Chapter 92: Simulation

Imani then looked at the door, "But again, that's what I thought but she was sitting close to you, Alex… This is a first for someone who is known to be Cold hearted… What kind of spell did you cast on her?" Imani said in a curious tone. Alex shrugged and spoke, "I don't know. I asked her the same question but she answered that she had a feeling that was telling her to help me get stronger and help me reach up to her level. She didn't say anything else."

Imani shook her head and smiled, "It wrecks your brain to think about all this for too long. Ignore it for now, I'm sure she has her reasons as well. I've heard that in terms of brains, Hana is also very smart and a quick thinker so she must have her own reasons. Or some past that doesn't let her get close to us… Maybe she saw something in you that reminded her of a happy memory and wanted to help you. Maybe she just doesn't like people and saw that you would possibly be the same in the future. Or maybe she just thought you were good looking and fell in love with you the moment she saw you. There are so many things that could happen for her to act this way. All we can do is ask her and wait." 

Imani then slowly walked out of the arena, "Come, I'll take you to the main surveillance room. We'll have a look at everything you did today once again but this time, we'll also look at your battles and talk about the possible tactics you could have applied to get a win. We'll also look at the last battle Midnight and I had and I'll ask you about the things I could have done to avoid that loss. Sounds good?" Alex nodded and followed Imani, "It does." He wasn't focused on the topic at hand. He thought of Hana's words, "Ryan told her that I will also join her… It must have been what Ryan told me before, that when I can… I should go and join Hana for her mission. I guess she was actually here to check if I could join him or not.' Alex was in deep thought.

"Alex?!" Imani's voice shook Alex awake from his thoughts. He looked at her and smiled, "I was just distracted… Many things happened today so I was just thinking back and processing everything again." Imani nodded and pointed to a chair. Alex sat on the chair and looked around the room, 'I was thinking about what Hana told me before about the feeling of helping me be more powerful… I realized that I also felt the same, I wanted to be as powerful as her…' Alex smiled and looked at Imani, "I'm ready!" He felt more motivated to be powerful. He wanted to be Hana's equal.

Imani nodded and played up the videos of Alex's training so far. Alex already had an idea of a few of his mistakes from Midnight's explanations but He understood more with Imani's descriptions. He looked at the video and observed it closely. Imani pointed out every mistake he made from the first battle with the bot to test his strength to his final battle where he lost. 

An hour passed, Imani just finished explaining the videos to Alex. She then smiled, "I was thinking about testing you and telling you to point out my mistakes in the battle with Midnight but I'll say them myself." She then put on the video of her battling Hana. It was a clear loss for me if Abilities were also allowed but When it was only physical battles, I became confident… Too confident. I always heard that Midnight wasn't the most powerful A ranked awakened physically but her abilities were amazing. But I would have never guessed that it was only her physical strength that was limiting her, not her skills. That's where I made the mistake, I underestimated my enemy and I suffered a loss for it. Hope that lesson will also stick with you as well. It's important to be very cautious of your enemy, no matter how easily you think you can defeat them." 

Alex nodded when he heard Imani's words. He understood Imani's mistake and knew that if she was more careful with her plan and hadn't completely underestimated Midnight, she might have won. But she didn't, she only checked her physical powers and felt confident enough to defeat her without putting anything else in mind. 'I guess this also applies to those reapers, Just because those archer reapers only use bow and arrow. I shouldn't get cocky about it when I get close to them. Maybe they might have close combat abilities as well which might take me by surprise… There might be more different reapers that I'll see in the future, like that captain one I saw in the gate. That reaper was a weird one. It used magic which helped itself be more powerful…' Alex thought slowly. 

Imani smiled when she saw Alex thinking and spoke, "Now then, It's been an hour of just talking theory but why not apply that into battle. Midnight taught the skills to fight and now I will teach you how to apply those methods to the actual battle. Are you ready for it or need some more time?" She smiled at Alex. 

Alex nodded and looked up at Imani, "I'm ready for it." He stood up and waited for Imani's words. Imani smiled and walked to the door. She stopped before the door and spoke, "Then, what are you waiting for? Follow me." Alex nodded and followed closely behind Imani. The two walked to a new room. Alex looked at the door and saw a small sigh, "Simulation." He read with a small smile. He then looked at Imani and spoke, "Is this what I think it is? Enter a computer-simulated world with your brain attached to the computer itself?" He looked a bit excited. 

Imani smiled and looked back at Alex. She nodded in reply and spoke, "It indeed is. You'll be facing a few simulated reapers with lower B rank to peak C rank strength to simulate a B rank gate. However, these bots will use different weapons and will not be acting the same as real reapers. These bots are programmed to find ways to defeat you so We can see how you would react to this situation." Imani turned to the door and opened it. "So, follow me." She said with a slightly excited tone. 

Alex nodded and walked inside the room. 'I've always wanted to see a simulation room. I heard a lot about these rooms filled with chairs that hook you up with wires and allow you to enter a computer simulated reality.' He smiled 'Now I do get to see it! It may be in a different situation but at least the wish is being fulfilled.' He remembered the time when he heard a few people talk about simulated rooms when he was working part time jobs in his home world. 

Imani smiled when she saw Alex's face, 'I guess everything that I was reported on about him was correct. It's like looking at a child when he sees his favorite awakened in front of him. The huge buzz of excitement. For that, I guess I'll let him experience the room for the first round a bit more and just lower the difficultly. After that, It'll be back to how I planned it.' Imani walked to a computer screen and changed a few settings. 

Alex watched Imani work and he waited behind her. Imani turned to Alex and smiled, "It's ready so why don't you go in?" She pointed towards a metal door. Alex nodded and walked to the door. He swallowed his saliva as the doors opened for him to enter. Alex entered inside and turned back to see Imani smiling and waving at him. He smiled back and continued to walk in. As the doors closed in front of Imani she nodded, "Alrighty, Let's do something special… A small city street, a few people, and a gate. Reapers, 3 long ranged and 8 short ranged but nothing special about them. It'll help me let him lower his guard as well as help him experience being in a simulation on his own." She looked at a screen that showed a video of the interior of a small room. 

Imani looked at the video and saw Alex looking around the room. She spoke into the microphone, "You don't need to do much except sit in that chair beside you. We have a few workers here who have come as negative so they will help hook you up to the chair so just relax and sit on the chair." 

Alex looked a bit spooked by Imani's sudden voice but he nodded and looked at the chair. 'It doesn't look comfortable at all.'