As Avo saved her from yet another monster, Sala grumbled against her lack of reflexes and nerves. Apparently, getting stared down by a moving building equipped with ferocious looking fangs and claws was something most people found terrifying... Hence, her being mostly frozen to the spot quite a few times, things didn't go her way ! On the plus side, her armor and electromagnetic shields protected her well enough... as was their intended purpose ! She didn't expect the second one would find much use and yet... Some kind of dragon had tried to roast her alive, only for the breath to be negated by her shielding.

As for the portable rail-cannon mounted on her arm, she still didn't manage to... well, hit anything with it, except for unmoving trees and rocks. Sure, the power was impressive, tracing a path of destruction in the forest in the form of burning holes in the greenery or ground. Problem was, it wasn't much use if she couldn't touch her adversaries with it ! She still had to work on her targeting system, it seemed...

Fortunately, the electroshocks also present in the gauntlets revealed themselves to be pretty useful. Once or twice, she fried predators who let themselves be grabbed in her metallic gloves. At the moment however, considering the weight of all her equipment, it was hard to tell if any of it was worth it... Especially considering only one of her weapons was really useful.

Avo had some advices, of course ! But she was a little too bitter to really listen and take his advice constructively... At the moment, she was rather thinking about anti-gravitational technomancy and how to incorporate it in her equipment. If she could negate the impact of gravity on herself and her suit, she would lose far less inertia... gain in speed... Perhaps fly (or float rather) !

She was also thinking about improving her targeting system. If she could somehow track power levels from her opponent's, maybe she could better put a lock on it and guide her weapons to miss less frequently. Problem was, she wasn't sure how to go about it... She knew the theory (according to Avo, at least, and his sight) but doing something similar with her helmet's visor... It was like the difference between english and code... Although she knew english, if she didn't know how to code, she couldn't really translate it. Here, the problem was that, although she knew code, she didn't know how to program something like this... For now, at least !

Thankfully her MGP (Mana Gathering Process) worked like a charm ! As well as the readings on her energy levels which she could consult at any moment on the lower-left side of her visor. She used one of the gnorlat's core as a power source and crafted a rudimentary mana siphon around it. Given her limited time-span, it was the only thing she could come up with at the moment. It wasn't a permanent solution, though...

“Maybe if I used a similar method as my readings', I could extrapolate some kind of receiver...” she mumbled while Avo played around with two of the moving buildings. Watching him made her a bit envious. The awe she felt in front of his feat had naturally subsided over their long years of friendship, so now all she really wanted was to be able to do the same things ! Especially with his story about Babidi and Buu... The first time she heard about it, she felt it was weird... She didn't believe him, but then noticed the gaps in her memories. The last thing she remembered before waking up that day without any memories of the events, was a part of the Art Martials' World Championship she watched on TV and then... things were a blur. It was only a few hours after Avo told her what happened that she came to grip with reality.

On their journey to this moon, she asked Avo to share his memories of the ordeal... Watching herself die in front of her wounded (and apparently crying... First time she saw that !) friend was shocking. Still, now she understood better why Avo was so adamant about getting stronger !

For her, because she knew her body wasn't as sturdy as her friend's, technology (or in this case technomancy) was the only way she found to get stronger. Her only asset was her mind – of which she was proud of ! - and even if she wasn't a genius like Doctor Briefs or his daughter, there was nothing she liked more than tinkering with things. Now that a whole new view of the universe was at her fingertips, her creative side itched to play with it. To play with magic !

Besides, she found she was rather talented at it ! Although that may have been thanks to Avo's wish... Be that as it may, she'd uncovered her own sense when it came to machinery and how it could interact with magic. Actually, she discovered to have a waywith machines during the seven months spent as a student of the Crafting and Technomancy Advanced Academy. While her classmates had trouble figuring out a particular magic circuit, it... spoke to her. The same thing happened when the problem was electrical or mechanical... It was as if the natural state of the machine was to be functional, and since it wanted to be, it told her how to fix it... Nonetheless, if what happened here was any indication, it didn't make her infallible apparently... Then again, everything was working (if not optimally) !

“I have to go back to town... Work on the targeting system.” Sala decided.

