Feeling well rested and filled, Maya bid him goodbye and returned to her room.

Meanwhile, Kaiser didn’t sleep immediately. He sat at his table and brought out the runic book and began studying.

The night passed uneventfully, and he woke up still on the table, finding out that he had dozed off after a few hours.

"Hmm..."

Stretching his body, he stood up and went into the bathroom to clean up.

Although he wasn’t feeling hungry, he still prepared a light dish for himself. Today was bound to be hectic, and he didn’t wanted to be interrupted by hunger.

As he flipped the egg in the pan, his mind drifted to the training plan he had for Maya.

Since the girl said she practiced ballerina when she was younger, he knew her combat orientation was going to be something flexible. Although it might be a bit hard to integrate with a scythe, it was just that.

Just a bit hard, not impossible.

After eating his breakfast, he wore gym clothes and shoes, then stepped out of his room.

He took his phone and checked for any notification, and saw Maya’s message telling him she was already in the lobby.

Nodding to himself, he immediately got into the elevator and went to the ground floor.

There were a few students there dressed in casual clothing, but one thing was undeniable. They were all prepping up for training.

Kaiser quickly spotted Maya and walked over.

"Good morning."

The beautiful girl turned and smiled, "Morning, Kai."

The boy blinked twice, then turned towards the exit. "Let’s go."

The two of them immediately left the dormitory, jogging to the Training Facility at a moderate pace.

While jogging, Maya turned to Kaiser. "How often do you train?"

Kaiser took a glance before answering. "I rarely train nowadays. Only light exercises to keep me in my peak condition."

The girl nodded, her pink hair bobbling up and down as they jogged.

Suddenly, Kaiser increased his pace and said to her. "Sprint."

Seeing him run off, the girl paused briefly, then immediately increased her speed too.

She caught up with him, then smiling faintly, went even faster.

Kaiser merely chuckled and effortlessly matched her increased speed.

Feeling challenged, the girl increased her speed again, rushing forward and letting the wind whistle past her.

Still, Kaiser could always keep up with her.

They passed the Training Facility, passing the long roads and passing by the Killian Mall and the Violet Star Mall.

Their sprint lasted close to an hour, covering several laps around the school before Maya’s breathing began to grow heavy.

Kaiser smiled and paused, letting her catch her breath.

"When you run, you don’t just put all your strength into it. You regulate your breathing too."

The pink-haired girl removed her foggy glasses and cleaned them.

"Elaborate."

Kaiser continued, "When running, a person unconsciously holds their breath, reducing output for a short burst of power. However, that is wrong."

"Wrong?" Maya was confused.

"Yes, wrong." He nodded, clapping like a teacher explaining to his student.

"If you want to run for a long time, it’s not just about jogging. You simply have to be fast and maintain your breathing. Think, if you’re walking, do you need to hold your breath?"

Maya shook her head.

"Good." Kaiser continued. "You see, it’s the same for running. Don’t hold your breath."

The girl’s green eyes widened. "What? Isn’t that... illogical?"

Kaiser already expected this, so he just shrugged.

"It is illogical. Still, it’s possible. What is the difference between running and walking?"

Maya answered calmly, her breathing now regulated.

"It’s the fact that when running, you’re faster."

He gave her a thumbs-up, though she felt embarrassed to receive such praise. Who wouldn’t know the difference between running and walking?

"So to balance the equation, running requiresva simple thing. And that is faster breathing."

Maya blinked slowly, trying to digest his words. Breathe faster? While running?

That was impossible. The body would instinctively hold the breath, much less letting a person breathe faster.

Kaiser read her expression and naturally understood her line of thoughts.

"The body wouldn’t allow that naturally. Which is why you have to let it get used to the feeling—by training."

He began walking forward, heading to the Training Facility as Maya trailer behind him.

"Doing that everyday. It really makes me wonder how hectic the weeks are going to become."

Kaiser walked with an unchanged expression. "You’re right. But consistency is the key of training. If a person who trains hard for three days paused, they lose about 10% of their progress."

Maya agreed with him, carefully walking beside him.

"Still, if a person is consistent enough, forcing your body to adapt is as simple as cooling instant noodles."

While Maya was contemplating his words, they finally arrived at the Training Facility.

Today, the building was packed with several students. Most of them came with their classmates, here to train together and spar with each other.

Kaiser even spotted some of his classmates using the public section to train under Hazel’s command.

He barely payed attention to them, though.

"A private training room."

Fortunately, it wasn’t the female receptionist who was always suspicious of him. If it had been her again, Kaiser already expected what kind of looks he’d receive.

’Scum, bastard, playboy, fetish...’

Shaking his head to erase those thoughts, he received a key card from the young male receptionist and went to find their assigned training room.

It was a normal one. Not the exclusive dark ones that Kaiser had used in suppressing Logan.

’Hm, I still haven’t met with President Anthony for our spar. Sigh.’

Stepping inside, he was greeted with the familiar sight of the automaton resting on the wall, inactive.

Maya looked around, spotting a few equipment which she usually trained with in the past.

They were nothing special though, as they were merely merely weight bars of the lowest masses, and other basic equipment.

"Summon your weapon."

Kaiser spoke to her, his aura suddenly becoming more controlled and refined. Instead of spreading around him, it sharpened like a blade and wrapped around him like a second skin.

Maya’s eyes went wide. "What was that?"

Although she couldn’t see it, she could sense it.

Kaiser just gave her a smile. "That is combat mode."