Sky also stood up.

"If you want to stay there, feel free. We'll take a look!" Slayer said, as he left the room.

The scene changes to the outside.

"He's back in the training room! Are you going to train now?" Sky exclaimed, watching from afar.

"The leaders are keeping an eye on him!" Slayer said, also watching.

"Why are they hiding?" Kratos asked, intrigued.

"Hello, police! We found suspicious people!" Thais joked.

"Who's a suspect? Don't scare me like that!" Kratos said, disconcerted.

"What are you guys doing?" Mira asked, approaching.

"Look over there!" Slayer said, pointing.

"Why are the leaders hiding?" Viviane asked, curious.

"More suspects!" Thais laughed.

"Don't be silly, we're watching Kay!" Slayer replied.

" — And where is he? — Raven asked, looking around.

— He's in there. I think he's going to train, so I got curious! — Slayer explained.

— How long has he been there? — Mira asked.

— He just came in! — Slayer said.

— So he must be concentrating already. — Mira started walking towards the room.

— Wait, they'll see you! — Sky said, trying to stop her.

— Kay won't notice us. Come on! — Mira said, waving to the leaders.

They stopped hiding and walked towards the training room.

Kay was standing there with his eyes closed.

— What is he doing? — Sarah exclaimed, intrigued.

— He's remembering the movements we did in the tests — Mira replied.

— Remembering? Why? — Sarah asked, confused.

— He first reviews the movements and then puts himself in the person's place. Then, he retraces each movement to understand our style and how we think during a fight — Mira explained.

“To understand how a person thinks? Why would he go to all that trouble?” Joana asked, skeptical.

“To understand how to synchronize with someone in combat and also to strengthen himself. You’ll see,” Mira said confidently.

Kay, still with his eyes closed, calmly walked towards the English fists that Fiona had used. Without opening his eyes, he placed them in his hands and positioned himself exactly as she had done in the test. In his mind, the surrounding environment transformed: the imaginary robots took shape, surrounding him in a circle, as in the simulation Fiona had faced.

He flexed his knees, concentrating. The dolls around him began to "move", simulating coordinated attacks. In an instant, one of the dolls advanced with its articulated arm shooting towards him. Kay reacted like Fiona, fluidly turning his body to the side, dodging the blow. His fist, wrapped in the English fists, exploded against the imaginary doll's "chest", cracking it with the intensity of the impact.

Another doll approached from behind. Without hesitation, Kay jumped, spinning his body in the air and delivering a side punch that caught him by surprise. Landing lightly, he was already moving forward again, dodging a low attack and landing with a well-aimed punch at the joint point of one of the dolls. The doll's structure shattered in his mind, imaginary pieces of wood and metal falling to the ground with a deafening sound, although he knew that everything was happening in his mind.

Kay maintained his concentration, faithfully reproducing Fiona's movements, in an uninterrupted flow of combat, studying not only her technique, but also the rhythm, precision and mentality that she incorporated into each blow.

Fiona watched everything with clenched fists, irritated to see her style being copied with such precision. Kay repeated her last movement and then stopped. He took a deep breath and, still with his eyes closed, walked to the long sword that Mira had used in the test, preparing to start again.

The scene changed. Someone was running quickly through the corridors of the base and, abruptly, opened the door to the training room.

— What's going on? — exclaimed the scientist, coming in agitatedly.

— What's the problem? She seems very nervous! — said Joana.

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— Abnormal readings in one of the suits! — replied the scientist, looking at Kay, who remained still, breathing deeply.

— What do you mean by 'abnormal'? — asked Joana, frowning.

— Sudden drop in the suit's performance, and the percentage is varying irregularly! What is this boy doing to make this happen? — asked the scientist, analyzing the data on a tablet.

— Drop in performance? Evaluate the percentage of his suit now and compare it to San's! — ordered Yan.

Kay, still with her eyes closed, picked up the bow and arrow that San had used in the test and positioned herself again, recreating every detail with precision.

— The percentages are close, but why? — murmured the scientist, perplexed.

— He's recreating the recruits' movements, adjusting his strength and speed to imitate each one. But the interesting thing is that he can make the suit's percentage change as he wants... This needs to be investigated! — Joana observed.

— His nose is bleeding! — Sarah exclaimed, pointing.

— Where? — Sky said, focusing on Kay.

Blood was running down Kay's nose, a sign that he was pushing himself to the limit.

— He's pushing his mind too hard — the scientist commented, with a tone of concern.

Kay continued to recreate San's movements, without worrying about the blood running down her nose.

— He won't stop until he finishes training... This happens sometimes — Mira said, watching him with a slightly worried expression.

— Isn't it dangerous? — Dan asked, alarmed.

— Only if he does something stupid! Other than that, he can handle it — Mira replied confidently.

— Limit break... — Kay began, her voice low.

Without hesitation, the scientist quickly shot towards him, interrupting his sentence.

—What was that? — Mira exclaimed, frightened.

