TWC - 5,230

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“HYAAAH!!”

With a powerful swing, Rhapsody’s keyblade would slam against a training drone, sending the bot flying into the wall. Panels on the ceiling would open up, releasing four more training drones that would charge at Rhapsody without hesitation.

“Hyat, hyah, haaa!!”

In quick succession, Rhapsody would perform a three hit combo, knocking away three of the four bots. Before the fourth could reach her position, she would quickly charge up her energy within the blade of her weapon before suddenly swinging her arm wide and sending the energy out towards the final bot.

“No chance!” She’d exclaim as the energy rushed from her weapon and spiraled into the fourth bot, hitting it with enough force to cause the bot to explode, “Haha! Keep ‘em coming!” She’d cheer, prompting the computer to open the panels in the ceiling yet again, this time allowing five training bots to be released into the room.

The day was a rather cloudy one, midday sometime in the beginning of spring. Rhapsody had made her way back to her ship as she’d often done time and time again. It’d become a rather casual habit at this point to visit her ship between her journey’s, and this day was no different. Meditation and practicing the basics of swordsmanship was fine, but she couldn’t help but to enjoy the rush that came from being within her gravity chamber and battling against the training bots.

With the day looking well to be a dreary, potentially rainy one, it seemed like the perfect day to enjoy the use of her Gravitron. As fun as it was however, as she trained, she began to take notice of the lacking difficulty. Her battle with Arlo had helped her to break free of the shackles that bound her power, though once the fight was over, she could feel those shackles return. In spite of their return however, she could feel the difference in her power growing ever since that fight, and her movement in her gravity chamber only solidified that feeling.

Every step she took felt like she would be dancing on a cloud, every swing of her sword felt effortless and weightless. The impacts of her sword against the training bots that charged against her felt akin to knocking away an acorn tossed lazily in her direction. All the challenge she had felt during her first training was gone, the ease of difficulty she felt now made her wonder if there was even a point on this form of training any longer. It was possible there wasn’t a point at all anymore, but it didn’t change the fact that the experience was still much more enjoyable in comparison to her traditional forms of training.

For hours, Rhapsody would continue her training, decimating training bot after training bot that was sent against her; upon her fourth hour, she would finally be forced to stop, as the training bots seemed to stop emerging. Confused, Rhapsody would take to inquiring with her computer, to find the stock of training bots having been exhausted. While the bots were capable of being repaired and replaced by the ship's own systems, it seemed that Rhapsody had reached a point in her training where she was destroying the bots far faster than they could be restored. With no other choice, Rhapsody would finally take to ending her training for the day, shutting down the gravitron and using the chance presented to her to take a break.

Exiting the gravity chamber, Rhapsody would make her way down the short hall and into the kitchen. “Ahhh, that was enjoyable!” She exclaimed as she took to the refrigerator to remove a drink and snack pack, both of which had been purchased from a particular convenience store in East City, “Still, as fun as that was, I’m unsure about my progress.” She’d say somberly as she took her drink and snack pack over to the table in the room to take a seat, “Perhaps it's about time to contact Miss Zerori about it? Surely she’d have some advice to give with this whole “technology” thing.” She’d say as she opened her beverage and took a hearty drink, “Bwaaaah!! I needed that!” She’d exclaim cheerily, “Hehe, I can contact Miss Zerori some other time!”

She was unsure if her concern was warranted, but what was true regardless was that the issue wasn’t an immediately pressing one. Her journey was centered around healing her father, which meant finding the Guardian of Earth and learning their restorative abilities. Gaining strength and power was tertiary at best, but at the very least she wouldn’t neglect it. Her travels had taught her about the misgivings of man, and the different evils that plagued not simply her world, but the entire universe. It was all far too large for someone like her to deal with on her own, and arguably, at all in general. She was just a girl from a secluded forest village after all, someone that was likely to have never ventured from her village if necessity hadn’t demanded it. Regardless of the things she’d learned and the power she’d gained since leaving her village, she was unsure if any such grandiose task as stopping the evildoers of the universe was something that fell upon her. What she did know however, was that to have the power to act, and yet do nothing, felt no different to her than being the one to commit wrongdoing in the first place. She knew she couldn’t be everywhere at once, and help everyone at once; she wouldn’t let such things weigh upon her mind, but if she could help someone during her travels, then she wanted to ensure she did so.

Holding a snack cracker to her mouth, Rhapsody’s eyes would suddenly blink aflutter as she snapped out of her intense train of thought. She’d found herself getting lost in thought more and more often, and today seemed to be no different. With a shake of her head, she would focus on the task directly before her, finishing off her snack pack and taking a moment to relax. The world around her wasn’t burning to the ground, so there was hardly a reason for her to become distracted by such thoughts.

Once her snack and drink was finished, and the eating area properly cleaned up, Rhapsody would take to the bathroom, disrobing as she took to taking another pleasant bath.While the training against the bots was easy, she’d still worked up quite the sweat with her training; by this point in time however, it hardly matter whether she’d gotten messy from her training or not. Taking a nice, warm bath in pleasant, bubbly water was an absolute necessity at this point to her. The modern innovations of society had become a must to her; when the day finally came that she’d return to her village for good, she knew she’d absolutely have to introduce these modern wonders to her village. Returning to bathing in a cold lake or river was absolutely impossible now; it was possible some might consider her spoiled, but she’d argue that she was simply someone who enjoyed the modern day.

