Chapter 86: Fifteen vol.2

Fire blasted against sand and Rose jumped, rolled, and ran. Her jacket scorched and her feet dug into the ground to propel her forward. The rush of wind behind her burned as the bird's screech came. Her golden eyes jumped back momentarily, her reaction speed propelled her to leap from another blast of flames.

This one, however, exploded and sent her hurtling back.

She flipped within the air and dug her sword into the ground, sand, and dust flying about to stop herself before she faced the diving beast, its crimson eyes glaring at her as its beak opened.

She moved her left hand, two quick taps upon a core and she was firing her pistol, pulses flying, stronger and faster than her previous gun as she ran to face the creature. With her eyes, they all drilled into the beast's burning throat.

However, that seemed to do no damage whatsoever. Its claws, large as her head, extended as it flapped its wings. It wanted to crush her.

'I would need burst mode to deal any real damage to it. . .' She thought.

She rolled out of the way, avoiding its claws. It screeched within the air, flapping into the distance before turning back towards her.

Her brain spun. Escaping a blaze falcon within this vast desert was impossible. The test definitely wanted her to kill it. She knew what it was. Going underground would be no use, it would merely spurt fire to reach her. What would work was water but, within this desert, such a thing wouldn't exist. Though, the saving grace was, since she had once researched sandworms and their predators, she also knew that a young blaze falcon could not continuously spurt flames as an adult would.

Its lungs which swallowed and changed mana into fire could 'overheat' and hurt itself in its own ego. It hadn't reached an age where the constant overheating and recovery would make it near-continuous and impervious to the damage its own flames caused to its innards.

'For a pre-pubescent one. . .it would be 3 times. . .'

She tapped the core of her sword and felt mana enter her body as she ran to meet the beast.

It spurted flames once more and she dodged that, the blast echoing behind her in a blaze of burning sand as she squinted her eyes.

Even with a body lesser than her usual one, her reaction speed was still insane thanks to her brain and the sword made up for her speed. The bird's trajectory. The force needed to lift herself into its path. Her arc. Her momentum. The exact second she would slash her blade. Rose's brain spun through all of it in near-instantaneous speed as she leaped.

She gritted her teeth and slashed, sword scraping against the scaled claws of the beast. She felt her bone crack but the weapon's blade dug into it. It flapped in pain, stopping its momentum and she took that moment to point her gun upwards.

A blast of mana shot out and ripped into the underbelly of the creature, crushing through feathers and finding its bone beneath before coming out of the other end of a wing.

The blaze falcon screeched and crashed against the earth. Its lift gone.

Rose slammed into the desert ground, buried in sand. Hearing screeches of pain, however, she took a breath and forced herself up with a right arm creaking, crawling her way right back out.

She resettled herself upon the sand of the desert and gripped her sword in her left hand, pistol left behind upon the desert floor. Her breathing was rushed, for once, as this body was simulated to behave as a human's of her stature. The pain she felt from her cracked right arm, which was now twisted, was familiar. This time, however, it wouldn't naturally heal.

She dragged her feet through the desert, walking to meet the struggling falcon ahead.

Even if she failed, she would still be a dungeoneer. Yet, Rose didn't come within the simulation to fail, she came there to train. To get stronger to one day repay her creator. After all, she didn't know if there was a valid way to escape death yet, so she needed the backup possibility of forcing the hand of the woman known as Bianca Idris Blake.

She stood before the falcon and looked down at its form, a bloody hole through a wing, its crimson eyes glaring at her. Its beak opened and it tried to spit fire but only air came out. Just as she had anticipated, it had already burned its lungs tired. It wouldn't be able to recover for at least a minute and that was more than enough time for her.

She spun her sword in her left hand and stabbed it down.

Her blade passed between the creature's eyes, blood spurting out. Immediately, she twisted the weapon. The vitality of the beast was something else, however, it still struggled, screeching, eyes jumping to stay alive. Rose pitied it enough to step next to its neck and slash down.

Its head lopped off of its neck as blood spilled and she recognized it as dead.

She took a deep breath, feeling it fill lungs that would—if this were reality—not tire.

