After taking her shower, Araka laid down on her bed. The room was as quiet as usual, but her mind was still full of thoughts: Maybe after all, Jinlin was correct - that with me mastering both the mean of violence, through my lightsaber; and mean of cognition, through my Matake field, how could I balance these two without destroying myself under the pressure? How could I make sure that I’m doing what I want to do?

She looked around and eventually landed her sight on the VR console she brought to the dorm - it was not the latest model, but a functioning one. She remembered the time when she played video games like Swordedge on it, where she swung the lightsaber in the game killing enemies. Now, as things were getting busier, she didn’t have much time to use the console, especially after being certified as a shrine aligned Matake user - she became the one who uses a real lightsaber in real life rather than just in fiction. 

The lightsaber, huh? Araka smirked. She was thinking about the journey from her first interaction with it during the entrance exam simulation, as within a year, the weapon largely was associated with herself within the SAIR Central.

—-

It was the third day of the entrance exam. For the combat simulation, I entered the simulation preparation room, where I was greeted by Tesa, the artificial intelligence assistant of the SAIR, as I put on the console and integrated body suit. 

“Welcome," the hologram girl with black hair said, "I'm Tesa, your artificial intelligent trainer of the SAIR. Welcome to the training arena of the SAIR Federal Headquarters. May I ask your name?”

“Peni Araka,” I said, using my actual name.

“Peni Araka of Vensan Academy, in Bakju, Chuubo?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Welcome, Araka. Since you have decided to join the Combat and Rescue branch of your local SAIR, may I ask if you have any preference for your weapon? It could be anything - like ones in your favourite videogames that you want to try out.”

“Hmm, I was thinking if I can get something that is flexible in use, but also offers some protection,” even though Anawa mentioned about the existence of lightsabers yesterday, I was still skeptical whether the SAIR actually had lightsabers.

“Could you be more specific? You don’t have to make sure whether that weapon is real or not - you will be mostly evaluated based on your handling of situations with your partners.”

“How about a lightsaber?” I said, 

“Actually, this is a strong choice. The lightsaber, or laser blade had been an important weapon of SAIR operations: it could be used for multiple purposes, from cutting to combat. Initially only used for special forces of the Federal Armed Forces, it was introduced to the SAIR in the 3490s and was used by several of the field agents within the SAIR through all regional divisions,” Tesa explained, “I can guide you through some of the basics of this weapon, and you will be put first in tutorials, and after you pass the tutorial, you will be put along with your partner in an actual combat simulation against two of our agents.”

Then, a crate with the SAIR seal dropped in front of me. 

“A typical lightsaber consists of two parts - the energy pack, typically made of Kromonium, or Ke (鈳) inside the grip; and the energy beam generated from the power pack that would only appear if your turn on the lightsaber. For modern laser blades, the modular layout allowed easy energy pack replacement and maintenance. To turn on a lightsaber, press against the button located on the grip until you can see the energy beam come out.”

That’s more straightforward than I expected. I thought. 

"The one we currently show you is a prototype,” Tesa said, “with optimized energy output, you should feel free to swing around without worrying about energy overload. Let’s swing it around and see if you can hit these targets.”

Then, several red blocks appeared in front of me in the simulated environment, and a text floated in front of me as well: “please swing your laser blade around to hit your target.”

I gripped onto the grip, adjusted my posture, and swung around for a bit - I managed to hit all of them.

“Great job! You nailed it.” Tesa said as I finished hitting the blocks. “Now let’s go over the basics of lightsaber grips. Typically, there are three forms: the standard two-hand grip, which is the most common grips for attack and blocking; the single-hand grip, which is useful for repetitive attacks and blocking in motion, like fencing; and stab attack, which involves turning on the lightsaber at the time when the beam could penetrate the target. According to the SAIR doctrine, the first two are preferred unless circumstances change. As such, this tutorial will cover only the first two. Please follow the instructions of the tutorial at your own pace and begin when you feel like.”

I nodded.

As the introduction ended, Tesa faded in front of me. The simulated environment collapsed into darkness and was replaced by layers of slow-moving blue matrices.

