Bond Master

The Coliseum of Trials

Sergeant Corvina walked with a brisk, military cadence, her high leather boots clicking sharply against the polished marble floor of the dormitory foyer as she led Ren Barrett out into the blinding afternoon sun. The air of the academy grounds was crisp and completely clear, free from the heavy, choking sulfur plumes that Ren had spent his entire childhood inhaling back in the Soot stone District. They followed a sweeping cobblestone pathway that cut across the manicured lawns, eventually approaching the shadow of a colossal, circular stone structure that dominated the southern perimeter of the campus.

"This will be our primary venue for the afternoon drills," Sergeant Corvina explained, gesturing toward the towering outer walls of the grand amphitheater. "You'll grow to appreciate the layout, Barrett—at least during the hours when it remains entirely empty of spectator crowds. With no other training divisions occupying the sand today, you'll be free to push your companion beast as far out across the perimeter as his soul-tether allows, and we can conduct our initial martial sparring forms without any external distractions.

You don't need to hold back your strikes out of fear of damaging the architecture, either. The underlying structural foundations are heavily reinforced with defensive warding runes capable of withstanding the direct elemental impact of a rampaging Commander-Rank magical beast.

Our baseline practice forms won't pose even a remote threat to the structural integrity of this fortress."

As they stepped through the massive wrought-iron gates and moved down the dark entry tunnel, Ren realized that the coliseum was actually a massive, ancient athletic stadium. The facility had been extensively repurposed and augmented with advanced defensive arrays a little over a decade ago, immediately following the historical discovery of the System Stones and the subsequent development of the artificial Divine Injections.

The arena floor was incredibly vast, a massive expanse of packed white sand bordered by rows of tiered stone benches that rose high into the sky. A shimmering, translucent pale blue dome of concentrated magical force hummed quietly overhead, indicating that a powerful localized barrier array was active, designed specifically to isolate the kinetic Shockwaves of elite combat training and prevent stray spells from lacerating the surrounding campus.

"Call out your bound beast, initiate," Sergeant Corvina instructed, stepping out into the exact center of the sun-bleached battlefield. She came to a halt twenty paces away from Ren, her posture perfectly balanced, her gloved hands resting loosely near the hilts of the twin silver-pommeled sabers hanging from her military belt. "You and your companion may make the absolute first move. Let us see the reality of your synchronized vanguard forms."

Ren drew a deep, grounding breath, his fingers flexing inside his iron-studded combat gauntlets. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, dipping his awareness down into the cold iron chambers of his Confinement Vault. Wake up, Grim, he commanded, unlocking the primary soul-gate. We're entering a live combat matrix. Circle the perimeter from the shadows, utilize your speed, and strike her blind spots from the flank when I engage her centerline.

A sudden, sharp ripple of gray spatial distortion tore through the air beside Ren’s boots. In a flash of dim, smoky energy, the charcoal-furred Volden Shackle-Hound manifested onto the white sand. Its sleek body, now the size of a robust hunting hound, dropped into a low, predatory crouch. Its sharp grey eyes locked instantly onto the rigid figure of the female officer. With a silent, incredibly agile bound, Grim sprinted outward, his paws leaving faint indentations in the dust as he raced fifty meters out toward the perimeter of the stone arena, tracking a wide, looping trajectory along the shadow of the stadium walls, waiting patiently for Ren’s opening advance.

"Begin," Ren muttered, his voice dropping as he surged forward across the sand.

He closed the distance rapidly, his heavy boots kicking up plumes of white dust. Halfway through his sprint, Ren channeled his internal soul-force down into his right arm, activating his shared active skill. The iron studs lining his heavy combat gauntlet instantly ignited with a dark, pulsing crimson light as he threw out a fierce, linear piercing strike directed straight at the Sergeant's chest.

[Activating Shared Active Skill: Bone-Plate Rend.]

A localized, crescent arc of destructive, armor-cleaving kinetic energy erupted from his knuckles, tearing through the air with a sharp, whistling shriek. The strike was executed with decent alignment, but Sergeant Corvina didn't even flinch. With an effortless, lightning-fast motion, she drew a singular silver saber from her hip. A faint, dense sheen of concentrated silver Mana coated the edge of her blade as she brought it down in a precise, casual parry, completely shattering Ren’s kinetic crescent into harmless crimson sparks.

