The second floor of the gym was dedicated to combat training. There were practice fields, sparring halls, and illusion chambers. The illusion chambers were the only ones with restricted use, although all of the facilities were frequently reserved for classes or extracurricular groups. With only two weeks before the end of the year, that wasn’t a concern. Alex had only needed to wait for students who arrived before him to finish up their turns in the illusion chamber.

As a senior, Alex was allowed to use the combat illusion chambers for a fight every day, while younger students needed to pay Academy Merit to access the illusion chambers. They were also restricted to once or twice a week because the illusory fights could be traumatic. It helped guarantee that the students who needed to accrue experience the most were able to do so. If these restrictions weren’t in place, Alex would’ve needed to wait significantly longer than forty-five minutes.

While the illusions weren’t quite the same as a real fight, the powerful enchantments gave them substance and realism. This made them ideal for preparing to handle combat trials. The gym illusion chambers weren’t even the most impressive on campus. Several chambers in classrooms dedicated to mana control or mana types were capable of simulating high-tier attributes for students and graduates to experience.

There was even a chamber restricted to the Attuned, which required either the Dean or Alice Stirling to personally activate the enchantments. Exactly what it simulated wasn’t confirmed to the students.

As Alex walked down the hallway, the student who had just exited the illusion chamber walked past him with a pained expression, “It’s Instructor Mark in there today.” She informed him.

“Thanks,” Alex replied. He felt relieved that the interaction ended there. He was fairly certain her name was Isabella but didn’t feel particularly confident. While the two of them had spent years in classes together, he couldn’t remember ever having a full conversation with her.

Instructor Mark being the illusionist on duty in the chamber made sense. He was there a few days a week, to the chagrin of most students. He demanded excellence and had no problems turning off the chamber and kicking a student out if they screwed up badly. If Alex brought out the moves he’d been attacking the dummy with, he’d probably receive a stern disappointed lecture and lose his permission to use the chamber for the next few days.

Instructor Mark was one of the Attuned, a Tier 2 human. Like many who were taught directly by the Dean in the early days of the Academy, illusions were his primary focus. He had decided to take a position as an instructor not long after reaching Tier 2 and only delved into easier non-combat trials around the city while he taught.

Luckily, Alex was one of Instructor Mark’s favorite students, so he should be able to avoid any lectures. Regardless, he took a few seconds to catch his breath and focus before opening the illusion chamber door.

“Alex, glad to see you’re still taking your practice seriously.” Instructor Mark nodded at him, “Today’s advanced scenario is a fight against three Aspirant kobolds in a field.”

For a second Alex contemplated how the man would react to him jokingly requesting an easier fight, but decided against it. “Any chance I can take on one of the tiered tests?” He asked instead.

“You know the rules, Alex.” The instructor frowned at him, “Ask me in a few weeks if you want a different answer.”

Alex grunted noncommittally. He had no plans of sticking around campus after graduation, his closest friends had a fully mapped out delving schedule that would take them all to the peak of Tier 0 within a month of their emplacement rituals. Unnecessary small talk with an instructor didn’t enthuse him, so he just nodded, “I’ll take the kobolds then.”

Fighting kobolds in a field was a monster sweep assignment, any trials would place them in caves or fortresses where their strengths could be fully utilized.

Out in a bright field, they would probably have their sight impaired, and they wouldn’t have much ability to enact clever stratagems without a high-tiered commander that would take the scenario beyond what a student could handle. If there was an exception being made, Instructor Mark would have mentioned it, so Alex wasn’t too worried.

Monster sweep scenarios were among the most common. Academy graduates who joined the Defense Forces would be required to frequently participate in the month-long excursions. Joining the military was the most popular graduate career path. Adventurers had significantly worse life expectancy and non-combatants were much less likely to reach Tier 2. Even for adventurers, fighting low-tier monsters out in the field while traveling to a trial wasn’t particularly uncommon.

Kobolds weren’t a particularly common choice, but they did frequently make their way toward New Chicago from the South. Migration didn’t suit them, and they were some of the easier monsters to clear in a sweep.

This scenario sounded incredibly standard. Alex had fought kobolds plenty of times, so he didn’t stress the strategy too much. He’d abuse their poor sight by moving quickly and attempting to maneuver to only face one or two at a time. If he found himself encircled by all three it meant he’d screwed up somewhere down the line, and could blame himself from a few seconds earlier while he got beaten up.