She won. The only issue was that—used to her homunculus body—she had undoubtedly pushed this virtual human avatar of hers far and broken an arm that wouldn't heal till the round ended. She would have to keep check of that for future stages, but she won. For the first time since a fight ended, Rose felt elated with pure bliss. She had fought and struggled against a foe stronger than her, enjoying every moment of it, and came out on top. This time, specifically, it was a battle she willingly chose with no penalty for loss.

It seemed mundane, but it was good for her.

'I'm still strong. . .' She affirmed herself.

Her creator was stronger than her by leagues, but she was still strong, even without wielding her Gear. She looked at the armament in her hand and gripped it. She would reach that level, one day, and pay Bianca back.

The android's voice resounded.

[Trial 1 completed.]

[Moving to trial 2.]

'Fast, I'd imagine,' Rose thought as she disappeared from the desert.

She appeared momentarily in the infinite void of the white space, healed, and recovered to perfection along with her armaments' charges; her gun was floating to the left of that same blade.

[Please equip your weapons.]

She gripped the armaments again.

[Beginning trial 2 of 3.]

She disappeared from the realm.

The sun shined down and she looked around herself to find emerald grass beneath her foot and gigantic trees surrounding her person; at least three to four times her height and wide enough that she would need three of herself to comfortably wrap arms around.

[Survive through the environment and reach one of the four checkpoints, grasping the orb located at the area.]

Her pad, which she did indeed still have in virtual reality, blinked open and, displayed there, was the map of the area. She was within a forest. Surrounding it was a circle segmented into different types of lands. She expanded the visual, popping it open to a three-dimensional landscape that floated as a hologram above her pad.

"A desert with sandstorms. . .a tundra of ice. . .a volcanic region of lava. . .and a large body of water. . ." She squinted at the thing as she murmured, spotting a green dot in the middle of each environment.

Well. Rose had no idea if she could even swim or not, at least, she didn't have any memory of ever swimming, so a checkpoint floating in the middle of water was out of the question. And that was merely on the off chance that this trial decided to be kind and include no beast.

Yet.

The roars of beasts she was hearing around her person all but negated that thought.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself to race towards one of the checkpoints while going over what she had learned in the last trial.

Rose first recognized that her stamina within this realm was not unlimited as it was in real life. Then she recognized that she wouldn't be healing till the trial was over. Finally, she was far weaker, physically, and could only barely catch up to her normal mana-channeling speed when the special effect of 'Wind Flute', the sword in her grasp, was used.

Then she recognized the saving graces she still had.

Her brain was still fast, and she was still adept with either of her hands. In addition with perfect memory, it was clear that virtual reality really couldn't limit the mind of the person. Finally, she was already used to pain, so merely breaking a part of her body, though weakening her, wouldn't stop her.

She took a step forward, then another.

A second later and she was jogging left, headed for the lava region.

She didn't choose the desert, she was already familiar with fighting there. That wouldn't train her. She didn't choose the tundra, if she were still captaining her homunculi body she might have chosen that but here, as far as she knew, she could freeze to death going into that land swishing with a snowstorm. And since she wasn't exactly sure she could swim as she had never tried, the only option left was thus the region of lava whose checkpoint seemed to be atop a spewing volcano.

That decision, quite simply, was made within an instant as she winded through the large trees around her, somewhat wondering if this reality was replicating environments available within Alos's Great Dungeon.

Rose's eyes danced around as she eyed the surrounding trees. Whether it was instinct, intuition, or the green scale she spotted in the distance, something was about to attack her.

She momentarily increased her speed from a jog into a run.

'Now!'

That was when a head lashed out and she slashed.

A bang sent a shiver through her hand and she found herself slamming against a tree, her breath caught in her throat. Her vision blurred for a moment but her mind was still alive, so she leaped out of the next attack of the creature.

Rose spun around to gleam the gigantic head of a snake unhook its fangs from a tree, ripping out a piece of bark in the process before it rushed at her, its body untangling down from a tree.

She slashed down towards its shooting face.

Her weapon rebounded and she shifted her feet to dodge another bite at her, sword spinning in her hand to rest beside her head, the figure of the creature scraping by as her arm shook.

Its body was made of scales. If she had <Ignis>, she certainly would be able to cut through it with a searing blade. Yet, the Wind Flute was a mediocre, standard weapon without such a slicing ability.

