I barely had time to react when Ryoji moved.

  With a wooden sword in one hand, he raised his other palm, and suddenly, the air around us changed.

  A wave of heat rolled over me, and I felt my skin tingle. I took a step back, my instincts screaming at me to run.

  “Alright, Hiroshi,” Ryoji said, his voice calm but firm. “It’s time to show you what true power looks like.”

  He took a deep breath, and I saw fire flickering in his throat.

  Wait.

  Wait, wait, wait—

  “Dragon’s Fire Breath.”

  A roaring flame erupted from his mouth, taking the shape of a dragon. The burning beast twisted in the air, its eyes glowing like molten lava as it rushed toward me.

  I wanted to move.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I really wanted to move.

  But my body had completely frozen.

  My instincts screamed, my brain shouted, but my muscles refused to obey. I was trapped in place as the flaming dragon came straight at me.

  This is it. I’m gonna die.

  Just as the fire was about to swallow me whole—

  It vanished.

  I blinked.

  The air was still hot, my face still sweating, but the fire was completely gone.

  Did I… survive?

  I looked at Ryoji, who was standing there with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face.

  “Training’s over,” he said casually.

  I stared at him. “What?!”

  Ryoji shrugged. “That was the strongest attack in my arsenal. If you had real experience, you would’ve tried to counter or dodge it.”

  My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the ground, clutching my stomach.

  I wasn’t sure if it was from relief or stress, but my stomach hurt like hell.

  Jiro, who had been watching from the side, burst into laughter.

  “Hahahaha! Look at his face! He thought he was really going to die!”

  I glared at him, still panting. “Because I almost did!”

  Ryoji walked over and knelt beside me. “Listen, Hiroshi. Wind is strong… but fire is stronger.”

  I looked up at him, my stomach still aching.

  “You’re saying that because you use fire magic,” I muttered.

  Ryoji smirked. “Of course.”

  Kaito, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up. “You should’ve seen your own face, Hiroshi! You looked like you were about to cry!”

  I groaned. “I felt like I was about to cry.”

  Jiro patted my shoulder, still laughing. “Get used to it, kid. Training under Ryoji Kazama isn’t easy.”

  I groaned louder.

  Kaito helped me up. “Well, at least now you understand the difference in power levels, right?”

  I nodded weakly. Yeah. I understood perfectly.

  I wasn’t even close to their level.

  If I wanted to survive in this world, I had to become stronger—much stronger.

  As I stood up, Ryoji crossed his arms. “Alright, you can take a break for today. But tomorrow, we’ll start real combat training.”

  My stomach churned. “That… wasn’t real combat training?”

  Ryoji grinned. “Nope.”

  I collapsed again.

  Jiro and Kaito started laughing even harder.

  I sighed. I was doomed.