"This turned out to be harder than I expected," Selene complained, sighing heavily as she opened her eyes after finishing her meditation.
There was no sunlight filtering through her window, indicating that she had been sitting there for several hours, and that night had already fallen.
"All right, I must resume my channeling practice. I've neglected it too much, and that could be dangerous in the future," she muttered before narrowing her eyes and entering a light meditative trance that allowed her to use her Noeia.
Several seconds later, the gray mist characteristic of this energy appeared in her head before drifting into small threads that descended down her neck and spread throughout her body.
From the outside, it looked as if she were covered by a large number of these threads, giving her a strange appearance. Then, the Noeia sank into her skin, leaving her exposed again.
"Uh... Just a little slower than normal speed. That's not good," Selene said, her tone heavy with concern. She rubbed her head, worried that this was affecting her.
"Let's keep training! Even if I do it a thousand times faster, it's okay." The purple-haired girl patted her cheeks, trying to clear her troubled mind.
Then, she repeated the process of channeling the Noeia. This time, instead of transforming it into threads, she kept it in its misty state and allowed it to spread throughout the surroundings.
She let this happen for a few seconds before suddenly pulling it back into her body. Then, she let the energy flow out of her body again. This time, it manifested as gray threads.
However, instead of reabsorbing its power, she let several strands of thread attach themselves to her joints, her shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, knees, and ankles. She looked like a puppet in this state! As Selene stood up and moved, Noeia's threads responded, creating the illusion that they were controlling her body.
She tensed her body due to the discomfort from sitting for so long. She cracked her neck, and crackling sounds came from her body with a few movements. Her bones had cracked in unison!
"That's much better, but let's keep going." Feeling much more comfortable, Selene continued channeling her energy in various ways before restarting the cycle.
She calculated that she had spent an hour and a half doing this exercise. She wanted to last longer, but two things stopped her.
First, she was a little hungry, even though she had had lunch relatively late. Additionally, her head was already throbbing, and she felt dizzy, both due to the consumption of mental resistance.
Using Noeia came at a cost; energy was consumed, as in every process in the universe. Instead of simply feeling weak or tired, she experienced other physical discomforts.
These included migraines, dizziness, blurred vision, nosebleeds, delirium, loss of consciousness, and, in extreme cases, brain death. This leaves your body an empty shell that needs to be connected to life support machines to survive.
Selene didn't want to go downstairs to eat because she thought she would throw up before her food could be digested. She threw herself onto her bed. Her communicator indicated that she had pending messages.
After unlocking it and checking her inbox, she saw that someone had sent her more than 99 messages. When she saw who it was, she rolled her eyes, knowing what to expect.
"Oh, it looks like Kim's back from abroad, too," Selene muttered, exasperation evident in her voice. She entered the chat anyway and began reading each message seriously.
[Selene! I'm outside the city. I'll tell you about the things my group did while we were away.]
[By the way, look at this photo. How do I look?]
Selene touched the image with her finger, enlarging it in her field of vision. In the photo was a woman in her twenties with oriental features, black eyes, long dark hair, and a kind expression on her face, adorned with thick glasses.
She was standing outside the city, surrounded by people who appeared to be her teammates. She was holding a metal staff with a red glass crystal at the tip, held in place by a gripping device.
She had a shy expression, a normal figure, and clothing that didn't stand out much. She lacked the pronounced curves of Noelle, the large breasts of Morgana, and the stockiness of Selene. Even so, the purple-haired girl couldn't help but smile when she saw the photograph and had even downloaded the image reflexively.
After reading and listening to the more than 100 messages that her friend Kim had sent her, she came across a striking image of a giant fish emerging from the desert sand and casting its shadow on the dunes while its body hid the sun.
Selene felt much better than before. Even her dizziness had disappeared, leaving only her headache.
[Spend tomorrow here. I plan to challenge my father to a fight again.]
She wrote to her friend before setting her communicator aside and staring dazedly at the ceiling, which was made of intertwined branches reinforced with technology.
"Simply channeling energy won't work. I need more pressure. If I participate in underground fights, I'm sure I can improve in that regard.
I have to test my level. It's also been a couple of months since I challenged my father to a fight, so I can do both." Selene put her hands behind her neck and imagined what tomorrow's encounter would be like. First, though, she had to properly challenge her father.
