"So, what else do we have on the bucket list? Shield, done. Reworked armor, done. New backpack, new ammunition, slings, dagger, sheaths, cloak. That’s everything, right?"

"Well, unless you fancy making yourself a skirt, yes, you’re finally done... with the equipment, at least."

Alonso gave a satisfied nod, his fingers tracing the smooth, supple surface of the armor he had meticulously crafted from the materials at hand. His new armor was a combination of panther hide and small, scavenged metal pieces from the scorpions, designed to be lightweight and mobile—perfect for his agility-based fighting style.

The core of the armor was a cuirass made from tanned panther leather, offering flexibility without sacrificing protection. The black hide clung to his torso, forming a sleek and snug fit that allowed for full range of motion, almost like a haubergeon designed for agility rather than brute defense.

He had reinforced key areas with small metal plates, focusing primarily on vital spots that could be targeted in close combat. The cuirass had a layer of hardened scorpion exoskeleton plates sewn into the leather at the sternum and lower abdomen, offering additional protection without adding too much bulk. Unlike traditional full-plate armor, Alonso kept his design minimal to ensure speed and mobility remained his advantage.

His right forearm was protected by a simple vambrace made of the same scorpion exoskeleton, lightweight but sturdy enough to deflect smaller blows. On his left forearm, he wore a buckler, reworked and reinforced with a thin layer of metallic chitin, attached securely to the leather strap. It allowed him to deflect attacks without compromising the use of his left hand for his sling or dagger.

For his legs, he avoided the cumbersome weight of metal greaves, opting instead for hardened leather faulds that protected his thighs and a pair of shinguards reinforced with small strips of exoskeleton along the sides, leaving his knees unencumbered for ease of movement. The shinguards were tied securely with woven jungle vines that he had braided into strong cords, ensuring they stayed in place during swift movements.

His choice of poleyns—small, flexible knee guards—was another nod to mobility, crafted from layered leather with a light internal framework of bone to protect his joints without hindering his speed.

The shoulder protection followed a similar principle: simple spaulders made from layered leather with small plates of exoskeleton at the outer edges. These offered coverage without restricting the movement of his arms during combat. He had shaped and fitted each piece carefully, ensuring that the armor felt like an extension of his body rather than a burden.

"Doesn’t look bad," Alonso muttered, adjusting the straps and checking the fit of his newly crafted gear.

“You know, a skirt might improve the airflow. Just saying.”

Alonso smirked, shaking his head.

He tightened the straps and took a deep breath, ready to test the new armor’s flexibility. With a sudden burst of speed, he sprinted forward, pushing off the ground with ease. His feet found purchase on a nearby tree, and he kicked off, performing a smooth backflip before landing lightly on his feet. The armor moved with him, offering no resistance as he rolled his shoulders and loosened up.

Satisfied, Alonso shifted into a series of combat stances, drawing his sword with a fluid motion. He darted forward, twisting his body with practiced ease, simulating an attack. His sword cut through the air effortlessly as he pivoted, shifting from one stance to the next with no restriction from the armor. A quick side flip followed, landing him squarely on his feet again, his balance unaffected.

He took a few more moments, going through various sword movements and techniques, the armor responding smoothly to each one. Every joint and plate flexed and moved with him, as if it had become an extension of his body.

Alonso paused, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Feels just right."

“You say that like you didn’t tailor each piece specifically to yourself and simulate the result. The simulation works, surprise!”

“Well, reality’s always a bit off.”

“It just depends on how many variables you compute.”

“You're talking as if I were a computer, Houston.”

“Well…”

Alonso just smiled and started practicing his sword stances, his mind constantly calculating angles, distances, and velocities.

Before arriving here, he had never held a sword, much less trained with one. Lacking formal instruction, Alonso did what came naturally—he built a system from the ground up, using the principles of physics to guide him. Where others relied on tradition, he relied on science.

His initial approach had been straightforward: create a few basic stances—twelve at first—that allowed him to explore the mechanics of swordplay. He quickly realized, however, that merely focusing on slashing limited his options. It constrained his ability to adapt to different opponents and left gaps in his offense and defense. So he expanded, introducing thrusts, pommel strikes, and even the use of the guard as a striking tool. His system grew to 27 distinct moves, each designed to maximize efficiency, minimize energy expenditure, and increase the number of variables he could manipulate during a fight.

