Lucy left her bed on the eighth day following their re-arrival. She strode into the Mess Hall that morning, as if she was never injured in the first place.

"Good morning, everyone." She said.

"Luce." Saria said, looking up from the kitchen counter. She put down a tray and fast-walked over to her friend's side. "You feeling better?"

"Yes, the symptoms have ceased. This morning, I was able to conjure up a few basic lights today without hurting myself. Two more days and I'll be in fighting condition." She surveyed around the hall, starting with the rows of tables and ending with the serving counter at the back. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the photographs on the walls. "You've done a good job, as always, Saria."

"Aw, thanks. You didn't need to get up today. I could've brought you breakfast in bed."

"It's fine. I've laid around for long enough. There's a lot I have to catch up on, and honestly, I've grown sick of counting the cracks in the medbay walls!" Lucy giggled, then turned to the servicing counter. "What are you cooking? It smells wonderful."

"Deer meat! Fresh from our hunt yesterday. C'mon, sit down. I'll grab you some."

Lucy chose to sit next to Adam, giving him a short bow beforehand. He scooted over as Lucy's hair swished in his personal space. A faint, lemony scent floated from the girl, and her regeneration automations had sealed up her wounds, leaving behind only faint blemishes where the blisters and burns once clung.

"Finally up, eh?" Adam said, as he slid his plate aside.

"Good morning, Chosen. How are you?" Lucy said, fixing him a smile.

"Legs ache like hell." Adam groaned. "Miriam made me run a shitton of laps with a pack yesterday for my endurance training. It worked, at least. So, what about you? You gonna do anything?"

"Recuperate and re-integrate." Lucy said. " I'll need to exercise and make sure my physical condition is up to scratch. Same with mystical training, too. We'll have to check our equipment, catch up with Operator Pereia and plan our next move… oh yes, can't forget securing the base again. Did you and Saria find anything useful in the other rooms?"

"The extra power from the generators made some of the bigger turrets come back on. Miriam provided me with the codes to hack into them. The outer walls are secured. More doors work too. We found ammo, medicine and weapons behind a couple of rooms."

"That's fantastic! We won't have to worry too much about intruders, then. Good job, Chosen!"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Ain't nothing much. Saria did most of the work. I only hacked and wrote stuff up in my harness."

"How modest of you. Progress matters, Chosen!" Lucy lifted her knife with glee. She stabbed at her meal—a selection of deer meat, eggs and toast—and cut through the bread. Part of its milk jam leaked onto the plate, where it mingled with the brownish deer blood. There had been a large storage of jam jars in the Mess Hall's pantry, for reasons unknown. "I shall eat, then. Actually, one more thing."

What?"

"Please spar with me, Chosen. Saria informed me you've been training hard, and I wish to witness your progress."

… shit.

----------------------------------------

He tried not to gulp as he faced Lucy across the training ground. She stood a way across from him, stretching her arms and legs while making soft grunts of exertion. His brow furrowed as he realised Lucy hadn't taken her uniform coat off, unlike Saria. That made breaking her defenses harder. War Maiden uniforms were reinforced with a double whammy of synthetic fiber and a lingering, protective mystic straight from an Apostle. The combination reduced damage for the wearer, like heavy steel armor, while retaining the flexibility of ordinary military gear. It explained why the wraiths hadn't torn Lucy apart—they couldn't without great effort.

The wind blew, swaying her long, golden-blonde hair. Her stance was ready, yet casual, while he clenched his fists in an attempt not to tremble. Part anticipation, mostly fear. Lucy was his protector, his companion for most of his journey so far, and he would have long since perished without her support and fighting prowess. He relied on her, as aggravating as it felt to admit that.

Now, the dynamic was flipped. He was the assailant today, someone to be hunted and destroyed with quick efficiency to protect another hypothetical Chosen. The memory of the gas station battle flashed through his head. Lucy, coated in wraith muck, striding towards a cowering bandit, pinning her to the ground and smiting her into ashes… all without breaking much of a sweat.

"Adam, calm down." Miriam spoke up. She had been called to supervise the training session, same as his time with Saria.

"I am calm."

"Your body language suggests otherwise. Look, you're about to break out of your stance."

"… thanks."

"Don't mention it. Remember, this is training, not an actual fight. Winning against Klavdia isn't the goal here. You're here to acclimatise your body with the mystics learned via time-dilation, as well as general combat experience. It's just like yesterday."

