Chapter 33: What are you?

"Whoa… this person is at least at the Circuit level. That's seriously impressive. Solène, where did you even find her?" Dante was genuinely in awe as he glanced at Solène, nodding and offering her a small smile of respect.

She giggled, her eyes sparkling with pride.

"Haha, isn't she amazing? I found this tutor myself!" she puffed out her chest and struck a proud pose, like she was the one who just showed off all that skill.

Dante paused as a thought crept into his mind.

'So I'm the weakest one here, huh? This silly girl… what the heck has she been eating to have an energy level of 10? Mine's only 4. This doesn't make any sense.' Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Lumix, curious to see what else she had in store.

Lumix started her demonstration by taking a few running steps, her speed gradually increasing until—suddenly—she leapt into the air. But instead of falling, she continued to soar, gliding in a graceful arc around one of the massive pillars nearby.

She weaved skillfully between the towering concrete columns, her form slicing through the air with effortless grace. Her speed steadily built up until she was moving so fast Dante could no longer keep track. Even Kaela—whom Dante struggled to follow at times—was nowhere near this fast.

Then—

BOOM.

A sharp shockwave cracked through the air, making Dante instinctively flinch.

'That… that was a sonic boom! She broke the sound barrier?!' Dante was so stunned that the word slipped out of his usually quiet mouth.

"Wow."

"Wow! Hahaha! Isn't she amazing? She's like a human roller coaster!" Solène clapped her hands together, laughing in delight at the breathtaking spectacle.

From a distance, Lumix was only visible through faint afterimages, streaks of motion dancing between the colossal pillars. Despite the speed, Dante could still follow thanks to the wide field of vision in this area. And now he understood why they had come here to train. Flying at that kind of velocity without relying on thrusters or magical propulsion was only possible by skillfully weaving and attaching threads to various anchor points—namely, the massive pillars surrounding them.

It was a breathtaking ability, truly like something from another world.

Eventually, Lumix slowed and gently landed on the ground. Her calm voice followed.

"If you can complete about 80 to 90 percent of your Framework, you'll be able to fly like that too."

"Oh, a new goal. Sounds exciting. I'd love to soar like that one day—it must feel incredible," Dante said thoughtfully. According to his own estimates, he'd finish Foundation in a month and begin his Framework phase right after.

"I think you two still have a long way to go," Lumix said dryly. "But let's start with the basics of this discipline."

She held out a hand, gesturing toward a broken chunk of concrete nearby, and gave a small tug. The piece swiftly lifted into the air, floating neatly toward her before landing precisely beneath her feet with a soft thud.

"Try it. When you can drop the chunk directly at your feet like I just did, we'll move on to the next step," she added in that same calm, composed tone.

Dante nodded as he watched closely.

"So the goal here is to control the string precisely? I got it," he said, already forming an image in his mind of how he would approach the technique.

Before he could move, Solène raised her hand high.

"Me me me! I'll go first! Hyaa~!" she said energetically, bouncing forward with a bright smile. She pointed toward a small piece of concrete among a heap of broken concrete nearby. With her left hand holding the thread's hilt, she flicked her finger toward the pile and released the thread.

But… something went wrong.

Instead of a small chunk, her thread latched onto a massive piece of concrete—over 1.5 meters long.

BOOM.

The enormous slab suddenly jerked free, scattering smaller fragments in all directions as it rocketed toward her.

No—toward Dante.

He had been standing there with a relaxed expression, ready to cheer her on. He had seen where her thread landed and thought, She's not going to move that. That chunk weighs a few tons at least.

He was wrong.

His calm face twisted into shock.

'What the—?!'

There was no time to think. Dante instantly stepped aside, just barely avoiding the incoming projectile as it roared past him like a truck hurtling through the sky. The slab missed him by inches and was now barreling straight for Solène.

"Oh no." Dante's eyes widened in horror as he reached out instinctively—too late.

CRACK!

The trajectory changed in an instant, veering away before slamming into the ground with a loud crash, rolling several meters before coming to a stop.

It was Lumix. She had moved in a blur, striking it aside to save Solène.

She stood still, her face unreadable.

Dante, meanwhile, was frozen in place for several seconds. Then, slowly, the realization sank in.

That concrete had moved that fast because Solène had pulled it.

'What the hell is she?!' Dante gasped internally, staring at her with his mouth slightly open. He recalled vague whispers from the past— maybe some rival calling him a monster. He'd been okay with that.

But if he was a monster… then what was Solène?

"Dante! Are you okay?! I'm so, so sorry!" Solène cried out, rushing toward him with genuine panic in her voice.

He looked at her, struggling to reconcile the girl in front of him—bouncing around, always cheerful and a little ditzy—with someone who had just flung a concrete block like it was a toy. The contradiction was absurd.

…Or maybe this world was just absurd.

"Hey hey! Dante, are you even listening?" Solène waved her hand in front of his face, trying to snap him out of it. Her brows knit together in concern, but her wide, innocent eyes blinked at him like a puppy who just broke a vase.

"I-I'm fine. Shall we just… continue?" Dante shook his head, brushing off the event. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was that he'd learned something today:

Never underestimate anyone.

Even seemingly harmless, ditzy creatures like Solène.

The realization left him feeling oddly inspired.

"I knew you'd be fine, Dante! That's the spirit of a champion!" she beamed, her eyes practically twinkling with admiration.

And with that, their lesson continued.