Chapter 37: A Virtual World

"The sword is a good weapon for cybernetic fighters. Now, we’ll begin the learning process, starting with you practicing against a true Vorath."

Captain Ennessa said as she tapped her tablet.

Behind Arlo, a familiar coffin-shaped pod rose from the ground, exactly as he remembered.

"The virtual reality pod simulates reality with close to ninety-five percent accuracy. The only thing it doesn’t replicate is death itself, meaning that injuries and any other occurrences within the virtual world are never transmitted to your real body."

"Apart from that, everything is complete," Captain Ennessa explained.

Arlo had no idea what she meant.

"What is a virtual world? Isn’t there only the real world?"

"You’ll understand better if you witness it yourself," she said as the pod opened.

Arlo looked inside at the space, which was roughly two meters long and half a meter wide.

"Hmm."

He murmured before jumping inside and lying down flat.

"Closing pod. Initiating virtual reality transmission."

The AI’s voice rang throughout the room as Arlo felt wires snake out from the sides of the pod.

They clung to his body with sharp, acute pain, most of them burrowing into his scalp.

{Scanning bodily attributes and Gate power.}

{Bodily scan complete.}

{Replicating attributes into the virtual reality world of Xechno.}

{Transmission begins in three... two... one.}

The countdown echoed through Arlo’s ears as his eyelids suddenly grew impossibly heavy, causing him to rapidly sink into unconsciousness.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing inside a completely white hall.

"Welcome to the Xechno transportation space, Arlo," a voice resounded from behind him.

Arlo turned around and saw the figure of Captain Ennessa standing there.

"Captain Ennessa?"

"Negative. I am merely a welcoming AI built and programmed by Ennessa, and my purpose is to guide you through the virtual reality space."

She explained before suddenly pausing, her figure glitching and distorting for a moment before stabilizing once more.

"I have received orders to transport you to a world where you will face a Vorath creature in the Lower Noir Realm."

"Please choose one of these swords as your weapon."

A holographic display appeared before Arlo, depicting three weapons.

The first was a heavy blade roughly half his size, the second was a naginata, essentially a long shaft with a large blade at its tip, while the third was a sheathed katana about the length of his arm.

Arlo chose the katana.

"Transportation begins in five... four... three... two... one... now."

Once again, the world around him vanished.

When his surroundings finally stabilized, Arlo found himself standing in an entirely different location.

It was a large cave with a dry floor and walls so dark they appeared almost abyssal.

The only illumination came from a hole in the ceiling and several luminescent crystals embedded along the walls.

"Just like that place in Sector X," Arlo thought, remembering the similar cave from his previous mission.

{Your opponent will now be transported,} the AI announced as a dark light bloomed in the distance.

In the next instant, a green flash erupted, and a new figure appeared.

It was a Vorath standing on two wolf-like legs, its elongated face resembling that of a wolf, while sharp, jagged teeth glinted beneath the cold light.

Its large hands, each tipped with steel-like claws, hung at its sides.

Spittle dripped down its maw as it stared at Arlo with hungry eyes, growling menacingly.

"Fight begins in three... two... one. Now!"

ROOOOOOOOOARRR!

A powerful roar resounded throughout the cave as the Vorath took a single step forward, and then...

BAAANG!

Cracks spread beneath its foot as its hulking figure appeared directly before Arlo, whose hands had only covered half the distance needed to reach his sword’s hilt before...

SLAAASSSSHHH!

The air was violently parted as a claw smashed toward Arlo’s head, but then...

CLENCH!

Arlo opened his mouth wide and clamped his teeth together hard.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Dust swallowed all visibility as the Vorath looked down at its hand, finding not a single droplet of blood. It angrily cast its dark eyes toward the left.

And there stood Arlo.

His right hand rested on the hilt of his katana as he crouched slightly, maintaining firm eye contact with the creature.

"First rule of battle against a Vorath, activate your Gate."

Arlo mused aloud, knowing just how close he had come to death during that first exchange.

His gaze remained fixed on the Vorath as it charged toward him once more.

But for some reason, this time, it wasn’t as fast as before.

It slashed toward Arlo’s face again, but with his enhanced reflexes, he narrowly avoided being cleaved to ribbons by its claws.

SLAAASH!

SLASSSH!

SLASSSSH!

For the next two minutes, the sounds of slashing rang out ceaselessly as the two figures flashed around the cave.

The Vorath was fully on the attack, its steel-like claws repeatedly inching toward Arlo’s head, yet none of its strikes connected as he dodged every slash, his right hand remaining firmly wrapped around the hilt of his katana.

"Its attacks are powerful enough to deal serious damage. If one of those claws connects, I’ll be disoriented, and that alone could be enough to end the battle."

