"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.
'At least it's with girls and not boys. Selene is so careless that she would surely forget to use condoms. I'm too young to be a grandmother!' Tea thought, and at that moment, her embarrassment disappeared.
"It's not very appropriate to talk about this outdoors!" Kim exclaimed before taking a sip of the punch they offered her.
"Oh, please! All three of us have slept with Selene, and we're in a private place, aren't we, Mrs. Sahari?" Morgana ignored Kim, spitting the drink out of her mouth, and looked at Tea, who was holding a pair of metal tweezers.
"Girls... I don't care what you say or do, but I think even you, Morgana, would understand that a mother isn't comfortable with that kind of talk," Tea replied. Something strange happened: Morgana felt embarrassed!
The brunette's cheeks flushed, and she stammered a few words. Tea simply left a piece of meat on her plate and gently patted her shoulder.
"Thank you for putting up with my daughter," said the older woman, leaving the three girls at a loss for words. Luckily, they didn't have to respond because the fighters finally left the house.
"Every time I see Mr. Sahari, I understand why Mrs. Sahari is always happy," Morgana murmured as she looked at Hyperion, who was wearing only athletic shorts and tight gloves.
His physique was impressive. Although he was muscular, he didn't look bulky, and his movements were fluid. His skin was covered in scars from cuts, bullet holes, and burns that resembled energy weapon impacts.
He had the physique of a war veteran! His daughter stood on the other side. She wore a black sports top and shorts. Although stocky, she was nowhere near her father's level. She had scars on her skin from the battles she had fought outside.
Selene clenched her hands into fists covered by black gloves like her father's. She arrived first at the training area in the courtyard.
"Tea, please," Hyperion requested of his wife as he approached his daughter. She came over to the pair.
"I have never liked you fighting, but I understand that your lives are different from mine. This fight can only end when Selene can no longer take it and gives up, or when she is knocked unconscious.
You will begin when this five-Argentum coin touches the ground," said Tea, showing a silver coin which she threw into the air before leaving.
The coin spun in the air, but neither of them focused on it. Instead, they adopted their fighting stances. While Selene crouched down like a predator, Hyperion simply raised his two fists and placed them in front of his face.
When the coin touched the ground, the Noeia inside both fighters' bodies exerted its dominance, activating the chosen muscles and organs.
"General muscle activation: 10%. Cardiac activation: 15%. Respiratory activation: 10%." The purple-haired girl whispered.
Selene's heart began to pump more blood, her lungs absorbed more oxygen, and the muscle fibers in her limbs began to twist and swell slightly.
Her veins and muscles stood out clearly on her skin. An unrestrained impulse surged from her body, radiating everywhere before focusing exclusively on her father.
"Muscle Activation: 30%. Cardiac activation: 25%. Respiratory activation: 30%. Bone activation: 15% Skin activation: 20%. Nerve activation: 10%. "Tank mode," whispered the purple-haired man.
His muscles bulged, his heart beat like a war drum, and his breath seemed to cause a gale. His bones creaked, and his height increased to two meters. His skin became more opaque.
His mere presence was imposing. He didn't have to unleash his impulse; he already caused an oppressive feeling just by being there. Although Morgana, Noelle, and Kim were already used to this appearance, they still held their breath when they saw him.
Selene swallowed hard but was still the first to attack. She didn't care about the black fog covering her father. She didn't think she would be defeated and didn't realize she was weak.
She just wanted to fight! She moved quickly toward her father and threw a straight punch at his chest. Hyperion responded in kind. Their fists collided in the middle, creating a small explosion that scattered the sand on the ground.
Selene's body flew backward, but she spun in the air and landed on her feet. The force of the impact still sent her sliding backward, though. Right now, though, that didn't matter, not when her father's knee was getting bigger and bigger in her field of vision.
Selene crossed her arms in front of her to receive Hyperion's attack. She had taken advantage of the situation, receiving the attack at an angle that allowed her to use some of the force to turn her body. She then kicked her father in the side, hitting him squarely.
Hitting her father's skin felt like coming into contact with a very hard stone, but the force of her kick caused Hyperion to take a step back. He then unleashed a simple forward kick, which Selene dodged by crouching down and moving to the side. She didn't want to receive that attack.
Selene had never thought her father's large build made him slow. She knew how fast he could be, so she jumped back and dodged the downward punch he had thrown.
He missed, but the wind from his punch blew her hair wildly, bringing a strange smile to her face. She was clearly enjoying the emotions this confrontation was making her feel.
"HAHAHAHA!" The purple-haired girl burst out laughing before lunging at her father again, trying to trade blows with him.
However, her attempts fell on Hyperion's tough skin, which mitigated the effect of her attacks. In addition, the man's powerful blows affected the girl greatly, leaving areas of her skin completely blackened from the accumulation of bruises.
