Astral Training

I walked into the training dojo that was in the basement floor of the HQ. I noticed Mitsu and Mao Zheng having a mock battle with one another then stop once they saw me. I noticed that Genesis was also there. She smiled at me and waved. I waved back and walking towards them.

"Hey, you finally made it." Mitsu said.

"Yeah, I'm ready to get these boring lessons out the way." I said.

"Boring? How long have you been using your Astral?" Mitsu asked.

"A few months to a year now. I mean I'm pretty good with Astral it was just my Astral was fairly weak. I've only been fighting D Rank Calamity Monsters and even they gave me a bit of difficulty back then. I've gained a lot of experience by fighting Froznaught." I said.

"Well if that's the case, we can work on strengthening your Astral. That way you can do more with your Lunar Energy." Mitsu said.

"How can I strengthen my Astral?" I asked.

"How else? Intense training! We all go through intense training to grow stronger and make our Astral even stronger." Mitsu said.

"So how will we train?" I asked.

"Put these on." Mitsu said then handed me a set of bracelets.

I took the bracelets then looked at them. "Bracelets?"

"Yeah put them on, you'll understand why." Mitsu said.

I put them on then they shined and I groaned as they weighed me down massively. I grunted as I noticed ergokinetic weights appear on the bracelets. "What the hell..?" I grunted and tried to stand up straight.

"Can't stand properly?" Mitsu asked.

"I-I can't..!" I grunted and panted.

"That's normal for your first time. You'll grow accustomed to it soon. Now I want you to go a full lap around the entire dojo." Mitsu said.

"What?!" I asked in shock.

"I'm not going easy on you at all. I saw what you could do against Froznaught. You were able to keep up with an S Tier Calamity Monster. I'll tag along just to make sure you're still good while you travel a lap around the dojo." Mitsu said.

"Fine..." I said then looked at Mitsu who stood beside me. I began to walk forward the best I could.

Genesis cheered for me and smiled as she sat on a giant golden cube. "She's gonna make it, I can tell."

"How do you figure?" Mao Zheng asked.

"I can just sense it. She has a drive I've never felt in anyone else before." Genesis smiled.

Mao Zheng looked at me and Mitsu then crossed her arms. "I guess I can agree."

I continued my lap around the Dojo and grunted. Mitsu kept making sure I was alright and I continued to reassure her.

Meanwhile, Yelt stood on the roof and looked down at the city of Kaigake with his arms crossed. He heard the door opening and looked back. Azusa walked towards him and stood beside him.

"Why are you up here?" Yelt asked.

"I could ask the same of you, Yelt. Usually you're cooped up in your office. Any reason why you changed it up? Can't sense anyone with Astral Energy?" Azusa asked.

"I've found a few, but it's difficult choosing who to start with. Instead of interrogating me, I've heard from many staff that you're meeting with the Shining Sisterhood. You know Blaire and I don't quite get alone and you're meeting with them." Yelt said.

Azusa scoffed. "They can use Astral. It would be a waste to let them go because of some petty drama. Besides you should know the truth of why they don't like you, Ømega."

"So you also believe I am Ømega?" Yelt asked and looked at Azusa.

"Vera doesn't believe that you are. She said it could be a coincidence, but that's a lot of coincidences that add together. Ømega can use Archive Manifestation and you can also use it? There's only one God Archive, you do realize that right?" Azusa turned around.

"What are you getting at?" Yelt asked.

"Nothing...yet. But I believe you are Ømega. You killed all those people because you want to create a Godsend. It's impossible to turn a normal being into a Godsend because of the lack of advanced knowledge about the Calamity. I just want to let it be known that one of the many victims of that experiment was my sister. Just know that I'm not a part of Anti-Calamity because of you. I'm here because of Genesis." Azusa said then walked away.

Yelt kept staring down at the city. He closed his eyes and sighed.

I panted and began to slow down. "My body hurts...I haven't even made it a quarter and you expect me to do a lap..?!"

"I didn't expect you to fight Froznaught, but you did and WON. You had a goal, save everyone! You were angry then, you don't have a goal now. When undergoing this kinds of training, you have to have a goal. Tell me...what is your goal in life?" Mitsu asked.

I grunted and remembered my town and Kohaon. "My goal...is to avenge my parents and friends by killing Kohaon. He killed my parents, my friends...That is my goal...!"

"Alright...imagine Kohaon is at the end of this lap." She said then looked at Genesis.

Genesis heard her and used her God Projection to create an illusion of a battlefield. At the end of the road was Kohaon waiting for me. I looked ahead and my eyes widened when I noticed Kohaon.

"What the- Where am I?" I asked and looked at my hands and noticed the weights were no longer on my hands.

Kohaon looked at me and smirked then pointed at me and Ragnyth roared and flew to me. I grunted and dodged the attack then grunted as I hit the ground.

"Kohaon!" I bellowed.

Mitsu grunted as she felt my Astral Energy growing stronger. "Nngh!"

"I used God Projection to project half of her conscious to my illusion. She's still moving forward to the goal, but her other half is fighting Kohaon in the illusion." Genesis said.

