Fourteen vol.2

The space within the Dungeon Association was vast but, soon, they reached the 'room' they needed thanks to the map on their pads. It was a rectangular, boxed, building. Yes. Building. Thanks to the sheer size of the association in which vehicles and a mass of people could have no problem traversing, 'rooms' within were essentially buildings.

'Dungeoneer Registration. . .' Rose read the floating sign upon the glass box and walked inside with her companions.

"Hello, are you three looking to register?" A voice greeted them immediately.

Rose looked forward to see a female of short, brunette, hair, and a mole beneath her lips. Wearing business attire—shirt and pants—she looked like the spitting image of a crass secretary, especially with the white tablet she carried in her left hand.

"An android!" Elsa exclaimed as soon as she saw the figure, eyes widening in delight. She hadn't done the same with the holograms so it was clearly due to one being mechanical in nature. The female in question merely reciprocated with a light smile.

Lilias coughed. "Yes. We wish to register."

"Then, please, follow me."

The three followed after her and Rose found herself looking around to gleam what seemed to be cabins next to the non-see-through glass walls. They were white in color and she spotted a few with people already in them. As they approached a counter, Rose looked at the walking figure of the android and turned to the person who knew more about the outside world than herself.

"Lilias, do you know the difference between a homunculus and an android?" She asked.

She had been curious about that since she met the android that had stood by the man named Thomas. Save for their bodily materials, what made such a thing different from a homunculus such as herself? She didn't know. Yet, of course, the person besides her did.

"An android, in simple terms, is a walking computer usually connected to a data bank, a system, or just other mechanical products. They also have no ability to etch spirits onto their bodies and cannot be affected by an armament's effect so their fighting potential is quite weak," Lilias quite readily explained, "With mechanical bodies, and a lack of a brain or neural network which makes their personalities near nonexistent without manipulation, they are mostly workers of data who cannot learn something on their own unless it is downloaded for them. Depending on their quality, they can rival a homunculus in price."

Supposedly, Lilias's home was not nearly as technologically advanced as Alos, yet it certainly wasn't a slum for she knew this much. Forever curious, Rose expanded her knowledge of the girl as she expanded her knowledge of the world around her.

The android before them turned her head as she stopped. "That is correct."

She walked around the circular counter and sat down upon a sit as three screens automatically blinked in front of her. She reached through the films and inserted her tablet into a slot on their side of the table.

"I am obligated to remind you three that, to register, you must be of at least the legal adult age of 16 and have an active identification number attached to Alos," The android spoke unhurriedly, "Now, if you understand all of this, would each of you tap your pads with the tablet I placed down?"

As they continued the procedures, Rose was pleased to find that though she was weeks old at most, her age was noted as 17 within her official ID. Clearly, it was the work of the deal she had made when she joined Brian Chaz's side of the slum war. A legal, working, identification number for Alos, marking her a citizen of the city.

"Alright." After working with the multiple screens, whose backs they couldn't see themselves, the android looked up at them. "Do any of you three possess a Gear?"

"This girl here," Elsa pointed a thumb to Rose.

Rose nodded. "I do."

"Is it able to be shown explicitly?"

"Yes."

"Then, please, let me see."

Rose clapped her hands together and separated them, bringing out <Igris> into the world with a spark of flames. The woman took a moment to glance at it with her hazel eyes then went back to her screens.

"Noted," She said, "You have been registered into our system and I've sent a data packet with all the necessary information you may require onto your pad."

She continued and looked at both Elsa and Lilias.

"You two will need to undergo the Assessment Simulation within those cabins. Could you please show and give me any information you have on your current equipment?"

"Aye aye," Elsa presented hers first.

Her two gloves, the shield emblem she still had, and the gun she also still had. In addition, she added her jacket.

"A twin pair of a Force Knocker and Sense Knocker, both poor quality, and a combination of a low-grade pulse pistol with low-grade mana shield emblem." The android noted immediately, "Finally, a coat made from a sandworm's skin. Is my analysis correct?"

"Holy shit but. . .that's correct. . ." Elsa's lips hung open, speechless at how the woman ripped into her equipment with ease without bathing her eyes. 'Drats if you weren't so impressive I'd be kinda sad,' She thought, amazed at how it could tell what her weapons were at a glance. It really was a walking computer.

The android nodded and glanced at Lilias's twin crimson swords, shook her head, then looked at the dragonian.

"We cannot simulate custom armaments as they are unavailable on the market. Would a Splinter Sword do? It has the ability to form a vibrating beam around its edges," The android said.

Lilias nodded. "That's quite fine."

The android nodded.

"In addition, seeing as you are a dragonian, miss, which two paths of the three have you inherited?"

