The base doors opened, and Skyler entered with a candy in his mouth. He covered his nose, his brows furrowing.
"That stench..."
As he entered one of the rooms, he understood the reason for the smell.
"Oh, it's them. But they could at least take a shower."
He raised his hands, gloves still on, but hesitated.
"Well, it's not just me who's tired."
Removing the large coat covering him, Skyler sat beside the pair. His arms gently pulled Lucy onto his lap. With the touch of a few buttons that appeared on the wall, a pleasant aroma filled the room, eliminating the stench... temporarily.
"You two better take a good shower after you rest, you idiots,"
he whispered. Exhaustion overtook his spirit; his eyes closed, and he fell asleep.
***
"You will greatly benefit from this incredible technology to help hunters reach their full potential, miss."
The receptionist, with a gentle smile, presented a device to Ferinish. The warrior looked at the invention, and her expression grew uncomfortable, as if something were coming to mind:
***
The eternal fire that burned her mercilessly, the creatures that devoured her flesh and marked her forever.
The water that filled her lungs, the despair that flowed from her eyes, and the plea to leave the simulation, a plea that was never answered.
The branches of the plants that pierced her chest, forcing her to breathe poisonous gases, the giant insects that manipulated her like a mere puppet under their paws.
The cold that penetrated the soul, the ice as hot as fire itself. Her body frozen so many times she had lost count.
And the awakening, which sounded like hope, but was only the harbinger of being thrown back into the same hell. Now real. Completely real.
***
"Miss Ferinish?"
"Ah, yes, yes... I can see."
Regaining consciousness, she walked slowly to the chair. Memories accompanied her with every step; it was like returning to that same cold, dead-end place... but this time, she was safe. Right?
The redhead sat down. The receptionist placed the device on her head. Aurora watched everything intently from the back of the room, trying to understand so much tension in the face of a mere "device."
***
When she opened her eyes, the same vision, but empty. Her steps, barefoot on the rocks, didn't burn. This made her curious; why didn't she feel pain? It wasn't supposed to be like this. Or hadn't the Master of Combat learned that one can also evolve without suffering so much?
The magma burned her feet, but caused only mild discomfort.
From afar, a small Renkai Creature appeared before her, a spider. It wasn't that small, reaching up to her knees. She wasn't afraid; strangely, that demonic insect looked almost...
No, it wasn't cute!
Her neck was bitten, and a chunk of flesh was ripped away. The warrior didn't move. She touched the wound in the crook of her neck, wondering why she felt only an itch, and not the violent pain of torn tissue and explosively spurting blood.
With a flick of her blade, in retaliation, she cut the spider into several cubic pieces. As she turned, a horde of Renkai Creatures of various species marched furiously toward her.
The memories came rushing back. She remembered that moment. It was the culmination of the simulation, the beginning of her nightmare.
But this time would be different. She wasn't just a brute warrior. She was experienced. And now she could use her mind to fight... even if only for that.
Pressing the hilt of her blade against the palm of her right hand, she advanced with increasing speed toward the horde, weaving between the demons to begin cutting them down.
The flame emanating from her sword illuminated the darkness of the simulated Inferius, growing ever more intense. Her kicks sent each creature crashing against the walls and disintegrating into a soup of ground meat.
The great centipedes tried to swallow her, but she dodged their treacherous attacks. The monsters in the lightless sky roared shrilly. Though deafening, their screams didn't make the blood rush from her ears like the real ones did.
And then, the creatures began to merge, forming a colossus. Her hand, larger than mountains, rose and descended upon the warrior. Ferinish slashed at its wrists and fell into its flesh-like arms. Sweating, panting, he ran toward the creature's face, a satisfied, excited, almost insane smile on his lips.
The kimono skirt danced with its movements, each attack aimed at it slashing, slashing, and slashing.
As he reached the fusion's shoulder, a memory formed: a familiar Destroyer appeared before him.
'Fraizen Rosenmary?'
It was as if it had been yesterday that Ferinish had defeated her. The beautiful blue flames that burst from her hair when she transformed...
Why didn't she have them anymore?
She remembered that Renkai Energy was limited in her case, but after that confusing explosion, she had never seen them again.
The figure, made of pure ice, faceless and voiceless, brandished its spear and, with its wings, advanced.
Ferinish countered the blow. It was more powerful than she expected. It was as if the simulator had a difficulty adjustment system, impressive.
The combat on the colossus's shoulder was fast, intense, with almost no movement.
With a horizontal movement, Ferinish kicked the Destroyer in the face, who countered with his horn, aiming for her head. She responded with the same blow, keeping the enthusiastic smile on her face.
"I've already defeated you once, Fraizen. This time will be no different!"
With a final blow, she pressed her sword against the Destroyer's neck and cut it open, hurling it into the great abyss.
Rising and eliminating the aerial creatures, she raised the blade above her head, preparing to split the being in half.
The mass of flesh tried to stop her, enveloping her completely, but the intense fire burned everything mercilessly.
The force applied to her blow caused the simulated reality to begin to fail, freezing, distorting, until, with a scream of victory, everything went black.
***
Aurora tried to remove the device from the warrior's head, which was beginning to heat up and smoke from its components. The men in the room tried to help her, but it was impossible to disconnect it due to the force of the helmet.
Everything exploded with a bang. The windows shattered, and toxic gas spread throughout the building, mixing with the rain that fell relentlessly.
Everyone coughed. Aurora, protected by her own machines, called out her friend's name.
From the flames, unharmed, as if she had just emerged from a relaxing chiropractic session, Ferinish let out a satisfied sigh:
"This device is... perfect."