Chapter 28: Shocking Progress!
The training room was quiet, save for the faint humming of magic energy pulsing through the walls.
Smooth white tiles beneath Ren's bare feet gleamed under the glowing ceiling panels, and the air smelled faintly of ozone and sweat.
Ren stood motionless a few meters away from the obsidian-black combat dummy—a humanoid training golem about his height with blank eyes and no facial features, forged out of a metal so tough even enchanted weapons had to work hard to damage it.
Its joints clicked softly as it powered on, each limb emitting a soft hiss of built-in enchanted pressure.
Ren was already drenched in sweat, his silver hair plastered slightly to his forehead, yet his sharp eyes glimmered with focus and calm.
He was wearing a simple but tight training outfit, the kind that stretched over muscle and clung to motion, every inch of him built like a coiled spring.
And in his right hand, resting like it belonged there, was Bloodthirsty, his brutal, oversized kusarigama.
The scythe half of the weapon gleamed like a crescent moon soaked in blood, and the spiked metal club attached to its long red chain glinted menacingly.
The chain itself was coiled loosely around Ren's left arm like a serpent waiting to strike. It moved with him when he shifted his stance, humming faintly with weight and tension.
This was no dainty blade, this was a war weapon. Unwieldy. Brutal. And Ren made it look stylish.
A mechanical beep broke the silence.