Ash couldn’t believe it—he’d completed the training module by sheer accident! For a moment, he just stared at the screen, bewildered. How had he met the requirements without even trying?

Curious, he attempted to go through the Blackbird's training again, and each time, he met the program’s strict benchmarks with ease. Try as he might, he couldn't figure out exactly what he'd done right. But rather than puzzle over it for too long, he shrugged it off. Improvement was improvement, after all, and that meant no organic paste for a week!

Without lingering, Ash logged out of the virtual network. The steel ball training still awaited him—a relentless regimen that Rune had reinstated since Winnie’s injury. If anything, this training had taught Ash that sheer speed wasn’t everything.

Meanwhile, Sarah was nearby, softly comforting Lily, who still looked pale and shaken. Sarah’s mind raced with a mix of gratitude and curiosity toward Ash—thankfully, he had caught Lily before she’d stumbled too far. But as she remembered how he’d covered ground faster than even she could, a faint unease crept in, soon replaced by curiosity. How had his skills improved so quickly? Had he been hiding his true abilities all along?

Lily, delicate and slender, seemed especially vulnerable today, her usually composed face pale as she clung tightly to Sarah. Her dark hair fell messily around her shoulders, framing the fragile resolve in her eyes. Sarah gently brushed a few strands from Lily's face, and Lily suddenly broke down, quietly sobbing. Sarah stroked her shoulder, her expression one of a protective older sister. Though only a few days apart in age, Lily had always looked to Sarah for strength, following her lead since they were children.

“Come on, Lily,” Sarah soothed. “Let’s head home.” She hugged her close as they left, her mind flitting briefly to Ash. Did he recognize her back there? She wasn’t sure, and a strange feeling unsettled her.

The next day, Ash’s training resumed in a new room. Being his first time in this particular program, he was clumsy, his moves deliberate but awkward. Engrossed in his routine, he didn’t notice two unexpected observers who had quietly slipped in.

Sarah’s jaw nearly dropped at the sight of Ash fumbling through the basics. Was this really the same YC who had left her on edge yesterday? To see him training here was surprising enough, but to watch him struggle through movements she had mastered at eight or nine left her completely bewildered.

“Did he never learn the basics?” she wondered. “Or did he just skip them entirely?” If he knew nothing of these fundamentals, how had he pulled off that random-wave leap so flawlessly? Could it all have been luck?

All Sarah knew was that Ash was becoming stranger by the day.

Lily, standing beside her, was also engrossed, her eyes fixed intently on Ash’s determined figure, though her expression was unreadable.

After a long pause, Sarah turned to her cousin. “Lily, aren’t you training today?” she teased. “Or are you still scared from yesterday?”

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Lily’s face flushed bright red. “Oh... no! I... I’m just about to start!” She scrambled into her Blackbird, her movements unsteady as she took off in a hurry.

Sarah watched Lily’s Mech wobble, her own stomach knotting as she wondered if it might come crashing down at any moment. “Lily, just stay calm,” she called out. “I’m here watching over you.”

Inside the training area, Lily glanced around, looking entirely lost.

“Lily, what’s wrong?” Sarah’s voice came through the comm.

With a hint of panic, Lily replied, “Sarah, I... I think I forgot everything from yesterday!” Her tone was almost pleading.

Sarah put a hand to her forehead, stifling a laugh as she shook her head in exasperation.

Ash, however, remained blissfully unaware of his spectators. Engrossed in his rigorous training, he muttered under his breath, “I’m going to eat real meat this week... real meat.” Rune’s requirements were tough—Ash knew they were likely pushing his Blackbird’s limits.

Repeating the same mind-numbing drills over and over, Ash lost track of time. Only Rune’s quiet voice reminded him when the session was finally over, and he suddenly realized just how hungry he was.

He quickly logged out, leaving Sarah and Lily to gaze at the empty space where he’d been.

From that day onward, two silent observers appeared in the stands at every one of Ash’s training sessions. Of course, Ash noticed. Vigilance had been ingrained into him from an early age, but since they simply watched without interference, he didn’t mind. He couldn’t fathom what they found so interesting about his monotonous training.

Regardless, their presence was irrelevant to him. Rune’s training program had a clear goal: avoid the dreaded organic meals. So Ash continued training, day after day, while his silent audience observed from afar, never interacting beyond the occasional nod.

Outside of virtual reality, Ash was making tremendous strides in physical training as well. He’d progressed in his steel-ball drills, now able to endure sessions with ten steel balls for over an hour. The overall conditioning of his body had skyrocketed too. His sprinting speed was now five times what it had been, his strength sevenfold, and his hand speed eleven times faster. Oddly, though, his body weight hadn’t increased significantly, a fact that even Rune found puzzling.

Ash had grown strong enough to hunt low-tier mutant creatures on Garbage Planet 12 without his Mech—a testament to his progress.

One evening, as he sharpened his blade on a roasted gnaw-rat leg, he discovered that slicing the meat into near-transparent layers brought out its rich flavor and made it melt in his mouth. Now, every slice was an indulgent delight, and with each bite, his movements grew faster, almost like a well-oiled machine. The meat vanished in seconds, leaving only a clean bone, as if polished.

Exhaling contentedly, he tossed the bone aside and stretched. “Rune, I’m all done with the basic training. What’s next?”

The past weeks had been exhausting but fulfilling. Compared to his old days of aimless wandering, this life felt remarkably worthwhile. Now, however, the emptiness of having no goal nagged at him.

He thought back to the two Mechs that always watched him from a distance. In all this time, not a single word had been exchanged between them, just the occasional nod. A small part of him regretted not going over to talk to them, but he quickly pushed the thought away. “Friends? Probably just my imagination,” he told himself, shrugging off the idea.

Rune’s calm voice interrupted his musings. “It’s time for combat drills. Gain experience, then we’ll move on to advanced techniques.”

“Combat?” Ash’s eyes lit up. “Finally! No more endless drills!” His excitement instantly dispelled any lingering regret.

After all this preparation, he finally had a chance to put his skills to the test. The thrill of a real challenge awaited him, and Ash couldn’t wait to jump right in.