10:00 IST, First day, Second month, 3080 PV | Arena / Preparation Room

  The gang, that being; Ray (who is super cute), Rigar, Emil, Initae, Linda, and myself, are all assembled together. Apparently, this trial already has a few cool things.

  We were woken quite sharply this morning. Much to Ray’s chagrin, who really didn't want to get out of bed. But she perked up as soon as I promised headrubs at a later date.

  We were then escorted through the massive station into the large room we are currently inside.

  In the room are three ‘docks’. What is docked in them you are probably wondering? Well, there are near-perfect replicas of Rigar, Emil. and Linda. Like, take one of the fanciest terran androids, and amp it up to 100/10 on the realism scale.

  Like seriously, I think they added every single pore into these replicas.

  A Zekan scientist was just about to explain what the klack is going on. Which is good, cause everyone aside from Initae is looking quite confused.

  “Welcome, contestants and uh, test subjects. Don't worry, all of this is perfectly safe, probably.

  Standing before you are what we call vessels. Of course, these are far more advanced than your typical vessels. Each one provides near identical functionality to that of a typical body.

  As a part of this trial, any friends that should enter alongside the contestants will be required to be in a vessel. To relegate their general physical abilities to ones more in line with the contestants. We don't want some faction to bring in a super warrior and just win due to no contest, now do we?

  So to fix this, all of these vessels will have a combat power limit of about high-level. Of course, this can vary, and intelligence and other aspects are still left the same. So an experienced warrior is still far better than an inexperienced one.“

  “So, Kiddos. Sorry to say this, but I will be unable to join you during this trial.”

  “What! But, miss Initae, your like, our best fighter and its not even close!”

  “Well, it seems that they were unable to create a vessel capable of containing my being. I tried to occupy even their most advanced ones and it violently imploded the moment I tried to sync my mind inside.”

  “Ha, maybe I should start calling you grand-auntie. You're too old to fit inside these puny vessels I suppose.”

  “You start doing that and I might just vaporize some things that you take great pride in.”

  “Ooo, Ko, you shouldn't call her that. Those things are kinda important.”

  “Well fine then. So, you three, you wanna give these things a try?”

  Rigar: “At your command, General.”

  Emil: “Of course, we must serve you to our best ability, Milord.”

  Linda: “Wait, can I stay behind? Like, what if I don't want to go?”

  “Ko, lemme handle this one.” Ray says, as she walks over to Linda. She pulls Linda into a huddle and whispers something into her ear. After a few seconds, Linda’s face brightens and she seems ready to go.

  “Alright, ima do this and show you people the power of the Elvan!”

  The three of them approach the docs and several scientists lead them around to the back. I take a look and there is a tube-like structure. Probably to keep their bodies in stasis while they are in the vessels.

  The moment they enter the tubes, the docks start to glow and make a lot of noise. I guess they are doing some processing of biological consciousness into digital consciousness. Zekan tech still completely baffles me.

  After about half an hour, Rigar’s eyes opened. They step out of the dock and try to move around. Rigar stumbles a bit but quickly gets used to it. It can't be easy just swapping to a new body, especially one that is quite a bit weaker than normal. Keeping in mind that Rigar is normally at around an extreme-level for melee combat. Must suck to be at ~1/4th your normal strength.

  Emil is next, and he seems to adjust far quicker. Which makes sense, considering it's only about a halving of his power.

  Linda comes last. She has the most difficulty. She bounces a lot and nearly runs into the side of a dock. I guess it also works in reverse. She is normally around a low, so it's nearly a 4x increase. I'd imagine it's more disorienting to go up in strength rather than down.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Ko! Look at that, she can't even walk straight.” Ray lets out a beautiful laugh that I wish I could listen to for ages.

  “Hey, don't make fun of our new friend. I'm sure she will get the hang of it soon. Be careful, or she might make you her first test subject of her new strength.”

  “Pfft, I could take her, there is no way she can adapt that fast. Plus, we should both be a bit stronger than the vessels right?”

  Initae sneaks up behind Ray and slaps the back of her head. “Dont get arrogant. It'll kill you.”

  Ray grabs the back of her head in pain, but thinks better of rendering any retort. “Oh, right. Sorry, miss Initae.”

  I burst out into a fit of laughter. Which earns me a glare from Ray. I feel like ima pay for that later. Oh well, at least it means I'll get more attention from my darling Ray. By the way, she is super cute, if you didn't know.

  A MPAD wearing some fancy clothes speaks. “Pardon me, but when your group has finished acclimating, please follow me through this door. Do be warned, once you cross the threshold, you cannot exit until the end of the Trial.”

