Chapter 27 - The HBTC

"IT'S THE HYPERBOLIC TIME CHAMBER!!!" Brance and Cynrik screamed in unison. Then, unable to contain their excitement any longer, the brothers dashed forward into the small living area of the facility. Although the two knew what to expect, they were still amazed by the sheer vastness the HBTC held. Aside from the island-like living area, which spanned roughly a hundred square feet, all the two could see was a never-ending expanse of white astral nothingness.

The Rest Area was precisely as they remembered, a small circular living quarters with two round roofed storages, one on either side of the living room. Two massive hourglasses sat opposite ends of the living space, half-filled with green sand, signifying how much time they could stay in the facility. The tops of the rest area and the hourglasses were large golden domes that tapered into a sharp-looking point, while the roofs of the storage area were an off shade of pinkish-purple. Everything else, from the walls to the floor, was made of slick white marble.

Each chunk of flooring was shiny and new-looking while being roughly 3x3 feet in size. Standing with his back to the large door they came from, Cynrik took in all the sights around him, taking note of the two large purple beds to his right and the dining table with two chairs to his left.

Stepping away from the door behind him, Cynrik left his awestruck brother behind as he began counting how many tiles led to the opening of the living quarters out into the training area. Walking forward and counting 12 tiles, he came to the end of the living room, signified by two thin pillars and a wide archway. Looking to his left, Cynrik couldn't stop himself from inhaling a sharp breath.

"Animation doesn't do this place justice," his words dragged Brance out of his stupor as he quickly caught up to his brother, who was standing just outside of the rest area looking out over the cosmic expanse.

They both stood there in silence as memories of their favorite characters training before fighting one of the numerous bad guys flashed through their minds.

"We truly are in a fantasy world, so what do you wanna do first?" Turning to meet his brother's gaze, Brance couldn't wipe off the grin that had plastered itself all over his face.

With a shrug, Cynrik continued walking forward onto the tiled floor before stepping down onto the two lower decks of tiles and stopping right before the tile ended and the white nothingness began. If he took another step forward the ten times Vinestra's gravity would kick in, and while brave, he wasn't stupid enough to just trek down into the training area.

Pulling them out of their nostalgia trip, Cynrik and Brance were suddenly bombarded by a series of notifications from Tobs detailing everything about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

-Six months have been allocated to the Hosts. Please regularly check the hourglasses to keep knowledgeable about the remaining time left in the facility. -

-After certain distances, randomly generated virtual creatures will appear. Defeating these creatures will give the Host a small number of attribute points, Proficiency, and small bundles of experience.-

-Please be advised that the Host's stamina will constantly drain if they are in the training area corresponding to their Gravity Resistance Proficiency. If it reaches 0, the Host will be rendered unconscious.-

-While this is a virtual world, and death is not permanent, if for some reason the Host dies within the Training Area or Rest Area, all of the XP, Attribute points, and Proficiency gained in the 24 hours before death will be deleted.-

-The clock located on the Rest Area will chime every 24 hours to signal that all gains are secured and permanent.-

-If the Host remains unconscious in the training area for an undetermined amount of time, they will automatically die and respawn in the marked bed inside the Rest Area.-

-While rest and sleep are necessary to recover stats, food is not. The Host will not feel hunger or thirst.-

-The storage areas to the left and right of the Rest Area house several different types of training weapons and logistical equipment that can be used for the duration of the time inside the HBTC.-

After the final message, Tobs went silent, and Cynrik turned to look at the storage area to his left. "Well, this place is the same and different, it seems like Tobs, Odin, and Yahweh have generated the perfect training environment for us, but the question is why now? Are we about to get into some shit we don't know about and need to get stronger before it happens? We have mobs to kill, XP and Stats to gain, and even weapons to train with; PLUS, we can also respawn on death."

No longer worried about the consequences of his actions, Cyrnik stepped off the Rest Area and into the Training Area. Instantly he was assaulted from all sides by a crippling force. Ten times gravity or 10g was no joke. Brance watched on as Cynrik fought will all his strength to stay standing. It took a total of 30 seconds before Cynrik was crushed to the floor with all of his bones broken before he turned into a batch of black particles and reappeared on one of the two beds.

Laying on his back, panting heavily and drenched in sweat, he burst into a fit of laughter. "OI TOBS, the least you can do is ease us into 10g. Can you reconfigure the gravity? Would you mind setting it to increase every couple of hundred feet or something? It's not possible to withstand the full brunt of 10gs with our current strength."

-Requesting permission to adjust the gravity to increase every 300 meters starting at 1g steadily.-

-Request approved-

-Gravity has been adjusted in the Training Area.-

A loud chime rang out in the infinite space as the changes took effect.

Brance spun around and walked over to the left side storage area while ignoring his idiot brother to look at the weapons available. The room looked just like a typical Earth garage. The only difference was that instead of lawn equipment, several wooden shelves, and display stands, filled with a wide variety of different weapons lined the open space.

He recognized dozens of different large and small swords, gauntlets, spears, and even staves filled the shelves. Although there wasn't any armor, there were several different types of shields, so without putting much thought into it, Brance walked over and tested the kite shields and bucklers before eventually deciding on a small wooden square shield and a matching sheathed short sword.

His alone time was interrupted by Cynrik, who had joined him and was noisily testing out all the swords. With a sigh, Brance left his brother to make his choices and went back to the Rest Area, placing his sword and shield on the small round table and sitting down to think in one of the chairs.

Not even 10 minutes earlier, he had been getting ready to spar with Cynrik, and now he was in the legendary Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He may be quick to adjust, but at this moment, he was feeling quite overwhelmed by the current situation.

Unlike his brother, who would accept everything at face value and continue as if nothing happened, Brance needed time to acclimate to his surroundings. This was proven by the fact that he didn't just jump headlong into the training area. Instead, he had to take a moment to process the information that Tobs had dropped on him, and thus he chose to grab some weapons and sit alone for a moment while Cynrik was picking his training tools.

Fifteen minutes later, Cynrik appeared back in the Rest Area geared to his teeth with many different weapons. On his right hip was a curved blade short sword; on his back hanging over his right shoulder was another short sword, but this one didn't have a curved edge. Covering each of his forearms were leather gauntlets that housed a forearm length hidden blade.

"You just have to be difficult, don't you? You couldn't just choose a sword, you had to choose two, and you even grabbed the hidden blades; you aren't an assassin. Why even do you need them?" exasperated Brance shook his head while looking at the gear Cynrik was wearing.

"Huh? Do you even know me? How could you see not one but two hidden blades and not realize I would scoop them instantly? Plus, the dual-wielding shouldn't come as a surprise. Even when we were little, I always used two wooden swords, sticks, or even plastic lightsabers when we fought. So there's no point in trying to learn how to fight from scratch, I've got my style, and you've got yours, so shut up." Cynrik wasn't having any of his brother's criticism. He was going to fight the way he knew how.

"Now then," clearing his throat Cynrik started explaining his training plan in detail to Brance, who listened intently. While he may seem stupid most of the time, he would never say his older brother wasn't intelligent.. Cynrik had already analyzed their situation and planned accordingly.