She had never won! Since turning 16, she had been curious about how strong her father was. She had challenged him many times but had never beaten him. The worst part was that he always criticized her during the fight.
Still, she was determined to fight. She got out of bed and quickly went downstairs, ready to challenge her father. But she was also hungry. She couldn't miss dinner!
She soon found her father in the kitchen, washing the dishes. He turned slightly when he sensed her arrival, but then went back to concentrating on what he was doing. However, a small smile appeared on his face.
"I sense your strong desire to fight. Do you want to challenge this old man again?" Hyperion spoke in a normal, measured tone. However, Selene saw how the green mist emanating from her father transformed into a dark mist that seemed to embody darkness itself.
The man also emitted an impulse that pressed down on Selene's body and psyche. Her legs trembled so much that she had to lean against the wall to avoid falling to the floor.
Even outside, the huge tree they used as a home shook, rattling some of the weaker leaves and causing them to fall slowly to the ground. If it weren't for the reinforced floor, it would surely be covered in cracks.
Her father stopped washing the dishes and slowly turned around. His pink eyes seemed to emit an unusual glow. Selene made eye contact with him and was enveloped in a strange illusion.
If her father had considered her an enemy, she wouldn't be alive right now! He walked toward her, each step seeming deafening and enormous in her field of vision, making her feel tiny.
Then, ancient, blood-stained armor covered her father's body as if he had just come out of a slaughterhouse. Years of being in the army and fighting in the war had developed his murderous intent, causing the temperature of the room to drop suddenly by several degrees.
"Selene, do you think you can challenge me whenever you feel like it? Why don't you show me your bravado and courage? Come on, answer me!" Hyperion roared. Selene bit her lip hard, drawing blood, to resist her father's overwhelming aura.
"Yes, I will challenge you as many times as necessary!" Selene shouted in response, expressing her own temperament, which was very different from her father's. Hers was tempered with blood and steel and was full of wildness, freedom, and, above all, ambition.
Her legs stopped shaking so much. At least she no longer needed to lean against the wall. Her eyes never left her father's, and her back became firm. She was ten centimeters shorter than Hyperion, so her posture of looking up gave her expression a touch of defiance.
Purple threads made of Noeia emerged from her skin and tangled around her arms, waving gently as if they wanted to weave something to help her fight the impending threat.
Selene took a step forward even though her body felt heavy from the weight of her father's released impulse. Her footfall was slow, but moving forward was what mattered, causing Hyperion's serious expression to show a hint of pride.
"Fine, then I accept your challenge. Tomorrow in the courtyard, we will fight until you surrender," Hyperion promised. He knew he couldn't lose a confrontation with his daughter, at least not with her current level of strength.
The man's impulse and murderous intent disappeared as if they had never been there, along with his crimson armor made of Noeia. Hyperion's appearance soon returned to that of a kind man with purple hair and pink eyes who was somewhat indifferent but deeply loved his family.
"Go to dinner! Also, water the flowers with your mother. You haven't seen her today, and she needs you," her father ordered as he went back to washing the dishes. It was as if what had happened a moment ago were merely an illusion.
However, the sweat on Selene's forehead and the trembling of her body indicated that it was real. Even though the mist her father emitted was now green, she would never forget that it could turn black in an instant.
'If Morgana is a savage, Noelle is a strategist, and I'm a troublemaker, then wouldn't my father be a monster?' Selene thought, letting out a slight affirmative noise before leaving for the dining room.
When she left the kitchen, her father stopped what he was doing and turned to look at where his daughter had been standing a moment ago, specifically, the spot where she had stepped.
He bent down and placed his palm on the spot, feeling that it was slightly sunken. He smiled when he noticed this before standing up and looking at the ceiling.
"Send a robot to repair that spot and clear away anything that might prevent the fight between my daughter and me tomorrow," he said, addressing no one in particular. As if in answer, the kitchen light flickered twice.
Soon, a small robot with caterpillar tracks came out from somewhere and went directly to the area that needed fixing. Elsewhere in the house, more robots moved toward the patio, checking for insects, rocks, and snakes while cleaning thoroughly.
