Chapter 22 | Bells and Mannequins

Leon found himself sprawled across a pile of rubble on the first floor, dust filling his lungs. Each breath sent pain through his bruised chest as he coughed and struggled to his feet. A sharp twinge in his left ankle confirmed a sprain. Manageable, but one that significantly limited his mobility.

To his alarm, a small bell appeared around his injured ankle. He checked his weapons: two shields, one on his back and one on his left arm; two swords, one on each hip; and two spears, one strapped to his back and another lying a few feet away. At least his efforts to gather weapons had not been wasted.

From beyond the small room, he heard unsettling sounds. The mannequins had come to life. He needed to reach another staircase to get back to his prepared position in the network room.

If it’s like the others, there should be another staircase down the hall on the left, he thought.

Leon limped to the doorway and peered out. Seeing no immediate threats, he entered the hallway, moving to minimize both pain and noise. The dim lighting made it difficult to see far ahead, but he proceeded cautiously toward where he believed the stairs should be.

As he passed a doorway, movement inside caught his attention. He froze, then carefully peered in. A mannequin with glowing eyes swept the room, its gaze functioning like a searchlight that illuminated dark corners. Leon waited for its attention to shift before continuing past.

"Five minutes have passed," announced the simulation voice. Immediately, the bell on Leon's ankle gave a clear ring that echoed through the corridor.

Leon, already expected this might happen, raised his shield and readied his spear as the mannequin burst from the room. He tried to strike first, but his untrained thrust was easily blocked. The mannequin’s sword hit his shield with a loud clang that surely alerted others nearby.

With more mannequins closing in and footsteps coming from above and behind, Leon dropped any hope of finesse. He shoved the mannequin hard, making it trip over an overturned chair. This gave him just enough time to draw his sword and strike the fallen figure before its glowing eyes went dark.

Knowing stealth was impossible now, Leon grabbed his dropped spear and pushed forward as fast as his injured ankle would let him. Each limping step sent sharp pain up his leg and the bell jingled with every move. The building’s echoes made it hard to pinpoint the source giving him some time.

As he approached the hallway's end, two more mannequins appeared; one wielding a sword and the other a shield. Leon ducked into a nearby office, pushing a desk against the doorway. When the shield-bearer reached the threshold, Leon braced his own shield atop the desk to block entry. The sword-wielding mannequin attempted a side strike around its companion, but the blade lodged in the doorframe.

Seizing the opportunity, Leon drove his spear into the sword-wielder's head, extinguishing its glowing eyes. The shield-bearer backed away, then charged with renewed force, slamming into Leon's defense and toppling him backward.

As the mannequin pushed the desk inward, Leon scrambled beneath it and thrust his spear upward between the attacker's legs. After a brief struggle, the mannequin's glowing eyes dimmed.

Leon pulled himself up, wincing as sharp pain from his injured ankle shot up his leg. The bell jingled softly when he tested his weight on it.

He gritted his teeth and adjusted his weapons, making sure the shields were secure and his swords easy to reach at his hips. He then used the spear like a walking stick to take weight off his ankle and continued forward. 

Leon knew he had to reach higher ground before more enemies caught up. He needed to get back to his original plan.

"Twenty minutes remaining," announced the voice as the bell on Leon's ankle chimed on cue. 

The timing couldn't have been worse. He had just rounded the corner of the hallway to take the first step of the staircase leading to the second floor when the sound betrayed his position.

Almost immediately, he heard mannequins descending those same stairs toward him.

Fighting through the pain in his ankle, Leon backtracked as quickly and quietly as possible to the nearest office, sliding under a desk near the doorway. Three mannequins rushed down the stairs and split up to search. One carrying a shield continued down the hallway, another armed with a spear entered the office across from his hiding spot, and the third—wielding a sword—entered Leon's room.

The sword-wielding mannequin paused, its glowing eyes sweeping across the space. It began moving deeper into the room, overturning desks in its search. Leon spotted a piece of rubble near his position and formulated a plan. Gripping the concrete fragment, he slipped from his hiding place and out of the room.

At the corner of the staircase and hallway, he hurled the rubble as far down the hallway as possible before stepping back and pressing his back against the wall on the first step of the stairs, shield raised. The debris bounced several times, creating a series of echoing impacts. As he hoped, the mannequins abandoned their search patterns and rushed toward the distraction. Leon seized the opportunity to ascend the stairs quietly, each step sent sharp pain in his injured ankle.

Just before reaching the second floor, he heard rapid footsteps approaching. 

Another mannequin responding to the commotion below. 

With no time to retreat, Leon flattened himself on the upper steps and extended his spear horizontally across the stairwell. As the mannequin rounded the corner at speed, its legs collided with the shaft, sending it tumbling down the stairs with a series of loud crashes.

The noise attracted others, so Leon abandoned stealth for speed. Despite his limp and the throbbing pain with each step, he pushed toward the network room where his preparations waited. Behind him, the sounds of pursuit grew louder as mannequins reached the top of the stairs.

The network room door came into view just as a mannequin closed the gap, now only ten feet behind him with sword raised high. Leon reached the doorway, turned, and seeing the mannequin's attack coming, dove for the central beam. The sword struck the floor where he stood a split second earlier.

Landing hard on the beam, Leon gasped as pain shot through his bruised ribs. Fighting through the discomfort, he crawled forward along the narrow support. The pursuing mannequin paused at the edge of the gap, then stepped cautiously onto the beam just as two more mannequins rushed into the room. All three lost balance in their haste and plummeted through the opening to crash on the floor below.

Wincing with each movement, Leon continued across the beam to his prepared defensive position. The injuries slowed him considerably; his ankle throbbed, his ribs protested with each breath, and fatigue weighed on his limbs, but the strategic advantage was worth the effort.

"Fifteen minutes remaining," announced the voice, accompanied by the telltale ring of the ankle bell. 

As he reached the platform, Leon saw another mannequin already starting to cross the beam while more crowded the hallway outside.

Despite his exhaustion, he arranged his remaining weapons, selecting a spear for his right hand and a shield for his left. As each mannequin attempted to cross, Leon used his spear to either push them off, sweep at their legs, or keep them at bay long enough for more to crowd behind, creating instability that sent multiple attackers plummeting at once.

Warcenturion Victor Vauhn's POV

Warcenturion Victor Vauhn stared at the display with astonishment. The technicians around him wore similar expressions of disbelief.

When they first observed the recruit dismantling the network room floor, they had anticipated his strategy and made it more difficult for him. The purpose of Wave 2 was to test how recruits respond to coordinated attacks from humanoid opponents. Primarily to familiarize them with combat patterns they would face in real-world scenarios. For Nullari, this phase was nearly impossible by design.

Yet here was recruit Leon Ezra, not only surviving, but effectively using environmental advantages to overcome his physical limitations. They watched as he repeatedly repelled mannequins attempting to cross the beam. When one mannequin managed to strike his spear shaft, breaking it, Leon simply retrieved his spare and continued his defense without hesitation.

"Should—should we collapse the platform he's on?" a technician asked, finding his voice.

Victor exhaled through his nose, slow and tense, then shook his head. 

"Haa...No. We already pushed it when we collapsed the stairs."

The door to the monitoring room swung open as a soldier in crimson uniform entered sharply.

"Sir, we have a situation. The other Warcenturions are asking for you in the briefing room."

Victor clicked his tongue in annoyance. "What is it?"

"We have a possible breach."

He hesitated, eyes lingering on the monitor before reluctantly standing. He passed the soldier without a word, leaving the room while his thoughts remained with the unexpected performance unfolding in the simulation.