Location: Obsidian Academy — Training Grounds / Classrooms / Elite Tier
Date/Time: 12–18 Emberrise, 9939 AZI
Realm: Lower Realm
She understood the "don't eat beforehand" instruction within the first three minutes.
Sixth bell. The training ground was empty except for Heizan, who sat on the same low wall in the same position — cross-legged, bare feet, eating what appeared to be a different peach but might have been the same one. The weighted practice sword Jayde had selected from the rack was heavier than it looked, designed to punish bad grip and worse habits.
"Strike the post," Heizan said. Didn't look up. "Any form."
She struck. Clean, controlled, using the foundation White had drilled into her over six months of Pavilion training — the basic overhead cut that translated across every sword school she'd studied in two lifetimes.
"Again."
She struck again.
"Again."