Then a hologram appeared. It looked like me - same height, same posture - standing still in front of me, rendered in translucent blue.

“This is an introductory simulation to the two types of grips,” Tess’s voice came back again. “For this one, you can take as much time as you want, but we need to make sure your stance is correct.”

The hologram raised its hands, and the lightsaber ignited. I followed, pointing my lightsaber forward. 

“Keep the blade between you and your opponent all the time, and always remember: ‘move your feet before you move the blade’.”

I adjusted my stance. 

“When you swing, don’t swing too wide. Instead, make the cut directly onto the target - hesitation only makes cuts rusty. Try hitting these incoming blocks with the new technique before they hit you.”

I followed the hologram’s trace and moved my blade around. For the first block, I sliced through the block from the left, and then from the right. Even though I could feel my movement wasn’t exactly on spot, I still managed to hit some of the blocks. 

“Great job, now we can move on to the defense stance,” Tesa said. “If you were under attack.” The hologram moved away from the original position, and instead the animation demonstrated a hypothetical attack: “Remember, do not block directly. Instead, step off the line and redirect using either your blade or your movement.”

I followed and changed into the stance the hologram was in. 

“And make sure you take one action per exchange,” Tesa’s voice continued, “Don’t rush through the process - focusing on balancing yourself.”

Just as I was still processing what would happen next, the colour of the hologram turned red and suddenly “attacked” on me. Without thinking, I moved sideways and shield myself with my blade and fended off the attack - a move I didn’t even anticipate. So the system was really helping me, huh? I thought.

“Good job,” Tesa’s voice came back again, while the hologram turned back to blue again, “now we can move on to the basics of single hand grip, which is important when you aim for a quick attack that blocks the opponent’s move. Typically, you extend your blade forward and aim for the critical area of your opponent, like the neck or the torso. Remember: only to use this when your stance is stable.”

I followed the steps. It was simpler than I thought - this part of the tutorial only required me to extend my blade against several approaching red blocks. It didn’t take much time for me, as I already found my movements were largely controlled by the system itself. If this were the tutorial, then what would the simulation actually be? 

“Since we have covered all the basics, we can move on to the combat simulation,” Tesa said after I hit all the blocks. “Before we head in, I will explain the combat simulation exam in more detail: in order to pass the exam, you will have to eliminate at least one of your two opponents, who in this case will be current standing SAIR agents; all of you will have 0 point of damage at the beginning, and you will defeat your opponent by inflicting 100 damage point on the opponents; the value will be calculated based on  your ‘attacks’ in the simulated environments, and any attack deemed ‘fatal’ will make you damage point to 100 instantly.”

So that’s basically a video game style combat scene with real specs of real weapons, I thought.

“Throughout the simulation, your moves will be synchronised with your intended motion through our motion detect technology on the ‘sensor plate’ embedded inside the main arena - a platform that will change the terrain according to the simulation environment. This means you can climb above a wall, jump around, and crawl through tunnels without breaking the simulation. Only a minimal movement is needed for each move, or the simulation will be terminated due to safety protocols - but don’t worry, this will not impact your standing in the entrance exam.”

I nodded. It was the first time for me to know this technology. 

“Now please take off the simulation console, carry it along with your ‘lightsaber’ handle inside the toolkit, and make your way to the main training arena. Your motion sensor pad will be lit blue. After stepping on the sensor pad, turn on the sensor again and put it on, then you should be able to see your partner. I will explain the details about the simulation environment once you make it there. Good luck!”

As Tesa disappeared again, I took off my console and found myself inside the preparation room with blue arrows lit around me, pointing toward my back. I followed the arrow and made my way to the simulation arena, which was far more spacious than the preparation area with white lighting over the top. In the middle, there were four blocks on the ground shaped like a clover, and only the closest corner was marked with blue light.

I stepped onto the pattern and put on my console. After turning on, I saw the same room but now it was more empty. Then, another figure appeared in the distance - someone carrying a railgun on hand, while wearing the uniform Huashin and Haseku wore yesterday.

“Wait, Jun?” I said, “So you’re my partner? And also why are you carrying a railgun?”

“Araka?” Jun said, “I thought I would be paired with Okuri. Anyway, you look quite good in the SAIR uniform.” 

