After waking up, I finished up production on the two additional Scouters. Now that I already knew what I wanted and how I wanted it, it took very little time to actually put them all together. I now had three of the cute little devices up and running, waiting for me to press their on switch.

I checked the time. There was still an hour till my meet-up with Mira, so I grabbed my backpack with everything in it and headed for the door. I took the elevator down to the basement parking garage, incredibly thankful I didn’t have to take the stairs.

From there I moved over to my bike and gave it a quick checkover. Everything still seemed to be in one piece, which was good. The new thermoelectric semiconductor stood out from the others on my bike, its fresh sheen of paint unblemished by the countless trips into the Outlands the others had withstood.

Maybe I should look at getting a new vehicle soon? Or maybe sink some money into repairing my bike fully with a new engine and some other upgrades? It was starting to wear down, and it would only be a matter of time before it fully failed on me… more money.

Rayn, ever the curse upon my shoulders. I could worry about that later though. I hopped on the bike and headed out onto the streets towards Sakura Street.

The Sentinel presence finally began to calm down somewhat. There weren’t nearly as many armored trucks roving the streets, and people were actually starting to somewhat return to normalcy. Even Raijin had calmed down, their flyers not nearly as present as they had been just a week before.

With the tuned-down groups, it was almost refreshing to drive around the city again. Almost. It was still painful trying to avoid the crazed homeless diving out onto the streets or druggies with no sense of spatial awareness. The traffic still moved painfully slowly. And the rain still made driving a bike instead of a car slightly annoying.

With that in mind, I dropped the dagger by Carone’s antique shop and headed to my newest destination: Battle Born Arena. It sat over in Old Town, so it was a bitch and a half driving over. The highways made things faster, but it still took a while with all the traffic starting to come back out.

I pulled off the highway and down several streets before parking in a nearby parking lot.

Battle Born Arena sat on the fourteenth floor of a tall skyscraper in Old Town. As soon as I stepped into it, I was hit with holographic images of ancient knights fighting with swords, wizards casting magic, and archers letting loose arrows. A different display showed several WWII-era soldiers shooting back and forth at each other. Yet another looked as if it was plucked right off the streets with heavily armored groups fighting chromed-out enemies.

People milled around, laughing and chatting. Screens in the background showed what looked to be live battles inside several arenas. People moved around, holograms clinging to their bodies thanks to specialized projector vests as they fought their opponents. Most were the fantastical setting, but there were a fair few of the WWII setting and a few others.

Insight gave a chill on my wrist, causing me to reflexively jerk back as Mira catapulted past me, her arm outstretched. She tripped over her own feet, tumbling to the ground just past me. Before anyone could even look over, she popped back up to her feet with a broad grin.

”Shiro! I’m so happy you came!” The grin seemed to grow wider as she bounced to my side.

I allowed her to give me a light hug before backing out of the embrace. “Yeah yeah… can’t believe you convinced me to fight for fun.”

”It’ll be fun! Just wait and see!” She tugged on my arm, pulling me to a front desk. “So? Fantasy or modern?”

It was an easy decision. “Fantasy. I’ve been shot at enough in my life.” And Crusaders used swords. It would look incredibly suspicious if I didn’t know how to use one. This could be my time to pick up that particular skill…

The receptionist of this place, a woman in a cheap suit of armor, saluted with her arm to her heart as we approached. “Welcome to Battle Born Arena, where we are all Born for Battle! How can I help you?”

“I’d like to sign up a newcomer… what do you want your tag to be?” Mira asked me.

“Uh- Moon?” It was about as simple as I could get.

The receptionist started to mess around on a terminal behind the desk. A moment later, she looked back up to us. “What kind of package do you want?”

“Gold. I- uh, I’ll pay.” Mira shifted on her feet and pulled out her phone.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The receptionist nodded several times before heading to the other side of the receptionist desk. There, the whir of a machine came. She returned a moment later with a card similar to a business card. “Here you go. Just bring this whenever you want to play!”

I took the offered card. It was entirely gold-colored and even had a metallic glint. Still felt flimsy though… Moon was printed on it in big bold lettering. “Thanks.”

Mira pulled me away deeper into the building. We headed through one of a couple dozen side doors and entered a room faintly reminiscent of a changing room. As soon as the door closed, the wall panel shifted to the side and offered two of those holovests and a terminal.

“Okay, so you need to customize your avatar here… just swipe your card and the menu should pop up,” Mira told me as she swiped her own golden card and grabbed a vest.

I followed her actions, and a deep customization window popped onto the terminal. I spent a minute just looking through the options and barely got through a hundredth of them. The terminal offered everything from a simple hair change to giving yourself the appearance of an exotic. I could even get fox ears and a tail to really fit ‘Fox’s Grace’.

