The pod's lid closed itself smoothly, without any frictional noise.

Swoosh—!!

Raviel found himself staring at the thin blue lines, which ran along, inside the pod. The whole thing seemed to be illiuminated slightly by the pale blue colour.

Before he could get a clear view of the pod's structure from inside. A cold sensation touched his skin, like he was being submerged in ice water. The liquid or whatever it was, left a stinging pain on his entire body.

'Is this water?'

Within seconds, the cold sensation eveloped him entirely.

The cold liquid entered his mouth and nostrils — quickly, depriving him of oxygen.

"Grrb...glub...."

Bubbles bubbled out of his nostrils as he reflexively tried to inhale.

Soon, Raviel's eyes slammed shut and he lost consciousness.

The last thing he saw, before his eyes lost themselves to darkness, was a blurry floating text...

[ Engaging NeuroProxy Ver - 1.1 .... ]

For a few moments, Raviel felt nothing, except the occassional cold stinging pain even in his unconscious state.

Then.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't lying down anymore.

He was floating.

All the surrounding around him was black, like an endless void, with no floor no sky, even his sense of direction was disoriented.

Raviel slowly tried to move his legs.

Just as he was about to move his hands towards his face, a faint light appeared before his eyes, forming into a clean, translucent screen.

"....!"

[ Advanced settings ]

His eyes quickly scanned the text.

"So, I can also do this?"

He reached out and tapped on the screen, more new options unfolded before him.

After reading them, he quickly selected a few settings and selected the mode: ambience.

"This should be enough..."

He hovered his finger over the last button for a final contemplation.

[ Confirm ]

Raviel tapped it.

Suddenly, the blackness around him warped, and he felt his feet touch the ground, accompanied by a cooling sensation on his ankles.

Even though Raviel's eyes were shut, he could still feel the brightness before them.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them up. The second his eyes opened up — he was completely overwhelmed and blown away.

The scenery before him was mythical.

The ground on which he was standing was filled with shallow water. It reached till his ankles, cool and calm.

The land stretched endlessly in every direction, flat and open, like a dream world. The sky above wasn't blue — it was layered with soft pink, red, orange, and a light tint of purple, like a permanent sunset that was painted in the sky.

He lowered his gaze.

Lily pads floated around him. Some were half-open, some fully bloomed, drifting gently on the surface.

"This is...insane!"

A translucent screen again appeared before him.

[ Opponent Rank Selection — upto C+ rank ]

Raviel saw it, and just lowered the rank by one sub rank.

[ Opponent selected — (C-) rank ]

[ Mana — Disable/ Enable ]

He tapped on:

[ Disable ]

'Long time since I have fought without mana..'

[ Skill Activation Accessible ]

[ Opponent weapon ]

[ Katana ]

[ Battle Mode ]

He chose:

[ Real Time Adaptive Battle Mode ]

Zwoosh—!!!

The screen shimmered.

A figure slowly formed in front of him. A human-shaped silhouette appeared first, then the details followed in — black uniform, void blank face, and an unsheathed katana in hand.

He tapped one more option.

[ Cosmetic Add-on ]

[ Oni Mask ]

A dark red oni mask formed on the opponent's face, sharp horns and glowing eyes giving it an overall brutal look.

Seeing this, Raviel just blew a chef's kiss.

"...Voilà!"

The screen disappeared.

A deep mechanical voice echoed across the empty land.

A glowing counter appeared in the air.

[...3 ]

The water around their feet rippled slightly.

Raviel tapped on his ring and slowly tightened his grip around his katana.

[...2]

His eyes sharpened.

[...1]

The counter hit zero.

The serene water exploded.

The Oni moved fast — no feint. The water under its feet detonated upward, spraying upward as its figure blurred on the water's surface.

A silver glint came near Raviel's neck.

Pure instinct saved Raviel.

Raviel twisted his body slightly to the left. But the Oni's topmost edge of the blade was still within the range.

Before it could half-sever his throat, Raviel raised his own katana near his neck in an attempt to block the attack.

Thud—!!!

His own katana's edge slammed into his throat as he blocked late.

Thuk—!!

Pain shot up straight on his neck, concentrating at the spine.

"...Haaa!"

Before he could reset his broken stance, the Oni was already near his eyesight.

Too close.

Before Raviel could swing a horizontal slash. The Oni dropped low and swept Raviel's legs with intense and brutal precision.

Whoosh—!!!

Water blasted upwards and sideway as Raviel's feet were ripped out from under him.

He stumbled backwards, almost went down— but clenched his teeth, finding his centre of mass, he balanced his falling figure.

Raviel barely managed to see straight —

The Oni tilted it's head.

Just slightly, studying him.

Raviel saw this.

'What are it's weak points?'

Raviel bit his tongue, and exploded forward, closing the gap fast.

But the Oni didn't react much.

Just as Raviel reached an arm's distance, the Oni sidestepped.

A perfect 180° maneuver.

One second ago, Raviel saw the Oni's open front, then his back and the next second it's incoming — elbow.

The Oni's rotational motion was fluid.

"Shi—!!"

BAMM—!!!

It's elbow smashed straight into Raviel's nose.

The impact was nasty. Raviel's own forward momentum made it even worse, snapping his head back as his vision blurred. He staggered, balance slipping, water splashing around his legs.