He nodded, jaw tight.

"Are you ready, Chosen?" Lucy said. Her tone was composed and formal, as ever. "Same rules as yesterday. Please attempt to inflict a mortal wound on me. Any method will do. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Adam said, summoning up his plasma.

"Then, let us begin!"

His instincts screamed the moment those words left those her mouth. A spray of light beams flew at him like a barrage of missiles from a warship. Adam dodged right as Lucy drew her sword and dashed forward. She re-appeared by his side, and he clashed her sword with his tomahawk. A metallic screech rang through the air. He shoved Lucy back with [Psychokinesis], only for the surrounding ground to spit up dust via her [Physio-Deflect]. He coughed, and the next thing he knew, she was by his side, her blade glinting as it swooshed towards his neck.

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"You're dead."

Her breath tickled his ear. The tip of the sword pricked the skin on his neck, hot and cold. He froze still, his gaze locked on the lack of emotion on Lucy's face. It was the same casual callousness she wore when opening a pack of rations.

A few seconds passed. Adam did not dare to move. Lucy startled, then blushed. "Ah, forgive me, Chosen! You're not actually dead. It's an instinct from my tutoring days."

She withdrew her sword, and looked concerned again. "Was that too much? You're not hurt, are you?"

"You." Adam gasped, stepping back. He rubbed the side of his neck and drew a pinprick of blood. He wiped it on his trousers. "Shit, you don't hold back."

"I get that a lot." Lucy said.

"You treat Saria like this?"

"Oh, she's used it. I've been in her choke-holds multiple times. It's how we Maidens practice, Chosen. Sometimes, it makes the trainees cry, which is a little unfortunate."

"Yeah! I can believe that!" Adam checked ADOSCH's timer. Minus the time frozen in place, Lucy had 'killed' him in under ten seconds. He shivered again, and didn't bother to stop it. Had this been a real battle, she would have eliminated him without giving him the time to recant his last words.

What had that bandit Kadence thought, in her final moments? An old, homeless man told him the last emotion a person felt stayed with them in the grave forever. He hoped that wasn't true.

"Do you want me to tone it down, or…?" Lucy offered.

Adam shook his head. He picked up his tomahawk again. "Hell no. I can take it."

He wanted to escape from her one day. Paying attention was more crucial than ever.

"If you insist. You may use your firearms, by the way. I won't be harmed by them."

That sort of comment should have pissed him off, but he only nodded and returned to his position, his nerves strung like electric wires.

After ten more rounds, Adam understood why Lucy held the First Class title over Saria. Don't get him wrong—Saria was tough enough, and relentless to boot. However, she was unsubtle. She powered through her targets, set everything on fire, and only then considered asking questions towards the ashes.

Lucy was the hexagon to Saria's straight line. She was more than her raw Attributes. She planned, analyzed, and was skilled. Sometimes, she restrained herself from opening, letting him take the first shot, only for her to retaliate and flip the battle's momentum on its head. Other times, she took the lead, attacking from different angles and even sides. Every assault, each one of his failures, occurred for a different reason.

[Perception Acceleration] didn't help much. She surpassed his reaction time, even in the slowed-down time. Either she was using her own version, or her reflexes were just that good. Maybe both.

It was her way of making sure he was on guard, Adam realised. He couldn't treat her like an ordinary monster or even a predictable Witch. He needed to reach back into his street fighting days, where single-second decisions decided fates, and the only hard rule was that of the pavement itself.

On the thirteenth try, he closed the distance between her via his own initiative, utilizing his [Psychokinesis] to drag his tomahawk blade up to her back while aiming at her chest with his handgun in close quarters. Lucy tanked the tomahawk with a combination of [Physio-Endure] and [Physio-Deflect], then swiped the handgun out of his hands with a small [Photo-Blade].

He lay on the ground, a hand over his face. He noticed Lucy stand over him, a bottle of water in her hands.

"Good work, Chosen! Shall we take a break?"

Adam moaned something.

"Pardon, Chosen?" Lucy said.

Adam climbed to his feet, his body aching. "It's nothing." He said. I couldn't land a single blow on you. He thought, again.

Vitality: 40%

Plasma: 60%

Experience (combat) acknowledged: +15%.

