Leonar was sitting on the couch in that surreal world. Despite the air conditioning keeping the room cool, a cold sweat ran down his forehead.
The discomfort didn’t come from the environment, but from his thoughts.
His eyes were fixed on the floor as he drummed his fingers on the armrest.
The question swirling in his mind was simple, yet impossible to ignore.
What could he do?
Normally, he would use this moment to relax, but since meeting Mary…
"Damn it," was all Leonar could murmur.
Again and again, the same question tormented him.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t find a satisfying answer.
"This is ridiculous…" Leonar muttered, running his hands through his hair.
Suddenly, the familiar figure of the girl with white hair and red eyes appeared before him. Dressed in black, with an expression that seemed as indifferent as always, she watched him silently.
Leonar looked up, unphased. After all…
He had called her.
"What’s the point of you being here?" Leonar asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.
The girl tilted her head slightly, as if analyzing his words.
Then she answered calmly:
"I can help you, but it’s up to you to decide what you need."
Leonar rubbed his face, clearly annoyed with himself.
Then, as if a sudden idea had illuminated his mind, he raised his gaze.
"Can I train here?"
She raised an eyebrow, her expression remaining neutral.
"Yes."
"Really?"
The girl didn’t respond with words but with a simple snap of her fingers. Instantly, the room began to expand.
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The walls disappeared, revealing a vast space filled with gym equipment.
There were weights, machines, pull-up bars—everything Leonar could possibly need to train.
Leonar got up from the couch and walked toward the weights, but something stopped him.
He glanced at the girl sideways and asked, with some skepticism:
"If I work out here, will it affect my body in the real world?"
"Not at all," she replied, crossing her arms. "You’ll just gain muscle memory. Nothing else."
Leonar let out a heavy sigh, putting a hand to his head.
"Then it’s useless… Why bother if it doesn’t do anything?"
The girl didn’t show any change in her expression, but there was a slight glimmer in her eyes, as if evaluating him.
"Can you at least teach me to control water?"
"That is possible," she said, and with another snap, the room changed again.
The gym equipment vanished, replaced by an environment resembling a dojo.
In front of him was a small fountain, with a constant stream of crystal-clear water flowing.
Leonar frowned, waiting for the girl to explain.
◇◆◇
Eleonora continued fighting the wolves emerging from the portal. Her movements were fast and precise, but exhaustion was starting to show.
The ice sword she wielded was imposing, almost too large to handle easily. But she compensated for her lack of technique with brute strength and precision.
However, the wolves were no ordinary enemies.
Suddenly, one of them managed to get close enough before she could stop it.
Before she could react, the wolf exploded.
The shockwave threw her backward as an intense burn spread across her left side.
Eleonora gritted her teeth, her face twisting in a grimace of pain.
"Damn it…" she muttered, struggling to get up.
Several fragments of the sword, which had detached from the impact, floated around her.
Eleonora directed them with a swift movement of her hand, launching them like projectiles at the wolves trying to close in.
The fragments pierced her enemies with precision, but the situation was getting more complicated by the second.
"Do they really have to explode now?" Eleonora muttered, irritated.
Two more wolves approached from opposite directions.
Before she could react, they exploded in unison, causing more damage around her.
Eleonora was breathing heavily, her body shaking from exhaustion and pain.
Seeing herself cornered, she melted a good portion of her sword and created an ice barrier around herself.
The structure completely enveloped her, making her appear as a frozen figure inside a cube.
The remaining wolves began attacking the barrier, hitting it with their claws and teeth. The sound of cracking ice filled the air, but the barrier held… for now.
Inside her ice prison, Eleonora let out a long sigh.
"This is ridiculous…" she murmured, looking at the palm of the hand with which she had been holding the sword.
It was in bad shape. Fragments of ice seemed embedded in her skin, and the flesh of her fingers had a bluish hue, signaling the start of frostbite.
"Of course… this body isn’t made to handle this much power," Eleonora said in a bitter tone.
At that moment, several messages appeared before her:
[Warning: User’s body is in critical condition].
[Power release will be canceled in 30 seconds to protect the user’s life.]
Eleonora gritted her teeth, her expression a mix of frustration and resignation.
"Thirty seconds…" Eleonora murmured, looking at the wolves through the transparent barrier.
From the outside, she could see other hunters finally arriving to support the few who had joined her in the fight.
Their weapons glinted in the light, and the sounds of spells and attacks filled the air.
A man with a large sword stepped forward, staring incredulously at the ice barrier.
"What? Did that hunter freeze herself?"