6 Chapter 6

Nella was inspecting the herbs and crystals that would enhance the meditation. They had managed to get almost all she wanted to have. Nella sat in the middle of the room. Right on top of a circle with symbols drawn on it. It was the epicenter of the room where all the energy would concentrate on. Nella sat there cross-legged and felt her inner constellation teaming with energy. It was worth it to pay the exorbitant sum for these enhancements.

The whole sum was paid in Core World Dollars, often abbreviated as CWD. As its name implied it was the currency of the Core World Planets. It was the most stable currency and the most used. Some had their personal currencies, but there were only a few places in the human race that didn't accept CWD.

Nella took in deep breaths and appreciated the smell of mixed herbs. She started to gather energy in a serious fashion and her constellation formed. Her constellation soon grew in strength and shone with an unearthly luster. Nella's tattoo was regaining its contours. Sitting there for eight hours straight without movement. Slow breathing and the constellations ceaseless spinning was her eight-hour program.

With eight hours full, she needed to move some. Nella got up and stretched her whole body. She felt invigorated and ready to go. With light steps, she moved to the training room beside her. It was a very large room, more like an industrial hall than a training room. Nella summoned the control screen and saw to her satisfaction the rooms safety plating turned to full strength. It wasn't the only thing she needed and she summoned a training doll made of Waning Moon Metal. It was a special material that it dissipated energy thrown at it, which made it a perfect training tool. In the case of Nella, it was not strong enough to withstand her full power assaults. Before she had a better one at her ship, but it was destroyed. She tried out some moves with the help of her reserve power and the doll couldn't handle the power.

Nella watched in silence as the Waning Moon Metal doll materialized in the room. She waltzed closer to the doll and patted it on its snoot. The doll was in the form of a massive jaguar. While she was running her hand over the rough surface of the doll, she thought about the best skill to use. The shell on the parasites back was made of crystal and hard to break. A light shake of her head and she changed the track she was thinking on. She should first think of how to have a chance to kill it while inside another beast.

Nella's mind raced through every technique she knew and dismissed most of them. She wanted to fight from range and not let the beast get close. The best ability for that might be the Magenta Energy Spear. Nella hadn't found any good weapon to complement the technique with. Hence the unimaginative name. The problem with using this skill was the huge energy consumption with no weapon to bolster it. It was a good thing then she had so much energy to spare she thought.

As the name suggested it was a spear made of pure energy. It had a good range she could throw it to and only needed to hit center mass. Deciding on the course of action she with a few quick steps got to the other side of the training room. She summoned the command console again and activated the training mode of the doll.

The jaguar doll dashed at Nella. With fluid movements, she took form like a baseball pitcher and flung. Her hand had been empty the whole way until the opened it up and a forty-centimeter spear sprung forward. The magenta spear grew three meters in length and without err it stuck the pouncing jaguar's forehead.

It didn't explode on impact but retracted into itself until only the sharp tip was visible. All energy in the spear exploded with a directional blast at the doll's forehead. The jaguar's pounce was cut short and it flew backward. It used the whole length of the training room and hit the wall with a crack.

The wall had a sizable dent and the doll was missing its whole upper torso. Nella smiled satisfied with the effect. Any creature would be dead, but the doll moved obediently into attack position.

"Quit simulation," Nella said and approached the doll to assess the effect more closely. The doll got into its neutral position and lost its liveliness.

The effect was as good as she hoped. This would be the go-to weapon when dealing with prey. She would still have both the guns and her fluffy white gloves, but they weren't meant for this kind of mission.

The smile grew bigger on her face. Why hadn't she thought of this before, it was a fantastic idea. She pulled up her right pant leg and sat down. A tiny torchlight of magenta appeared on her fingertip. Nella chanted silent words of power and began drawing on her exposed leg.