"The mana sensitivity and regenerative paths," Lilias answered.

"Noted," The android said, "Though we cannot simulate true magic, we can increase your regenerative abilities within the virtual realm."

"That sounds alright."

Rose eyed the dragonian as her attention perked up at that. 'By the sounds of it, could it be possible she knows how to use true magic?' If that were true, it meant that the girl had yet to show herself at her strongest.

With the procedures done, the android looked at the two girls who would take the test.

"First and foremost, please be aware that any unique skill of yours involving mana—save for the most basic—will not work within the virtual space, we simply cannot code everything," The woman said, "Aside, you two may now choose a virtual cabin to the left and enter it. After an initial body scan, your assessments will begin."

The two girls nodded and began walking towards empty cabins. Rose glanced at their backs.

"Good luck," She said.

"Aye aye, I'm already fired up!" Elsa replied

Lilias waved behind her.

As she watched them enter the things, raising hatches closing back down, Rose asked a question.

"Can those things scan inside a person?"

"The virtual cabins?" The android shook her head. "It's illegal to intrude into a person's internal structures with mana without their permission. If not careful, unintended side effects could occur; especially seeing as a subset of the population is weak to its energies once it enters their bodies."

That sounded like music to Rose's ears. At the very least, she wouldn't have to worry about walking somewhere and immediately having herself exposed as a homunculus through a scan since technology like that seemed possible. Her heartbeat might be a problem, but by the words of the android, it also seemed like most simply looked at the appearance and build of the person.

"Then. . .can I take the test as well?" She asked.

The woman blinked her eyes. "You wish to take it though you are already registered?"

"Yes." Rose nodded. A simulation where her capabilities could be tested? As someone who was looking to reach higher heights of strength, it sounded like a good way to train.

"I see no reason why you cannot," The android replied, "However, do be aware that we cannot replicate a Gear, only non-custom armaments."

Rose nodded. "That's fine, just give me a decent sword and a pistol, would you?"

It didn't matter if <Igris> could not be used. She memorized any and all instances of battle or training, simply fighting close to danger would be enough. After all, she was someone who had stolen Samuel Gardner's swordsmanship, all she really needed was more experience.

"Alright, I will set your character with a medium-grade pulse pistol without a Spirit Core and a Wind Flute, a standard sword armament with the ability to boost your speed. Are these alright?" The android asked.

Rose nodded.

"Then, please, make your way into a cabin."

"You're not going to tap on the screens?" Rose raised a brow. The woman had explicitly done so for most of everything else.

"I never needed to." The android shook her head. "It's simply a psychological trick to make people less wary. If everything is instantaneous while I simply sit here, eyes become distrustful."

It really was connected to the registration system.

Rose shrugged and walked towards a cabin. As she approached it, it's cover lifted up to reveal an inside that looked to be made of form. It was the comfiest looking thing she had seen.

She laid within and the thing closed.

[Beginning initial scan.] The voice of the android rang in her ears and a wash of blue covered her body for a moment.

[Initial scan completed.]

[Entering virtual reality.]

The next moment, Rose's core—what was essentially her control center—became aware that something was redirecting her sensory information.

She blinked her eyes and found herself standing within an infinitely white space.

"It feels exactly like reality. . ." She muttered as she took a step forward, a step backward, and stretched her body.

Though, she could no longer hear the hum of her core and found with a simple grip of her hand that her strength had dropped to that of an average human of her build. Essentially, her body was weaker in virtual reality, but she also immediately realized that, although she couldn't do mana channeling, her brain was still operating beyond what others were capable of. Virtual reality couldn't replicate her homunculi body, but it couldn't stop a brain's processing speed.

[Please equip your weapons.]

A sword floated in front of her. It was a double-edged iron weapon that wouldn't have called itself out as technology if not for the blue core embedded below its green hilt. By the side of it was a pistol identification to the one she had given Elsa but much better in quality. As always, it looked plastic, but merely touching it broke that illusion.

She held the sword in her right hand and the pistol in her left.

[Please be aware that you must complete all 3 trials within an hour to pass your assessment and that your weapons do have their natural limits. Recharged to full only after each stage, when you are healed.]

A time limit of an hour? Rose smiled as she gripped the armaments in her hands.

[Beginning trial 1 of 3.]

She disappeared from the white space and found herself within an endless desert below a cloudy sky. She took a step forward and walked upon sand.

Nothing waited for her, however.

A bird's screech resounded in the air. Rose glanced up to see a creature overshadow her, wings feathered and large. Then, fire spurted forth from the beast's beak as it flapped down to reach her.

[A pre-pubescent blaze falcon is after you. Escape out of its sight and reach for one full minute or kill it.]