Part 1

It's been a while since the fighting between Miya and Aiko began. The battle was fierce but neither was able to gain the upper hand. I knew I had to get away from them quick. But I continued to watch them in a daze.

"How beautiful..."

I whispered those words while intently observing the spectacle before me.

I was captivated.

Their moves were incomparably mesmerizing to me. I failed to notice it earlier because of the situation, but neither of them displayed any traces of activating body enhancement magic. That meant that the things I was bearing witness to were achieved without the aid of magic - only pure physical prowess.

I couldn't fathom how that was possible. Miss Aiko aside, Miya had a build that couldn't possibly support the speed and power she was currently displaying. Just how were they able to achieve such feats of strength without using magic?

But that wasn't what captured my attention the most. It was the quality of their moves. No, that's not quite it. The very nature of their moves made me unable to pull away.

Those weren't techniques born from simply talent and instincts alone. They were polished to a very high degree and were certainly amazing. But what shined through was the nature of pure effort. The countless hours spent into developing them into blades sharp enough to cut down all that barred their path.

It was more pronounced in Miya's case. She truly did not possess the air of one with innate talent. But she was strong. That was undeniable.

Her techniques did not have the spontaneous and unrestrained quality of one born for battle. Instead, they bore a clinical, systematic and efficient nature, developed to near perfection by internalizing and building upon their foundations until reaching the summit of their potential.

Can people really reach such heights through hard work alone? That can't be the case. How can such a thing be possible?

Talent overshadows even the hardest of efforts. That was fact set in stone. Irrefutable truth.

But was it really?

I'm not so sure now.

Was I too focused on Vance's overwhelming talent and sold myself short as a result? Can I also reach the heights displayed by the two before me if I put in more effort?

Of course, I knew things aren't that simple. But something inside me was stirring once more.

A foolish, naive dream.

I bit my lip until I drew blood. Various emotions were welling inside me.

Anger, sorrow, frustration, regret... and hope.

But I was stirred awake by a knife whizzing past my face. Miya threw it after seizing an opportunity to break away from her opponent.

Miss Aiko sharply admonished me and told me to run as she blocked Miya's path once more.

And so, I ran.

Part 2

"Well then, since we got that out of the way, I think it's about time we finished this shorty." Aiko provoked.

"Sure. I'm just about fed up with you too anyway." Miya retorted, brandishing her mono-molecular combat knives. She now held two of them in response to the nano-carbonite shock tonfas Aiko was sporting.

The air around them turned heavy.

And they clashed once more.

Miya unleashed a barrage of fast and fluid slashing and thrusting attacks which were continuously fended off by Aiko's tonfas.

Aiko countered at every opportunity and had her weapons discharge several thousand volts of electricity towards Miya. She knew that this wasn't enough to incapacitate her opponent, but Aiko did it in order to impede Miya's movements, allowing for more of her attacks to land.

Just as Miya was occasionally pelted with electricity, Aiko also suffered numerous cuts made by Miya's knives even with her fierce blocking. Miya's attacks were just too fast and decisive for Aiko to block them all.

After simultaneously landing blows on each other, they once again drew apart.

"Heh. Not bad. Alliance agents aren't too shabby after all." Aiko remarked while panting lightly. Her hair and clothes became disheveled during the battle. Her expression revealed excitement as proved by her wild grin.

Miya was of a similar condition. She also held a grin on her face. But there was also something else in her expression - a triumphant glint in her eyes which seemed to say she had finally captured her prey.

A silver flash fell from right above where Aiko was standing. It was one of Miya's combat knives. Aiko wasn't able to dodge in time and crimson blood sprayed from her left shoulder.

"Gaah!"

Aiko's face distorted with pain. Miya rushed forward to deliver the killing blow.

Just as she was moments away from stabbing Aiko's vitals...

"Well, that's about enough I think."

A casual sounding voice suddenly came from behind the two of them.

Miya's movements halted instantly. Her body convulsed violently and after a few moments, she fell paralyzed to the floor. Her eyes swam towards the origin of the voice.

It was Dr. Satoru Saionji, slowly walking towards them with a relaxed gait. He was smiling amiably, but his eyes were icy cold.

