The training continued for some time until a warning showed up.

[Warning! Adrenaline Levels Spiking! Termination Recommended to Prevent Prolonged Damage!]

“Not yet!” he thought. He was about to fight a tainted, or how the Union liked to call them, Bàn shén, Demigods.

"Simulate Exosuit AlphaR8" these words escaped his mouth almost like a wheeze. Despite his words being mostly indiscernible, the world seemed to bend to his will.

Slava's view was eclipsed by a set of menus that started to analyze his environment.

[Spatial Abnormality Detected; Tainted Presence Identified]

[Electromagnetic Interference: Detected]

[Electromagnetic Shielding: Enabled]

[Drones: Deployed]

From his back, 3 pairs of metallic wing-like protrusions rose. Upon reaching their full size, about the length of an arm, they detached themselves, spreading out in all directions.

Slava himself didn't waste any time either.

"Flash!" he said hurriedly. Following his words, something was propelled from his back. Landing between him and his enemy, it exploded in a flash of light.

Gripping his rifle, Slava took this opportunity to dash away toward a dilapidated building. Meanwhile, the drones got to work. Circling the Tainted, they began their relentless assault. He had no time to react. He was pinned down by a barrage of light bolts that didn't allow him to move.

When the first projectile was about to hit him, it suddenly disappeared leaving behind it an aurora of colors. His back was glowing brightly. Soon enough, he was surrounded by a loosely transparent web, constantly fluctuating to keep its form.

Slava was now positioned at a building's window. With his weapon in hand, he took aim.

"Anchoring… Transfering Exosuit Charge… 0%..." a voice rang in his ear. Meanwhile, his exosuit fused with his weapon, both anchoring themselves to whichever surface was closest.

"50%," said the voice.

He was focusing on his breath, he had to, he was visibly shaking. His sister's murderer was right there. Through his visor, he could see the electromagnetic sphere as it constantly regenerated after each blast.

"Weapon Charged!" As those words were heard, Slava blinked, and in the next moment the bubble surrounding the Tainted burst in a wave destabilizing the bots in the air. At the same time, metallic needles rose from the ground, impaling some of them.

Seeing this, he pressed the trigger. With a loud thundering sound, an enormous beam of light escaped the weapon's muzzle. The building trembled as some of the surrounding walls cracked.

Without a second lost, Slava stood up. His weapon reversed back to its original form. The muzzle shrank and the buttstock retracted.

He knew that it hadn't been enough. They weren't called Demigods for nothing. Fighting against a Bàn shén was a battle of attrition. The stronger they were, the harder they were to kill.

Barely did he have the time to run to the opposite side of the room that the building's foundation started to crack.

"Burst! Boost!" Uttering those words, made the suit react instantly. A projectile was propelled from his back. Hitting a wall, it burst to create a vast opening. Meanwhile, the suit's back lit up. In the next moment, he dashed through the hole.

Behind him, the whole building collapsed, the metal structure floating in midair. Beyond it, as he landed, Slava could see his target. The white-haired man standing there amidst the chaos. Half of his body gone, his expressionless face scanning the ruins.

Slava took this opportunity to make his move. Guiding the remaining drones, he aligned them and took his shot. From the tip of his cannon emerged an energy blast. His suit was struggling to stabilize him making sure to counter the knockback with all available thrusters. As the blast traveled through the 2 remaining drones, it was amplified, its size doubling each time, but before it could reach its intended target, the man abruptly locked onto Slava's position.

Landing slowly, Slava's shoulders slumped slightly. He was struggling to breathe but the suit was propping him up.

"Oxygen supply and whole-body cooling systems forcibly reactivated." he heard it say. "Automatic shutdown in 15 seconds''

"Shit!" he thought. Looking around, Slava gave a command:

"Perform a 100m radius sonar scan," he said.

“Scanning… Abnormal frequency identified! Supersonic abnormality detected! Impact immin..."

Interrupting the voice, chains of lightning rose from the ground surrounding Slava. Unexpectedly, they didn't wrap around him. Instead, they converged above his head merging into a familiar figure.

“10” As the voice rang in his ears, realization flashed through his eyes. In an instant, he was surrounded by white lightning that started clashing against the blue chains of his opponent. With everything slowing down around him, Slava's back began to glow.

"System abnormality detected; scanning…"

A different voice chimed in, seemingly coming from everywhere around him. Although Slava didn't seem to notice. In his state, these words sounded like distorted background noise.

He could feel it! The flows, rivers of currents clashing and merging.

In front of him, his opponent held what looked like an ever-growing sphere, pulsing with lightning, sucking away all energy from the chains. He could also feel the ground rising below him.

Snapping out of his stupor, he moved to the side raising his weapon. Aiming it at his opponent's head, he pulled the trigger.

With this, the world resumed its course.

"5," said the first voice. "Analysis complete!" the second one chimed in.

"4"

"Engaging AI protocol"

"3"

"Sending… ERROR!"

"2"

"Protocol overwritten, emergency shutdown imminent. Attempting to log… Logging failed. Shutting down…"

Right when the light bolt was about to hit, the world turned white before turning black.

Not having the time to return to his senses, he was violently thrown onto the ground. Opening his eyes, he found himself on the floor of the spherical room with the only light coming from the opened door.

The suit retracting from his face revealed a panting Slava, his arms shaking uncontrollably. Soon enough, his back dimmed and the white light surrounding his eyes faded away leading his body to calm down.

"Ah! What the fuck…" It took a minute for Slava to recover. Standing up, he absentmindedly left the room.