They got to work, Kang taking the lead. The group exercises had the singular focus of training the girls to listen and be aware of their environment. Teaching them to react in the right way to stay alive was what every session was directed towards. There were three rooms that could be used for that purpose.


    The one they were currently in was a wide-open space with padded walls and a single combat automation that could be triggered to provide a challenge or be used as target practice. For beginner exercises, it was perfect, and once they improved, they were going to be able to move into the combat simulation room with its dozens of automations. Once that room was mastered, there was a dynamic obstacle space that was programmable, and would allow them to gain practice in reacting when the footing was uneven and in becoming more aware of how to use geographical features defensively.


    The combination, Tom had to admit, was about perfect for what they wanted.


    “Monster at ten,” Kang called out. They shuffled; Tom did a Quick Step without the magical assistance, and pretended to stab the imaginary threat.


    “More at six and three.”


    This time, Kang blurred across to meet the creature at the six, while Tom engaged the one at the three, having to spin almost a full a hundred-and-eighty degrees to do so.


    The girls retreated to where he had previously been standing at the ten o’clock position – a position thought up to take them as far away from the threats as possible.


    “Stop.” Kang snapped. “You’ve gone too far again.” He kicked the ground a metre behind Tom’s right shoulder. They were a full three paces from that location. “You’re supposed to be here. No more than two paces distant. I’ve told you that a dozen times.”


    Briana, who, despite having had over a week to acclimatise, was still fragile, burst into tears. She was treating them like she would Dimitri.


    Tom sighed. One glance was enough to confirm his suspicions: she was no longer in the headspace that would let her listen and learn from them.


    “Let’s have a quick break.”


    The two girls took advantage of the offer and sprinted out.


    Kang massaged his brow. “You’re too soft, Tom. They’re not learning - you’re giving them breaks rather than taking the time to reinforce the lessons. It’s going to kill them. They’re going to get slaughtered when we expand to live combat.”


    “Then let’s bring that forward.”


    He snorted. “It’s not that easy. They’re not ready. They’ll get hurt.”


    “So?” Tom shrugged. “I honestly think Bri’s better off being taught that way. Having you yell at her is not effective, given her state of mind.”


    “It’s because she thinks I’m an adult.”


    “You are an adult. And I know it’s frustrating, but whining about why doesn’t change the reality of the situation.”


    “I know that, Tom. But you’re not pulling your weight, either. Stop making me be the bad guy.”


    Tom went to snap back, but his throat constricted like a vice. He smiled tightly instead. “You’re doing a good job. There’s no need to fight. We should just move to the combat rooms and let them teach her these lessons. Either you or me pointing them out isn’t getting through to her. Adam, can you help?”


    In what way?


    “If she doesn’t get to the right spot, then you deliver the smackdown. Make sure a construct is activated to punish her. Have it hurt her, but nothing lethal or permanent.”


    Blood? Broken Bones? Are they acceptable?


    “Not at first, but if she’s not learning from smaller impacts, then yes.”


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    Yes, I can do that.


    “What?” Tom asked Kang in reaction to how the other boy was looking at him. “Don’t pretend to be surprised. I’m not soft. I can make hard decisions with the best of them.”


    “No, that’s just colder than I expected.”


    “If it keeps them alive, I don’t care if they hate me.”


    “Very true,” he agreed.


    They left the room. Tom immediately collapsed on the couch and picked up the folder that contained the spells that he had been working on in Existentia. Familiar pages, all covered in wire frames, greeted him. They had both been very excited when they had discovered that Adam could recreate the sheets from the isolation room.


    It also wasn’t just a matter of convenience for them, a matter of where he was grabbing stuff from their memories. It was more than that. The paper he held had details that his mind hadn’t remembered. Instead, it worked off some sort of threshold test. If they met the requirement for percent memorised, then they got the full sheet one hundred percent filled in. If his recall was off by a percent, then they ended up with nothing.


