The following two days were a blur of tense reconnaissance and intensive training. The Crimson Coil, under Roric's guidance and Kai's increasingly assertive field command, meticulously scouted the remaining two potential tunnel entrances to the Cerberus warehouse complex. One, an abandoned service conduit for a defunct geothermal plant, proved to be completely collapsed and impassable. The other, a forgotten emergency exit from an old, sealed-off section of the District 6 transit lines, was heavily barred from the inside but showed faint signs of recent, albeit infrequent, use – scuff marks, a discarded nutrient paste wrapper that wasn't ancient. Shift's Phase Spider Anima detected faint, intermittent electronic signatures within, possibly old motion sensors or door controls Cerberus might have partially reactivated. This transit line exit became their primary infiltration point, designated "Serpent's Mouth," with the storm drain, "Rat Run," as a much less ideal backup.
While Shift and Roric worked on plans to bypass or disable any potential security at Serpent's Mouth, and Breaker and Zip practiced silent movement and coordinated entry drills, Kai dedicated every spare moment to understanding and mastering his newly unlocked Draconic Combat Arts. His Anima Core Stability was a constant concern, starting each day around 90% after his grim nocturnal hunts as Umbra, and dipping into the 60s with training and the stress of leadership. He'd taken to consuming the "Minor Clarity Serum" Roric occasionally provided before intense System-related training, finding it helped him focus and absorb the intricate details his Anima was trying to teach him.
The training sublevel in Epsilon became his dojo. He focused first on the "Shadow-Coil Strike." The initial clumsiness was fading, replaced by a growing understanding of its deceptive nature. It wasn't just about a shadowy fist; it was about a subtle, Anima-infused shift in his body's kinetic chain, a 'coiling' of energy that culminated in a strike whose true trajectory was masked until the last possible moment. He practiced against the training drones, which Roric had upgraded with slightly more sophisticated predictive tracking software.
[System Feedback: Shadow-Coil Strike (Rank 1) – Trajectory Masking Efficiency vs. Predictive AI: 35%. Anima Damage Output: Consistent. Recommendation: Focus on integrating feints and multi-vector approaches to maximize misdirection.]
He also worked on "Scaled Guard." This was less about conscious activation and more about instinctual reaction. Roric, surprisingly, volunteered to assist, using a padded training baton to deliver telegraphed strikes. At first, Kai's reactions were slow, his Dermal Plating manifesting a fraction too late or covering too wide an area, wasting Anima. But slowly, with the System providing constant feedback on Anima expenditure and impact mitigation, he began to get the hang of it. A flicker of scales, just enough to deflect or absorb the blow, appearing exactly where needed, then vanishing. It felt like his skin itself was learning to anticipate, to react.
[Scaled Guard (Reactive – Rank 1): Successful Activations: 17/30. Average Anima Cost Reduction: 12%. Efficiency improving. Synchronization with Draconic Resilience passive noted – minor increase in reactive plating density.]
His "Draconic Momentum" passive was harder to quantify but he felt it in the way he moved, a subtle improvement in his balance during complex evasive maneuvers, a greater ease in transitioning from defense to offense. He practiced sequences: dodge, Shadow-Coil Strike, Scaled Guard against a drone's counter-swipe, then another strike. It was exhausting, pushing his Anima and his physical limits.
During one particularly grueling session, as he was practicing a rapid series of Shadow-Coil Strikes, he felt a new sensation. The shadowy Anima energy around his fist didn't just obscure; it seemed to cling, to almost solidify for a micro-second on impact, delivering a slightly heavier, more jarring blow to the drone.
[System Alert: Draconic Combat Art 'Shadow-Coil Strike' – Latent Property Discovered: 'Clinging Shadow.' Minor chance on successful strike to briefly impede target's movement or sensory acuity due to residual shadow Anima. Probability increases with strike precision and Anima Affinity. New data added to Art profile.]
A latent property. His Anima was evolving through use, through understanding. It was a small breakthrough, but it filled Kai with a grim sense of purpose.
His nightly hunts as Umbra also became extensions of his training. He targeted slightly more organized, more dangerous groups now – not just opportunistic thugs, but small, peripheral enforcer squads for minor syndicates, groups of three or four who actually knew how to fight as a unit. Against them, he pushed his new Draconic Arts to their limits, the real-world combat providing brutal, immediate feedback. Each successful hunt not only sated his Anima's hunger, restoring his Core Stability, but also provided crucial EXP and a deeper understanding of his evolving abilities. The shadows of District 7 were his proving ground, each encounter a lesson etched in violence.
He was still Kai, the student who sat through Mr. Harken's tedious lectures, who exchanged strained pleasantries with Leo, who felt an inexplicable pull towards the quiet intensity of Sera Kaelen (who had returned to school, her brief absence unexplained). But he was also Umbra, the silent hunter. And increasingly, he was the Conduit, a vessel for a power that was slowly, terrifyingly, beginning to feel like an extension of his own will, its draconic whispers shaping him into something new, something forged in shadow and nascent fire. The Cerberus Gambit loomed, and he would need every ounce of that forged strength.