Chapter 17: Mastering New Strength I

  Slava couldn't believe it, not only did Kolya run on sand, but he was also faster than them. He'd been able to catch up with Sasha when he started using his awakening, but Kolya'd caught up to them like it was nothing. Slava realized that his movements were also getting sluggish. He had trouble focusing and he felt a headache settling in.

  "Ah, the ruins," he heard Kolya say. Looking past him, he could also see them. Rows of dilapidated buildings lining desolate, dry, barely visible streets. "We should slow down, it's been quite a while and since it's your first time…" not getting to finish his words, Sasha interrupted him appearing by his side.

  "What do you mean? This is so fun! I can do this all day!" Right as she was about to disappear, Kolya's eyes flashed and he tried to grab onto her, but he was too late and in the next moment she appeared above them, the purple lights around her pulsing alarmingly.

  "What the fuck… Guys… I don't feel so good," she murmured suddenly. The glow around her gradually disappeared. Looking up, Slava could see the outline of Sasha's figure plummeting.

  "Sasha!" He screamed. He was about to rush to her side when his headache suddenly worsened.

  "Slow down Slava, I'll take care of this," said Kolya, jumping past him. "Exosuit AlphaS6m B, execute 'Emergency Awakening ejection', send the extensions to the destination." Following his words, as she was falling, Sasha's exosuit extensions began shifting to her back. Once only the skintight exosuit remained, they detached themselves from her body, speeding into the heart of the ruins. At the same time, Kolya tackled her. Holding her with one arm, he used his other one to slow his descent, swinging around and destroying buildings along the way.

  "Status report!" After his order, he paused for a moment before angrily exclaiming:

  "No, not me, idiot. Sasha! I mean B, give me the status report of exosuit B's user! Stupid machine," he whispered under his breath. Landing, his gaze dropped down to Sasha. In his massive arms, she looked like a small child. With the flow around him fading and his frame shrinking slightly, he gently lowered her onto the ground.

  "Frontal Lobe Activity: Faint. Breathing: Irregular. Pulse: Faint. Overall Condition: Unconscious. Presumed Cause: Mental Strain," a robotic voice resounded in their ears as her suit shifted around her body. Safely landing next to him, Slava asked:

  "What's up with her? Is she gonna be ok?" He asked. He could feel her influence over his domain slowly fading.

  "Yeah, she just overexerted herself. I'm sure you've noticed, but it can be exhausting. Your link to your domain is like a string. As you acquire knowledge and understanding, it grows thicker, but that also means that it becomes harder to pull when you want to use it. You know what I mean?" He asked waving his hands around as if trying to illustrate his point. "Not only do you have to expand your domain, but you also have to continuously use it to train and increase the efficiency of its use," seeing his friend nod, Kolya continued. "What happened to Sasha and almost happened to you was what we call a Strain. She basically strained the link between her and her domain." Pausing for a second, his expression twisted into one of annoyance.

  "Think of it as a muscle. That should do it. Why am I going in circles for this shit? You get it right?" Facing him Slava smiled.

  "So it's kinda like this suit," he said. He had never thought of using strings to help emulate and control spatial folds. It was surprisingly intuitive to use

   "Well actually, we reengineered it that way to…" catching himself, he changed the subject. "Never mind that, we're almost there, let's go." Picking Sasha back up, his suit morphed to its original form and they took off.

Slava had a lot of questions, but he trusted his friend. He felt dejected that he wasn't fully transparent, but a part of him understood. Were he in his shoes, he would've probably done the same.

  Eventually, a massive arena came into view. It looked like an old entertainment center. If he remembered correctly people would gather in such arenas to watch various competitions.

  The design was circular, but the center was open. While the stands looked dilapidated, the center looked greener than ever which was strange.

  "I'll train you here." It took some time for Slava to absorb his friend's words.

  "I'm sorry what?" Kolya had always refused to spar with him. He would always say: "I'd kill you before you even had the chance to move," why was it different now?

  "You didn't hear wrong, you're strong enough now, besides I got a friend to help keep you alive." Facing his stare, Kolya chuckled, pointing towards the ground.

  Following his finger, Slava's gaze landed on the greenery at the center of the arena. As they got closer, the details began clearing up.

  "Trees?" He exclaimed in surprise. There was no way trees would grow in such a place. How would they get their nutrients, not to mention water?

  Ignoring his comment, Kolya simply descended to the ground.

  Not knowing what else to do Slava followed. Like the sea before Moses, the leaves parted ways revealing the outline of an hourglass-like figure standing under the trees. Landing, Slava heard an echoing voice coming from it.

  "Good to see you again Vich," it was familiar yet different. He couldn't put his finger on it.

  "Slava, I believe you've met before. This is Serena…" He was about to continue when he abruptly stopped himself. At the same time, the previously shaded figure walked into the light. Before Slava could fully discern her features, she snapped her fingers, the leaves above them moved back to cover the hole and fluorescent plants moved to cover everything around them. This created a mystical scene at the center of which stood Serena.

  "You might remember me as Dr. Rue," Slava stood stunned for a moment, mesmerized. She had long green hair flowing down to her hips, her eyes were green like sapphires and her voluptuous body was covered with a white lab coat. The parts which weren't covered by it were hidden by slithering vines and leaves that moved in and out of the coat, molding it to her body. Her remaining skin was imprinted with all kinds of green patterns. Unlike what they seemed at first, they weren't tattoos, they looked like something more akin to moss and upon closer inspection, the leaves and vines looked like they were sprouting from them.

  "Alright, stop ogling my wife," Kolya said, grabbing Slava's shoulder. "And Serena, would you mind suppressing your pheromones?" he then gazed at Serena while his suit's extensions slowly came off.

  "Ah yes, sorry, it's been so long, I forgot." Nervously looking down, she took a moment to calm herself. Taking a deep breath, she spread her arms. Soon, green particles started condensing in the air. Meanwhile, the vines covering Serena's body moved to gather them. Once it was done, she exhaled, looking back up with a smile.

  "You… you're different from what…" wait a minute, he had ignored it because of the enchanting display he had just witnessed, but did he say "wife"? Incredulously staring on, he watched as Kolya walked up to her.

  "A lot has happened since then…" Serena began, "she saved me, and I saved her," Kolya continued, bringing his forehead close to hers, "but this isn't the time," he said, backing away, "we don't have all day, I'll leave the lass to you dear, if anything happens I'll trust you to help." He let Serena's vines wrap around Sasha before turning around to face his friend. In the next moment, his suit retreated from his face as he took a deep breath of fresh air. Seeing this Slava also did the same.

[AlphaS6m Extensions: Removed]

[Scanning…]

[Warning! Head Exposure: Discouraged]

[Radiation Level: Safe]

[Temperature: Safe]

[Air Quality: Safe]

[Locational Forecast: Failed]

[Overriding Exosuit Morphing Restrictions…]

[Restrictions Bypassed!]

  Notifications zoomed past his peripheral vision, he closed his eyes and his face came into contact with refreshing air. Waiting for Serena to leave, Kolya finally spoke.

  "Feels good doesn't it?" Slava was getting more and more surprised today. He felt like he knew this old friend less and less. "There're a lot of things I need to tell you, but first let's get to training, Shall we?" Turning around, Kolya stepped forward to enter a dense piece of foliage. "Don't worry about the suits, they'll be safe here," hearing his friend's words, Slava tore his eyes away from the extensions still coming together on the ground and followed.