Rose slashed at the fangs of the snake and felt her hand numb. Teeth gritted, she barely managed to push it back from her as she rolled, and dodged its sharp weapons.

She turned her head to see its eyes narrow at her as it spun around with a speed faster than she would expect of a slithering beast tangled about a tree. Then, she glimpsed its fangs churn green and heard its hiss.

'Venom!' She noted and leaped.

A cloud of green shot out between its lips.

Rose crashed down and held her breath. Glancing at the floating mist above her, she began crawling. When she reached an area without the cloud, she jumped up and ran at full speed as the creature snapped at her back.

Rose didn't look back. This trial was survival until she reached a checkpoint, not fighting. Clearly, if she met a creature more annoying than its worth, it was best she escaped and ran past it. Besides, she was on a time limit.

She glanced at her pad, bringing up the map and reorienting herself.

Thankfully, she was already rather close to the volcanic area.

She slowed herself back into a light jog, already feeling this body growing tired.

Then, as soon as the ground changed from grass to ash gray of rock, she felt it.

A sweltering heat assaulted her.

Rose gulped, feeling her throat suddenly parched, and looked forward, upward, staring at a volcano of red, spitting flames from its body and top. The checkpoint on her map was right at its peak. Essentially, she had to ascend to reach it.

She began jogging forward.

The heat of the place was abysmal.

She actually found herself sweating like a human.

'Like a human. . .' She thought with a mild hint of irony.

She wouldn't exactly be chasing strength if she was simply human.

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Lava spurted before her and she slid to a stop, face just barely stopping before the mouth of flaming liquid, before quickly leaping out of the way of the thing as it fell back down. Her motion almost caused her to crash but she stood back up on shaking legs and continued forwards.

Just as so, she continued dodging spitting molt and continued her way up the volcano, sweat dampening her clothes to her body until she had her tongue out, breathing rushed.

Then, halfway up the thing, she realized her shoes were burning. It was almost something that escaped her, as she had never been affected by heat or flames before, but here, upon the volcano whose body was red with the word 'hot', her shoes were burning their soles off.

In two minutes, her bare feet met the ground and a yelp of sizzling pain forced its way out of her lips before she bit it back and swallowed it down, continuing forward and up.

Her teeth were gritted against pain.

Her eyes were hazy.

Her skin was riddled with sweat.

And her lungs were already tiring.

'I'm fine. . .' She consoled herself, 'I'm used to all of this.'

Even if she had never been burned by flames before, she was used to pain. She walked on even as her shoe melted and her feet touched the ground, at that point, she ran.

'I'm used to a challenge,' She thought.

Rose threw off her jacket, and her weapons away. She ran, sprinting up as fast as her body could carry her. Even as her lungs began to burn with heat, her golden eyes maintained their glare forward.

The world blurred.

"You fool!" She heard herself say. "Goddammit, Bianca, I told you to maintain your damn position!"

The figure of her younger sister was ahead, surrounded by enemies, and she ran forward with a flaming sword in hand as ice surrounded Bianca, barely managing to keep a rain of pulses and blasts at bay, chunks falling off and shattering.

"You're not dying today! Not before I do!" Rose yelled.

Her past self chased after Bianca's image out of love.

The world blurred and she was once again upon the volcano, running up as she leaped left to dodge a spurt of lava.

Her current self chased after Bianca out of quiet rage. A need to survive.

Her feet burned till bones showed through and, yet, she continued running because that was how she lived, running towards her next goal no matter the challenges she faced. As Elsa had said, no matter what, she would get through it.

No matter the foe.

No matter the struggle.

She always ran forward.

The ledge of the volcanic top appeared.

She ran until her feet reached its ledge and her eyes saw flames below and an orb floating in the air a good distance in front of her.

She had to take a leap of courage to reach it.

Someone else might have hesitated, lost momentum, and fallen to be burned alive. After all, down there, was a bubbling hellscape of magma. Rose did not stop for a second, however. Her eyes took in all the information she needed, her brain processed it, and she made a decision at near-instantaneous speed.

She leaped from the edge of the volcano's top just as it rumbled, lava shooting up from its depths, and reached her hand towards the floating orb, grasping it firmly.