They sat on the nearby stands, beneath the light of the sky-orb. Lucy sweated a little, which was small comfort. She sipped her water while he had downed half of his in one go. He wiped his mouth, replaying the last couple of rounds in his head. There was a lot to unpack here.

Lucy smiled. "Don't worry. You did well. Facing off one of us is no negligible feat, especially for a civilian. Now, I know it's me saying that, but…"

"I get it. Saria said the same thing. So did Miriam." Adam said. He sighed, feeling the clamminess up his shirt's back. "How'd I do?"

"You're adapting to your mystics quite well, and I can tell you've been making great efforts to improve your physique. Were you more accustomed with [Psychokinesis], I would've been in real trouble."

"You're just saying that."

"No, no, no! I mean it, Chosen. That [Psycho-Crush] in the seventh round came close to fracturing my wrist. You've got a good foundation for the future, though you require more work on reactions and on-the-spot thinking. I'm comfortable that you can defend yourself." Lucy said. "Though I still would appreciate it if you would listen to me…"

"What?"

Lucy went silent for a moment. She looked at the camera nearby.

"Yes." Miriam said. "Will you bring this up now?"

"It's a good enough time as any."

"Then the stage is set, Klavdia."

"Very well." Lucy drank a large sip of water, then placed the bottle aside. She wiped the sweat off her brow and cheeks with a towel, then smoothed the edges of her uniform.

"Wait, what's going on?" Adam said.

"It's in relation to your actions in the battle against the Flame Witch." Miriam said. "Listen to this carefully, Adam."

He opened his mouth to protest, then clamped it shut as Lucy affixed him with a stern stare.

"Chosen, let me say I in no way wish to diminish the significance of your victory against the Flame Witch. I cannot express in words how grateful I am to you for reuniting me with my friend Saria." Lucy stated. Her face hardened. "But if you are going to charge into my fights in the future, without warning, may I add, I swear to Her Providence I will find the sturdiest post in this base and tie your behind to it."

It took Adam a moment to recover. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You interfered with her clash with the Flame Witch, remember?" Miriam said.

"Oh, yeah. That. What was wrong with it?"

"You broke protocol, Chosen."

"Protocol? What protocol?"

"Remember the discussion we had in the signal beacon's cave? You agreed to remain behind and allow me to fight the Flame Witch."

"Oh, right." He winced. "I'd forgotten about that…?"

"So, you admit it." Lucy said. "What is your excuse, Chosen?"

He raised a finger, curled it and realised he couldn't come up with a response. There wasn't any point in denying it, given Miriam had probably recorded the whole thing. Lucy kept glaring at him. It wasn't the murderous expression of a remorseless killing machine, like he expected most War Maidens to be, but more akin to dissatisfaction, reminiscent of… his older sister Mary?

Jesus Christ, was he being scolded? He wanted to avert his gaze, but Lucy was pinning him on the spot with that sheer lack of amusement. Look, she even had her arms crossed!

"Do you know how I felt when I saw the Flame Witch switched her target from me to you? It almost gave me a heart attack. I was terrified out of my mind at the thought of the Witch catching up to you and burning you to a crisp!"

He scooted back, raising his hands. "I have a reason, okay?"

"Please inform us, then."

"The [War Maidens' Bond], alright? I saw you through it. You looked like a mess. That laser almost cleaved you in half. Almost damn near blinded me, even as an outside observer You did so much damage to the Witch, but she just didn't fall down!"

"You are mistaken, Chosen. I had the engagement under control."

"Really." Adam said, in a disbelieving tone.

"Really! Indeed, I made a misstep, and took a blow that I should have dodged. However, I matched most of her attacks. I had numerous countermeasures up my sleeve, including the [Photon-Seal: Mode Pillar]. Had the battle continued further, I'm confident I would have found an opportunity to strike a fatal blow!"

"I didn't know that, alright? It was a fucking inferno, I just sent Penny running back to the village, and then I heard you scream like a banshee the moment I activated my mystic. What was I supposed to think?"

"You were worried about Klavdia." Miriam noted. "That's the gist of it, then."

"Chosen." Lucy's suddenly went quiet. "It sounds like you thought I would lose."

Adam swallowed. "Yeah. I did. So what?"

He tensed up, bracing for the retaliation. A pointed finger, a shout, perhaps even a slap. Instead, Lucy's shoulders fell, and she gazed down at her lap.

"It is as I feared." She said, her tone despondent. "The reason is me."