"Nagi, are you okay now?"

Do I look okay? I'll be fine after going to sleep instead.
Mother took out her phone and showed me the Training Dummy app. What's the point of showing me this?

"There are some options you haven't tried out yet."

Oh sure, I haven't checked the options for an entire year.

"Check it out. On the options."

Mother passed me her phone, it displayed the new options. I haven't seen them on the Training Dummy before.

"How nice." I gave her phone back and walked back to my room.

I grabbed my biggest plushy and laid down my bed.
I thought about what happened today. We went to Alteria City in Janise where the Battle Event was supposed to happen.
Unfortunately, The Manager in the dome-like building gave us the bad news. I was banned before I had a chance to be in the Event.
They refused to clarify the reason.
The next thing I knew was, I was at home, forgetting how I came back here.

I stared at my FD Pod beside me, noticing I placed too many plushies on top of it. I moved some of my plushies to the desk but decided to move them on my bed.
How annoying. I am unable to decide where to place the plushies. I squeezed them before tossing them around the bed.

"Nagi?" Mother walked into my room, "Let's have a bath together."

I nodded.

I'm in the bathtub with Mother. Certain areas were heavy and massive.
I had to move them since we were in a cramped bathtub. I hope I don't have them when I grow up. It is a hassle to wash them.

"Nagi, how would you like to try the Battle Event in another country?"
In another country? Why didn't I think about that?

Mother rubs my cheek, "Don't worry about what happened. It will be okay."
I stared at Mother, wondering how.
Mother flicked my head, making me rub my forehead.

"Nagi, let the grownup do their thing." Mother lifts me, "Let's get you dressed up."

"No, I do it myself!" I flail my arms in protest.

"Not today, let Mommy spoil you."

"No!"

I had a struggle with Mother, who was keen to dress me. I rarely dress myself up due to Mother's persistence.

"There, aren't you cute?" Mother started to brush my hair.

I'm wearing a ruffle blue dress than my usual pyjamas, which I assume we're going somewhere for dinner.
Mother dressed in a white blouse and blue jeans, leading me to ask why I was in fancy clothes.
The only answer I got was she wanted me to be in those clothes.

"C'mon, we're going to Nishioka's home."

Oh...

We arrived at Sayuri's home. Sayuri was at the entrance waiting while hugging her cat plushy.
She was excited to see me and guided me to the dinner table.
I noticed a tall teenager was looking at his phone. We rarely interact with each other and I don't know his name. All I know is he's older than us by seven years and usually argues with Sayuri.

"Over here, Nagi." Sayuri waves her hand at me, signalling to join seats next to her.

I sat, "I didn't know we were having dinner together."

"I learnt about it today." Sayuri nodded. "So, how did it go?"

I gave silence to Sayuri.

Sayuri just nodded while taking out a folded paper from her cat plushy. It's a mystery to me how she hid that paper.
She unfolded the paper and laid it out on the table. It shows what Events are happening in another country, a country named Avalon.

She told me she's going to a Production Event which is happening in sixteen days while the Battle Event is in fourteen days. We're unlikely to meet each other since each Event lasted for two days.

So about the Production Event, Sayuri explains how it's related to life skills in Soul Burst Online. She wants to compete in that Event to be part of the Exceptional List.
When I asked her what it was, she gave a rough explanation of how being on one meant they could learn more at an earlier age compared to the ones that weren't on it.
She also explained it is difficult to be part of the Exceptional List as the person will need to produce results that outshine the rest by an absurd amount.

"So what happened to the person who's banned in the Event?"

Sayuri beamed, "I don't know."

"If the person is banned. Then they participate in another country." The tall teenager continued after he put his phone into his pocket, "However, it will be their final chance to be on the list."

"Hey, no one asked you!" Sayuri hugged me behind my back.

He shrugs his shoulders, "You got your answer. Just remember if one of the members places a ban on a target. Then he is willing to risk his position to be taken away when the target is on the Exceptional List."

Sayuri glared at him, "Keep talking. I'll bite you!"

He smirks, "Says the girl who can't answer."

"Both of you, stop." Sayuri's Mother arrived with a giant pot, "Help out. Now."

They both gave a positive answer and helped. Meanwhile, I sat for a while, they didn't let me help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It's been a week since I had Sayuri's family dinner.
I went back to beating up the Training Dummy before Mother told me there were new options that I should play around with.
So I tried them out, I created several ways to self-impose challenges against the dummy.