But Ren’s opening strike was never meant to connect. The exact moment Corvina’s blade deflected the kinetic arc, Grim executed his calculated ambush. The Shackle-Hound materialized like a localized shadow from her left flank, its jaw agape as its bone-plated spine ridges glistened under the sun. The young beast launched itself in a lethal, silent dive aimed straight at the back of the officer's exposed neck.

Sergeant Corvina’s combat instincts were absolutely terrifying. Without even turning her skull to face the ambush, she executed a fluid sidestep, her uniform cape swirling behind her frame like a defensive shield. She managed to parry Grim's snapping jaws with the flat of her second blade, but Ren was already closing the gap, his fingers flicking in rapid succession as he unleashed a frantic flurry of follow-up kinetic spikes from his left gauntlet.

The consecutive crimson waves forced Corvina to anchor her stance, her twin sabers moving in a blurring, rhythmic defensive pattern that systematically dismantled every single line of attacking force Ren threw her way. However, the sheer mechanical volume of the dual-pronged assault achieved its tactical purpose.

While Corvina was occupied deflecting Ren's frontal gauntlet strikes, Grim utilized his incredible rate of agility to reset his footing in midair. Dropping low to the sand, the hound lunged inward from her blind spot, his sharp teeth grazing across the back of the Sergeant's neck before she could completely rotate her perimeter defense.

The strike connected cleanly, but instead of tearing through flesh or severing a major artery, Grim’s teeth clattered against an invisible, skin-tight barrier of dense, hardened Ascendant-grade Mana. The impact left a bright, swelling red welt along the skin of her neck, but the officer remained completely unfazed.

What kind of biological anomaly is this human? Grim panicked telepathically, his psychic voice screaming frantically inside Ren's brain as he bounced backward across the sand, his ears pinning back in shock. My teeth clamped directly onto her throat, but her flesh didn't break! Is her skin forged from refined foundry iron? Are we fighting a stone golem disguised as a soldier?

Keep pressing the form, Grim! Ren shouted back through the soul-tether, his heart pounding against his ribs as he forced his aching, fatigued muscles to maintain his fighting stance. She’s an Ascendant-tier martial elite; her baseline physical density is light years ahead of ours. She’s intentionally holding back her offensive output to map our current biological thresholds! Use your agility to cycle your runs!

Ren rushed forward again, swinging a heavy, desperate left hook that Corvina easily deflected with the pommel of her saber. He used the momentum to pivot, driving a knee toward her midsection, but the Sergeant simply moved her forearm, absorbing the concussive force of the strike without shifting her balance a single inch. Ren could clearly see the calm, analyzing look in her silver-crimson eyes; she was systematically reading his movements, testing his raw strength, and calculating the exact speed of his neural reflexes.

"The tactical accuracy and synchronization of your hound is absolutely exceptional, Barrett,"

Sergeant Corvina congratulated him, her voice entirely smooth and unhurried even as she effortlessly slipped past another desperate punch. "I can easily comprehend why the administration marked your unique class profile with such high developmental potential. If I were an unvented first-year student classmate from the upper districts rather than an Ascendant instructor, I would likely be on a stretcher heading straight to the academy infirmary right now after that synchronized ambush to the throat. Your beast possesses a lethal degree of combat intelligence."

She had genuinely underestimated the sheer speed and recovery time of the Volden Shackle-Hound, failing to realize the juvenile creature could recalibrate its footing and execute a secondary diving strike so quickly after a deflected parry. Corvina adjusted her stance, her movements suddenly accelerating as she decided to bring the initial evaluation to a definitive close.

She launched a fluid, blinding flurry of training strikes, the flat of her sabers striking Ren’s shoulders and ribs with concussive force, completely overriding his guard and knocking him flat onto his back in the sand. The exact moment Ren hit the ground, Corvina spun on her heel, her blade sweeping upward in a precise crescent arc that perfectly intercepted and blocked Grim’s frantic, protective counter-dive.

"Alright, take a breather, initiate. The analytical phase of the drill is officially concluded," Sergeant Corvina announced, sheathing her twin sabers with a clean, synchronized click. She stood over the exhausted commoner boy, her expression shifting into a serious, highly professional academic gaze. "I have mapped the exact boundaries of your current weaknesses. The absolute first priority we must address through institutional training is your independent close-quarters martial proficiency."