Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 71

William woke up to someone shaking his shoulder roughly.

"Get up," Kai said. "We’re starting early."

William opened his eyes and saw his roommate already dressed and ready, looking more alert than William had ever seen him in months. The sun wasn’t even fully up yet, the pale morning light was just starting to filter through the window.

"What time is it?" William muttered.

"Five-thirty. We have three weeks. That’s not enough time to waste sleeping in." Kai tossed William’s training clothes at him. "Get dressed. We’re going to the private training rooms before anyone else gets there."

William’s hands were still sore from last night but the healing treatment had worked well enough. He got dressed quickly, his mind still processing everything from the previous evening.

They left the dormitory and crossed campus in the early morning quiet. A few dedicated students were already heading to training or morning runs, but most of the academy was still asleep.

Kai led them to the private training facility and found an empty room in the back. He locked the door behind them and immediately drew his sword — an actual combat blade, not a practice weapon.

"First thing," Kai said, moving to the center of the room. "You need to see what I can actually do. You’ve been living with me for months thinking I’m some lazy fourth-year who barely tries. That needs to change right now."

William watched as Kai took a ready stance. Then he moved.

It was faster than anything William had seen outside of watching Liam or Seraphina at their peak. Kai’s blade cut through the air in a precise pattern, each strike flowing into the next with perfect control. He wasn’t using essence enhancement — just pure technique and physical ability.

But the speed and precision were absurd. Kai executed a complex series of strikes and footwork in seconds, movements that should have taken much longer. When he stopped, he wasn’t even breathing hard.

"That’s about sixty percent of what I can do without essence enhancement," Kai said, sheathing his sword. "With enhancement, I can match most instructors and beat some of them. I’ve fought hundreds of opponents across sixteen loops. I’ve studied every combat style taught at this academy. I’ve refined techniques that most students won’t learn until third or fourth year."

William stared. "You’re absurdly strong."

"I’ve been training for eight years subjectively. That kind of time adds up." Kai gestured for William to draw his practice sword. "But here’s the problem — despite all that strength, I couldn’t save you. Because I was always reacting to the assassination attempts instead of preparing you to survive them yourself."

"So what’s different now?"

"Now you know what’s coming. Now I can actually teach you instead of just trying to protect you." Kai took a fighting stance. "Draw your sword. Let’s see where you actually are in terms of combat ability."

William drew his practice blade and took a ready position. His new trait gave him perfect essence control, but his actual swordsmanship was still relatively basic despite months of training.

Kai attacked immediately.

William barely blocked the first strike. The second came from a different angle, faster than he expected. The third forced him back several steps. Within ten seconds, Kai had completely overwhelmed his guard and tapped the practice blade against William’s chest.

"Dead," Kai said flatly. "Again."

He reset and attacked from a different angle. This time William lasted maybe fifteen seconds before Kai’s blade found an opening.

"Dead."

They repeated this over and over. Each time, Kai attacked differently, testing William’s responses, identifying weaknesses in his defense and positioning.

After about twenty repetitions, Kai finally stopped.

"Your essence control is better than before," Kai observed. "Much better actually. But your fundamentals are still weak. You rely too much on raw power and not enough on technique."

"I’ve been training with Seraphina," William said, breathing hard from the repeated exchanges.

"Seraphina fights like a berserker. All aggression and overwhelming force. That works for her because she has the raw power to make it work." Kai circled William slowly. "But you’re not there yet. You need to be smarter about how you fight."

Kai demonstrated a basic defensive sequence, breaking down each movement and explaining the reasoning behind it. How to read an opponent’s attack angle, where to position your blade to minimize effort in blocking, how to create openings through small adjustments in stance.

It was information William had heard before in classes, but the way Kai explained it was different. Like someone who had actually used these techniques in real combat hundreds of times.

They drilled the defensive sequence for the next hour. Kai attacked repeatedly while William practiced the proper responses, correcting his positioning and timing when he got it wrong.

"That’s better," Kai said eventually. "You’re learning faster than previous loops. That trait or ability or whatever you gained that improved your essence control — it’s helping with technique retention too."

William’s Absolute Essence Mastery made everything related to essence feel instinctive. Apparently that extended to physical techniques that used essence-enhanced movement as well.

They continued training. Kai taught him counter-attack patterns, footwork improvements, how to create and exploit openings in an opponent’s guard. All techniques that were supposedly taught in advanced combat classes but explained in ways that made immediate practical sense.

"In loop seven, I tried teaching you some of this during regular sparring," Kai said while demonstrating a counter technique. "But you didn’t have the foundation to absorb it quickly enough. Now you’re picking it up in hours instead of weeks."

"The improved control makes that much difference?"

"That plus knowing you’re going to die if you don’t get better." Kai’s expression was grim. "Motivation matters. In previous loops you were training to improve generally. Now you’re training to survive specifically."