Mother showed me an app that's getting installed in my FD Pod. It's a mentoring app. Mother told me we would be sparring with each other.
I asked for a reason since I want to spend as much time as possible to beat up the Training Dummy.
She said she would improve my spearmanship to the next level.
I was sceptical when she bragged about how she mentors Sapphire Bastion's members in Soul Burst Online.
But I can not refuse her as she holds control of my FD Pod. I learnt that the Mentoring App is similar to Training Dummy.

Except there's an additional mechanic on the app, Soul Burst Gauge. However, I couldn't use it as the app told me to register in Soul Burst Online.
We had a few rounds of spars. I noticed how good Mother was with her spearmanship. Maybe the brags were true, but I couldn't confirm it.
Mother always has her guard up when it comes to her phone.
There's also no other place at Home that had internet either.

Mother pointed out the issues that I must work with. She was having fun while sparring with me, though.
Does Mother not feel embarrassed for sparring a six years old child?
I see it on her face, the joy and expectation.

"Okay, we have a break for a day, so no hitting dummy."

I made an 'un' sound before I logged out. I was drenched in sweat that it was time to take a bath. However, knowing Mother. She will take me to a bath with her instead.

"Nagi, it's bath time."

Oh, she's already here.
After a quick bath, Mother was checking inside the school bag.

"Let's see if you've done your homework."

Oh, homework. I already completed it some time ago.

"When did you finish your homework?" Mother looked at me when she noticed my homework was done.

"The day after the Teacher gave out homework?"

Mother tidied my homework into the schoolbag, "Well, let's have early dinner."

"Okay!"

The next few days, I spent a lot of time sparring with Mother. She was not holding back as I couldn't land a hit on her, at least not yet.
The sensational I got from facing Mother and the AI dummy was different.
I could feel the emotions in Mother's spearmanship compared to the emotionless dummy.

"We're ending it here today. Tomorrow, we're going to Avalon."

I dropped to the ground, panting heavily. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. So, no hitting dummy. Okay?" Mother pokes at my cheek.

"I'm tired."

"Not tired enough to logout."

"Now I am." I logged out from the app and opened the FD Pod.

Ooof, so sweaty. Each time I got out of the FD Pod, I kept sweating. However, it's far better than the first year when I used an FD Pod.
I vaguely remember having muscle cramps from top to bottom after I was forced to log out by the FD Pod system.
Mother ran in to check and saw my state.
I got grounded for a week for using it, she told me I stayed in the Pod for too long.
She also told me a procedure to lessen the muscle cramps by using an FD pod for a few hours before gradually extending the time to use it.

"Nagi, get ready!"

"Yea!" I went to my dresser and picked up my fresh clothes.

Lately, Mother and I have been taking a bath together. She still treats me like a baby, though.

I put my sweaty clothes in the basket and placed the fresh clothes near the washing machine. Mother was already in the bathtub when I saw her clothes in the basket. I opened the slide door and saw her checking the temperature of the water that was pouring from the shower head.

"Mother, I can wash my hair. Alone."

"No, take a seat." Mother pats the seat.

I reluctantly took the seat. She started to wash my hair.

"Nagi, the Battle Event is around the corner. Be yourself, and you'll do fine."

I made a 'un' sound.

"Your Father will be proud of you."

"Father?" Now that I think about it, I never asked about Father. I always thought there was some drama between the two, from how Auntie Sammie was being a messenger between Mother and Father.

"That's right, Father has always watched you from far away. You're his proud daughter." Mother started to rinse my hair.
Faraway? I see. Then what was it that kept annoying Mother and Auntie Sammie?

"Okay, hop into the bath." I dip my foot into the hot bath before I plunge myself into it. Mother has started to wash her hair.

Tomorrow, I'll be going to Avalon with Mother. Hopefully, it's not a long journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I never knew I lived near the border of Avalon. Our Mothers were giggling, when Sayuri hugged me and waved goodbye. We never knew Avalon was that close to our hometown.

I only noticed we were in Avalon when I saw two checkpoints. The buildings around here are similar to my hometown. It was modern, cosy and vast.

At the checkpoint, the staff were respectful as the procedure went smoothly.

We took the closest cab and travelled across the country towards the city, named Ardrora.
It was a busy city. We arrived at the off-peak hours as there was no traffic. We got off at the luxury hotel, the name of this place was David's King, couldn't miss it since the giant letters were standing in the front garden.

In the lobby, there were a lot of sofas and a large reception desk.
Mother had already reserved a room some time ago.
Our room is on the 4th floor and it's bigger than I thought. It had two beds, two dressers and a TV mounted on the wall. There are two doors, one for the bathroom and the other for a toilet with a sink.
There are two FD Pods for the guests beside the beds. How much did Mother spend on this room?
I am worried about how bad the hygiene of those Pods.

"We're going to get the cards in 10 minutes. Get ready to go, okay?"

