Ed barely had a moment to catch his breath before a low, mechanical whir echoed through the training hall.
His instincts screamed at him.
He turned just in time to see it—the fourth dummy, rising from a hidden compartment beneath the floor.
Unlike the previous ones, this one was different.
Sleek, reinforced limbs. Darker wood reinforced with mana-infused metal.
And then—it moved.
Fast.
A sharp whoosh cut through the air.
Ed barely managed to throw himself to the side as a brutal strike shot toward his ribs.
The air shuddered with the force of the missed attack, a stark contrast to the previous dummies.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Another Strike
His mind reeled.
'This one isn't following a pattern,' he realized.
The others had been predictable. Calculated.
But this dummy… it was fighting like a real warrior.
Arianna smirked from the platform above, arms crossed.
"This is the real test."
Zareth leaned forward slightly.
Ed's muscles burned, his breath ragged.