Alex armed himself with a sword from the chamber’s weapon racks, then got into position in the chamber. Instructor Mark moved off into a side room. Alex took a deep breath as the instructor started to count down

“Five… four… three…”

Alex closed his eyes. The transition to an illusion could be jarring to his senses, and seconds mattered depending on his position relative to the monsters.

“Two… one…”

Alex moved into a ready stance. He needed to be prepared in case a kobold jumped him right at the start.

“Scenario active.”

Alex opened his eyes and immediately took three quick steps to the right. He’d only been stabbed in the back at the start of a scenario a single time, but you only needed to experience that once to learn to stay moving in an unfamiliar, hostile situation. In front of him were two kobold warriors with clubs.

A glance quickly told him the third kobold was to his left, a spearman. Sometimes it was better to be lucky than good. If he had dodged towards the kobold, he would’ve found himself immediately tied up with the monster’s spear. Dodging to the right had created space, and now he had to use it.

Alex reacted to the scenario immediately. He dashed towards the rightmost of the two kobolds before him. They were each around ten feet away from him, and he closed the distance in barely a second. The kobold raised its club, demonstrating speed that easily outstripped Alex’s, and positioned it above its head to block Alex’s opening chop.

This proved a mistake when Alex pulled out of the feint and instead slashed the kobold’s side. His sword left a long cut, but the kobold’s ribcage protected its vital organs. Alex’s untiered strength wasn’t enough to easily get through the Toughness of an Aspirant with seemingly several levels under its belt. Unsurprisingly, his initial thoughts regarding the eyesight of the kobolds had proven true. If the kobold wasn’t gimped by the environment, it might have been able to react and block his adjusted strike.

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Alex would take whatever advantages he could get, the kobolds were all stronger, faster, and tougher than him. Quick thinking, skill, and reach from his greater height and wingspan would need to carry the day if he was going to bring out a victory.

The kobolds were best described as reptilian short people, all between four to five feet tall. These had green scales, but without the magic of higher tiers, those weren’t too great a defensive boon. Their faces elongated into a lizard-like snout.

The two he was now closest to wielded clubs, while the furthest who had initially been to his left wielded a shoddy spear. It implied that the kobolds were from a tribe that lacked high-tier leadership, as plenty of Tier 2 or Tier 3 chiefs would improve the standard of weapons and armor among their warriors. The lack of higher-tier leadership would also mean they weren’t well coordinated, simply interested in killing him. The simulations made sure to reward attention to detail, but Alex didn’t need the help for this.

Alex followed up on his slash by thrusting at the kobold’s chest, but he instead aborted the strike to dodge the kobold’s attack.

Luckily, while Alex was making measured attacks that allowed him to remain agile, the kobold had immediately committed to a finishing blow and stumbled forward when it struck only the air. Alex’s own finishing blow, a slash to the side of the neck, proved much more successful.

Alex didn’t have any time to celebrate his success. The other club wielder was already on him, with the spearman close behind. The spread-out formation of the kobolds had let him score an easy kill, but how could an easy fight be an “advanced simulation?” Instructor Mark had probably raised the kobold attributes for him as well.

The kobold with a club was not smart enough to learn from its comrade’s mistake. Its telegraphed, wild swing missed by nearly a full foot as Alex dodged to the side. The kobold attempted to correct the blow to follow him, but it was already overbalanced and stumbled instead.

Aspirant monsters were kind of a joke when it came to capacity for thought.

The spear kobold pressed Alex before he could punish the other, and he quickly learned that this opponent was the reason the simulation had earned an advanced rating. A probing thrust was dodged only to turn into a sweeping slash that had to be deflected into the ground with Alex’s sword. His deficiency of strength made a direct block foolhardy, but the monster’s slash had already been aiming down.

Alex pinned the spearman’s weapon to the ground after deflecting it, but that proved to be just what his opponent wanted when the kobold closed the distance between them with a leap. His opponent was perfectly happy to discard their weapons and grapple. Alex flicked his sword up in reply, ready to gut the idiot that left its spear, but he had to throw himself out of the way of the club-wielding opponent.

“Sloppily done,” Alex muttered aloud for the instructor’s benefit as he rolled back to his feet, referring to his failure to keep track of the club wielder until it was almost too late. Less dedication to his training would’ve forced him to drop his blade to not cut himself while performing those acrobatics, but what kind of future magic swordsman didn’t have a few death-defying stunts in their repertoire?