He knelt down and looked at the object that wounded Aiko with a curious gaze.

"Hmm... A weapon that uses magnetism huh? The knives can be set to emit strong magnetic fields. One can be set as an "attractor" and the rest will be drawn to it with astounding speed and power."

He pushed a trigger on the hilt of one of the knives stuck to the floor, turning off its magnetic field, and picked it up. He twirled it around between his fingers and slowly walked back towards the two ladies.

"If I remember correctly, the weapons designers who developed this thing were retro gaming nuts. They based the concept on a 21st century video game. One that takes place on Mars, I believe. It actually caught on huh? Interesting."

He helped Aiko up and gave her a troubled smile.

"To think you were caught off guard by such a thing. You're getting a bit rusty." he remarked with a playful tone.

"Rub it in some more why don't you." she replied.

"Did you get enough data?" she asked.

"Why yes. Good work by the way. After the cease fire agreement and this subsequent cold war we have going on right now, we've had less opportunities to observe the abilities of enhanced soldiers fielded by the Alliance in action. This will make for a good reference point." Dr. Saionji answered nonchalantly.

His gaze turned towards the fallen Miya. He smiled at the bewildered expression she was showing.

"What's wrong dear? Are you wondering what just happened? It's simple really. Just an itsy bitsy nano sized device. It allowed us to mess around with your cybernetic implants and shut them down indefinitely. How'd we get it inside you? Now that IS a mystery isn't it." Dr. Saionji explained in a taunting tone.

Miya's expression distorted with anger. But it turned to confusion once more only moments after.

"Ah, yes. You can't blow yourself up now either. We've also disabled that self destruct function. You can't go ahead and die on us now right? We still have SO MUCH to talk about." Dr. Saionji explained further while sporting an ill natured grin.

"Alright then people. Take her away. And make sure she's secure." he ordered.

Several officers came , cuffed Miya and brought her away. She was to be taken to the maximum security brig and prepared for questioning.

"What now?" Aiko asked.

"Now we deal with our other little problem." Dr. Saionji answered promptly.

Part 3

I ran around aimlessly after being shouted at by Miss Aiko. My head was still in a mess and I didn't pay attention to where I was going.

And I suddenly bumped on something. No, make that someone.

"Well now sir... This is quite bold of you." a soft voice remarked from below me.

It was Miss Nemu. I ended up right on top of her after accidentally bumping onto her and knocking her down. She had a mischievous look on her face and smiled wryly.

I hurriedly got off her and backed away. I was still wary of others because of the attack. She narrowed her brows a bit as she stood up and addressed me in a soothing tone.

"Don't worry. I'm not an enemy. Besides, if I wanted to hurt you..."

She paused a bit.

"...I could have done so already."

The next thing I knew, she was already right beside me.

"Miya has already been neutralized. I'm to bring you to the port side viewing deck as per Dr. Saionji's order. Come on."

She took my arm and led me away. The soft feeling pressed upon me almost made me lose the motivation to resist. I really don't have any immunity to a woman's charms huh.

I secretly activated body enhancement magic once more. I also prepared to cast some mana explosions the moment she acted funny.

Being in close proximity was certainly a disadvantage. But given the speed she displayed earlier, running away would be futile. My only chance was to catch her off guard and incapacitate her before she has the time to react. I had a hunch that this would prove difficult, given the caliber of the opponent.

I allowed myself to be led by Miss Nemu while hoping that my concerns are wholly unfounded.

***

She led me down the long hallway. I was amazed by what I saw. From the looks of it, the entire interior of the ship was made mostly from metals. Maybe even the exterior. How the heck do they even make it move?

Even the strongest headwind wouldn't be able to propel such such a heavy vessel. Did they hire magicians to constantly cast high tier wind magic? Or did they use demi-human slaves like semi-giants as rowers?

Miss Miya continued to stare at my curious expression with an amused smile. We finally reach a fairly large and thick metal door which opened with a hiss.

Once I stepped inside, my heart nearly stopped from surprise.

I was floating.

It was not unlike staying underwater. A true feeling of weightlessness assailed me.

And when I turned my gaze towards a huge glass window...

There were stars. A veritable sea of stars.

My jaw dropped.

-Chapter 7 End-