Chương 170: Chapter 163 - Procedure

Finding myself inside Miss K's office felt oddly familiar by now, like I'd been here enough times for it to start counting as a routine. I sat across from her desk while she studied me with those golden eyes of hers, pen in hand, already halfway through the same edited explanation I'd fed Valeria just yesterday.

"... So when I woke up, I noticed the Sprites had finally finished their work," I said.

"I was still extremely sore and dealing with residual pain for a while, but that tapered off over the next few hours. My mother confirmed the Sprites had fully receded and that they weren't going to be a problem anymore, so I mostly just rested for the remainder of the day. Didn't do any major exercising." Dropping that Valeria was an experienced Practitioner felt like a calculated risk—but not much of one. If my read on Miss K was even remotely accurate, it wouldn't come as a surprise.

And judging by the complete and utter lack of reaction on her face, I'd been absolutely right. What did have her full attention, though, was everything I'd said about the Sprites themselves.

"And they simply… what?" she asked, pen pausing mid-scratch.

"Restructured your entire body? Musculature? Tendons?" I nodded.

"As far as either my mother or I can tell, yeah. That's the rough version. It felt like everything tied to my musculature was getting torn apart and put back together again—just… better." The pen resumed its steady motion against paper before Miss K looked up again, golden eyes flicking over me with renewed intensity.

"Fascinating," she muttered. The word alone made me feel like an experimental lab rat— again. Valeria's stare had done the same thing yesterday, and I really didn't want this becoming a trend anytime soon.

"It does explain why your posture and movements are so completely different to before," Miss K continued, tapping the pen idly against her cheek.

"I'll probably have to rework your entire training regimen. Again." I winced before I could stop myself. She noticed immediately and waved it off.

"Don't worry about it, Sera. This is quite literally my job. It's unusual to have to rework someone's shard this often, but it's not unheard of." A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Though, usually, it's because of chipping new cybernetics in sequence, rapid bionic upgrades, or genetic milestones. Your situation, though?" She leaned back slightly.

"That's a whole lot more… interesting." Miss K kept poking and prodding for a while after that, clearly fascinated, circling back to the Sprites again and again from different angles—how they felt, if I could sense intent, if there had been patterns, colours, anything at all I could give her to chew on. I answered as honestly as I could, which mostly amounted to a lot of shrugging and variations of "I don't really know."

I hadn't used Anima Sight before today, hadn't been able to see anything while it was happening, and beyond pain, exhaustion, and the vague sense of being taken apart and put back together, I just didn't have much to offer. Eventually, even Miss K had to concede that there wasn't any blood left to squeeze from that stone. She sighed, set the pen down, and closed the notebook with a soft tap.

"Alright, I think we're good then," she said, more thoughtful than disappointed.

"It's not on you, really. You didn't exactly get eased into this whole mess—you got thrown into the deep end with weights strapped to your ankles." She stood up and came around the desk, leaning back against it the way she always did, suddenly a lot closer than before. My brain very unhelpfully latched onto that fact immediately, but I shut that down with a quick push of Edge before it could spiral into something stupid—again.

"I did talk to my Anima Master," she continued, watching my reaction closely. That snapped my focus right back where it belonged. She held up both hands preemptively.

"And before you say anything—no, I didn't tell him who you are, as promised. Nothing personal. No names, no dojo, no background. Just the Anima-related oddities. But nothing about our relationship at all. That part stayed fully confidential." My chest still fluttered a bit at the phrasing—"our relationship" —but I crushed that too and quickly nodded for her to continue.

"He found your situation, let's just say… fascinating," she said, a faint, knowing smile tugging at her lips.

"Fascinating enough that he agreed to let me pass on some of his teachings to you." My eyes widened before I could stop them. That was—huge.

"Not everything," she added immediately, fixing me with a look that dared me to get carried away.

"Just the fundamentals. The absolute basics," she continued.

"Enough to give you a proper framework, so you're not stumbling around blind and accidentally tearing yourself apart." I nodded, because… well fair. And I didn't want to tear myself apart either, so double fair.

"Now, anything beyond that," she said, leaning in just a little, "he needs reassurances first. He wants to meet you. Evaluate you. Decide whether you're actually ready for a full Practitioner's introduction." I didn't even bother hiding the wave of relief that hit me at that. No strings attached basics now, with the chance of real training later—once I'd proven I wasn't about to blow myself up or liquefy my own organs, or whatever the hell else misuse of Anima could cause? That was… pretty much perfect.

I didn't hesitate for even a second longer. I agreed to the conditions outright and thanked her—genuinely—because this was more than I'd realistically expected to get. Miss K waved it off immediately with a sharp, toothy grin.

"Don't thank me yet," she said.

"This is just as much for me as it is for you. You've basically signed up to be my little Anima test pet." My Edge stuttered. Hard. I stared at her for half a heartbeat, wondering—again—if she was doing this on purpose. The timing. The phrasing. The smile. I cranked Edge back up and forced myself to stay neutral, even as my brain loudly filed several complaints it would absolutely not be voicing out loud.