In the end, I decided with a simple customization. I blanked out my face entirely into a mask similar to Inquisitor Ligh’s and turned my hair silver. Confirming my tiny amount of customization, I tossed on the vest. The moment I put it on, dozens of holographic projectors turned on, sending the holograms over my head as the illusion of my avatar covered me.

I turned around-

What the hell? I looked at Mira- or what was once Mira. Now, a battle-hardened veteran stood in front of me, her face covered in a crisscrossing of scars. Her jawline was impressively strong as if the woman could break a boulder with it. Short-cropped hair clung to her head, stained dark. A gaze that could shatter mountains came from her eyes, intimidatingly. The word ‘Valiance’ hung above her head. Mira’s tag, maybe?

“What do you think?” Even her voice came out strong and grizzled.

“Impressive…” This kind of tech really was cool. It was nice to see an application for holograms outside of advertising… and it gave me some ideas I might be able to cash in on with my own holographic projector. Yet another thing to add to the list of stuff I wanted to make. “Now what?”

“Now? We fight!” Mira dragged me out of the room through a backdoor and we entered a massive coliseum. Screens covered almost every inch of the place, showcasing the varied fights that were happening throughout the Battle-Born Arena. There were so many that this place must’ve owned several floors of this tower to fit them all.

Mira led me to one of the various doors scattered around the area. A pure white room, resembling a massive cube, opened up before us. She walked over to a terminal on the side of the room. “Medieval, right?”

“Yeah.”

She pressed a button and the place shifted, holograms coming to life all over the place. In a matter of moments, we stood in an old-age gladiator coliseum. “Come here and pick your weapon! Armor is just aesthetic for what we’re doing.”

I headed over to the terminal to find a long list of weapons and armor. Very briefly, I thought about what I wanted. Then I decided it didn’t actually matter since Crusaders used swords, so that’s what I went with.

A slot on the wall opened up, and a replica rubber sword slid out of the wall. I cautiously grabbed it, feeling slightly relieved the weight wasn’t nearly as bad as the sword back at the secret stash. As soon as I picked it up, the hologram projectors turned the sword into a real longsword.

I turned around to see Mira’s hologram change as leather armor coated her. She likewise grabbed a spear from a slot on the wall, twirling it in her hand. Mid twirl, it shifted into an intricately carved dragon, the mouth opened wide to reveal the spear point “I won’t go easy on you, not a problem, right?

Did Mira know how to use a spear? Damn, this is going to suck. “Since when have you ever gone easy on me?”

“Exactly!” The hologram followed her own expression and smirked at me.

Two spots on the ground lit up red. Mira headed to one and I to the other. She made for an imposing image as she stood there with her dragon spear. “We’re playing contact, so the first hit wins! Best two out of three.”

”Okay-“

A voice boomed as if it came from the heavens. “Round one. Fight!”

Mira wasted no time in a straightforward lunge toward me. The chill of Insight across my thigh was the only warning I received as I dodged back out of the blow. The dragon spear approached, its illusion of a blade looking deadly as it closed the distance with me.

Mira shifted her blow, splitting the air as she chased me with another lunge as I foolishly tried to put up some distance between us. Before I could even recover and pull out of the dodge, her blunted spear landed squarely on my chest.

“Argh!” An electric shock jolted my body - not so much painful as surprising - and the entire room flashed red.

Mira twirled her spear and slammed the butt of it into the ground. “You- do you know how to use a sword?"

I shook my head. "Never had the chance."

Mira tilted her head and stared at me for a few moments before sharply dipping her chin as if she had been having a conversation with herself. "Right! Well, I don't know much about swords. I learned how to use a spear through doing, but you aren't exactly... skilled at combat. No offense."

"None taken."

She walked over to me and traded her spear with my sword. After twirling it in her hand for a moment, she took up a stance. She held the sword mostly vertical to the left side of her body, her left arm tucked close and her right casually laying across her chest. "I've only ever watched or fought against a swordsman, so I could be wrong. For the majority of them, this is their neutral stance." She swapped me back for her spear.

I imitated her stance as best I could, though I couldn't just so casually hold the initiation sword. Sure, these game ones were far lighter than the real deal, but it was just an awkward hold. "Like this?"

She intently stared at me. "Hmm... loosen your grip more. You're white-knuckling that thing. Hold it loosely but secured, allowing it to carry a bit of a whipping momentum when you strike."

I adjusted my grip the best I could. How, exactly, was I supposed to hold something without actually holding it though?

"Well... that looks a bit too loose."

A deep sigh escaped me as I tried once more. Today was going to be a long day.