The spear wielder had to pick its spear back up, which gave Alex a brief period to remove the distraction. He came at the club wielder hard, baiting out yet another overhead chop from the kobold. They just did not learn. Alex got to put a refined version of one of his fanciful maneuvers from the practice hall to the test as he stepped around the blow and swung hard at the creature’s exposed head, following through into a spin to extricate his sword from the mess that occurred when a metal blade met an only marginally reinforced skull.

A grin broke out on Alex’s face as he stared down the last kobold. Instructor Mark was probably going to chew him out for the wasted movement in that maneuver, but he couldn’t bring himself to care with the adrenalin pounding in his head and the thrill of a pending victory whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He hadn’t even taken a minute to dispose of the first two kobolds.

The last kobold didn’t match his grin, remaining dull-faced as it stepped forward to resume their engagement.

Well, the illusions couldn’t get everything right.

Alex was quickly put onto the defensive, as the wild, easily punished blows of the kobold warriors were not repeated by the spearman. He dodged, deflected, ducked, and dove out of the way of his final opponent. The last kobold seemed to be taking him seriously after watching its comrades get taken apart so easily.

The difference in attributes came into play here, as the kobold pressed him to the limit while maintaining a steady pace. It likely had an Enhancement that had taught it to use the spear, and the result was a mastery that few spearmen among the Academy students could match.

Well, among the underclassmen at least. Probably.

Maybe Alex was overstating his opponent’s ability because the fight was proving a bit challenging. He fought better spearmen than this whenever he stepped into a sparring ring, but none of them could push him quite as hard as the belligerent kobold with only the beginnings of intelligence.

Seconds of defensive fighting turned into minutes and the spearman thrust at Alex once again, and he dodged once again. This time the kobold repeated its earlier move of closing the distance. Alex wasn’t quite so prepared this time, with his sword off to the side after deflecting a previous blow.

He cursed the sloppiness, failure to return to a strong defensive position was the exact kind of move that would get him killed in a combat trial. The last embers of that preemptive thrill of victory died out, and focus took its rightful place in his mind as Alex was forced to grapple with a beast possibly half again as strong as him.

The kobold’s mastery of the spear did not seem to extend to grappling, but the usefulness of that to Alex was limited when he had what was effectively a 12-year-old with superhuman strength impacting his chest. The force of the beast knocked Alex over, but he easily rolled with the momentum so that he ended up on top of the kobold.

That advantage proved necessary over the next few seconds, as he attempted to smash the hilt of his sword into the kobold’s face only for the monster to catch his hand. Alex’s leverage wasn’t enough to overpower his opponent, and he found the creature’s iron grip quite painful as it tried to crush his wrist.

Alex’s offhand came in for a blow to the kobold’s gut, and this time he was successful as the creature didn’t see it coming. The spearman made an audible “oof” sound as the air escaped its lungs, and the grip on Alex's wrist slackened.

Alex didn’t make the same mistake twice, and instead of going for a smashing blow again, he rolled off the kobold and made for its spear. The kobold dashed after him, but the distance they’d made wasn’t enough for its speed to close the gap between them. Alex picked up the spear and pushed the kobold back with it one-handed. The weapon wasn’t meant for such use, but Alex had every advantage.

Without a weapon of its own, the kobold should’ve fled, instead, it charged right back at him. The advantage of a weapon was proven in the next few seconds, and Alex barely remembered to close his eyes before the illusion vanished.

“Not your best fight, but not your worst.” Instructor Mark noted, exiting the control room he’d watched the fight from, “Definitely fast, but that’s because you took risks.”

“You handled the first two kobolds adeptly, even if you felt like it was sloppy to attempt to land a good blow on the spearman while the second club warrior was still active.” The instructor continued, “The problem was letting the kobold close the distance on you and bring you to the ground. In a full simulation or a real fight, the impact would’ve cracked a rib. Monsters will always try to grapple with you if they can manage it, at least at low tiers.”

“I know,” Alex groaned, “I let the ease of dispatching the first two kobolds get to my head, once I focused up I was able to figure things out.”

Instructor Mark shook his head in response, “You’re good, Alex, and you know I don’t give praise lightly, but if you don’t get a handle on your overconfidence you’ll fall before your time. Come back tomorrow, I’ll make sure to have something special for you.”

Alex grimaced, that couldn’t be a good sign, “I appreciate the advice, Instructor.” he replied. He’d heard that same speech more times than he could count, but disrespect would only make the extra test worse. “Do you have the time?”

“About fifteen minutes until noon.”

“Dammit.”

Alex still had to hit the showers before he would be allowed in the library.