even after losing everything, I can still stand."
I looked at her properly then.
Marasuki was not just stronger than me in hand-to-hand. She was carrying a graveyard behind her and still walking like it was weight she had chosen.
And I thought I had problems.
"Well," I said, rolling my sore shoulder, "next time we fight, I'm bringing my swords."
She gave me a small grin. "Next time, I'll bring two tails."
I snorted. "That sounds illegal."
"It would be effective."
We shared a tired laugh, and I shut the barrier down.
The warehouse lights buzzed overhead. No big answer. No clean ending. Just two bruised people standing in a training room, both too stubborn to stay down.
Good enough.
'Guess I don't have to worry about the mission as much.'
I watched Marasuki head up the stairs into the living space. Her footsteps faded above me.
Then I turned back to the arena.
With a flick of my wrist, all four swords appeared in front of me.
Hou Yao. Ors. Heian Emo. Fushi Emo.
They hovered in the air with a low hum. Familiar. Heavy in a way normal steel never was.
Not just weapons. Mine.
I stepped back into the training space and tapped the floor control again. The barrier sealed. This time I darkened it from the outside, cutting off the view.
No audience, no noise, no expectations. Just me and the swords.
The dome dimmed to black. Floor lights came on in faint blue rings around me, just bright enough to see. The swords floated in front of me, catching the light along their edges.
I stripped down to my trousers and sports bra. Sweat from the spar still clung to my skin, but I ignored it. Comfort was not the point.
I sat cross-legged in the middle of the dome and closed my eyes.
I focused on the swords and reached for them, not with my hands, but with my Soul Power.
What are you, really?
They were not normal weapons. Not enchanted junk from some old vault. They had answered me before. Moved with me. Reacted before I even fully understood the order.
Soul Power? Instinct? Bloodline?
The hum dropped lower, deep enough that I felt it in my chest.
Come on. Show me more.
One of the blades twitched.
Hou Yao. Of course it was Hou Yao.
"Impatient bastard," I muttered.
The sword shifted again. Not just floating this time, but moving with purpose. Listening, maybe.
I opened my eyes.
All four blades were circling me now, slow and steady, like they had been waiting for me to stop being stupid.
My breath caught for a second, not from fear. More from realizing the gun in your hand has been loaded the whole time.
"They really do listen," I said quietly.
I reached out and took Hou Yao by the hilt. The other three settled behind me with one thought.
The floor control lit up. Projectors hidden around the barrier clicked on, and holograms appeared inside the dome one by one. They shimmered at first, then sharpened into enemies I knew.
Not perfect copies. Close enough.
I knew those stances. Those weapons. Those mistakes. Those faces.
The training dome shifted the light into battlefield dusk. Shadows stretched across the floor.
I rolled my shoulders and lifted Hou Yao.
"Alright," I said. "Let's see how much I remember."
Then I charged.