He dashed forward and threw a wild, untrained punch at the ice puppet.
The puppet sidestepped smoothly. His fist cut through nothing but cold air.
'It's too quick!' Alex thought, frustration flaring. 'I have to hit it. Come on!'
He kept attacking, swinging again and again with raw power. Left hook, right straight, another desperate hook. Each strike missed by a fraction.
After the seventh swing, the puppet struck back.
A sharp palm slammed into his chest.
"Ugh!" The impact lifted him off his feet and sent him skidding backward across the stone floor. He crashed down onto his knees, groaning as pain exploded through his ribs.
'That hurt like hell…'
Before he could recover, the puppet was already closing in again.
"Lower your stance," Dan Seol-hwa's calm voice echoed through the hall. "Rotate your hips when you punch. Don't rely only on your arms."
Alex gritted his teeth. 'That's one way to tell someone to move their ass.'
He adjusted his footing and lunged forward.
This time the punch carried real weight. It connected solidly with the puppet's shoulder. A small crack appeared on the ice.
'Finally!'
The puppet retaliated instantly, landing several quick, precise blows across his ribs and stomach.
His breathing hitched for a moment as pain flared, but a surge of excitement ran through him.
"Exhale on impact," she instructed calmly, as if she couldn't see him getting beaten black and blue.
Alex followed her words immediately. He twisted his hips, exhaled sharply, and drove another fist forward. The punch landed cleaner than the last.
'She's right… It feels stronger this way.'
For the next twenty minutes, the training hall rang with the constant thud of fists on ice and flesh.
"Keep your guard tighter."
"Step forward with the punch."
"Eyes on the center of mass."
Alex listened and obeyed as best he could. He still took heavy hits — each one sending fresh spikes of pain through his body — but he was improving.
His stance widened.
His movements grew sharper.
Every successful strike made his blood burn hotter.
Sweat and blood streaked his face. His tactical vest was torn in several places. Every breath felt like fire in his lungs.
'Just a little more… I can do this.'
With a hoarse roar, he twisted his entire body, put every ounce of strength he had left into the motion, and drove his fist straight through the ice puppet's chest.
The construct shattered into thousands of glittering fragments that rained across the floor.
Alex stood for half a second, chest heaving violently.
[Host Alex, you have completed a minor quest: First Spar.]
[+1 Experience, +1 Dominion Point.]
A tired smile crossed his lips. "I did it…"
His vision blurred and his legs gave out.
He collapsed forward, his body covered in blood and bruises.
Dan Seol-hwa stared at his unconscious body and mumbled, "His talent is not that bad."
Alex's body rose gently off the ground as she lifted him using her internal energy and walked out of the training hall.
---
Alex woke up to the soft, melodic sound of the zither.
Groaning, he slowly sat up on the low wooden bed.
The room was simple yet elegant — ice walls that shimmered faintly under the pale light filtering through a narrow paper-screen window, a small wooden table in the corner holding a single burning incense stick, and a few ancient martial scrolls hanging neatly on the far wall. The air carried a crisp, cold scent of snow and pine.
His gaze landed on Dan Seol-hwa sitting gracefully by the window, her fingers gliding across the strings of the grand black wood zither.
'Damn…' He fell into a trance.
The pale light made her long white hair glow ethereally. Her flawless features looked almost unreal in that quiet moment. He simply continued to stare, unable to look away.
A few minutes later, without turning her head, she stopped her fingers and spoke softly.
"As my disciple, you should wear the palace's attire."
Alex snapped out of the trance, coughing awkwardly. "Y-Yeah."
His eyes fell on the neatly folded white and blue martial robe of the North Sea Ice Palace placed beside him. He stood up and noticed that most of his injuries had nearly healed.
'Did she heal me with her internal energy?'
A small smile formed on his lips.
He picked up the martial robe and mumbled, "Umm… Palace Master, I have to change."
She turned her head toward him. "What about it?" A faint smirk appeared on her lips. "You think I care about your childish body?"
Alex's face turned bright red. He frantically shook his head. "Obviously not! I wouldn't dare think of you in such a way!"
She nodded calmly and returned her attention to the zither.
He quickly undressed and put on the new robe, stealing occasional glances at her. Once he finished adjusting the robes, she spoke again.
"How long are you going to stay here?"
His lips dropped into a frown and instead of answering her, he asked, "Master. Do you want to leave this place?"
Dan Seol-hwa glanced at him for a few long silent seconds then she rose to her feet and said softly, "Follow me."
Alex nodded.
They walked out of the resting quarters together and moved through the silent corridors of the palace until they reached an open courtyard.
The sight before him made Alex stop breathing for a moment.
Hundreds of swords, spears, and other weapons were stuck straight into the frozen ground, their blades gleaming coldly under the pale sky. It looked like a garden of steel.
Dan Seol-hwa stopped at the edge of the field.
"This used to be a garden where my disciple harvested Pale Ice Lily…" Her voice was quiet, almost distant. "Now it is full of their graves."
She turned her head to him, a faint smile creased her lips and her blue eyes carried a depth of sorrow he had never seen before.
"I cannot leave this place. As the Palace Master, I must accompany my children."
Alex fell to his knees and lowered his head to the ground. "I shall follow your will."
A genuine smile crossed her lips.