A Distant Reverie

Chapter 90

Vesper was about to pass out.

"And done!"

Calli called out. Everyone in the training halls immediately stopped—their sweaty faces flushed with relief as they dropped onto the floor with haggard breaths. Their training for the evening had finally ended.

Vesper walked over to refreshment table prepared by Cecilia and grabbed one of the canteens filled with ice water. With as much as dignity as he could muster while exhausted to the bone, he popped open the bottle and drank greedily. The frigid sensation cooling his parched throat was euphoric.

"Good work, Vesper. You've improved quite a lot since we started last week," Calli said as she strolled over to him.

"You think so?"

"Yeah." Calli chinned at the others who were still half-dead on the floor.

Vesper was the only one still standing amidst the group. Aside from Marine and Ame, the entire compound was present for this evening's trainings. Even Kiara and Fuwamoco, who rarely participated in these sort of drills, had began to join in on these torturous session.

"Although your progress is good, there's still a lot more areas to improve. Especially if you want to catch up to Ms. Houshou."

Vesper smiled with uneasy. "That's a fine goal to aim for, but I don't think it'll ever be possible."

"Fair enough."

Their first week in this new world had been fairly unremarkable. Aside from their initial encounter with the Incursions, there weren't any other major incidents since their arrival. Compared to their previous two adventures, the difference was night and day.

Vesper welcomed this rare moment of peace. Their adventure in Sol was particularly brutal and emotionally distressing. They needed this reprieve. Still, there was always that the nagging thought of crisis gnawing at the back of their minds.

They knew this peace would be short-lived. Lady Ouro didn't bring them to this dying world to relax. Something was bound to happen eventually. Something that would destroy this fragile tranquility. But rather than dwell on this uncertainty, Vesper, Suisei, and Marine instead immersed themselves in training and understanding this world.

Marine especially was making incredible strides.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise, but she had become proficient with the Exo in a blink of an eye. In just a few days, she was somehow operating the machine as if it was just an extension of her body. On the fifth day of her training, she had bested Calli, the ace operator amongst the group, in a one-on-one spar using their Exos. A single victory might have been a fluke, but no one could deny her superiority after she won nine out of their ten matches that day.

Something changed afterwards.

Marine's unfathomable progress must have lit a fire in everyone's chest. Calli began to up the intensity and frequency of their trainings. Shiori no longer complained, while Fuwamoco and Kiara joined out of their own volition. A subtle competitive tension began to linger over the compound.

Vesper understood their feelings well. It must have been equally shocking and infuriating to see an outsider best their ace operator in her field of specialty after just a few of days of training.

"Damn that woman...I swear I'm going to win next time!" Calli hissed, while crushing the plastic water bottle in her hands.

Honestly, she's kind of amazing too.

Calli's mentality and tenacity were admirable. It couldn't have been easy suffering two humiliating defeats against the same person within such a short span of time. Calli, however, showed no signs of animosity towards Vesper and Suisei despite their association with Marine. And towards Marine, she was only competitive—never overtly hostile or bitter.