Zephyr's words rang out across the empty training ground.
He looked at the boy before him, somewhat bedraggled from digging holes, yet with an unyielding fire burning in his eyes. For the first time, a smile that could only be called ferocious appeared on his stern face.
"Since you're so eager to learn, I'll teach you the fastest way possible!"
The instant he finished speaking, Zephyr's massive body moved!
He didn't use Soru. Relying solely on his perfect control of his muscles, he covered ten meters in a single step. His enormous mechanical arm, the Crusher, screamed through the air as it smashed straight down at Lorne's head!
"!!!"
The shadow of death instantly engulfed Lorne!
His Beast Ears sounded frantic warnings, and every hair on his body stood on end!
He wanted to dodge, but his body couldn't keep up with his brain's commands! The terrifying air pressure descending from above seemed to freeze the very space around him!
"Too slow!"
Zephyr's roar exploded in his ears.
Lorne clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. His survival instinct overrode everything else. Abandoning every unnecessary movement, he poured all his strength into his legs and stomped sideways at the rhythm he had failed to achieve countless times before!
Thud!
An explosive report rang out!
This time, the ground beneath his feet merely trembled, while his body shot several meters sideways like a cannonball fired from its barrel!
Boom!!!
Almost the instant he left his spot, Zephyr's mechanical arm crashed down. The incredibly hard Seastone floor was smashed into a terrifyingly deep crater, with spiderweb cracks spreading wildly in every direction!
Cold sweat instantly soaked Lorne's back.
He had no doubt that if he had been even 0.1 seconds slower, he would already have been reduced to a pulp.
"Did you feel that, boy?" Zephyr slowly straightened, looking down at him. "That's what it feels like to stand between life and death! Your body is far more honest than your brain!"
"Again!"
Zephyr gave Lorne no chance to catch his breath. His burly figure lunged forward again, this time with his flesh-and-blood fist!
There were no flashy techniques, only pure, thoroughly honed violence powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Lorne pushed his barely grasped Soru to its limit, dodging desperately across the training ground. Each time, he narrowly protected his vital points at the very last instant before the force of a punch reached him.
But Zephyr's attacks were too dense, a raging storm that left no opening untouched!
Rip!
A heavy punch grazed Lorne's shoulder. The wind from it alone tore open his skin, sending a string of blood droplets flying!
"Concentrate your strength more! Increase the frequency!"
"Your legs aren't decorations! Move! Keep moving!"
Bam!
Lorne lost focus for a moment and took a solid punch to the abdomen.
Agony struck. He felt as though his internal organs had been knocked out of place. His entire body curled like a cooked shrimp, and he nearly spat up a mouthful of bile.
Yet after the searing pain, an even more violent surge of strength welled up from within him!
Battlefield Valor's passive began to take effect!
"Oh? You can still stand?" A flicker of surprise crossed Zephyr's eyes.
"Old man... did you skip your meal?" Lorne wiped the bloody froth from his lips and flashed a bloodthirsty grin. "A massage like that isn't nearly strong enough!"
"Gahahahaha! What an interesting brat!"
Instead of getting angry, Zephyr laughed. Tough cases like this were exactly what he admired most!
"Then let me show you what real hell looks like!"
For the time that followed, the entire underground training ground became the site of Zephyr's one-sided "instruction."
Lorne was like a punching bag toyed with by a giant bear, sent flying again and again, slammed into walls and hurled to the floor.
The cracks of breaking bones and the dull thuds of blows striking flesh never stopped.
Any normal person subjected to blows of this intensity would have died at least ten times over.
But not Lorne!
Every time he was knocked down, his monstrous recovery allowed him to get back up in an incredibly short time!
His muscles writhed, forcibly reconnecting broken bones, while torn wounds stopped bleeding and scabbed over at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Rather than showing the slightest fear or hesitation, his eyes grew brighter and wilder!
Under the pressure of a top-tier powerhouse like Zephyr, his understanding of Soru and Kami-e deepened at an inconceivable rate!
At first, he had been completely unable to dodge. Then he could barely keep his vital points out of harm's way. Now, he could even find that fleeting sliver of an opening amid a dense barrage of fists!
The longer Zephyr fought, the more shocked he became!
This boy... was a genuine monster!
His recovery, his ability to learn, his combat instincts-all of them defied reason!
Genius wasn't enough to describe him anymore. He was... a freak of nature!
The training continued from afternoon until dusk.
When the last ray of sunset vanished from the training ground's ventilation opening, Zephyr finally stopped.
Thud!
Lorne could no longer hold himself up. His body toppled stiffly to the floor with a dull thud.
He was drenched in blood, his clothes long since reduced to tattered strips. He looked as though he had just been fished out of a pool of blood, yet the smile on his face was as radiant as that of a child who had received a beloved toy.
His stamina was completely spent.
"Gahahahaha!" Looking at the unconscious Lorne, Zephyr showed no concern at all. Instead, he burst into hearty laughter from the bottom of his heart.
"Good! Good lad! Now that's a soldier worth my attention!"
He stepped forward, picked Lorne up like a chick, slung him over his shoulder, then turned and strode out of the training ground.
Marine Headquarters, senior officers' mess hall.
When Zephyr walked in carrying a blood-soaked figure, the entire mess hall fell silent.
All the field-grade Marine officers eating there set down their knives and forks, staring in astonishment at the fearsome instructor.
"I-Instructor Zephyr?" A young lieutenant commander worked up the courage to ask, "The person on your shoulder is...?"
"My student." Zephyr's reply was brief and to the point. He walked straight to the serving counter and roared at the dumbfounded cooks behind it, "Bring me every edible thing you've got! And make it quick!"
The cooks dared not delay, hastily bringing over plate after plate piled high with food.
Zephyr dumped Lorne into a chair at an empty table, then roughly patted his face.
"Boy, wake up! Time to eat!"
Roused by the aroma of food, Lorne slowly came to.
He opened his eyes to mountains of meat, bread, and fruit piled higher than he was tall.
His extreme exhaustion and depletion drove his hunger to its peak.
"Time to dig in!"
Before you continue