Chapter 39: Cyberskills

His entire body had been paralyzed.

"Tch, I got distracted!" Arlo thought as he watched the Vorath approach him, its colossal palm stretching toward him until it covered his entire field of vision.

Before...

BAAAANG!

BAAAANG!

BAAAANG!

The entire ground shook violently as his body was smashed into it three times, each impact sending cracks spreading farther beneath him until he was left embedded.

But the Vorath was not done yet.

One of its tentacles violently wrapped around Arlo’s neck, pulling him from the ground and raising him until he was face-to-face with the creature’s abyssal dark eyes.

Its maw slowly parted, revealing what looked almost like an evil smirk, and suddenly...

PUUUCHI!

PUUUUCHI!

PUUUUCHI!

PUUUUCHI!

The remaining four tentacles burst into Arlo’s head. One entered through his right ear, another through his left, while the remaining two forced their way into his mouth, stretching it wide open.

A horrific expression appeared on Arlo’s face as he watched the Vorath smile, the four tentacles inside his head slowly beginning to separate from one another.

In that moment, it felt as though his skull was being pulled apart from within.

"NO...!"

RIIIIIIIIIIP!

Arlo’s head was ripped into two pieces, blood and brain matter spilling out as the Vorath stared at the headless body for a moment before dropping it to the ground.

"Winner: Lower Anouq Realm Vorath," the AI declared as the creature faded into white energy.

Moments later, Arlo’s headless corpse also dissolved into the same white energy.

"NOOOOOO!"

The roar burst from Arlo’s mouth as he jerked upright inside the virtual reality pod.

His heart raced uncontrollably within his chest, pounding with such force that he felt a stinging pain spreading through his ribs.

"How does dying feel, kiddo?"

Ennessa’s mocking voice rang out as Arlo, whose heart was still violently pounding, turned toward her with sweat dripping down his face.

"I... I died?" Arlo asked, unable to understand how he had died and yet still be alive.

His thoughts were completely incoherent, while a splitting headache hammered continuously against his skull.

"You died in the virtual realm, that is," Ennessa said as she approached him with a glass cup in her hand and passed it to him.

With cautious eyes, Arlo looked at the green-colored tea inside.

"It’s a relaxing tea that helps soothe the side effects of dying inside the virtual world," Ennessa explained.

He gave the tea one last suspicious look before downing it in a single gulp.

Immediately, a cold and refreshing sensation spread throughout his body, and he could feel his heartbeat gradually returning to normal as the pounding in his head slowly faded.

"Huuuuuu..."

Arlo released a long sigh of relief before passing the cup back to Ennessa, who downed her own tea and returned to the dais.

Arlo then climbed out of the pod and made his way back to his seat.

"The virtual world’s simulation of death is the greatest technology ever created to bring mankind as close as possible to experiencing what death truly feels like."

"Give me one word to describe your experience," Ennessa said.

Arlo didn’t have to think before answering.

"Horrifying."

As he spoke, his hands moved to his mouth and ears as though checking that they were still there.

After all, only moments ago, at least from his perspective, his skull had been ripped apart by a Vorath.

"Normally, even though almost everyone uses virtual reality, children under the age of twenty are prevented from dying inside it."

"The algorithm automatically pushes them out before the final moment because the government doesn’t want children to be permanently haunted by the experience of death," Ennessa explained, causing Arlo’s eyes to narrow.

"You’re wondering why I deliberately allowed you, a sixteen-year-old, to die when I could have taken you out in time, aren’t you?"

Arlo remained silent, but the look in his eyes was enough of an answer.

"It’s because the government doesn’t understand something about death in the virtual realm."

"They don’t understand that, for naïve youngsters like you, experiencing it can be one of the fastest ways to grow up."

"Now that you know what death feels like, I’m sure that awareness has been firmly planted in your head."

"Not only will you now be conscious of your own mortality and try to prevent your death at all costs, which is obviously good for you, but you now know full well how much pain a Vorath can inflict, and you’re aware that they can kill you."

"Besides, with your current strength, you could reduce ten ordinary men to blood and gore. You need to understand just how badly death stings so you don’t go around killing someone carelessly."

She explained at length, but all Arlo cared about at that moment was that he was still alive.

