"One hundred credits," Julien whispered, his finger floating over the purchase button.
"That's ten meals and five potions, which is a lot for our standards."
"Do it," Chris encouraged, crossing his massive arms.
"You just said you needed to work hard. Think of it as an investment. You can't put a price on not dying, no matter where you are."
"I can," Julien muttered. "The price is exactly 100 credits."
He pressed the button.
[Transaction Complete: -100 Credits.]
The air in the centre of the basement suddenly tore open. A vertical line of blue code unzipped reality, spilling out a dense, heavy fog that smelled of wood.
THUD.
The fog dispersed instantly, revealing... a log.
Well, not a log. It was a humanoid figure, roughly six feet tall, carved from a dark, polished wood that looked harder than any metal he had ever seen. It had ball joints made of brass, no fingers, just wooden mittens, and a smooth, featureless oval for a head.
The doll stood perfectly still, occupying space with a heavy, inanimate presence.
"That's it?" Chris squinted, leaning forward. "It looks like a mannequin from a discount store."
"It's... very woody," Alice observed, floating a circle around it. She poked its shoulder with a pale finger. Her finger passed right through the wood. "No soul. No ghosts. Boring."
"Maybe it's broken?" Chris asked, poking the chest with his finger. The wood didn't even creak. "Julien, did you get scammed by the System? Can we make it do chores? Put a broom in its hand. We need someone to sweep the slime ash."
"It's not for cleaning," Julien frowned, checking his interface. "It says it's initialising."
"Let's just use him as a paperweight," Alice yawned. "I am going to name him 'Stumpy'. Stumpy looks like he would be good at holding coats."
"Guys, give it a second." Julien stepped closer. "Hello? Scrapper Model? Can you hear me?"
He waved his hand in front of the blank wooden face.
Nothing.
"Refunding," Julien grumbled, reaching for the interface. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted a rental—"
WHIRR-SNAP.
One second, the dummy was a statue.
The next second, a wooden fist occupied the space where Julien's nose had been a microsecond ago.
The movement created a shockwave of air that blew Julien's hair back. The fist stopped exactly one inch from the bridge of his nose.
Julien froze. His eyes were crossed, focusing on the wooden knuckles hovering in front of his vision. He hadn't even blinked. He hadn't seen it move.
"Whoa!" Chris jumped back, raising his shield arm instinctively.
"Stumpy has hands!" Alice cheered.
The dummy retracted its arm slowly, the brass gears clicking as a mechanical movement. It returned to its neutral stance as if nothing had happened.
A window popped up in front of Julien, glowing with urgent red text.
[Training Dummy Activated]
[Please Select Mode:]
[Dormant]: Target Practice (Stationary).
[Hard]: Combat Simulation (Fixed Difficulty: C-Rank).
[Adapt]: Dynamic Difficulty (Scales with User Performance).
Julien let out a shaky breath, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"Did you see that?" Julien whispered.
"I saw it," Chris said, his voice serious. "That wasn't D-Rank speed. It was way faster."
"It stopped," Julien realised. "I have absolute control over it, for now."
He looked at the options.
If he chose [Hard], the dummy would probably beat him into a pulp within seconds. He wasn't ready for C-Rank combat yet.
If he chose [Dormant], he would just be hitting a log. That wouldn't teach him the agility required to move around.
His eyes lingered on [Adapt].
"Adapt," Julien read aloud. "It must mean this doll learns from our movements."
"If I want to master this new body," Julien said, a grin slowly spreading across his face, "I need a mirror that shows me my flaws."
He pressed [Adapt].
The dummy's smooth head tilted to the side. Two small runes ignited where its eyes should be, a calm, steady blue.
[Mode Selected: ADAPT.]
[Current Level: Novice.]
[Begin.]
The dummy stepped forward.
It was a slow, deliberate, but calculated step. It raised both wooden fists in a classic boxing stance.
"Okay," Julien cracked his knuckles. "It's starting slow. I can do this."
Julien mirrored the stance. He felt the power in his legs, the coil of muscles ready to snap.
"Attack me," Julien commanded.
The dummy positioned its hand as it threw a right hook.
It was a painfully slow movement. Julien could see it coming a mile away.
He ducked to the left. Although not having any prior experience in fighting, his enhanced intelligence and agility helped him move with grace, getting into position to counter with a jab.
Julien's brain sent the signal.
GO.
His body responded. But it responded too well.
Julien intended to duck three inches. Instead, his legs fired with more power than he could control. He lost his balance, his feet slipping on the concrete, and he face-planted into the floor.
SLAM.
"Oof," Chris winced. "That... was a dodge?"
"Shut up," Julien groaned, spitting out dust.
The dummy paused. It looked down at Julien lying on the floor.
[User Error Detected.]
[Adjusting Speed.]
The blue eyes flickered.
Julien scrambled up. "I'm okay! Just... overshot it."
"Try moving less," Chris advised. "Small movements will make it easy to get used to."
"Right. Small movements."
Julien reset his stance. The dummy threw the same punch, but this time, Julien focused on restraint.
He leaned back slightly.
Perfect.
The wooden fist sailed past his nose.
"Ha!" Julien shouted. "Got y-"
WHACK.
The dummy twisted its waist, turning the missed hook into a backhand slap. It connected with Julien's shoulder.
Julien spun around, stumbling back on the ground. It didn't hurt much, but the humiliation still hurt him in the face.
"It adapts," Julien realised, rubbing his shoulder. "It knew I would dodge the first one, so it loaded a second hit."
"This is going to be a long night," Alice noted, summoning a bag of spectral popcorn.