Absolute Soul
48. Virtual Training

About a century ago the world was hit by a major disaster thanks to the emergence of an alien creature called Verg which resulted in the collapse of many civilizations in various parts of the world, there are only a few countries that can survive the disaster. This disaster came to be known as First Doom in the historical record.

The massacre of the Vergs at First Doom did not stop until the first round, but it also continued until Second Doom and Third Doom leveled thousands of countries into land and ashes.

The war between mankind and Verg which has always ended in the defeat of humans, finally managed to reverse the situation when the emergence of the four heroes Blazer, Abyssal Blade, Wind Archer, Holy Archwizard, and others, and Lightning Shadow. The great war came to a halt at the end of Third Doom.

In Third Doom is known Verg has seven classes based on size, ability, and level of danger.

The lowest and weakest known Verg class is called the Insect— class which is not so large or dangerous if only one, but in a group they can be Verg which is very dangerous for ordinary humans. Verg class is said to be equivalent to Blazer level Intermidate if with his herd.

Furthermore, there is the Normal class, which contains medium-sized Vergs such as dogs, sheep, lions, and other medium-sized animals. Verg class is usually faced by Advance level Blazers because it is quite difficult.

Above the Normal class, there was a Beast class. In this class Verg usually has a large body that is more or less the same car or truck, a large Verg class that is difficult to face. Beast-class Vergs can usually only be faced by an Expert-level Blazer and above.

"The number of Verg belonging to these three classes is referred to as Verg lower class," explained Andre pointed to a digital screen in front of the class showing examples of the forms of the three Verg classes, "Today we will practice against Verg Insect and Normal classes virtually. Is there anything you want to ask?"

The disciples nodded slowly, Andre then directed his students to prepare to do the exercises, "Haikal, is your condition better?" Andre turned his gaze to Haikal who looked dreamy at his desk.

"I'm fine, sir, just a little dreamy." Haikal got up from his desk and followed the other disciple, while Heru sighed before trailing behind Haikal.

Dahi Andre shriveled to see Haikal who was not so excited as usual, a little confused about the young man when two weeks ago Haikal managed to qualify for the final round, which was not so excited, but there was no joyous expression or anything like that on his face.

Andre tried to guess what was on Haikal's mind, but a few moments later he shook his head slowly, "I'd better ask the principal later, I think he has a relationship with Haikal." Andre stepped outside the classroom after muttering so.

***

After wearing certain sports clothes that had been prepared by the academy, the students of class 1-A were led to a large room called the 'Virtual Training Room'. This room was almost as large as the arena of the Welcome Tournament, the difference was that this room was completely sealed off from the outside world.

The Virtual Training Room is divided into two parts by something that is like glass but has dozens of hexagon carving patterns every five centimeters. About four-fifths of the room was behind hexagon-patterned glass, while the rest of the floor where the disciples stood.

"Welcome to Virtual Training Room." Andre greeted his students from a room with a thick glass several meters above the floor, "I will name you one by one, for those whose names are called please enter the virtual room."

Andre called out the name of a disciple directed him into the room opposite them and then explained, "In the virtual room you do not need to hold back, the floor and walls are made of high-end materials."

Virtual Training Room is a virtual training room commonly used by students to practice against Verg virtually. Students will not be injured if attacked by Verg because from the beginning Verg is just an illusion produced Virtual Training Room.

"I hope you understand because my explanation is very easy to understand" Andre added before activating the hologram illusion, describing the situation of the ruins of the city along with some figures of winged ant-shaped creatures the size of a kitten floated a few centimeters above the asphalt.

The large-sized winged ant creature was an illusion of a Verg hologram created by a virtual space, one of the Insect-class Vergs, the code name is Ant-Bee because it takes the form of a giant ant accompanied by a kind of sting like a bee in the abdomen.

"Sir Andre, do we really have to train against them?" One of the students sounded unsure about attending this training as soon as he saw the real figure of Verg, even though it was only virtual.

"Of course, your goal as a Blazer is to fight Verg, right? What do you expect?"

The exercise did not go as smoothly as they thought. Most of the students of class 1-A if they do not run and give up then experience a crushing defeat, but they do not suffer injuries other than due to hit the floor or wall.

Of course this has been predicted since the beginning, only a few first-year students who managed to overcome these virtual Vergs well. Hardly anyone has ever won, but at least some have managed to survive.

"Haikal, are you still thinking about the principal's words?" Seeing his friend who seemed to lose his spirit, Heru could not help his curiosity.

"Ah, actually yes, a little." Haikal forced his smile to look at Heru, "Don't worry too much, I'll be fine after a few days."

"Well, if you say that." Heru sighed for a moment before pointing at the virtual space where there was a struggling disciple surrounded by several Ant-Bee at once, "You better just focus on it, doing it harder than it seems."

Haikal's view then shifted to the fight inside the virtual space, "Ant-Bee, huh?" His eyes narrowed at the illusion of Verg in the form of a combination of ants and bees.

Ant-Bee is not a difficult opponent even for Blazer candidates like Haikal and Heru, but if they gather at least eight or more then their strength can compensate for Intermidate Blazers, it's not even impossible to match an Advance-level Blazer if it's more in number.

Insect-class Vergs are among the weakest among the seven classes, but they usually attack in a crowd so even Intermidate-level Blazers have a hard time handling them alone.

"What does Mr. Andre mean to give this difficult exercise to students?" Dahi Haikal shriveled watching his classmates face three to four Ant-Bee at once in a virtual space.

"Didn't you know about the stabbing incident of the Welcoming Tournament participant?" A red-haired girl came near Haikal and Heru who were sitting observing the fight on the virtual space from afar, making the two raise their eyebrows slightly in wonder, "Anna?"

"Of course it's me, who else is the red-haired girl in our class?" Now it was Anna's turn to raise an eyebrow in response to Haikal and Heru's response who seemed so shocked. He sighed softly for a moment before pointing at the floor next to Haikal, "May I sit down?"

Haikal and Heru looked at each other for a moment and felt astonished that Anna had suddenly come near them when before this girl had never even spoken to the two. Not yet had both of them respond Anna had sat next to Haikal first, making the two people again raise eyebrows.

"Haikal, while you're in the hospital, the academy is working on this case." Anna explains that the stabbing case of the Welcome Tournament participants is thought to come from a certain dark organization that wants to finish off the superior seeds of Blazer.

This case is actually not the first time, a few years ago in the same tournament there was also a case of stabbing and even murder of participants of the Welcome Tournament, which was a case of stabbing and killing, but the academy deliberately covered the case so as not to leak out.

"Why covered? Wouldn't it be better to work with the media?" Heru first responds to Anna's explanation of the academy covering up the assault case, before Haikal nudges his body hard enough.

"Stupid, if caught by the media then the security of one of the best academies in Wulodhasia will be doubted, many Blazer candidates who did not register here and finally this academy was forced to close!" Haikal explained a glance before looking at Anna back, "Is that all the reason?"

"Do you think there's another reason?" Anna frowned upon hearing Haikal's question, feeling quite interested in the opinion of this pitch-black haired youth.

Haikal explained if that was the reason Andre held virtual training, shouldn't at least the students also have to face other Blazers who have bad intentions? Like the dark organization Blazer for example.

Anna was silent for a moment to hear Haikal's opinion feeling that something was strange before something came to her mind, "Maybe this have something to do with Verg's movements outside the border?"

Unknowingly Anna's statement attracted Haikal and Heru's interest, they had never heard of this before.