I was also half-wondering if Ego would have been the better choice here, but I didn't want to rely on that particular Attribute too much. Where Edge took off… well the edge off of my emotions, Ego just absolutely smothered everything into a uniform paste. It was too heavy handed for daily use like this. She, of course, looked entirely too pleased with herself and kept going like she hadn't just drop-kicked my composure off a cliff.

"I should probably warn you," she said, teeth continuing to flash in that infuriatingly smug grin of hers, "I've never actually taught Anima like this before." I blinked.

"That's… reassuring." She waved it off.

"Oh, relax. I've covered combat-adjacent applications before—higher dojo classes, advanced stuff. How to move Anima through strikes, timing, intent. Surface-level things like that." She leaned in a bit, clearly enjoying this.

"But fundamentals? Structure? Teaching someone from the ground up?" She shrugged.

"That's new territory." If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Fantastic.

"So congratulations," she added lightly.

"You're my first-ever, proper Anima student!" I resisted the urge to groan, which was definitely helped by the very real excitement that came with actually having somewhat of a plan for the future, for once. But then she shifted gears, her tone settling into something more grounded and practical." That said, I'll need time. A few days. Maybe a week. I want a proper schedule for this. A real teaching plan." She met my eyes squarely.

"Anima isn't something I'm going to wing with you. It's extremely dangerous, it's complex, and if I screw this up, you could get seriously hurt—or die."

"I understand," I said quickly.

"Yeah. I would prefer not dying." And it did make sense. Completely. Logically. Internally, though, I was definitely a little crushed at the postponement. Having real answers—actual explanations—right now would've been incredible. I was so damn tired of operating on vibes, pain tolerance—or the lack thereof—and blind luck. Still though… this was a win. A massive one. No two ways about it. With that part settled, Miss K wrapped up the Anima talk and smoothly pivoted to the upcoming dojo session.

"Today's going to be interesting," she said, matter-of-fact.

"I can't be one hundred percent sure yet, but your capabilities have definitely skyrocketed." I raised an eyebrow.

"Based on what?" She snorted and gestured vaguely at me, "Muscle definition. And even more importantly—how you move now. This is not the Sera we've all seen last week, not even close." Which immediately made me wonder how the hell she could see anything through the gi's layers of cloth, but I let that one go for now.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"Things changed quite a lot, I guess… Sprites did a number on me." I hesitated, then asked the question that had been sitting in my chest since I walked in.

"So… how am I supposed to explain that to the others without dragging Anima into it? Because I really don't want to do that yet. And I'm guessing you don't want them to know about it either." She nodded and then smiled a devious grin. That alone was not reassuring.

"I'll handle it," she said simply. The uneasy weight that dropped into my stomach was immediate.

"What does that—" Before I could finish, she pushed herself off the desk and headed for the office door, already done with the topic. She glanced back and crooked a finger at me.

"Come on. The session's about to start." And just like that, I was already out of time to worry—because whatever explanation she had planned, I was apparently about to have to live with whatever consequences it caused…

"You're all going to have to work harder than you have so far," Miss K announced, practically beaming as she let her gaze sweep across the group, lingering just long enough on each of them to make the point stick. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Kenzie and Tom, with Jin looming just off to his left, I still felt that low, crawling unease in my gut. I had no idea what Miss K had decided to tell them as an excuse for my changes—and that uncertainty was doing me zero favors.

"Because if you don't," she continued lightly, "you're going to fall behind." That did it. Every last scrap of attention in the room snapped into place, if it hadn't already. She let the silence sit for a beat longer than necessary, then lifted a finger and pointed straight at me. My stomach dropped.

"Sera's had a bit of an upgrade," Miss K said cheerfully.

"And no—before anyone asks—it's not Cybernetic, Bionic, or Genetic in origin." That earned more than a few raised brows.

"This one's baseline-human centric," she went on, "which, oddly enough, makes it even more interesting, really. Baseline humans generally don't have upgrades like this, but… Well, you will see for yourself, I guess." All eyes swung to me at once. Miss K's tone hardened just a notch as she added.

"I'm certain I don't need to remind any of you that talking about this outside the dojo will come with immediate and particularly unpleasant consequences, correct?" The three of them immediately nodded and "Yes, Ma'am!", "Yes, Master!"'s followed.

"Excellent," she said, clapping her hands once in clear satisfaction.

"Now—Sera wasn't here last session because she underwent an experimental procedure. I don't have the full details, and frankly, I don't need them. A brief look was more than enough to tell me this:" She gestured vaguely at me.

"If you want to keep up with her, your effort from here on out is going to need to double." That was when the staring really started. I could practically feel them trying to peel me apart layer by layer, searching for whatever had changed about me. I did my best to keep my eyes on Miss K, trying not to betray my unease at the situation.

