SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will

Chapter 260: The Uneasy Calm II

Time passed faster than expected.

Soon enough, even Lyra started preparing to wrap up the session for the day.

But then...

Hurried footsteps echoed outside the hall.

Fast and urgent.

The entire squad turned instinctively toward the entrance.

The doors pushed open shortly after.

Two explorers entered quickly, both carrying tense expressions.

Arthur immediately noticed something was wrong.

Not just because they rushed in...

But because they went straight to Commander Lyra.

One of them lowered his voice the moment he reached her.

They began speaking in hushed tones.

Arthur couldn’t hear the words.

None of them could.

But that somehow made it worse.

Because Lyra’s expression slowly changed while listening.

The calm look she normally carried disappeared slightly.

Not panic... never panic.

But concern... real concern.

Arthur felt the shift immediately.

And judging from the faces around him... Everyone else did too.

Nox slowed down first.

Selene lowered her bow.

Torren straightened unconsciously.

Even Ryn stopped training completely.

The atmosphere inside the hall changed almost instantly.

The explorers finished speaking after a while and Lyra gave a small nod.

"Understood."

Then she started walking toward the exit with them.

But before reaching the door...

She stopped.

And without turning fully around, she spoke calmly.

"Resume training."

Nobody moved immediately.

Lyra glanced toward them briefly.

"I’ll return shortly."

She already knew what they were thinking.

Curiosity.

Unease.

Worry.

But she clearly had no intention of letting them sit around discussing possibilities.

Then her eyes shifted toward Ryn.

"Take over."

Ryn nodded immediately.

"Understood."

And with that...

Lyra finally left the hall alongside the two explorers.

Silence settled briefly after the doors closed.

An uncomfortable silence.

Arthur slowly rubbed Mel’s head while staring at the entrance.

Something definitely happened outside.

And whatever it was...

It wasn’t small.

He could feel it.

The others clearly felt it too.

Nox looked uneasy.

Selene frowned quietly.

Torren scratched his head awkwardly.

Nobody wanted to say it out loud.

But all of them were thinking the same thing.

Please don’t let it be bad.

Unfortunately...

Ryn stepped in before the conversation could even begin.

"You heard the commander."

His voice cut through the silence cleanly.

"Keep training."

Torren let out a tired groan.

"You really sound like her sometimes."

Ryn ignored him completely.

"Thirty more minutes."

No arguments came after that.

Because honestly... He was right.

Sitting around and imagining terrible possibilities wouldn’t help anybody.

Even Ryn himself was curious.

Arthur could tell.

But he pushed it aside anyway and resumed his own training first.

That alone made the others slowly follow.

Nox went back to the obstacle course.

Selene resumed firing arrows.

Torren returned to defending his dummy.

Arthur crouched slightly beside Mel.

"Ready again?"

Mel barked immediately.

Arthur smiled faintly.

"At least one of us still has energy."

And so training continued.

But the atmosphere had changed now.

Nobody joked much anymore.

Everyone kept glancing toward the entrance from time to time.

Waiting.

Wondering.

Even Arthur found himself distracted occasionally.

Meanwhile, Ryn focused fully on his skill training.

Arthur noticed it almost immediately.

Ryn moved differently now.

Sharper.

More deliberate.

Every attack pattern.

Every step.

Every feint.

He kept trying to force himself into situations where prediction became instinctive.

At some point Arthur watched him purposely bait a training projectile just to reposition around it using his new movement.

The flow looked smoother than before.

More natural.

Ryn clicked his tongue afterward.

"Still late."

Arthur understood immediately.

The skill activated.

But wasn’t perfection. And Ryn wasn’t satisfied yet.

This made Arthur smile a little.

The guy really never relaxed once he locked onto improvement.

Thirty minutes passed slowly after that.

Then finally...

The training hall doors opened again.

Everyone stopped almost immediately.

Commander Lyra walked back inside.

The moment she entered, all attention shifted toward her.

Nox approached first.

"Commander..."

Torren followed right after.

"What happened?"

Even Selene stepped closer quietly.

Arthur stayed behind while Mel sat beside him calmly, but his attention stayed fully on Lyra too.

Lyra looked at all of them briefly before sighing lightly.

"First..."

Her voice stayed calm.

"My apologies for leaving abruptly."

Nobody responded immediately.

Because they all cared more about the reason.

Lyra noticed that too.

"It was an emergency."

Her expression grew more serious afterward.

"The explorers inside the stronghold are currently in a state of panic."

That alone made everyone tense slightly.

Arthur frowned.

Panic?

Lyra continued.

"The world has started changing faster than expected."

Silence.

Nobody interrupted her.

"Right now, nobody can fully identify the exact source."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"But intelligence units believe the Abyss worshippers either anticipated this..."

She paused briefly.

"Or helped accelerate it."

Arthur immediately understood what she meant. And so did the others

The Abyss worshippers weren’t just random fanatics anymore.

Whatever was happening now... they were connected somehow.

A heavy feeling settled over the group.

Nox swallowed nervously.

Torren’s expression hardened.

Even Selene looked unusually serious now.

Arthur lowered his gaze slightly.

So things were really getting worse.

Fast.

But Lyra didn’t allow the tension to sink too deeply before speaking again.

"Don’t focus too much on the chaos outside."

That immediately drew their attention back toward her.

"Focus on what you can do."

Her voice became firmer.

"Prepare."

"Train."

"Grow stronger."

Arthur could feel the intent behind her words clearly.

She wasn’t trying to scare them.

She was preparing them.

And honestly...

That somehow felt even heavier.

Lyra crossed her arms again.

"As promised, your training will intensify from tomorrow onward."

Torren sighed dramatically already.

Nox looked nervous.

Lyra ignored both reactions smoothly.

"Nox."

"Torren."

"We begin mana training tomorrow."

Both of them straightened instantly.

Then she looked toward the others.

"The rest of you will also receive more specialized training based on your growth."

Arthur immediately thought about Mel too.

Especially after today’s progress.

Honestly...

He almost felt bad for whatever obstacle course Lyra would create next.

Almost.

Finally, Lyra let out a small breath.

"That’s enough for today."

Everyone visibly relaxed slightly.

"Get proper rest."

"Tomorrow will be harder."

A/N:

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