Webnovel's Extra: Reincarnated With a Copy Ability-Chapter 167: The Return

The walk back felt longer than the way out.

Lucas wasn’t sure if it actually was, or if the difference came from the lack of urgency. Earlier, they’d been moving toward something. Now they were just... returning.

The forest had settled into a steady quiet. Wind moved through the leaves in soft waves, and somewhere deeper in the trees something small shifted through the underbrush. No projections, no sudden pressure spikes, no need to watch every angle at once.

Still, none of them fully relaxed.

Lucas kept a slower pace than usual, scanning the ground and the trees out of habit. It felt strange to move without expecting something to trigger.

"You still watching for hazards?" Arden asked from behind him.

Lucas glanced back.

"Yeah."

"There aren’t any active zones left," she said.

"I know."

He stepped over a root and adjusted his path slightly.

"Doesn’t mean I trust that."

Raisel let out a quiet breath.

"That’s probably the intended effect."

Lucas smirked.

"Then it worked."

They reached the outer ridge just as more teams started appearing along the path.

Some groups moved quickly, talking over each other as they compared how their final zone had gone. Others walked in silence, their focus still caught somewhere back in the forest.

Lucas noticed the difference immediately.

"Look at that," he said.

Raisel followed his gaze.

Two teams approached from opposite directions. One group laughed, one of them reenacting a misstep with exaggerated gestures while the others argued over what should’ve happened instead.

The other team barely spoke.

Their formation looked intact, but something about their posture felt off. One of them kept shaking their head slightly, like replaying a mistake they couldn’t quite fix.

Lucas slowed.

"Not everyone had a clean run."

"No," Raisel said.

Lucas glanced at Dreyden.

"You think they struggled with the split waves?"

"Possibly."

Lucas nodded.

"That part almost got us too."

Arden stepped up beside them.

"But we adjusted."

Lucas smiled faintly.

"Yeah."

He looked back at the quieter group again.

"They probably tried to force a pattern."

Dreyden didn’t confirm it.

He didn’t need to.

The academy gates came into view soon after.

Even from a distance, the contrast stood out.

The forest felt unpredictable, layered with small changes in terrain and movement. The Triangle, by comparison, looked clean and still. Smooth walls, straight paths, controlled space.

Lucas slowed as they approached.

"Feels weird going back in."

Raisel glanced at him.

"How so?"

Lucas shrugged.

"Like we’re stepping back into something smaller."

Arden tilted her head.

"It’s still the same place."

"Yeah," Lucas said, "but it doesn’t feel the same anymore."

Dreyden didn’t respond.

He stepped through the gate first.

Lucas followed.

Inside, everything resumed its usual rhythm.

Students crossed the courtyard in steady lines. Instructors moved between buildings. The low hum of training systems carried faintly through the air.

But something had shifted.

Lucas could see it in the way people moved.

Teams that had gone through the exercise together stayed closer now. Not in a forced way, just... naturally. Conversations picked up mid-sentence as if the time outside hadn’t interrupted them.

A group near the fountain argued over formation spacing again, but this time they referenced specific moments from the forest instead of abstract drills.

Lucas slowed as he passed them.

"No, the arc changed after it hit the tree," one student insisted.

"That’s what I’m saying," another replied. "You can’t treat it like a flat grid anymore."

Lucas smiled to himself.

"Yeah," he muttered. "They get it."

The debrief wasn’t immediate.

There was no announcement, no assembly call. Instead, the academy gave them time to settle back in.

Lucas appreciated that more than he expected.

He dropped his pack in his room and sat on the edge of his bed for a moment, letting the quiet settle around him.

The forest replayed in his head.

The split waves.

The shifting paths.

That moment where trying to control everything stopped working.

Lucas leaned back slightly.

"Trust each other," he murmured.

It still sounded strange.

But it had worked.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he called.

Raisel stepped inside.

"You heading to the hall?"

Lucas sat up.

"There’s a debrief?"

"Not officially," Raisel said. "But people are gathering."

Lucas grabbed his jacket.

"Of course they are."

The training hall felt different that evening.

Not quieter.

More focused.

Groups formed across the room, each one replaying parts of the exercise using small projection devices. Forest terrain maps hovered above several tables while students argued over movement paths and pressure shifts.

Lucas spotted Arden near one of the grids.

She looked up as they approached.

"Figured you’d come."

Lucas shrugged.

"Couldn’t stay in my room."

He glanced at the projection in front of her.

A rough simulation of the final clearing flickered into view.

"You’re already recreating it?"

Arden nodded.

"I want to see how the arcs shifted."

Lucas leaned closer.

"Show me."

She adjusted the projection.

The arcs appeared, splitting and bending around simulated obstacles.

Lucas watched carefully.

"Yeah... there."

He pointed.

"That’s where it changed."

Raisel nodded.

"The tree forced the angle."

Lucas folded his arms.

"So we weren’t reacting to the arc."

He glanced at Dreyden.

"We were reacting to the environment."

Dreyden’s gaze stayed on the projection.

"Yes."

Lucas exhaled.

"That’s a bigger difference than I thought."

The conversation around them grew louder as more groups arrived.

Everyone was doing the same thing.

Breaking it down.

Rebuilding the experience in smaller pieces.

Lucas looked around the hall.

"No instructors."

"No," Arden said.

Lucas smirked.

"They really are letting us figure this out ourselves."

Dreyden didn’t look up.

"That is the exercise."

Lucas shook his head slightly.

"Yeah."

He looked back at the projection.

"Then let’s not waste it."

Hours passed without anyone noticing.

The hall stayed active long after the official training schedule ended. Groups shifted positions, joined different discussions, and tested new ideas in quick simulations.

Lucas felt something settle into place as he worked through the patterns again.

Not confidence exactly.

Something steadier.

Understanding.

He leaned back from the projection.

"Alright," he said.

"What?"

Lucas looked at the others.

"I think I know what they were testing."

Raisel waited.

Lucas tapped the projection lightly.

"Not just adaptation."

Arden tilted her head.

"Then what?"

Lucas smiled faintly.

"How fast we let go of the wrong idea."

Dreyden finally looked at him.

Lucas met his gaze.

"Because the moment we stopped forcing the pattern..."

He gestured toward the simulation.

"...everything started working."

Dreyden held his gaze for a second longer than usual.

Then he nodded once.

"Yes."

Lucas leaned back, satisfied.

"Alright."

He stretched his arms.

"I’m calling that a win."

Later that night, as the hall finally began to empty, Lucas stepped outside into the cool air.

The academy lights glowed softly across the courtyard.

Behind him, voices still carried faintly from the training hall.

People were still talking.

Still adjusting.

Still learning.

Lucas looked up at the walls surrounding the Triangle.

They didn’t feel as absolute as they had before.

Not after seeing what existed beyond them.

He exhaled slowly.

"Yeah," he said to himself.

"Things are definitely changing."