On the other hand, Avo had other plans :

“Shouldn't you learn to aim without help from your machines... In case, I don't know, they get broken or something...”

“Would you fight without your sight ?” Sala retorted a little tartly. “I remember you saying that trusting your eyes and ears was a mistake... Something about the world being an illusion. Don't tell me it was bullshit ?”

Avo looked embarrassed. When he said that, he was being melodramatic. It's true that illusion and mental magic could affect your senses. Make you see and hear things that weren't there. He wanted to make sure she was aware of how easy it was for someone to be fooled... Maybe he'd gone a bit overboard !

He sighed and nodded, defeated. The truth was Avo wanted her to be strong too and that's why he tried to be helpful in his own way... If she couldn't hit anything with her weapons, now, all she had to do was practice ! He could help with that : get her combat ready through spars, be a target for her to shoot at... He was a little disappointed she wouldn't let him help. Then, Carnail's words came back to him. The old namekian had been clear : every magician had its own path. And his friend had found hers it seemed, in the tech she worked on tirelessly !

He might as well be supportive instead of pushy...

“You're right. I'm sorry !” Avo uttered, contrite.

Sala seemed surprised at his change of heart but after a few seconds, she just nodded.

* * * * *

A few days later, the duo went back out in the wilderness. Sala was pretty excited with her new and improved targeting system. Actually, although she had finished it the day following her first excursion, she kept working on it. She felt it was both too sensitive and not accurate enough... The energy readings kept fluctuating, plus they were saturated with every living beings' energy signature (trees, small animals, insects...). Afraid that it would impact her targeting system, she decided to solve these issues.

And now, as she was following Avo out the gate, she scanned everything and everyone around her. Contrary to what she expected, her friend wasn't so different from most of the newly arrived ; his energy sat at a 625, while the average score for the other contestants was 600. At least, that was for his MPL (Magic Power Levels). There also was another energy signature coming off of him she couldn't read (she supposed it wasn't magic in nature...). The reason why he was so strong might have been because he was constantly using his powers in real combat situation. So, even though her armor's own MPL didn't exceed 550, perhaps she could go toe to toe with the other magicians if she trained out here like the namekian did.

The other reason why she didn't go out as soon as she finished working on the targeting system was because she had some ideas about how to apply anti-gravitational fields to her armor. As soon as they were outside, she took off running at a speed that surprised even Avo ! The puny human was impressive ! With her leaps and the way she ran, it felt almost like she was as light as a feather... And maybe that's what it was because a sudden gust of wind almost sent her stumbling to the ground.

She frowned after that and muttered :

“I'll have to compensate for air resistance... Maybe find a way to ward or control it.”

For the moment, she only increased slightly the impact of gravity on herself and resumed running. Sometimes, she would lose balance or trip. Still, she continued. The fact was that she wasn't used to it and with training, she'd be able to better control her body. Glancing at Avo who was flying above her, Sala thought that he didn't become a badass in one day. Plus, if the few things he told her about his training was true, a little pain was necessary in order to become truly strong... She wasn't averse or a stranger to it, either.

As an orphan, she went through her own painful moments even if things got better after her meeting with the namekian. Under the visor, her eyes turned serious, focusing on the ground in front of her. She hopped and ran, almost soaring through the air. While both her body and eyes were working on navigating the landscape, Sala's mind considered adding a propulsion system to her armor. Of course, the energy consumption would then be a problem... Her current MGP wasn't nearly effective enough for sustained periods of flight and fight. Anyway, she wouldn't have enough time before the tournament. She would test the armor right now, work out the kinks later and if she had more time, finish her MGP 2.0. Well... Actually, since her current one was more of a patch job than anything else, it would be more accurate to call it version 1.

Her thoughts went interrupted by Avo's teasing voice (and a little insufferable at the moment to be honest...) :

“Is your targeting system on the fritz or what ? There's incoming !”

“Waiting for youto point it out. Good boy !” she retorted sarcastically.

The thing coming at them looked like a giant frog. If a frog measured 10 meters tall and could dissolve a body with its tongue... Or leap and glide with the skin membranes under its forelegs. Despite its size, it was pretty nimble too. But this time, she was prepared...

“Weapons targeting... Lock !”