Splash! Splash!!

The Oni's hand shot out.

It caught the tip of Raviel's katana mid-movement while he stumbled.

Raviel's eyes widened.

"What—!!"

The grip tightened.

With a sharp twist and a brutal yank, the Oni ripped the katana right out of his hands and flung it away. The blade spun through the air and splashed far into the water.

Splash—!!

Raviel didn't even have time to react.

The Oni stepped in and kicked him square in the chest.

The force lifted Raviel off his feet.

He flew back and crashed into the water, skidding hard across the surface before rolling to a stop, chest burning and breath knocked clean out of him.

"Haaa....haaa...aahhhh!!."

For a few second, he saw the mythical painted sky.

'Fucking C- rank.'

Raviel lay there for half a second, while the Oni stared at him from a distance.

Then he clutched his lungs, forcing air back in, slow and controlled.

He remembered, he still had his hidden card.

Controlling his breath, he muttered.

"...[ MindLock ]."

The pain dulled.

The world followed.

Sound dropped first. Then the colors. Then everything felt a step farther away, like reality had been wrapped in cotton. Raviel touched his mouth with his tongue and noticed the gap — one of his front teeth was gone. He just noted it.

'It seems to be following an attack pattern.'

He looked around, and saw his katana was far away — very far away from his reach.

But near his feet, half-submerged, was a lotus, it's stem was thick, fibrous and flexible.

'This shall do.'

Raviel ripped it free and wrapped it around his hand, winding it tight like an improvised prisoner's chain.

Raviel stretched the stem again, to feel the tension on the middle part.

'Alright, good enough.'

Just before he could move.

A screen flickered in front of him.

[ Adaptation Triggering ]

The sky vanished.

The warm colors were swallowed whole, replaced by a deep night sky, packed with cold stars. The bright visibility dropped. The water reflected faint starlight, turning everything into shadows and ripples.

Raviel didn't move. He waited.

Then he saw them.

Two glowing red eyes. Staring at him like two bright suns.

They rushed toward him.

The splashes grew louder. The ripples stretched longer. Raviel timed it by sound alone, his calf muscles coiled.

A silver glint flashed.

The katana came vertically down.

This time, Raviel snapped his arm up and caught the blade between the wrapped lotus stem, allowing it to go downwards to decrease it's speed, the fibers straining into the steel. He twisted, looping it around the edge, trying to yank it free.

The oni reacted instantly, angling the blade to cut through the stem.

But Raviel moved before the Oni could.

He stepped in and drove his fist forward.

Straight into the Oni's throat. Targeting it's Adam's apple.

Bamm—!!!

The impact crushed the air out of it. The oni staggered back, grip loosening just enough to yank the entire thing out.

Raviel tore the katana free and didn't hesitate.

The Oni recovered fast and charged again.

Seeing no other option.

Raviel threw the katana like a spear.

The blade tore through the air like a streamlined body.

Swish—!!!

And suddenly...

The night sky vanished.

Light flicked on back into existence.

The sudden brightness hit Raviel like a flashbang. His eyes burned. His timing slipped by a fraction of a second. His mind stumbled.

That was all the Oni needed.

A fist buried itself into Raviel's gut.

The hit folded him in half.

Air blasted out of his lungs as his feet left the water. He crashed back, skidding, vision swimming, staring straight up at the soft pink and orange sky.

"Ahhh!... Ppretty...pretty — S-sky."

His mind at this point was too exhausted to even form some meaningfull words.

The water reached his ears, making him aware of the ripples created as the Oni came closer.

As the sound grew louder.

A screen slid into his view, floating calmly above everything.

[ Training Mode Deactivating ]

[ Session Ended ]

The world around him started to fade, the colors draining away piece by piece.

Raviel just lay there, staring up, chest rising and falling unevenly.

"So… I lost, huh," he muttered quietly.

"…Pretty pathetic. Damn it!".

He just looked at the sky before everything went dark as his eyes closed themselves.

....

A woman sat lazily on a wide couch near the window, one leg tucked under the other as she looked out at the night sky stretching over the city.

From this high up, the lights below looked like scattered stars.

She held a phone to her ear with one hand and a wine glass in the other, taking a slow sip as she listened.

The bathrobe she wore was loosely tied, still warm from the shower she had just taken. A few drops of water slid down from her damp gray curls, leaving dark spots on the fabric at her shoulders.

She exhaled softly, swirling the wine in her glass, then finally opened her mouth to speak.

"How's the preparation for the ruin exploration going. I suppose we should stay vigilant, right?"

The voice from the other end came just as quickly.

— "Bitch, I am doing everything here by myself, do you even remember an ounce of your pathetic responsibilities.."

The woman smiled, hearing the angered tone from the other end.

"Now, now darling~ No need to get this much aggressive my dear, Aria."

A sigh followed back on the phone.

—"...Just tell me when you're returning back Jeanne, the whole academy's mess is too much for myself!"

Jeanne smiled and took a sip of the red wine again.

"I will come back before the exploration begins, Aria."

Before Aria's voice could get through, Jeanne cut the call, and stared at the twinkling lights of the skyscrappers.

"Haaa!...Guess my break's over."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.