Chapter 28. Just a Simple Girl
The next "fight" started almost immediately.
Actually, calling it a fight was far too generous on my part.
It wasn't a match, a spar, or even training anymore.
It was a full-on, brutal, no-holds-barred beating.
Ten new dummies, each nearly my height and twice as bulky, surged forward like a coordinated battalion of wooden tyrants. Unlike the earlier batch that at least felt like semi-random attacks, these bastards came with tactics. They didn't split their attention. No, they chose one target at a time and dogpiled.
And guess who had the honor of going first?
Me.
I barely had time to inhale before they descended upon me like wolves. A fist slammed into my ribs—crack—and another followed up with a gut punch that emptied my lungs of air. My body folded, then another caught me on the chin, and I was airborne again, only to be spiked back down like a broken toy.
Pain exploded across my limbs, my vision shook. Every nerve screamed.
I couldn't even summon the breath to curse.
Mia didn't fare any better. Once they got bored with breaking me apart, they turned to her, and despite her frantic use of magic—healing spells and even a shimmering mana shield—she still got hammered. Literally.