I nodded. I put the suitcase on the floor beside the bed and unpacked it.
It had my clothes, some necessities and three plushies.
I placed all my plushies near the pillow; a bear, a mage and a swordswoman.
I stared at the FD Pod, wondering if it was a good idea.

"Don't think about using it now. We're going in a few minutes."

"How far is it?" I asked.

Mother checked her phone, "Across two streets, not far."

I nodded, "Should I bring her?"

"The place will be crowded, so leave them here."

I made a 'un' sound while staring at my plushies.

We went to the destination. The building was an eye-catching dome like structure.
Inside the building were filled with crowds. Most of them were lining up towards the counters. It's loud considering half of the people were similar age as me.
I saw a big clock above the counters, easy to find. However, the problem was the adults were blocking my view so I couldn't tell the time.

"Mother, how long will it take?"

Mother was tapping her phone, "Few minutes."

Wait, are we getting special treatment here?

A male office worker walked to us, "Hello, Mrs. Morine. Please follow."

It is a VIP treatment. What kind of background does Mother have?
The office worker guided us into one of the rooms along the hallway, telling us to have a seat before excusing himself.

"Mother, how did you get the treatment?"

Mother smiled, "Power and Connection."

How vague. Mother is giving me random ideas of how she did it. She teaches her students, so it may be what gives her the VIP treatment.
We heard the door open and saw the same office worker back with a booklet envelope.

"Sorry for the wait." The office worker sat the opposite of us, "This contains two cards for Battle Event."

Mother picked them up, "Nagi, it's time to leave."

Wait, that's it?!
When we left the room, the office worker was bowing to Mother. I need to find out what made people here hold such a high respect for Mother. I feel left out for not knowing the reason.

"Mother, what made that person bow to you?"

"Good question. You will know soon when you're older."

I knew she would answer like that. Why does every information that I want require me to be older?
Back in our hotel room, Mother went to one of the FD Pods and appeared to be tapping the side of the Pod.
It revealed a small section of sockets where Mother plugged in a blue card and then a red card. There were some unknown words on it that I couldn't read, so I couldn't tell what it was.

"Nagi, get ready for tomorrow. You'll be using this FD Pod."

I couldn't help but ask if the Pod was clean or not, it made Mother giggle.

"Don't worry. I promise it's clean. I made it certain of it." The Mother started to mumbled something that I couldn't hear.

I sat on the bed, hugging my swordswoman plushy.

"Let's have an early dinner before bed, okay?"

I nodded, bringing the swordswoman with me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, I was in FD Pod.

"I'll cheer you on the sidelines." Mother smiled.

I nodded and accessed the newest app that was in this FD Pod, 'Avalon Elementary Battle Event.'

I checked my surroundings, noticing I was at the centre of a large dome-like structure. There were a lot of empty seats around me.

I immediately tapped [Yes].

[Please confirm once more]

I tapped [Yes] once more.

[You will begin your first match]
[If you lose a match, you will move to the L bracket]
[You're Opponent: John Vast]

I saw my opponent appearing from the Void Portal. He was taller than me and equipped with a sword and shield.

[Countdown:]
[3]

This is it. I will have to win every match.

[2]

So.

[1]

No mercy.

[Show your prowess]

I charge towards my opponent and thrust towards his head. There was no resistance.

[Victory]

That was quick, I expected a longer match but this is the beginning.

[Second Match beginning soon]

I must not be caught off-guard. I rest my spear on my shoulders waiting for my next opponent.
It's taking a while.
I wish they added something here for me to pass the time.

[Your Opponent has been decided]
[Second Match: Amelia Crow]

Again, no mercy. I immediately thrust my spear at her, but she didn't respond and I had to wait for my next match.
It happened again at 3rd match till this happened.

[Your performance is currently suspended]
[Require: Clearance BRed Card]
[Please Stand by]

You must be kidding me, is it because I outperformed or because I have this stupid ban label? Maybe it's both.
Whatever it is, it's inconvenient. Who thought this was a great idea?
I don't know how long it took but I am getting annoyed.

[Validating Clearance BRed Card]
[Analyzing Clearance BRed Card]

Finally, I can continue. The red sparks appeared again. There were more of them wrapping around me.

[Validation Completed]

I will complain if it occurs once more.
This is getting too much, how many matches do I need to do?
I'm on the 18th match thanks to the system counting the matches I did so far. The results were the same since my first match, one hit and they are gone.
I spent my time waiting rather than fighting in a match. This isn't normal, I could tell.

[All Elimination Matches have been Completed]
[The next match will be in two hours]

Oh finally! I was bored out of my mind.