BaoBao thought ahead of whatever Naoko needed, including the littlest things like flushing and turning faucets on and off. He saved her every milisecond of time that he could.
One of the technology that awed Naoko the most was the clothes. There were only the basic designs - Shirt, pants, skirt, and dress. They were all made of a strange grey material that was soft and comfortable yet durable and strong. The appearance changes thanks to a certain technology that acted like a billion minute screens melded together. This nano-like techonology could also alter the length to some extent and other tinier details according to the design purchased online. No matter the size or shape of the person's body, it could tailor itself to the person's body. Essentially, it was akin to playing dress up with a virtual doll. The clothes simply had to be recharged once every few days and it was cleaned and sanitised using UV light.
Having done only the minimal needed for her morning prepa
The clerk routinely went through the usual briefing that every adventurer had to go through before their expedition.Usually, they only needed to contact the headquarters if their journey lasted longer than the stipulated duration and declare if they needed assistance or not. This time, their group was required to send in a monthly report of their progress. Any groups that do not follow the protocol will be considered dead. No search party will be activated.After they received the key, they hung around the inner lobby while their hover ship got prepared for them.Feeling bored, Eiichi taunted Isamu. "What an idiot. If not for you, perhaps we'd get even more.""How are you so sure that it was not because of your sissy look, huh? Or because of your poor records,
The group stopped before one of the largest hover ship in the hanger. Naoko tried to be as discreet about her excitement as possible. She took measured breaths as she toured the inside of the hover ship. Although it was not the first time being inside a hover ship of this size for the original soul, it was the first time for Naoko. The hover ship was big enough to hold everything they needed for the long journey ahead, but not everything they could want."I'm taking this room!" Isamu loudly declared as he dumped his belongings in the room that he entered first."Childish." Eiichi remarked."Cheh. If we had to share a room, let's see who'd act more childishly." Isamu argued back."Boys, let's just stay happy about getting a room for ourselves, okay?" Aimi stepped in.The boys snorted and turned away from each in distaste."I'm taking that room." Eiichi staked his claim next.One by one, they chose their rooms. Those who could not care
Naoko woke up early the next morning, long before the sun would come up. BaoBao informed her that Aimi was still fast asleep. It confirmed her suspicion that Aimi only interfered whenever Tadashi was involved. The change in her environment did not cause any alteration in her morning routine. After washing up, she headed to the gym. She ignored the gym equipment by the side and carried out her physical exercises and martial arts practice on the huge impact-absorbing mat. Piloting a mecha not only required piloting skills but also good physical fitness to withstand the shocks and its continuous operation. Although the original soul had not neglected her physical fitness, it was still not as much as what Naoko would have done. The original soul focused more on building her knowledge aspect since she fully trusted Aimi to fulfill the physical half, which was something Naoko did not have. After one grueling hour, she used the mecha simulation application to practice her piloting
Now that everyone's attention was off of them, Naoko turned her camera off then landed her mecha on a branch. The platform lowered her down onto the branch and she dropped down onto one knee as soon as she got off the platform. The moment her bare hands came into contact with the branch, she gasped. It was as she thought. What she felt in the gemstone the last time was also flowing through nature itself. She closed her eyes, focused on that familiar sensation, and tried to picture it in her mind. Threads of energy coursed through the entire tree and gathered into a mass at various spots on the tree in differing amounts. If she put a little more effort into it, she could even use the threads to picture the outline of the tree. Although she would have liked to test how far she would be able to track the energy down the tree,she decided to start with investigating the strange mass of energy due to the essence of time. She kept her eyes closed and car
The Devourer was not at the end of its hunt yet. They followed it and witnessed its next two deadly catches. Finally, when the day started to cool in the afternoon, they saw the Devourer dive down into a tall tree and disappear from sight. The camera of the hover ship that was zoomed in on the Devourer sent an alert that it had lost its target. Tadashi and Hansuke simultaneously refocused the camera on the tree that it disappeared into, and slowed the hover ship down to a crawl. Before long, the Devourer was seen leaving the tree. Its beak and talons were free. "It's nest must be in that tree. Approach with caution." Tatsuya instructed. The Devourer's nest was down a hole in the middle of the huge tree. It was only accessible from the top and hidden from view thanks to the lush canopy of the tree. Upon reaching the nest, they realised that what was in the nest were not chicks like they feared but huge eggs amongst what could only be described as the aftermath
Not long after Tadashi fell asleep, BaoBao woke Naoko up and they carried out what they planned.She put on the invisibility ring and left her room to go to her mecha. Along the way, BaoBao helped to power whatever needed to be powered up and kept the rest of the hover ship in its power saving mode. He also made sure that there were no traces of their little adventure in the hover ship system. Her mecha was made black to blend into the night and BaoBao activated the black matter cloak. After informing her that it would stay activated as long as he does not deactivate it, he opened the hangar doors for Naoko to leave then closed it back. The view outside was almost a pitch black. The canopy blocked out most of the moonlight. If not for the night vision of the mecha, she may have flown into several things already. With no need to worry about creatures that could locate them by echolocation or electromagnetic waves, they stayed on high alert for the c
After Naoko was sure that Tadashi had calmed down, she brought his hand back down to study his palm. There were slight bruising caused by his fingernails. While she gently stroked the bruises, she apologised again. "Sorry for worrying you..." "No... I'm the one who should be sorry. I don't know what came over me. I spoke rudely and there was no need for you to have to report all your actions to me. I overstepped my boundaries." He thought back to how lucky he was to have the descending platform give him some time to catch himself. Otherwise, he would have insulted her with more than just his words. In fact, the current sight of her soft expression and the feel of her stroking his hand made the subsided tingling feeling in his arms grow again. Naoko shook her head. "It's okay. Thank you for your concern." She looked up at him with warmth in her eyes and a heartfelt smile. Tadashi smiled wryly back at her. "You should sleep now. You didn't even rest yet
"What?!" Aimi and Isamu half-yelled in their shock at Naoko's suggestion. Her insane idea completely threw Tadashi's request to split up to the back of their minds. "There's nothing around right now. If it's only for awhile, it's fine. Don't you think so?" Naoko continued to speak before they had a chance to recover from their shock. "Let's do it!" Tadashi's eyes were practically sparkling. Was he finally getting to learn the trick that Naoko did the last time? "Feel free to join us." Naoko made it such that they were going to do it whether the other two agreed to the idea or not. "I'll join." Aimi blurted out. Isamu went on about how they were all crazy and volunteered to stay on the lookout. "All of you will only have yourself to blame if you die because of your crazy antics." He commented while they left their mechas. Naoko jumped off her platform without a single fear. Tadashi was visibly excited but jumpy. His eyes darted ar