    As a result, he had everything he needed to work toward acquiring Lightning Javelin, which was his primary target. Kang had copies of the two spells he was focused on as well.


    Briana’s choices were restricted, and she only had the spell forms for Desiccate and Water Missile, which, while useful, were not the spells they would have picked for her to learn. Eloise was even worse off, as she only had the Wizard’s Hand spell to work on.


    Tom focused on the page in front of him and memorised every single detail. Then he spent ten fate and merged the three different mastered spell forms together.


    Boom.


    A jagged blaze of electricity extended up to hit the ceiling on the far side of the room. There was a ding that only he could have heard.


    Kang jumped up his hand reaching for his axe. “What was that?”


    “My first ranged attack. Adam, can you...”


    A piece of paper appeared in front of him, fluttering down the last few centimetres to land flush on the table.


    “Give me some warning next time,” Kang demanded even as he leant over to see what Tom had learned.


    Spell: Extended Lightning Bolt – Tier 2 (level 3)


    Deliver a burst of electricity with a range of 15 metres.


    Tom frowned as he read about the spell and its evolutions. Like every other intermediate spell he had created, they had the same sideway evolutions he had earned for Spark. So far, he had failed to gain any new ones outside of the tier-zero mergers. He was starting to suspect that the more powerful the spell you were getting, the harder the elusive sideways evolutions were growing to get. If he wasn’t getting any more, it made him extra grateful for the ones he had gotten when acquiring Touch Heal and Spark.


    “I haven’t finished,” he warned Kang. Then he clicked his fingers again and tried to cast Lightning Bolt.


    Nothing happened.


    The spell had been one of the three being merged into Extended Lightning Bolt, so he hadn’t expected to keep it, but it was worth checking.


    With a frown, he spent ten more fate, shaped the spell from memory, being careful to get it right, and snapped his fingers a third time.


    This time, the bolt went straight up to hit the ceiling. There was a puff of plaster, but nowhere near as much as had occurred on the first day. Adam had strengthened the ceiling since – or, more likely, weakened it for his initial demonstration to gain the girl’s attention. Either way, he was happy with the administrator’s decision-making.


    Kang glowered at him.


    He smiled sweetly. “Sorry, just got one of my old spells back to maximise the power from my trait.” New lines had appeared on the piece of paper.


    Spell: Lightning Bolt – Tier 1 (level 6)


    A short-range offensive spell.


    “That trait is broken.” Kang complained.


    “It is. Luckily for us,“ Tom agreed. “I would feel a lot less confident going into something with a one in a trillion chance of survival without it.”


    Kang didn’t give him any response beyond a frown. Any reminder of their predicament tended to do that. When they were in these rooms, training, what they were improving themselves for could be forgotten, but when you remembered, nothing seemed quite as fun anymore.


    In the morose silence, a thought occurred to him. While the trial couldn’t show stuff gained outside its bounds, it was not restricted from showing you advancements made within it. “Adam. I’ve received levels in Danger Sense while I’ve been here. Can you show them to me?”


    The bottom third of the piece of paper was promptly filled with text. Kang read it at the same time as he did.


    Skill: Advanced Danger Sense – Tier 2 – Level 18


    Reveal imminent threats.


    Threshold Bonus 8: Includes threats to party members as well as to self.


    Threshold Bonus 16: Direction and nature of the attacks will be apparent.


    Tom nodded in satisfaction as he read those lines. He didn’t really need the confirmation, because he had felt the improved functionality that the upgrade gifted him when he had been sparring with Kang, but it was still nice to get.


    “That last line,” Kang said impressed. “Eighteen levels in a few months… that’s…”


    “That’s what a high affinity produces.”


    “Ninety-five. I still can’t believe that it’s at that level.”


    “Yeah, and I don’t know what skill or artefact gave it to me.”


    “It must have been something impressive.”


    The memory holes gnawed at his conscious, but he forced himself to ignore it and continue to train.