Chapter 19: Simulation
"Alright, that's enough," Kate said as she signaled for the instructor at the control panel to end the session.
"No! I can keep going! I was just about to break free and push back!" Rin shouted from the simulation chamber as she freed herself from the grip of one of the level 3 robots that she'd asked to take on. Unfortunately for her, they had managed to drive her into a corner, making it hard for her to fight back.
Arbus and the rest of the knight trainees were watching her from the observation room, located above the Simulation chamber. Most of them had already had their turn down there. The only ones left were Arbus, Rin, Jet and Alexander.
"I said that's enough Rin, now come up here." Kate said with an annoyed glance at Rin.
Rin gritted her teeth in frustration as she headed up to the observation deck. The main reason she wasn't performing at her best, was due to her altercation with Arbus.
Neither of them had been punished for the fight. Fighting among trainees wasn't exactly discouraged according to the instructors. It was considered a part of their training, as long as they didn't go overboard. Which is why they didn't say much about her or the other trainees bullying Arbus.
Since that incident, her long buried trauma had come flooding back. It was affecting her daily activities, especially during training. She couldn't get the image of Arbus's cold emerald eyes out of her head. It reminded her too much of the Reincarnator who killed her parents.
"Alright then, Jet, you're up next," Kate said, turning to the White Mornan, who simply nodded as he headed down the stairs toward the simulation chamber. As he descended, he passed by Rin, flashing her a disappointed look. Rin simply glared at him in return.
When he finally got there, he signalled to the instructor handling the control panel, asking for level 4 bots.
Kate frowned. "Are you sure about that, Jet? Overconfidence can be a fatal detriment for a knight."
"Don't worry, Head Instructor. I'm sure."
Kate sighed as she signaled for the Red Mornan instructor to comply with his request.
The bots from Rin's round who were still frozen in place, lowered into the ground.
Five new bots emerged, each completely different from the previous bulky models. These bots resembled humans. They were clearly far more dangerous than the previous ones.
"Weapon?" Kate asked simply.
"Dual blades,"Jet answered without hesitation.
The floor near him opened up as two high-tech energy blades rose on a sleek podium. After he took them, the podium retracted soundlessly back into the floor.
"Begin."
The bots activated simultaneously, all five sprinting toward Jet with inhuman speed. He didn't wait for them to reach him, instead he charged forward to meet their advance.
Just as the lead bot was about to grab him, Jet launched himself into the air, flipping over the group gracefully. He landed behind them and immediately sliced through the legs of the nearest bot in the same fluid motion. The bot crashed to the ground violently, but continued fighting. It twisted its body around, trying to grab onto Jet's ankle. Jet simply kicked it into the other bots that were now turning to face him.
His expression remained the same as he darted forward, weaving between attacks while delivering precise strikes at every opportunity, all without breaking a sweat.
Wow, he's matching them so effortlessly," one of the Blue Mornan trainees said in awe. "Each of those things has the basic physical stats of a Reincarnator, and he's capable of taking on five at once."
"White Mornans are really something else," another one murmured.
After about five minutes, the match was over. Jet still maintained the same composed expression, though he was breathing harder now. Even for him, that match wasn't as easy as he was trying to make it look.
Rin looked visibly annoyed that he had outperformed her yet again, seemingly without much difficulty.
"Wow, such a scary guy," Alexander said to Arbus, clearly impressed by Jet's performance.
"It's all right I guess," Arbus replied, unimpressed. "Yeah, these things are probably physically as strong as Reincarnators, but that doesn't really mean much in the first place."
Arbus had slowly started talking to Alexander more over the last few days. Not that he had much of a choice, since Alexander always seemed to be wherever he was.
"Seriously? How do you know? Oh right, your father is one. Dumb question."
Arbus's thoughts briefly drifted to Terytl-b and Ronan, but he thought better of mentioning either. Especially since he wasn't sure if he could. It was pretty clear that the High Commanders and Bastain had kept his involvement there deliberately ambiguous.
He decided to just let Alexander fill in the blanks himself.
"What I'm trying to say, is that what makes Reincarnators so dangerous isn't their bodies. It's their powers. Their strange, unfathomable, and terrifying powers."
"No matter how much we train, we'll never be able to match Reincarnators with just physical ability. Not without a Heart shard." Arbus said, remembering Yome and her unique ability.
"I suppose you're right.... Heart shards really are the whole point, aren't they?" Alexander said as he got up, just as Kate announced he was next.
"Well then, wish me luck" Alexander said as he headed down to the simulation chamber.
...Good luck," Arbus said softly, finding himself hoping that Alexander would somehow outshine Jet. Despite his dismissive reaction to Jet's performance, he wasn't actually sure that he could do better. At least not without revealing his regenerative abilities.
Jet passed by Alexander without even so much as a glance, then returned to his position among the other trainees, calmly basking in their admiration and envy.