He started with simple slashes, focusing on how to shift his center of mass effectively. Each movement was measured to ensure that the power came not from the arm alone but from the whole body. His feet moved in carefully calculated steps, each designed to maintain balance and conserve momentum. Alonso broke down every slash, not just by its angle but by its velocity, ensuring that each cut would carry just enough energy to inflict damage without overcommitting or leaving him vulnerable.

From there, he moved into thrusts. Here, he considered timing and distance in more granular terms—how quickly could he cover ground without telegraphing his movement? The thrusts were designed to close distance efficiently, striking at vulnerable points like the throat or abdomen with pinpoint accuracy. Each step forward aligned his body into a streamlined attack, minimizing resistance from the air and maximizing speed. The forward motion, combined with his footwork, kept him moving in and out of range before his opponent could react.

His defensive techniques were equally calculated. He developed parries and blocks that redirected the opponent's energy rather than stopping it outright. When an attack came, he aimed to deflect it at an angle, letting the opponent’s momentum carry them off balance. This allowed him to transition seamlessly from defense to offense. Alonso understood that each block was an opportunity—an opening to counter. So, he optimized his parries to flow directly into counterstrikes, minimizing the time between deflection and retaliation.

He incorporated more than just the sword into his system. Elbows, knees, and even his feet became tools in his arsenal. A block could transition into an elbow strike to the face, or a low slash could lead to a quick knee to the ribs. He analyzed the biomechanics of each body part, calculating how much force he could generate with a simple twist of the hips or a snap of the elbow. The more variables he had, the more unpredictable he became.

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Alonso didn’t stop at offense and defense. He also integrated feints, testing his opponent’s reactions by faking a high slash only to follow with a thrust to the midsection. He knew that in a real fight, anticipation and perception were critical, and he designed his movements to mislead as much as to strike. Feints, quick disengages, and sudden changes in attack angles forced his hypothetical opponents to react instinctively, often making mistakes in the process.

His stance training wasn’t just about physical movement. It was also a mental exercise. Alonso’s scientific mind never rested, constantly running simulations in real-time. Simulation helped him refine each stance as he practiced, measuring everything down to the smallest detail. If his sword deviated by even a fraction of a degree from its optimal path, or if his foot landed too far forward, he corrected instantly. He measured the angles of his sword’s arc, the torque in his shoulders, the timing of his steps, and how each element contributed to the overall flow of combat.

To push his training further, Alonso used his Simulation to also replicate possible opponents. He designed adversaries with increasing speed and agility, forcing himself to adapt to faster reactions and tighter defenses. His mind ran hundreds of scenarios, each opponent becoming more refined, more dangerous with every iteration.

He even played against himself (Houston)—a battle fought entirely within their minds, like a strategic chess match where each move tested the other’s range, perception, and timing. In these imaginary duels, every strike, parry, and feint was a calculated gamble, pushing Alonso to account for every variable. It was mental combat at its finest, with each scenario sharpening his understanding of how a real fight might unfold.

As he went through the stances, Alonso focused on fluidity. Each movement transitioned smoothly into the next, with no wasted energy. His strikes and defenses weren’t just individual actions—they were parts of a system, a series of interlocking techniques that could be adjusted and reconfigured based on the opponent’s behavior. The more options he had—slashes, thrusts, pommel strikes, elbow jabs—the better he could adapt to whatever came his way.

He trained himself to attack not only with the sword but with everything available to him. A slash could turn into a quick strike with the guard of his sword, followed by a thrust, then a kick to knock his opponent off balance. But Alonso’s mind didn’t stop at the blade—his system was designed to overwhelm through versatility, incorporating not just his body but every tool he had at hand.

In one fluid motion, he could transition from a sword strike into quickly loading and firing his sling, the stone released with precision aimed for an opponent’s temple or knee. The sling became an extension of his body, always ready for a split-second attack between parries.

When he was up close, he would seamlessly draw his dagger—a weapon fashioned from the tip of a scorpion's pincer. He trained himself to integrate the dagger into his strikes, using it for quick, unexpected slashes or stabs aimed at vulnerable joints or gaps in armor.

If the battle grew more desperate or reached a stalemate, he would fling a poisoned panther fang, coated with a toxin he had harvested from the scorpion's pincers, directly at his opponent’s eyes with a flick of his fingers. He practiced this technique relentlessly, perfecting the timing and aim so that, in the chaos of combat, the fang would sail straight to its target, blinding or disorienting his opponent just enough to break their momentum, create a gap in their defenses, and press his advantage.

