Webnovel's Extra: Reincarnated With a Copy Ability-Chapter 152: The First Real Argument

The quiet phase didn’t last.

For two days the training hall felt almost thoughtful. People tested things instead of defending them. Mistakes were corrected with short conversations rather than stubborn pride.

Then someone decided they were right.

Lucas noticed the shift late in the afternoon.

He had just finished a practice rotation and stepped out of the projection grid when raised voices carried across the hall. Not shouting yet, but sharp enough to cut through the normal rhythm of drills.

He glanced toward the far side.

A B-tier group had stopped their exercise completely. Four of them stood inside the inactive grid while two more leaned against the barrier arguing with them.

Lucas sighed.

"Here we go."

Dreyden followed his gaze but didn’t move.

"What happened?"

Lucas shrugged.

"Probably the same thing that always happens. Someone decided their way works best."

Across the hall, the argument grew louder.

"I’m telling you the collapse happens because you’re leaving too much space," one of the anchors said, gesturing toward the grid.

"That’s not the problem," the suppressor snapped back. "The problem is you’re pulling everything inward before the projections even stabilize."

The anchor shook his head.

"Because if we don’t, the lane breaks."

"Only because you panic."

A few nearby students slowed their drills to watch.

Lucas rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah. That’s about right."

The instructor overseeing the hall glanced over once, then went back to observing another formation. He didn’t intervene.

Lucas noticed that.

"They’re letting it happen."

"Yes," Dreyden said.

Lucas pushed away from the railing.

"Let’s see how bad this gets."

They walked toward the group as the conversation turned sharper.

"You’re trying to copy the compression method," the suppressor said. "But you don’t have the control for it."

"And you’re spreading us so thin we can’t respond fast enough."

"That’s because you keep tightening the formation before the wave even hits."

The anchor pointed at the grid.

"Fine. Let’s run it again. But we do it my way."

The suppressor folded his arms.

"No. We do it properly this time."

Lucas stepped up to the barrier.

"What’s the problem?"

The group turned.

For a moment nobody spoke.

Lucas recognized most of them. They were competent students. Not exceptional, but good enough to hold a stable formation most days.

One of them exhaled.

"He keeps collapsing the formation before we need it," the suppressor said.

The anchor immediately shook his head.

"And he keeps widening the spacing until we can’t reinforce each other."

Lucas looked at the inactive grid.

"Alright," he said.

The two of them waited.

Lucas gestured toward the projection console.

"Run it."

The anchor blinked.

"What?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"You’re arguing about theory," Lucas said. "Let’s see it."

The suppressor hesitated.

Lucas met his gaze.

"You wanted proof, right?"

After a moment the suppressor activated the grid.

The projection field shimmered to life beneath their feet.

Lucas stepped inside the circle with them while Dreyden stayed just outside the barrier.

The first hazard wave appeared slowly.

The anchor immediately tightened the formation, pulling the two suppressors closer to the center.

The wave struck.

They absorbed it cleanly.

Lucas nodded once.

"Again."

The second wave came faster.

This time the suppressor pushed outward instead of collapsing inward.

The formation widened.

The projection arc slipped between two anchors before anyone could correct it. It struck the barrier with a dull impact.

The suppressor frowned.

"That was because—"

Lucas held up a hand.

"Again."

They ran the sequence a third time.

The anchor tightened too early.

The suppressor widened too late.

The formation twisted between the two approaches and the projection wave shattered across the center of the grid.

Lucas stepped back as the hazard dissolved.

Nobody spoke.

The suppressor rubbed his neck.

"That... wasn’t great."

"No," Lucas agreed.

The anchor crossed his arms.

"So what’s the answer?"

Lucas looked toward the barrier where Dreyden still stood watching.

Dreyden met his eyes but didn’t step forward.

Lucas turned back to the group.

"You’re both right," he said.

The suppressor frowned.

"That’s not helpful."

Lucas pointed to the floor.

"You’re treating the formation like it has one shape."

The anchor frowned.

"It does."

"No," Lucas said.

He stepped into the center of the grid again.

"The shape changes depending on pressure."

The students watched him carefully.

Lucas activated another hazard cycle.

"First wave," he said, "low pressure."

He widened his stance slightly.

"Spread."

The group followed him.

The projection arcs passed between them before they redirected them outward.

Lucas nodded.

"Second wave."

The hazard pattern shifted.

"Now tighten."

The anchors stepped closer.

The suppressors held their lanes.

The wave collapsed harmlessly against their formation.

Lucas stepped out of the grid.

"You don’t pick one method," he said.

"You pick the timing."

The suppressor frowned.

"That sounds simple."

"It isn’t," Lucas replied.

The anchor stared at the floor.

"So we switch depending on the pressure."

"Yes."

The suppressor exhaled.

"...That actually makes sense."

The group reset their positions and tried the sequence again without Lucas.

This time the formation widened first.

Then tightened when the pressure increased.

The hazard waves broke cleanly.

Lucas stepped back toward the barrier.

Dreyden was watching with quiet interest.

"You didn’t tell them which philosophy was correct," he said.

Lucas shrugged.

"Because neither is."

Dreyden nodded once.

"That may frustrate people."

Lucas glanced back at the group repeating the drill.

"They’ll get over it."

A few nearby students who had been watching the argument returned to their own practice circles.

The noise level in the hall gradually returned to normal.

Lucas leaned against the barrier again.

"Well," he said, "that was the first real argument."

Dreyden looked across the training floor.

"Yes."

Lucas watched the group finish another successful rotation.

"They’ll keep happening."

"Probably."

Lucas sighed.

"Guess that’s part of the process."

Dreyden nodded.

"Yes."

Lucas turned toward the next open practice grid.

"Alright," he said.

"What now?"

Dreyden stepped beside him.

"Now we see who adapts faster."

Lucas smiled faintly.

"That sounds like a challenge."

Dreyden activated the projection grid.

"Good."

The hazard lights rose from the floor as the training cycle began again.

Across the hall, other groups continued experimenting with their formations.

Some widened their spacing.

Others collapsed inward.

A few began switching between both.

The arguments hadn’t ended.

They had simply become part of the learning.

And somewhere above the training hall, behind the dark observation windows, the academy kept watching which students learned from the friction.

Because those were the ones most likely to survive what came next.