They took a short break. William’s body was exhausted but his mind was focused in a way it hadn’t been during normal training. Every technique Kai taught felt important, necessary, potentially life-saving.

"The assassins," William said while catching his breath. "How do they fight?"

"Depends on the loop. Most of them are fast and precise. They go for killing blows immediately." Kai drank from his water flask. "Some use poison on their blades. Some use throwing weapons. One was a mage who attacked from range. But they’re all trained killers, not academy students playing at combat."

"Could they be hired assassins?"

"Probably. Which means someone with resources wants you dead." Kai set down his flask. "I’ve tried investigating that across loops but I never found concrete evidence. Whoever’s hiring them covers their tracks well."

William thought about the political situation Helena had mentioned at the party. Succession disputes, noble families positioning for conflicts. Maybe someone saw William Cross as a threat because of his family connections.

"We should look into House Cross’s political enemies," William said. "Maybe there’s someone who benefits from my death."

"I’ve tried that in loop ten and eleven. House Cross has political rivals but none of them seemed motivated enough to hire assassins to kill a minor son at an academy competition." Kai stood up. "But we can try again this loop. Maybe we’ll find something I missed before."

They resumed training. This time Kai focused on teaching William how to fight in confined spaces — specifically tunnels.

"If you die in the tunnels every loop, you need to know how to fight there," Kai explained while demonstrating adjusted footwork for narrow spaces. "Tunnels limit movement, reduce escape options, and favor quick decisive strikes over prolonged combat."

He showed William how to use walls for leverage, how to control distance in tight quarters, how to defend when you couldn’t dodge laterally. All practical tunnel-fighting techniques that most students would never learn.

"In loop twelve, I managed to reach you while you were fighting the assassin," Kai said. "You were losing because you fought the same way you would in an open arena. The assassin knew how to use the confined space but you didn’t."

They drilled tunnel-fighting scenarios for another hour. Kai playing the role of the assassin, attacking from different angles in simulated narrow spaces, forcing William to adapt his responses.

By the time they finished, the sun was fully up and other students would be arriving for morning training soon.

"That’s enough for today," Kai said, finally showing signs of fatigue. "We’ll train like this every morning before classes. Afternoon sessions too when you don’t have Inter-Academy team practice."

"What about your own cultivation training?" William asked.

"My cultivation is already beyond what most students here can achieve. Refining it further won’t help if you die in three weeks and we reset again." Kai sheathed his sword. "Right now, keeping you alive is the only thing that matters."

They left the training room and headed to the dining hall for breakfast. Students were starting to fill the campus, heading to early classes or morning cultivation practice.

Marcus spotted them entering the dining hall and immediately waved them over to where he was sitting with Sara and Elena.

"There you are!" Marcus said when they sat down. "I heard something crazy happened last night. Someone said they saw you near the medical wing with burned hands?"

"It was a training accident," William said, which was technically true even if it wasn’t cultivation training. "I pushed a technique too hard."

"You need to be more careful," Sara said, frowning. "Especially with the competition coming up. We can’t afford injuries."

Elena was quietly observing both William and Kai. Her eyes lingered on Kai specifically, like she was noticing something different about him.

"You’re up early Kai," Elena said softly. "That’s unusual."

"I decided to start training seriously," Kai replied without elaborating. "Competition’s coming up. Seemed like a good time to stop being lazy."

Marcus laughed. "About time! Maybe we’ll actually see you in class now."

They ate breakfast while Marcus dominated the conversation with complaints about an upcoming essay. William was only half-listening, his mind still processing the morning’s training and everything Kai had taught him.

Across the dining hall, William spotted Seraphina entering. She saw him immediately and started walking over. Her silver hair was tied back and she looked like she’d already been training for hours.

"William," Seraphina said when she reached their table. She glanced at Kai briefly, then back to William. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." William stood up and followed her to a quieter corner of the dining hall.

"You’re hurt," Seraphina said immediately, noticing the faint marks on his hands from last night. "What happened?"

"It was a training accident. It’s nothing serious."

Seraphina’s crimson eyes studied him carefully. "You’re lying. Or at least not telling me everything."

William wasn’t surprised she noticed. Seraphina was too perceptive to fool easily.

"It’s complicated," William said carefully. "I’m handling it."

"Are you in danger?"

"Maybe. I don’t know yet." William met her eyes. "But I’m being careful."

Seraphina was quiet for a moment. Then she stepped closer and lowered her voice.

"If someone is threatening you, tell me. I can help."

"I know. But right now I need to figure some things out first." William appreciated her concern but couldn’t exactly explain that he’d died sixteen times in time loops. "Just... trust me on this."

Seraphina didn’t look satisfied but she nodded. "Fine. But if that changes, tell me immediately."

She left and William returned to his table. Kai was watching him with a knowing expression.

"She’s going to figure out something’s wrong," Kai said quietly once Marcus resumed talking. "You’re acting different."

"It can’t be helped. Learning I’ve died sixteen times tends to change your perspective."

"Fair point."

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