[Trial 2 completed.]

[Moving to trial 3.]

She disappeared from the realm at that instant.

She appeared in that white space again, a breath exhaling out of her lips on impulse.

[Please equip your weapons.]

Two armaments floated in front of her once again. The Wind Flute, the weapon with a green hilt and an embedded core with the ability to increase her speed for a few seconds, and the medium-grade pulse pistol by its side.

She readily grasped both.

[Beginning trial 3 of 3.]

Within the infinite void of the white space, a figure appeared before her.

[Defeat yourself.]

Rose looked at a simulated version of her current self, standing before her. Its green jacket, its jeans, its shoes. Its hair and golden eyes. It was herself but without any expressions and with only a thirst to defeat her.

It didn't speak.

It charged at her.

And she brought her blade slashing as she stepped forward.

Their swords scraped with a spark and she stared at a face identical to her own. This time, unlike when she was awakened to be used by Idris Hunbrey, this face was copying hers, not the other way around.

It was clear that the two previous trials had, in part, been made to collect data and create this copy of herself so she could fight it. She smiled slightly, finding herself a bit more excited. The thing didn't talk nor express itself. It was, quite simply, something entirely designed to fight her.

'If the first tests strength, and the second tests perseverance,' She thought, 'Then this one should be testing one's potential to grow past themselves.'

And she liked it.

Her sword slashed and it parried and countered.

She skitted her feet, dodging before lashing out with a kick.

Their legs collided and she jumped back, left hand pulling the trigger of her pistol as she fired.

It tapped the core of its sword and dodged her assault. With the Wind Flute's effect, aided by its thinking speed it likely copied from her two previous battles, it became possible for it too to dodge pulses from a medium-grade pulse pistol with its human body.

Rose activated her own sword and her speed improved.

10 seconds.

That was how long each of them could maintain that speed.

Their weapons clashed, they separated and shot, dodged, and sliced towards each other as sparks flew. The blade in their right hands blurred as the gun fired, leaving pulses passing them by, ripping their clothes, trailing blood, but never landing a clean shot.

A force exploded beside the avatar's head and Rose found another beside her own, both of them having dodged identical bursts from the second mode of their ranged weapons.

Rose brought her leg up and kicked a blade aside before slashing with her own. The gun of her foe blocked her attack and she smirked, jumping up with her remaining leg and spinning to send a foot hurtling towards her opponent's face.

A blade blocked it and a gun pointed at her.

She kicked off, escaping pulses, finding the floor, then leaping in for a slash.

In those few seconds they had clashed, she already had her answer as to how she would win.

One option was using Samuel Gardner's moves, as they were best against a humanoid opponent, and she had yet to use them within this virtual reality, but she thought better of it after realizing the simple fact that the opponent before her was herself. If it was processing things as fast as she had within this realm, it wouldn't fall prey to mere techniques just as Lilias Aunbren hadn't.

Their blades clashed, both separated, rolled, then fired.

So.

That left the second option.

The thing was identical to her, but only to her current, human-bodied self. A self that, in her opponent, shouldn't have a core. She herself didn't here, but her body still existed in reality with one.

Virtual reality couldn't keep her brainpower down, and it couldn't affect her core, which was still connected and sending her information about her real body in the outside world. She couldn't mana-channel to improve her strength in this realm, but there was nothing blocking her from doing so in reality and speeding up her brain even fast.

And she did just that.

A moment dragged out as she dodged the blade of her foe with ease.

This body wasn't fast enough to keep up with her enhanced brain, and she wasn't used to fighting at such a high processing speed. In reality, unless for a specific purpose, she would have boosted everything at once to keep up, but here, well, Rose was a quick learner.

'Speed? That doesn't matter. I simply need to react faster than I've done before within this simulation.'

Raw speed and reaction time were two different things. Both complimented each other but neither was the same as the other.

If she had leverage in one.

Even if it was simply a split moment before her opponent.

If she reacted faster.

She would win.

Their swords clashed.

A pulse passed through the head of the avatar and it fell.

[Congratulations, you have passed the Assessment Simulation.]

[Time: 20 minutes and 13 seconds.]