I dodged Ragnyth once again and ran to Kohaon. I bellowed and went for a punch. He dodged my attack then kicked me away. I groaned and rolled backwards then slid back on one knee. I ran towards Kohaon and generated an energy ball in each of my hands then began to throw them at Kohaon. I bellowed and began to rapidly throw energy balls at Kohaon. I roared and generated a massive energy ball then threw it at Kohaon and a massive explosion happened.

Kohaon swiped his hand, making the smoke clear. "You're still weak. You'll never be able to avenge your family, your friends."

Ragnyth flew to me and grabbed me with his talons and began squeezing me. I groaned and grunted loudly.

"She's moving slower..!" Mitsu said then noticed me falling on my knees. She got down on one knee then placed her hand on my back. "Vera!"

I groaned and passed out then my conscious returned to my body. I panted as I sat on my knees. I looked and noticed I didn't even make it halfway through the dojo. "I lost...I'm still not strong enough. Even in my own illusion...I am not strong."

Mitsu looked at me and noticed my disappointed look. She took my bracelets off and smiled at me. "You made it far and your energy felt powerful. You had that same drive you had when you fought against Froznaught. I know if you keep practicing, you'll eventually get it. Let's take a break for now."

Azusa sat in an office and sighed then noticed Shella walking into the office. "Shella, thank you for coming. I've gotten some readings from Yelt. I went into the database and found two potential Astralites. One is named Elyse and the other is named Charlotte. There's a third named Astra. She just came onto the radars."

"You called me here for that? Isn't this Yelt's job? I mean he's the Overseer." Shella said then walked around the desk to look at the data.

"I don't care. I don't want these women to go to waste and have their potential unused. Yelt will waste their potential. It's better to recruit them now than to have the Calamity get to them." Azusa said and sat back in her chair. "We can split into three groups. One can get Elyse, one can get Charlotte, and the last group can get Astra."

"I guess. I can take Vera with me and have her get battle experience. Hopefully these women aren't too hard to recruit." Shella said. "I don't want to put her through too much."

"That's fine. From what the datas tell, they are in the Kaigake Plains and Astra is at Raitake Lake." Azusa said.

"Alright. Hopefully Yelt doesn't get mad at us. The last thing we need him to do is use his powers against us." Shella sighed and shook her head.

"Don't worry. We have the full support of Blaire and Violet. He is a powerful man, but even the greatest titans have to fall one day. I do not trust him at all. I am only here for Genesis. She's still naive. Inexperienced when it comes down to being a leader. As her second in command it is my duty to make sure she's safe. I don't want her be like Yelt." Azusa said.

"I'm still neutral in all of this. On one hand, the factors make sense but what if Vera is right? What if it is all just one huge coincidence?" Shella crossed her arms.

"Impossible." Azusa said. "I refuse to believe it was all just one coincidence. I refuse. My sister died in that experiment. Ømega was said to have the God Archive. Yelt has the God Archive. I refuse to believe Yelt didn't kill my sister."

"Azusa." Shella said.

"Shella let's focus on getting the Astralites up in numbers. The Shining Sisterhood needs all the help they can. Blaire and Violet are strong but there are some battles they can't win alone. Please help me with this. Mitsu and Mao Zheng will follow you wherever you go. They are two of our biggest assets." Azusa said and looked at Shella.

Shella sighed softly and closed her eyes. "Fine...but just don't get into too much trouble. I would hate to lose you."

Azusa smiled and looked at her monitor. "Don't worry. I won't get into too much trouble."

Shella walked off and walked out of the office.

I sat beside Genesis and watched Mitsu and Mao Zheng train together. I looked at my hands and balled them into fists. "So you used God Projection to put me into an illusion. The illusion felt so...real."

"I have nearly the same powers as my grandfather, Yelt. I don't know how to fully use all of it, but I'm pretty good at my God Projection. It's not as good as a Tsukiyomi illusion. They can put half the Earth under an illusion using the moon. They call it the Final Eternal Dream. Maybe you can use it as well if you become strong enough." Genesis smiled at me.

"Man it seems everyone knows my bloodline better than I do." I said.

"Don't feel bad I barely know anything about mine." Genesis giggled.

I looked at Genesis. She was so pure, free from worry...on the outside at least. I can't even fake my happiness. I can't repress the memories like Genesis could.

"Genesis..." I started.

"Yeah?" She looked at me.

"Can we go outside the city tonight? I want to grow stronger. I want actual training." I said.

"I don't know if Grandpa Yelt would allow that, but we can try." Genesis said.

"We could ask Azusa to come with us." I said.

"I guess but she doesn't like to be bothered at night." Genesis said.

"How about Shella?" I asked.

"Hmm...We can try asking her." Genesis shrugged.

"Alright let's try asking her then. I just don't want to hold anyone back. I have to get stronger not for just me but for everyone." I said.

"You'll get stronger, I believe in you." Genesis smiled at me.

I looked at Genesis and smiled then looked back at Mitsu and Mao Zheng. "Yeah..."