After protecting herself so many times, her arms wouldn't stop shaking! Still, she continued to laugh, seizing a few small gaps and risky opportunities to hit her father repeatedly. But he remained unperturbed, advancing toward her no matter how many times she made him take several steps back.
"Aren't you going to use the move from last time?" Hyperion asked after catching Selene off guard with his palm, hitting her butt and pushing her several meters away.
He was simply playing with her, which is why his attacks had been restrained. After all, he hadn't inflicted any bleeding wounds on his daughter. In fact, he urged her to unleash more of her power.
"Hehe! Okay, now I can hold out for a whole minute in that mode," Selene said euphorically, smiling broadly and revealing her sharp teeth.
"General muscle activation: 15%. Cardiac activation: 5%. Respiratory activation: 15%. Synaptic activation: 1%. Nervous activation: 2%. "Assault mode," she said before tilting her head and placing her index finger on her temple. She turned her finger constantly as if she wanted to drill into her skull.
"I'm really in the clouds right now!" Selene declared aloud, her muscle fibers tensing and thickening slightly more, bulking up her figure. Her heart was no longer beating faster; now, oxygen could supply her body, especially her brain, with more energy.
The world seemed strangely silent and fast yet slow at the same time. Many details came to her mind, and a countdown appeared, telling her that she only had 60 seconds to stay in this mode before her brain overheated.
Her impulse became much livelier at that moment. Her battle intent manifested like never before, and her whole body trembled with excitement and a voracious desire to fight.
Selene moved much faster than before. At the start of the fight, she threw a punch. This time, however, there was much more force behind the blow. She only took a few steps back before resuming her charge.
She was also much better at dodging Hyperion's attacks. Whereas before she had dodged one out of twenty, now she was dodging three out of twenty, mitigating the damage she received and improving her performance. No matter how fast she moved or how agile she was, her father remained impassive like a tower in the face of nature.
She wasn't desperate, but she was annoyed. This anger built as she saw that she only had 20 seconds left in assault mode. She took a full punch to her abdomen but clung to Hyperion's arm, resisting the impact completely and leaving no chance to mitigate it.
Saliva escaped her mouth as the air left her lungs. The sand beneath her feet scattered as the force of the attack dispersed through her body.
She clenched her hands around her father's thick arm. He watched her with cold, pink eyes without commenting on her actions. He thought that his daughter had made a mistake by letting her emotions get the better of her in combat.
Selene then let out a primal scream, a sound that seemed to come from the depths of her being, arising only in moments of pure necessity when a human needed to exceed their strength limits.
Hyperion's pupils contracted when he felt his daughter's hands become as powerful as a turnstile. She growled, and a whisper emerged from her mouth, making the man reevaluate Selene's willpower once again.
"Hysterical strength: 0.25%." It was only a fleeting glimpse of a difficult-to-control power, even for the Noetarchs. However, the purple-haired girl spun her body and dragged her burly father. Amazed, he was unable to put up adequate resistance.
Selene used her back to lift Hyperion and threw him to the ground. The man's heavy body crashed into the sand. Instead of quickly getting up, he started laughing.
"What a cool move! Come on, Selene! Show me what else you've got!" Hyperion exclaimed before slapping the ground with his palms, using the resulting force to stand up.
When he turned around, he noticed that his daughter was standing still with completely blank eyes. She had passed out standing up! Her body had returned to normal, and Hyperion no longer sensed any threat from her, confirming that she was unconscious.
"Selene, you..." He tried to approach her, but her body trembled as if sensing an enemy. She waved her arms languidly in his direction, causing his countenance to darken.
Then, Hyperion's body returned to its normal form. When he took another step toward his daughter, his body did not move on its own. It simply stood there as if nothing in the world could bring it down.
Her skin was covered in bruises, blood dripped from her nose to the ground, and her eyelids were half-closed. Still, Hyperion saw that the corners of his daughter's lips were drawn into a big smile that showed her sharp teeth.
'My husband told me that no matter what energy was used, what made a fighter excellent was their ability to stand tall in the face of any adversity.
He was not a fighter, but he said that this willingness to never fall and to get up stronger if they did was engraved in their DNA, and their descendants would inherit this trait no matter where they were.
I didn't understand it at first, but I, and possibly the next entries in this journal, will surely confirm it: Have you remained standing, or have you gotten back up, my children?'
Hyperion remembered that peculiar passage in the metal book that had been passed down through his family. At the time, he didn't understand why his grandmother had left it, nor why his father told him that in time it would be his turn to write something similar, just as he had done.
In that battle, he risked everything. He rescued a friend and was rescued himself. He understood because, just like his grandmother, his father, and Selene at that moment, he stood his ground and endured the enemy bombardment.
Instead of worrying about his daughter's condition, he gave her a big hug and laughed as loudly as Selene had a moment ago. This indicated where she had inherited that trait from.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"