"Knowing her, she'll definitely invite her friends over. Minho told me his daughter came home, so Morgana will probably come too. How is General Storm able to feed his daughter? And then there's Noelle..." When Hyperion mentioned her last name, his pupils narrowed before returning to their normal shape.
"She interacts with Selene the most. She's a little older than the rest, but that's not a problem. She's only 23. Tea likes her. I like her. But she's too reserved. She doesn't fit in with the group.
"Then let's organize a barbecue! Too bad the boys can't come," Hyperion muttered as he went back to washing dishes, although there were only a couple left.
However, he was no longer paying much attention to the task at hand, as his mind had drifted to his time in the army. He had shared experiences with many people who had sadly passed away. The few who remained had become sworn brothers.
When will the remnants of the Crushing Squadron reunite?
☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾
"Morgana, you're badly hurt!" a girl with glasses named Kim exclaimed. She looked with anguish at her friend's bandage-covered body.
"Ah, Kim, you're crying more about this than I am," Morgana replied with her mouth full. She held a plate with several hot dogs in one hand and ate one with the other.
"But you look terrible! Swallow before you speak or you'll choke," Kim lectured, concerned. But her friend shook her head, unwilling to listen.
Wanting to annoy Kim, Morgana tried to speak again, but actually ended up choking on her food. Kim quickly patted her back and helped her spit out what was suffocating her.
"I hate it when you're right," Morgana grumbled before looking at the hot dog in her hand and taking another bite, not caring about what had just happened.
"You're a lost cause," Kim sighed before looking around the Sahari family's backyard.
Unlike the garden, which was decorated with flowers and ornamental shrubs, this area was filled with fruit trees, a small pond, and a sandpit that served as a fighting arena.
There were several chairs and tables, as well as several lit grills. Tea was cooking, Terrible Lizard meat, and Noelle was gently stirring a large bowl of punch with pieces of fruit.
"Does Selene really want to fight her father again? We'll just see her lose again! I don't like it when she ends up covered in bruises," Kim said, returning to her conversation with Morgana. This time, Morgana waited to swallow the food in her mouth before speaking.
"You know how it is. Haven't you ever wanted to fight your old man? I always try to ambush mine. Although I've never succeeded," Morgana replied before walking over to Noelle and staring at her.
"Want a drink?" the blonde asked when she noticed the brunette approaching. But Noelle just stared at her, her nose twitching constantly as if she could smell something.
"You were with Selene three days ago, weren't you?" Morgana asked, without shame. Tea, who was nearby, blushed a little as she understood the context of the question.
Kim, who had followed her friend because she wanted to keep talking to her, was also embarrassed. She hadn't expected to encounter something like this and was unsure of how to react.
"Oh~? You have a good sense of smell. I knew that, but I didn't know you could notice something like that," Noelle replied, standing in front of the brunette and staring at her with her red eyes.
"You don't deny it," Morgana pointed out, making Noelle smile.
"You say so; I confirm it," Noelle replied before showing her right hand. Her middle and ring fingers had trimmed nails, unlike the others, which were quite long.
"But you can also smell the residual scent, can't you?" The blonde asked Morgana the same question she had been asked, causing her to nod slightly. She finished the hot dog in her hand, then placed the plate on the nearby table.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense, as if the two women were about to fight. Kim took a step forward, wanting to prevent that outcome. However, Noelle and Morgana just stared at each other and bumped bodies before going back to what they were doing.
The brunette took another hot dog while Noelle poured punch into several glasses, acting as if nothing had happened. Kim stepped between them, though it wasn't necessary at this point.
"I thought they were going to fight!" the black-haired girl whispered, causing Morgana to raise an eyebrow.
"Fight? Why? I was just complaining that Selene went to her first when she came back to the city!" the brunette replied, not caring that Selene's mother, Tea, was present and listening to everything.
"Next time, you can go first. Oh, maybe it'll be Kim, it depends on her and everyone's availability," Noelle offered the two girls a glass before turning to look at Tea, who didn't know how to react to what she was hearing.
She was already aware of not only her daughter's preference but also her daughter's sexual activity. Every mother senses these things! But it's one thing to sense it, and quite another to hear your daughter's friends talking directly about who should fuck her first next time.