Alonso’s breathing remained steady, in sync with the rhythm of his movements. His body flowed naturally, like a well-calibrated machine. He wasn’t just relying on muscle memory—he was optimizing his entire body’s kinetic chain. The physics of each stance played out in his mind, guiding him to make adjustments and corrections mid-flow.

As the sun dipped lower, Alonso continued practicing, his mind always calculating. He was aware of his lack of real-world experience, but he trusted in his system. Every part of his body, every weapon he carried, became part of a cohesive strategy. A sword strike could lead to a quick throw of a fang, followed by a thrust from his dagger or a sling shot in rapid succession. His system was fluid, adaptable, and designed to give him the upper hand in any situation, turning the chaos of battle into an optimized sequence of actions that left his opponent with no time to recover.

Alonso lowered his sword and took a deep breath, as he finished the final set of moves. He dropped to the ground in his makeshift shelter, away from the open beach where he would be too visible. His muscles hummed from the exertion, but there was a sense of calm in the controlled repetition. He grabbed a container of coconut water, taking slow, measured sips to rehydrate.

"How long has it been, Houston?" Alonso asked to himself, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Since your training started, 5 hours and 13 minutes. And since you came to this island, 14 days and 7 hours."

"Fourteen days, huh? Feels like a lifetime," Alonso sighed, taking another sip of water, his body still hot from the workout, emitting natural heat and drenched in sweat. "By the way, what's with the delay in the gray ooze? It seems correlated with stage progress, but it takes time to happen. Four days ago, after I returned from hunting scorpions and falcons and made solid progress, the gray ooze didn’t show up until the following morning."

"There’s probably a connection with food and digestion. Most of the time, it occurs after you eat and rest. Which makes sense—and it’s a good thing, too. Starting to emit that stuff in the middle of a fight wouldn’t be very pleasant."

"And what does it change exactly? I mean, what do the orbs change in my body? I feel my body getting stronger as the stage progresses, but that effect seems to be slowing down. Even now, at over 2%, I only feel maybe 20% more physically powerful than I did at 1%. But back when I was under 1%, the difference felt much more dramatic."

"Perhaps it's a power law, with an exponent less than 1. Again, to fully understand it, you'd need more knowledge of your body and what exactly is changing. For one thing, we have noticed your body mass has increased, even though your height and shape remain roughly the same."

"Well, I did get some muscle—and a six-pack!" Alonso grinned.

"Alright, Mr. Narcissist. As I was saying, the orbs likely alter the density of your bones and muscles, maybe even reinforcing the muscle fibers themselves. The increased density could lead to higher tensile strength in your muscles and tougher, more resilient bones. Essentially, the orbs could be improving the structural integrity of your body on a microscopic level."

Alonso nodded, intrigued. "But what about the gray ooze? Could that be impurities being expelled?"

"Possibly. Your body's metabolic processes might be rejecting waste products, toxins, or cellular debris that no longer serve a purpose. In humans, things like lactic acid and metabolic byproducts accumulate during physical exertion. But this ooze might indicate your body is expelling more complex impurities, such as dead or damaged cells, excess protein, or even unneeded minerals from your bones and muscles as they’re being reinforced."

“Damn, Houston, how do you know so much?”

“I wish I knew more. Unfortunately, the amount of biology books and papers you’ve read in your entire life is limited to this. And even that—if it weren’t for that girl majoring in Biotech that—”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it, Houston,” Alonso cut him off with a smirk. "But, yeah, it’s a shame having such a perfect recollection of my memories and yet not having read enough. Talking about that, I wish Pablo was here. If that guy had perfect recollection, it’d be like having the internet on the island," Alonso chuckled.

“Except he’d talk your ear off nonstop.”

Alonso laughed. "True. But imagine having all that knowledge at hand. He’d probably figure out what’s happening to my body in half the time."

Alonso rested his back against the tree he had built his small shelter around. It was the same one he’d constructed nearly a week ago, with only a few minor modifications.

“Well, the boring part is done, Houston,” Alonso smiled. “It’s time for—”

“I seriously think you should rather go straight to the middle of the island instead. Stage progress would give you the best boost right now. And if you keep working on that, god knows how long it’s gonna take.”

“Houston, I will work on that. But come on, how cool would it look when I put it on my status screen: Fake Reality.”