I walked down the hallway, unbuttoning the top button of that suffocating collar.

  That's it, I decided. I've had enough of this high-society nonsense. I'm not at an emperor's reception. We'll keep the hygiene—being clean is actually nice. A couple of polite habits like saying "thank you" and opening doors can stay too. But all these "misters," "gentlewomen," and eating soup for three hours... To the Abyss with it.

  I approached the gym. A loud crash echoed from inside, followed by... a voice. A booming, mocking, mechanical voice.

  "And these are the best warriors of the kingdom?!" the dummy roared. "The hope of humanity?! Even a child with a stick is better than you! HA-HA-HA!"

  I quietly cracked the door open. The sight was pathetic. Anna and Lianel, drenched in sweat, could barely stand on their feet. And the dummy, flashing its brand-new "mouth" and four eyes, was strutting back and forth in front of them (yes, it had learned to walk), flourishing its swords.

  "You've gone soft!" it mocked, thrusting a sword toward Anna. "And you... you're entirely too slow!" It spun toward Lianel: "And you, Princess Lianel, is it? Far away in the castle, your father sits and thinks, 'How strong my daughter is! She could be a queen in the future!' But no! Look at her! She can barely breathe! Leaning on her sword like an old crag on a cane! A stiff breeze could knock her over!"

  Lianel gritted her teeth, but she didn't have the strength to fire back. The dummy switched back to Anna: "And you, Anna? The best swordswoman in the Academy? How can you even call yourself that? You're not a swordswoman, you're a disgrace to steel!"

  I stood in the doorway, genuinely impressed. Wow, I thought. My dummy is an absolute menace. Alexia's sphere didn't just give it energy, it gave it a personality. An incredibly nasty one.

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  Suddenly, all four of the dummy's eyes locked onto me. "And what are you standing there for, snot-nose?!" it barked. I was taken aback. "Grab a sword and fight!" the hunk of clay commanded. "HA-HA-HA! Look at him! Are you serious?! YES! You, the 'hero' in the white suit! Who dresses like that to the gym?! You look like a wedding cake! A complete fake!"

  The word "fake" stung. It hit a raw nerve. I had felt like a fraud all day. And hearing it from my own clay arts-and-crafts project was... insulting.

  "You piece of dirt..." I hissed.

  I walked over to the weapon rack. Calmly picked up a standard practice sword. I shrugged off my pretentious white jacket and tossed it onto the dirty floor (Alphus would have died of a heart attack if he saw that).

  "Come on then!" the dummy roared, spinning all four blades. "Attack! Show me your 'etiquette'!"

  "I'll show you some manners right now," I said.

  I attacked. There was no feeling out process. I knew its exact structure. I knew its timings. I wrote the code for them myself. Strike. The dummy's sword flew across the room, taking one of its clay arms with it. Dodge. Its lunge passed a millimeter from my nose. Counter. I ducked under and slammed the flat of my blade against its "knee." The dummy staggered.

  A minute—maybe two—later, it was completely dismantled. I stood over it, the tip of my sword pressed against its clay throat. All four of its hands were empty; two of the arms were lying severed on the floor. It was flat on its back.

  "Well, dummy," I said, breathing heavily (the 15-year-old body still had its physical limits, after all). "You got a little too big for your boots. Did you forget who molded you?"

  The dummy's eyes widened in sheer terror (I made them fully articulate, damn it). "Wait! Wait!" it shrieked in its grating, creaky voice. "Don't kill me! I yield! I realize my mistake! You are the master! You are the god of war! Just don't shatter the core!"

  "I'm not going to kill you," I said, lowering my sword.

  "Understood! Acknowledged!" the dummy babbled frantically. "Lady Anna is the best! Lady Lianel is the hope of the nation! And you are my supreme overlord!"

  I turned to the princesses. They were sitting on the floor, their mouths hanging wide open in shock.

  "Well?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "Is training over for today? Or do you want me to put it back together so it can finish its lecture about your fathers?"