Elgan narrowed his eyes at the speaking guardian. Its dissimulated taunts had stopped the moment it realized the young student was paying attention. That open grin wouldn't fall off his shit-ass face.

Honestly... Elgan felt terribly irritated by its demeanor, he couldn't manage to grasp the reason a training dummy would be behaving likewise. In what sense would that help someone grow?.. Maybe he was looking at it the wrong way, the reason it acted that way was part of the challenge, to begin with, wanting to push Elgan away from his rationality, making him lose his cool and step again inside the ring for yet another beatdown.

A test for his ability to think on combat, to know when to retreat. Was it something like that? Elgan wouldn't stay there to know.

"Fuck you."

The student lifted his middle finger at the guardian who frowned in response. Maybe if it wasn't for the fact that the pain had yet to completely recede, Elgan would have been fooled into fighting him again. Alas as said, the constant piercing reminding on his bones wouldn't allow him to forget the difference in power between the two.

The moment the young student turned his back to the challenge a message popped up from his holo-watch, his eyes narrowed.

Challenge failed. No penalty administered.

'No penalty, huh?'

Luke had mentioned something along the lines of having a free day as a new student to help him grow accustommed to the workings of the level. That was probably it... The student didn't invest any more attention on the matter and continued walking.

Despite Elgan still being fairly curious about the rest of facilities, he had something else to take care off... Not suffocating the vacuum of knowledge in his mind, not that anymore, it was something else. More primal, the most terrible wound he had received was to his pride as an individual. He had been witness to two combats that day. The first, Nieve's, an unexpected display of raw power and might, completely shattering his perception of someone who seemed utterly normal to him. The reason he had decided to take the challenge then and there was to test himself against her, and the result had been obvious. A complete and utter defeat at the hands of someone far too powerful, biting more than he could chew.

He understood the way he felt, but the urge was too big. Now uncontrolled and unrestrained, Elgan felt the unquenchable desire to punch the fuck out of something.

With his head down, lgan descended down the silver path, accepting the fact he would have to start from the very bottom instead of jumping levels as he so desired. Gazing around as he descended, he realized the ammount of silver paths branching around the mountain, all reaching otherwise innaccessible areas of its inclined surface. That with the fact that most students inside Summit were currently practicing along the mid-lower section of the peak.

After almost fifteen minutes of descent through the empty silver paths, Elgan arrived at the lower section of Summit. A vast expanse of colorless fields extends in a ring around the mountain itself, with sprawling white-leaved trees every now and then. He had managed to discern the ammount of low-index arenas up from the top of the mountain, making a rough estimate of five. A false estimate at that, as soon as he opened the map application a thread indicated exactly which arena was it that he would have to use first. Apparently, indexed number 1 was not that far from him.

'Let's go then.'

Walking around the fields, Elgan arrived at the sorroundings of the stage. To his surprise it was also the first one he had seen when entering the room. The students previously fighting on it had been gone for long, leaving a lonesome pristine expanse before him. Only the far clanging of metal proved he wasn't the only one under that dome. Or was he?

What was the difference after all..?

Elgan stepped onto the shining platform, a similar message to the one before popped up except this time it was level 0. Starting from scratch, he assumed a combat stance, prepared for what was about to come.

| Bang |

The same object was ejected from the center of the platform, persecuted by a flood of metallic fluid, a shape started forming in midair.

'Remember.'

The shape of this monster, its attributes. Elgan had seen a duo practicing together in this same arena before, the monster itself shouldn't have changed... So it was-

Elgan's eye opened wholly as the creature ends taking shape. An ear-to-ear grin was drawn on its face.

["Nice to see you didn't run away at the end."]

The humanoid beast shouted as it leaped on the ground, running at neck-breaking speeds towards the paralyzed Elgan.

'Shit.'

The challenger had not been careful, he had not been careful with his distance and now he was too far away to run towards the edge of the platform. Elgan attempted blocking the kick, only to realize the arm on set said wouldn't answer his calls. Now too late to fend himself off impact, the shadow emerged from the front of the student connecting an almost instant kick to his lateral torso, sending Elgan flying in the air, more importantly, towards the center, the guardian's domain.

["Stand up kid!"]

Even though Elgan's ears were submerged in a constant cacophony he managed to hear the guardian's mechanical voice.

Just when his body was about to halt from rolling along the cold steel floor, before he could muster the strength to stand up, another kick was delivered to his stomach. This time, he managed to grasp the plate's surface, preventing him from losing his sense of orientation and enabling him to stand up faster.

His legs trembled and were unable to raise him, being on the receiving end for less than a few seconds had been enough to bring Elgan to his knees. If only he had room to breathe he could do something, but the inhuman speed and force behind each of the attacks were far too devastating. Elgan prepared to block another punch incoming, this time directed at his jaw, Elgan's arms moved as fast as they could to stop the incoming impact...

| Crack |

A burst of pain claimed his body, the sounds of bones cracking along his arms. The shouts of agony didn't muffle the guardian's voice though. It hurt so much, yet Elgan could not let go of his defensive position.

["Stand up as you did back there!"]

Another punch hit, this time Elgan untensed his elbows and shoulders allowing the recoil to run through his arms, reducing the damage done in the process.

'Shit, Shit, Shit.'

After an unending barrage of impacts, Elgan received a kick to his stomach. Clenching his jaw, the student ignored the pain in his legs and moved backward, nearing the end of the field with the intent of exiting the arena the moment the distance reduced.

'A little bit more...'

Something on his back, a strong presence, Elgan's eye shifted to his rear, having lost the dummy out of sight for a few seconds and had allowed it to flank him.

Can't run.

The shadow's kick almost forces Elgan into a straight knockout, but he manages to not fall unconscious. The damage was done, he didn't dodge and now was his turn. Instead of cowering in fear or bracing for impact, Elgan instinctively shifts to a hostile demeanor in the hopes of catching its confident opponent at a disadvantage. Elgan wipes the floor with his leg as he takes a hold of the guardian's shoulder. Its smile dims, and the two combatants fall to the ground.

"UGhgg-ghh"

...

'Impossible.'

It's now that Elgan realizes the forsaken guardian wasn't even using its whole strength. The difference in raw power, weight, size, Elgan is at a complete disadvantage. Spinning around overwhelmed y the difference, Elgan lays on the floor in the least advantageous position, his seconds are numbered, but he refuses to give up.

He is being choked, the dummy's body is too heavy to lift. Staring at the black metallic surface of its plane face, bubbles arise on its surface, a hallucination, Elgan can see for a moment that same wicked smile. That smile...

Too weakened to care about the meaning of anything, Elgan's eyelid begins to close, blacking out... In the end, he couldn't free himself.

...

He can still feel something, so he has yet to lose consciousness. He can feel it in that hole of numbness, his jaw bulging, clenching around something. The object cracks within his mouth. Suddenly air flows back inside his lungs. Within all the blur of colors, his gaze set on the black puddle covering him, pieces of synthetic bone falling from his mouth, something akin. A message hovers next to him.

You have successfully completed challenge 0. Unlocked arena-0 control board. Awarded 100 credits.

Elgan doesn't give a shit though. A big headache assaults his mind when he tries to get up, falling back to the ground, weakened, manages to walk outside the plate and crumbles into the cushion of grass.