I looked at myself and realized that I was also changed into the dark grey uniform of the SAIR instead of the tight suit I was supposed to wear. “Ugh, thanks,” I said, “But Jun, is the weapon you’re using a real weapon? I thought this was something coming from a sci-fi movie or something.”

“This is the prototype the SAIR is working on,” Jun said, “and I guess yours is the same as well, even though I hadn’t really seen a lightsaber in use.”

“Welcome to the training arena,” as we were talking, Tesa’s voice came back again, “Hope you find this place not too absurd. Before we move in, I will let you get familiar with your simulation environment - the one based on the scene of a real mission of the SAIR.”

In front of us, a hologram sandbox appeared, showing an empty ground with cargo containers and construction machinery forming a maze on top of it. 

“In this simulation, you will play the roles as SAIR agents trying to clear this site out of the enemy group and neutralize the two enemy agents who were currently trying to ambush the SAIR team. The two know the terrain of the site quite well, and they will take advantage of everything on this site to neutralize the approaching SAIR team.” 

“So who will be our opponents? And what will their weapon be?” Jun asked.

“That’s a timely question, and I will bring that up soon,” as Tesa finished her sentence, the sandbox disappeared. Instead, two holograms of two SAIR agents appeared: the girl with short hair was wearing a grey SAIR jacket on top of a sports bra; while the other one was taller and leaner. The shorter one was carrying a wide sword with rough edges, and the taller one was holding a staff that looked completely out of place from what I had seen earlier.

“Wait a second,” Jun said, “are you sure these are real SAIR agents? I thought these were some video game characters.”

“They are absolutely real agents, and let me cover each one of them. 

Then, the names appeared on top of each of the two agents.

“Peni Hakasa (北依 夏雨), ID SY2572PK, Rank 2 Field Agent from the Combat and Rescue Branch of the SAIR North Division 2 in Itseu (一舟), Kenzan State (琴山省). Hakasa is currently in the process of becoming an instructive agent. She is specialized in speed assaults during close combats using traditional blade weapons, notably the Akenamaji (星陣劍), which is a type of heavy blade with rough edges. Her primary weapon is a modernized Akenamaji named Yunzen (雲成) , which was crafted from a full piece of Memorum ore (鳩石, Kushikei), a very hard stone; along with a MKT-12K Smorkium Alloy Shield as the secondary weapon.” 

“Wait, I think the blade seemed quite heavy,” Jun said, “so how come someone this short can carry it? Also, why is she wearing her outfit like these, you know, certain characters from those questionable games?”

Tesa didn’t respond.

“So what about the taller one?” I asked.

“Otanaku Marinda (烏海 美林多), ID IT26283LM, Rank 2 Field Agent and a shrine Certified sorcerer class agent (特許魔法術士) of  the SAIR North Division 2. While initially working for the Research Branch, she finished her transfer to the Combat and Rescue Branch two years earlier and currently undergoes combat training. In this simulation, she will be using her PAK-25 pistol, a new model that was capable of firing both conventional ammunition and smokescreens as part of her training.”

“Wait a second, Tesa. Sorcerer? Are we still serious by now?” Jun seemed quite unsettled, “How are we able to fight against a literal ‘sorcerer’ if we didn’t know any ‘spell’, if we even assume it was something that really exists?”

Tesa responded: “It may be complex to explain, but your instructor will explain it more clearly once you pass the exam. For the purpose of this part of the exam, you two will be facing two agents, with no magic or whatsoever, who are also learning how to fight in combat.” 

So someone who could cast spells, huh? I thought. But wait a second, I think Huashin did mention that yesterday. 

“Tesa, was it about Matake?” I asked. 

“So I guess I don’t need to hide anymore,” Tesa said, “Yes, but let’s call it the ‘special cognitive power’ - the public name of such ability. Of course, Marinda has that, and she was properly trained. But still, that would be irrelevant for this simulation, as all of you will have your performance optimized to an ideal point.”

Then, I suddenly feel like I understand something deeper. 

“Then we're in the same class, I guess,” I said without hesitation, “then let me see what Matake is really capable of doing.”