Extra's Ascent-Chapter 114: Aiming For The Flow

Aldrich pulled another arrow from his quiver and nocked it against the taut string of his already drawn bow.

He didn't pause.

Without hesitation, he fired an arrow streaking through the air with deadly precision.

"I told you already!" Dante called out mid-dodge, his voice brimming with smug confidence. "You're going to have to do better than normal arrows if you want to—

A second arrow shot off before he could finish that sentence. Aldrich's movements were fast, far faster than any normal eye could keep track of. His hand had already reloaded, the string recoiled and loosed again, the angle shifted upward this time.

The first arrow hadn't even reached its mark. Yet Aldrich was already onto the next. That fact alone said more than words ever could.

It wasn't just his speed. It was a seamless execution.

The way he moved, the sheer fluidity with which he readied, aimed, and released it was as if the entire motion had been carved into his muscle memory. Like breathing, like blinking. Each shot took no more than the span of a single heartbeat. One breath in, one arrow out.

The second arrow soared into the air, arching high toward the training room's ceiling. It seemed like a misfire at first glance, pointless and inefficient.

Dante watched it warily.

Why aim that high? There was no target up there. No one is in range. It looked like a waste of resources until the second arrow took a sudden dive midair.

That was when it hit him.

Too late.

The descending arrow struck the rear end of the first in mid-flight, knocking it off its original trajectory with an elegant ricochet. The result was a stunning curve in the flight path, a sudden upward glide, skimming past where Dante had just been standing.

He flinched, eyes going wide for a split second. His reflexes kicked in, barely letting him pivot his body in time as the redirected arrow whizzed past his temple.

The silence that followed was heavier than any roar of applause.

"You were saying?" Aldrich said, a hint of a grin twitching at the corner of his lips, pride flickering like a flame in his tone.

Dante's mouth twitched half-smirk, half-scowl. "Seems like you've got some game after all," he admitted, and then just like that vanished from sight.

Aldrich barely caught the movement.

He spun on instinct, twisting his torso and bringing his bow around in one smooth motion. The third arrow was already locked in, aimed directly behind him.

"Close!" Dante's voice rang out, his blade dropping toward Aldrich's neck from just a hair's breadth away.

"Yeah... but not close enough," Aldrich responded, voice steady, confidence unwavering.

The blade clashed harmlessly against a gleaming layer of protective mana skin enveloping his body. It shimmered faintly like a second layer of skin, dispersing the force of Dante's strike as if it had hit solid iron.

Dante chuckled as he drew back his sword, tilting his head in approval. "That was impressive," he admitted, stepping away.

To him, it may have been enough to commend. But to Aldrich?

Not even close.

'Still not enough,' Aldrich thought grimly.

His mind ran calculations, dissecting the encounter piece by piece. His reaction time needed improvement. His judgment under pressure , faster, sharper. He needed to refine not just his instincts but the clarity of his thoughts mid-battle.

Aldrich wasn't after mere technical skill anymore. No, what he craved now was a higher state of mind. A mental edge that would let him navigate complexity as if it were simplicity.

He wanted to enter the Flow.

That state where intuition aligned perfectly with action. Where awareness is split into layers of perception, analysis, response, all operating simultaneously.

If he could grasp that, if he could live in that state of synchronized execution, then maybe… just maybe… he could stand among the S Class's elite.

Not just exist among them but rival them.

No, not could. He would.

Aldrich had long decided this wasn't going to be a fleeting burst of motivation. This wasn't one of those empty declarations made in passing only to be discarded a week later.

He was changing for real this time.

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And this change, this evolution... it had only just begun.

Dante, meanwhile, had already made his way to a nearby bench, grabbing a cloth and wiping down his face with a lazy swipe.

"So," he said casually, tossing the cloth over his shoulder. "What's the situation with you and the Helmswoth girl?"

Aldrich stiffened slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked, feigning ignorance, trying to gauge just how much Dante actually knew.

"Oh, don't act like I haven't noticed," Dante replied, his grin sharp. "Do you really intend on hiding it from me? I'm Dante Pendragon, remember?"

He said the name as if it was a divine passcode. As though it alone should grant him insight into everyone's secrets.

Aldrich sighed, realizing there was no point in dodging the topic. "We kissed," he admitted finally. "And… I might've been avoiding her since then."

"Might've?" Dante repeated, raising a brow.

"Okay, fine. I have been. I just… I don't know what I'm supposed to say next."

"So let me get this straight." Dante crossed his arms. "You kissed a girl who clearly likes you back and instead of manning up and telling her how you feel, you've decided to vanish from her life like some tragic romance cliché?"

"You make it sound so bad," Aldrich muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"That's because it is bad," Dante said bluntly. "You're not the villain here, Aldrich. But right now? You're definitely the coward."

Ouch.

Aldrich winced at that. But he couldn't argue. Not really.

And as Dante's words lingered in the air, Aldrich had a strange moment of déjà vu like he'd had this conversation before. Like he had once been the one giving this exact speech to someone else.

'Is that what's happening? Am I really just… scared?'

He hadn't thought of it that way. But now that Dante had said it, it made uncomfortable sense.

Terrified not of rejection, but of vulnerability.

'No. That's not who I want to be.'

He clenched his fists.

"I have to talk to her," he muttered under his breath. "Tell her what this is. Tell her what we are."

No more running. No more hiding behind confusion and excuses.

He would confront it head-on.

Just then, both of their phones vibrated where they'd been left on the edge of the sparring table.

They reached for them in unison.

Aldrich stared at the notification that popped up on his screen. His eyes narrowed.

"The list," Dante murmured beside him, confirming what Aldrich already saw.

It had arrived.

The grouping list for the upcoming exam assessment has finally been released.

The time for training was over.

What came next would decide everything.