"That said, I watched all of your fights and saved the recordings. Let’s go through them and do a proper analysis to see what you did right, what you did wrong, and how you could have done better next time," Ennessa said as a large holographic screen appeared in the air, displaying Arlo preparing to fight the first Vorath.

"Before that, though, I have a question for you..."

"And what is that?" Arlo asked as Ennessa approached him with her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Who taught you how to fight?" she demanded.

Arlo narrowed his eyes but remained silent.

"Your combat ability is extremely high, even higher than most people who have spent two years undergoing intense training in the Orano Military."

"It’s almost as though you’ve been preparing to fight your entire life, so tell me. Who taught you?"

"My father laid the foundation, and my brother built upon it," Arlo replied.

Ennessa’s eyes flashed with curiosity, but when she saw that Arlo had no intention of elaborating further, she swallowed her curiosity about his background.

Little by little, the boy was proving himself to be far more than some fisherman’s son.

"A direct answer. Now, back to business. First, your initial fight with the Vorath..." Ennessa said as the recording began playing once more.

What followed was a series of pauses as Ennessa pointed out how he could have ended each battle in mere seconds.

As Arlo watched his own fighting style, he could easily spot the unnecessary movements he had relied on, mistakes he had never even been aware of until now.

"And now, the final fight that led to your death. Your death, or at least the speed at which it happened, can be summed up by a single mistake: distraction."

"I watched you awaken a cyber skill, and instead of focusing on your opponent, you became distracted while examining it. Hence, the Vorath caught you off guard and rendered you helpless."

"There’s only one lesson you should take from this..."

Arlo gave several nods.

"Never get distracted in the middle of a battle."

That earned an approving nod from Ennessa.

"You’ve now seen what even a moment of distraction can do, so let that be the last time you ever allow yourself one in a fight. Still, I have to say, you went far beyond my expectations."

"I expected you to fight the first Vorath evenly before dying at the hands of the second, so defeating an Upper Noir Realm Vorath was an impressive result," Ennessa said.

Arlo grinned proudly, but an idea soon entered his head.

"I have some questions, Captain Ennessa..."

"It’s Ennessa. And what are they?" she corrected as she walked back toward the dais.

"What do Noir Realm Vorath and Anouq Realm Vorath mean?" Arlo asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Ennessa slapped her forehead.

"I forgot to explain that to you. It’s about the cultivation grades of the Vorath and how they compare to human cultivators."

"Let me explain both so you can have a clear idea."

"The human cultivation system is straightforward. Right now, your strength is determined by the number of Gates you have successfully opened."

"You’ve only opened your First Gate, making you a First-Gate cultivator."

"Once you open your Second Gate, you become a Second-Gate cultivator. Opening your Third Gate makes you a Third-Gate cultivator, and so on. Simple, isn’t it?" Ennessa asked.

Arlo nodded. It really was simple.

"The Vorath hierarchy is slightly more complicated, but still easy to understand."

"There are four known major realms of Vorath cultivation. The first is the Noir Realm, divided into Lower and Upper stages."

"The second is the Anouq Realm, also divided into Lower and Upper stages."

"The third is the Agata Realm, likewise divided into Lower and Upper stages, while the final known realm is the Magicula Realm, about which very little is known," Ennessa explained.

Arlo committed everything to memory.

"That said, the first Vorath you fought, the one with almost no intelligence, was a Lower Noir Realm creature."

"The second Vorath you defeated was an Upper Noir Realm creature. Those two are roughly comparable to human cultivators at the First-Gate level," she explained.

Arlo nodded.

"The Vorath that killed you was a Lower Anouq Realm creature, roughly corresponding to a human cultivator who has opened their Second Gate."

"That’s why you lost."

Arlo’s brows knitted together, but he nodded to show that he understood.

"The Vorath creatures we fought in the cave were all Noir Realm. That’s why we could butcher them so easily. It would have been an entirely different matter if they had been Anouq Realm."

"Only I could have defeated an Anouq Realm Vorath. The rest of you would have died if you had encountered one," Ennessa said, sending another chill down Arlo’s spine.

"Also, what exactly is a cyber skill?" he asked, remembering the very thing that had distracted him and ultimately led to his death.

"A cyber skill is a special ability ingrained within your Cyber Transplantation."

"There are hundreds of different skills, ranging from Common-grade abilities like enhanced eyesight to Legendary-grade abilities such as Calamitous Strength."

"Yours is Redshift, which is actually a..."