—Like that kind of nonsense! He was about to activate the limit break! — the scientist explained, with a serious expression.

—What were those needles you threw at him? — Slayer asked, curious.

—Tranquilizers — the scientist replied, sighing. —What was he thinking, wanting to do something like that?

—I don't understand Kay's mind... He's crazy! — Mira said, rolling her eyes, but with a touch of admiration.

The scientist checked the data on her electronic clipboard.

—The suit is back to 100%, it's stabilized. The next time he tries, stop him! — she ordered, leaving the room.

At that moment, the alarm sounded throughout the base.

—Right now! — said the leaders, exchanging glances and quickly withdrawing.

— Put on your suits! You will participate in the first battle against the ghouls! — Yan announced, in a serious tone.

The scientist returned to her post, and the preparations for the fight began.

— But what about Kay? — Mira exclaimed, worried.

— He is already in the suit. Now worry about yourself! — said Raven, quickly withdrawing.

— We will come back for him later. Let's get ready! — added Kratos, leaving towards the meeting point.

Reluctantly, Mira left Kay there and went with the others.

The scene changed. All the soldiers were in a salute position. At the front of the army, the leaders lined up, representing their squads, also saluting as Takemichi approached.

— Two different regions, south and east. As you know, the south is a commercial area, where our largest plantations are located. Let’s divide the team: first, second, and third squads, take care of this area. The fourth squad will come with me to the east!” Takemichi ordered in a firm voice.

“Right!” the soldiers responded in unison.

Yan stepped forward hesitantly.

“Sir, if you’ll allow me, I know time is short, so I’ll be brief. My squad currently has recruits with no real combat experience. Why send them to such a populated area?”

Takemichi glanced over, slightly irritated.

“That’s why I’m going with you. The government has decided that the commercial region is a priority, so I’m sending three squads there.”

“I see, sorry for the question,” Yan said, with a respectful salute.

“Anyway, I have expectations for the newbies,” Takemichi replied, with a look of confidence in the recruits.

Yan turned to his squad.

— Turn on your radios and tune to band four. The radios are with your weapons! — he ordered.

“Okay!” — the recruits said, getting ready.

Sky approached the unconscious Kay and adjusted his radio as well, making sure it was on the correct frequency.

The voice of one of the pilots sounded over the radio:

“The vehicles are ready!”

“Breno, Ravena, Slayer, Sarah, Thais, Mey and Dan, you will come in the helicopter with us. Jean will be the leader of the rest of you who will go in the trucks!” — Yan ordered.

“Okay!” — the squad replied, moving quickly towards the vehicles.

The fourth squad was the first to leave the base, heading for battle.

A few minutes later. Inside the truck, Kay began to wake up, murmuring:

“How soft…”

“If you’re awake, you can get up now!” — Mira said, embarrassed.

“Why are you looking like that?” — Kay asked, confused when he saw the tense faces of his colleagues.

“We’re going to war!” — Mira replied seriously.

“Oh, I see, so you’re eager to fight!” — Kay said, giving a carefree smile.

“I think this eagerness is more fear than excitement…” — San commented.

“Fear? Why? You’re strong!” — Kay exclaimed naturally.

“You don’t understand,” Viviane said. “The ghouls are numerous and strong. I don’t know how you’ve faced one before, but this is different!”

“Get up, Kay, you’re taking up the others’ space!” — Mira insisted.

Suddenly, San started.

“Can you hear that noise?”

“What noise?” the others asked, surprised.

Kay frowned, concentrating.

“Change the route, there are ghouls in that city!”

One of the veterans shook his head.

— Impossible, we haven't heard reports of ghouls this close!

— The city is in turmoil — said San, focusing on the noise.

— It's going to delay our team! — grumbled the veteran.

Kratos picked up the radio and made the request:

— We've received signals of ghouls in the city of Kanto. Permission to investigate?

— Don't act without permission, recruit! — warned the veteran.

— Proceed! — authorized Takemichi, over the radio.

The driver changed the route immediately.

— Since the other trucks are ahead, you will have to take on this task — the veteran informed.

— We are all recruits, how are we going to deal with this alone? — exclaimed one of the recruits, apprehensive.

— With faith and determination! — said Kratos, trying to raise the group's morale.

Kay closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating.

— Five ghouls. Three on the right, one in the center and one on the left! — he reported.

— Let's split up and... — the veteran began, but was interrupted by San.

— There's a child screaming on the left!

Kay stood up quickly.

— Stay with them! — he said, to Mira.

— Are you going alone? — Mira exclaimed, surprised.

— Meet you later. I'll take care of the ghoul on the left! — Kay said, jumping off the truck with agility.

— Be careful! — Mira shouted, apprehensive.

— You too! — Kay replied, running towards the city.

The veteran watched, impressed.

“He’s fast…”

Turning to the rest of the group, he continued:

“I don’t know how you fight, but I need three in the center. The rest come with me to the right, where there are more ghouls!”

The teams split up. Mira, San, and Viviane went to the center, while the others went to the right.