  “Welp Kiddos. It seems this is where we part. Spare your goodbyes, It won't be that long until we reunite.” Initae says, moments later she teleports away. Probably to some super secret command room to watch and monitor us. Or perhaps she just went out to get a few casks of ale.

  “Well, darling. Guess there ain't anything to it then. Let's begin this trial.”

  “Sure thing, darling. Though, I do hope there will be time for headrubs.”

  “Im sure there will be time. They can't be cruel enough to deprive my darling Ray of her headrubs.”

  Rigar: “General, it seems we have mostly adjusted to these new vessels. Though, we should probably get some practice in at our earliest convenience.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good. Now, let's do this thing.”

  We go through the door and we walk down a pretty long hallway. Like seriously, couldn't they have put in a rail system?

  On the walls is some pretty cool artwork. I think it's about various figures and battles from mythology. Though I'm not too familiar with such old stories.

  We walked for maybe fifteen minutes. It's now 11:00, just an hour until the trial officially starts.

  We finally emerge from the tunnel. We are greeted with a.. Throne room? It looks like the old throne rooms that you'd see in European castles. You know, the ones that ancient monarchs would sit in and hear the will of the people. Then proceed to mostly ignore it to fill their coffers.

  “Ko! Look, finally, a throne befitting our excellence!”

  “Hmm, it doesn't feel cute enough for one so cute as you.”

  “Oh stahp, it's cool. Like you.”

  “Yeah, but you're soooo cute. It feels wrong to be in such a cool place when I've got such a cute girlfriend next to me.”

  “Pardon me, but I shall now depart from this place. Please be in this room at 12:00 IST for the final commencements and rules. Until then, you are free to explore this castle that shall belong to you. You are not allowed outside yet, so don't even attempt to leave.”

  “Thats only a little bit foreboding. Darling Ko, let's go explore this place! I'm sure we can find all sorts of cool places.”

  We explored the castle for a few minutes. It's not large, but not small either.

  Seems to be perfect to house and manage maybe two hundred people. I wonder if we will get some servants or something similar. Otherwise this castle seems to be way too big.

  It has the usual stuff. Mess hall, kitchen, pantry, training yard, treasury, armory, blacksmith stuff. Plus it has some pretty fancy living quarters. Not something you'd typically see in a castle. Guess they decided that some comfort was more important than historical accuracy.

  Also of note, it's very easy to get lost. Considering the castle is designed to inhibit defenders. I'm sure none of us will ever be late to anything as a result.

  Naturally, the moment we find the first bed. Ray collapses onto it. Dragging me with her.

  “Hey Ko. We are gonna win this, no problem, right?”

  “Of course, we are the Moonlight Duo after all.”

  “Yeah, we can overcome anything. No matter what.”

  “Darling, what should we name this castle? We are allowed to do that I think.”

  “Hmm, how about something old fashioned?”

  “We could do Arce Lunae, the castle of moonlight. It fits our theme.”

  “Yeah, that works. Now, get over here and gimme headrubs. We've got a few minutes left, right?”

  “I somehow feel like this is a bad idea.”

  “Headrubs can never be a bad idea. Would you like some instead? Is that the issue?”

  “No, it's just-” I am silenced by a pair of very soft lips. Guess I don't get to be the voice of reason.

  I can't wait to see what this trial has in store.

  I mean, we were given a fairly nice castle. Plus it seems combat is going to be of heavy importance. Given the whole vessel thing to limit combat power.

  We will definitely owe Initae a great deal of thanks once this trial is over. Even if her training is insanity, it has made us far stronger very quickly.

  As the time passes, I gently rub Ray’s head as she nuzzles into my side.

  I feel like scenes like this are going to be common for a while. Brief bits of cuddling amidst some busy times. Though, maybe we can just change the nature of the trial a bit. After all, nothing is more important than cuddling time. Take that away, and Ray might just blow up this entire station in frustration.

  I stare into the deep depths of Ray’s beautiful blue eyes.

  She stares right back, I wonder what she sees when she looks into my eyes.

  The weak child that somehow stumbled through life and got lucky enough to find her?

  The worthless NEET that dropped out of high school and ghosted her?

  Or the current me? Some combination of both, but with some new stuff as well.

  Well, whatever she sees. She seems to be fine with it. Love it in fact. Which is nice, cause I can't see any reason not to love her. It's a good scenario to be in.

  I'm sure that whatever comes next, we will conquer it together. So, bring it on.

  End of Chapter 81

  Next: Chapter 82 | Eww, Rules