Arlo determined as the various slashes passed dangerously close to his skin.

"But it’s stupid. There’s no order to its attacks, no coordination, no feints or set-ups behind any of them. It simply slashes and slashes like a wild beast."

The Vorath attacked once more, causing Arlo to jump backward and roll through the air before landing with his feet pressed against the wall behind him.

Then...

BAAAAAAANG!

A cobweb of cracks spread across the wall as Arlo launched himself forward in a single burst of speed.

SHRIIIIIIIING!

RIIIIIIIIP!

The sound of the katana being unsheathed rang through the cave, followed immediately by the sound of something being sliced.

Then...

BAAANG!

Arlo landed on the ground behind the Vorath as dark blood trickled down his blade.

THUMP!

Shock filled the creature’s abyssal eyes as it angrily turned to look at Arlo, only to see him calmly sheathing his sword.

Then its entire world suddenly went upside down.

Its severed head rolled toward Arlo’s feet.

"Easier than I thought," he mused.

"Winner: Arlo!"

"Congratulations on successfully passing the test."

"Would you like to proceed to the next stage and fight a higher-grade Vorath from the Noir Realm?" the AI asked.

Arlo nodded.

"Yes."

{Your opponent will now be transported...}

Dark light bloomed in the distance once more, followed by another green flash as a new figure appeared.

This one was noticeably different.

While retaining the same wolf-like form, two slimy tentacles resembling those of an octopus protruded from behind its body, acting almost like a pair of tails.

Arlo also noticed something else within its dark eyes, a single point of crimson in each one that had been completely absent from the first Vorath.

[Quest Has Been Activated.]

[Mission Quest: Defeat the New Creature.]

[Rewards:

1.) +300 EXP.

2.) A New System Basic Ability.]

The notification panel flickered before Arlo, further confirming the creature’s strength.

This time, he immediately unsheathed his katana and tossed the sheath aside before settling into a proper stance, gripping the blade even tighter as he tried to calm his increasingly tempestuous heart.

"Fight starts in three... two... one. Go!"

The moment the order was given, a dark beam of light shot toward Arlo at almost bullet-like speed.

Arlo reacted instantly, raising his sword as the dark light smashed against the blade and sent him sliding two meters backward.

However, his eyes soon narrowed when he noticed the dark light wrapping itself around his weapon.

Then his eyes widened.

It wasn’t a beam of light but one of the creature’s tentacles, and in an instant, the katana was violently jerked from his hands.

Arlo tightened his grip, but his expression immediately changed when he sensed another dark streak piercing toward him.

BAAAAAM!

The Vorath lunged furiously at Arlo, who quickly released his katana and jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the second tentacle as it lashed through the air.

STEP!

STEP!

STEP!

Arlo rapidly retreated, putting nearly five meters between himself and the creature as he looked toward his katana, which was now wrapped in the Vorath’s slimy tentacles after being thrown behind it.

"Taking my weapon to force me to fight barehanded. This one is definitely smart," Arlo determined as the Vorath charged toward its now-disarmed prey at high speed.

However, its eyes widened in shock when Arlo also took a single step forward before shooting toward it with equally horrifying speed.

SLAAASSSSSH!

BAAAAAANG!

Claw and clenched fist collided violently, creating a circular burst of air as a metallic crash echoed throughout the cave.

A smile appeared on Arlo’s face as he stared directly into the Vorath’s eyes.

"Truth is... I never liked using a weapon in the first place."

***

It was a sunny afternoon.

The high sun cast its bright light across the grassland below, where a man with midnight-violet hair stood facing a child who looked like a replica of him.

Neither wore a shirt, revealing the man’s extremely muscular frame, with every part of his body brimming with powerful muscles, while the boy possessed only the normal, slightly plump build of a child.

Yet despite his childish appearance, his face carried a focused expression, along with a hidden gleam of excitement.

After all, this was one of the best days of his life.

It was the first day of his training under his father, the War God of Umbrasol.

"Tell me, Arlo, what is the most powerful weapon in the world that I possess?" the man asked.

Arlo looked toward his father’s waist, where his sword hung.

He had heard thousands of tales surrounding his father, and almost all of them involved that mighty sword, Soveurn.

It was said to have once cleaved through an army of thousands with a single slash, dividing the battlefield into two halves and creating an uncrossable chasm that separated the enemy from the Eclipsion Dynasty.

On another occasion, a dark cloud had gathered over the Eclipsion Dynasty for an entire week, but when his father finally returned and saw it, he cleaved the cloud into a thousand pieces with a single slash, bringing light back to the land.

The tales surrounding his father were almost inseparable from his sword, so surely that had to be the most powerful weapon he possessed.

"Your mighty sword, Soveurn."

"You are wrong, Arlo."