"Normally," Miss K continued, unfazed, "I'd test something like this myself before letting it anywhere near a sparring floor. But since this upgrade is firmly based on baseline-human parameters, I don't have to worry about Cybernetic malfunctions, Bionic failures, or sudden claws popping out of her wrists, that could become dangerous in unexpected ways." Kenzie's snort at the claw comment was the only sound breaking the quiet.

"So," she finished, "I'll let you lot explore her new ceiling firsthand. I'll be watching closely, of course—to step in if you underestimate her. Or if she underestimates herself." Then Miss K turned and pointed at Kenzie.

"You've sparred with Sera the most. Care to do the honors of being the first one to try?" Kenzie studied me for a long second, her fluffy ears twitching excitedly, before her lips curled into a grin full of teeth.

"Wouldn't let anyone else take that from me, Ma'am." Moments later, Jin and Tom stepped off the mat alongside Miss K, leaving just me and Kenzie facing each other with the familiar stretch of sparring distance between us.

"You know," Kenzie said casually while we waited for Miss K's signal, head tilting slightly, "I was wondering why you smelled different again. But that whole procedure thing… yeah. Guess that explains it." I gave her a crooked, slightly pained smile. I had absolutely no idea how to respond to that, so I latched onto the safest thing I could think of.

"Your nose is incredible." That earned me a sharp-toothed grin.

"It really is, isn't it?" Before I could come up with anything else even remotely coherent, Miss K's voice carried in from the sidelines.

"Get ready, both of you. Standard sparring rules. Kenzie, try to get a bead on Sera's new capabilities—don't underestimate her. Sera… figure out what you can do." We both nodded without breaking eye contact. Kenzie dropped into her usual low stance, powerful legs bunching beneath her like coiled steel, every line of her posture screaming explosive movement. She looked ready to launch at me the second the signal dropped. I mirrored my usual stance out of habit—and immediately felt the difference.

My center shifted a hair lower, my balance settling more naturally than before, posture aligning itself without conscious effort. They were the same quiet adjustment I'd noticed back when Valeria had made me test myself after the Upgrades. I took a split second to check in on myself, making sure the unconscious limiter was fully disengaged. No point in holding back now on that front. It was off. Good.' Let's keep [Flow] in the back pocket for now,'I told myself, steadying my breathing.' Save it as a surprise.

Preferably on Miss K—maybe manage to snag that reward for landing a hit.' No need to show every card right out of the gate. Miss K's hands came together in a sharp, echoing clap—and Kenzie exploded forward. She shot off the mat like a round out of a railgun, low stance snapping into a full-body pounce in a blink. Even held back, cautious, she was damn fast. Faster than a person had any right to be. Her first strike wasn't meant to land—it was a probe, a testing swipe meant to force a reaction.

I slid sideways without really thinking about it. My footwork felt clean, grounded, like my body already knew how to move before I consciously decided on where. Kenzie sailed past where I'd been standing, claws cutting air instead of skin, and I felt a flicker of surprise ripple through me. Gone was the slight panic that usually came with facing Kenzie, as her pressure had been incredibly difficult to deal with for me before.' Oh. This… is so easy?' But Kenzie didn't slow down. She never did.

She twisted mid-landing and came again, this time with a low kick meant to sweep my legs, followed immediately by a snapping elbow. I let the kick bounce against my shin, rolled my shoulder through the elbow, and felt the impact skim past instead of crack into me. Every exchange pushed the pace higher—her movements getting sharper, more aggressive, mine growing looser, more confident by the second. This wasn't like the static reaction testing with Valeria yesterday. This was full-body CQC; a lot more involved.

Kenzie darted, leapt, rebounded off the mat, forcing angles, forcing commitment. I answered in kind—sidestepping instead of retreating, turning with her momentum instead of fighting it, my breath hot as my heart kicked into overdrive. Each near-miss fed into the next, and somewhere along the line, a thought crept in uninvited. I was keeping up. No—' I am ahead.' Kenzie went for another pounce, this one meant to truly go for a clean hit—one of Kenzie's full-commitment attacks. In the past, I would've backed off.

Would've stepped aside, if I could manage it. Would've eaten it and tried to recover, if I couldn't. But this time, I stepped in. I slipped forwards and to the side as she passed, then reached out on pure instinct—and my hand closed around her right leg mid-air. For a split second, everything froze. Her eyes widened. Mine probably did too. Then I planted my feet, felt my back and shoulders engage, and pulled. Hard.

The world lurched as I swung her through the air, rotating with her momentum, the sheer weight of another human stretching my balance—but my Body held. I twisted, put everything I had into it, and then slammed her into the mat after a half-turn to bleed off the excess momentum. The impact boomed.

Air and spit burst from her mouth with a grunt as her back hit with a loud thud, and I staggered a few steps myself, chest heaving, arms trembling from the effort of catching and throwing a whole-ass person my own size—if markedly lighter. I stood there breathing hard, heart hammering, staring down at a groaning Kenzie in stunned disbelief. I had really done that just now. And judging by the stunned silence around the dojo— Everyone else was just as surprised…