After a little over an hour of relaxing, the water of her bath had begun to run cold, and it was time to end her time of relaxing. She’d certainly taken a much more self satisfying lifestyle compared to when she lived in her village; while she still did chores whenever she was at her ship, and still slept and trained accordingly, everything was now done for her own well being. She’d drain the water of her bath, and take to drying herself off and wrapping her hair up before exiting the bathroom to traverse her ship. Wrapped in only a towel while she waited for her magic garb to restore itself, Rhapsody would first take to the training room again to check on the status of her training drones.

“Hmm, only forty percent restored?” She’d question with a sigh, crossing her arms as she mulled over the situation, “Given I fought for about four hours before while fully stocked, this means I’d probably get less than two hours of training.” She’d say, attempting to explain the situation to herself, “The training bots are just too flimsy, if they were only a bit more durable, then…”

It was then that a realization came to Rhapsody’s mind, she would recall the feature her ship had to customize the training bots. At the time she’d found it, it was a system she was completely unsure of how to use; since then, her knowledge had grown significantly, and while that didn’t make her anything like a technician, she could at least now understand the system for customizing the ships training bots.

Making her way back to the command deck, Rhapsody would take a seat on her captain's chair and begin to access the control panel before her. She’d bring the system for customizing the training bots up on the large screen before her and would take to comfortably altering the system. She was lucky that the design was so user friendly, it was only now that she was able to realize that it was as simple as selecting and replacing options; something so simple, she wasn’t even sure how it was she had perceived the system in the past.

She found options for weaponry, for traps, for speed, mobility, and durability; there were plenty more options, but she’d choose to focus on the options she’d considered before. While adding weapons might have certainly brought a different level to training than she’d been experiencing, it was best not to bite off more than she could chew, especially with an unfamiliar system. Her first task would be to focus on upgrading the durability of the training bots; accessing the system prompted a warning on screen that restoration would be halted until alterations were finished.

“This is fine!” She’d say happily, selecting "confirm" on the console, “No point in even letting the previous version of the bots finish building if they’re just going to be destroyed in a single strike anyways.” She’d say as she began to look over the alterations that the training bots were capable of.

There were plenty of more difficult, technical options available, but these were quickly ignored; while Rhapsody certainly had an idea in mind for the specific kinds of training bots she’d like, such technical know-how was far out of her means of abilities. Luckily, preset options were made ready, and altering the bots with these options was a simple task. Much like playing a video game, the options for durability presented to her would display names and number based differences from the default option the training bots currently used. Much of the features were still confusing to her, but with her focus on terms such as defense and speed in mind, Rhapsody was quick with her selections.

Choices to improve durability placed a major impact on the speed of the training bots, which prompted Rhapsody to then begin customizing such options for their design. The whole process soon became much more complicated than Rhapsody had initially believed it would be; she’d had to record the default values that the training bots came with, taking into consideration all the differences that each change would make on the new design. In the end, the temporarily “perfect” design would be made; while not truly perfect, it was the best that Rhapsody could hope to achieve with the resources currently available to her.

“Okay!” She would exclaim as she looked over the final product that came from her hours of work, “Increased speed, increased mobility, and heavily increased durability!” She’d cheer, “Increased size is unfortunate, that’ll make them easier targets, but it’s kinda hard to increase their capabilities while maintaining a small size.” She’d laugh, “I don’t really get it, but it’s what the computer said, so I guess it’s true. Now then-” She’d continue as she looked over the remaining stats, “Lowered offensive capabilities? Well, they didn’t attack anyways, so I don’t know what that’s about, but it’s fine!” She’d say before skimming the rest and moving over towards looking at the training bots concept design created by the computer.

Much like the original training bots, the new design was of a perfectly spherical design, with the only difference being the increased size and a minor change in color due to the different materials being used. There were detailed features used to change the design, but much like trying to customize the training bot’s features, Rhapsody found altering the physical design of the training bots to be well out of her capabilities. What she would find however, was another quick change option that drew from presets; while it was mostly maintained to altering simple shapes, it was enough to pique Rhapsody’s interest.

“What’s this?” Rhapsody would question as she happened upon a particular feature, “Save model type?” She’d question, utilizing the feature and saving the spherical training bot model.

Confused, Rhapsody would ignore the feature upon not taking notice of anything having outwardly changed. She’d continue through the physical alteration menus, mostly picking options completely at random before ending up with a much more oval design of the training bots. To her delight, the change in the physical appearance had seemed to change the statistics of the training bots, dramatically increasing maneuverability and lighting increasing speed at only a small cost in durability.

“Aaaaaaand, finalize!” She’d say, finishing the design, only to be prompted with an “Overwrite” or "New Save” option presented to her, “W-what is this about?” She’d question, before recalling the save option she’d utilized previously, “Well, new save I guess.” She’d state, selecting the option and being presented with a new name suggestion, “Training Drone? Weren’t they already called that??” She’d remark, simply choosing to accept the option before the program would move her over to the model creation menu.

As the model creation menu was brought up before her, giving her a useful guide to read alongside with it, she’d finally come to realize exactly what it was she’d accomplished. The default training bot had been removed, replaced with her customized version; alongside the Training Bot however, was now her Training Drone design. The model creation menu would describe to her the ability to have her ship construct not simply a single design, but multiple from the list of models she’d saved. The idea was exciting as Rhapsody began to realize the different forms of training that had just opened up to her thanks to this new feature; considering the hours of work she’d already placed upon the creations she’d made so far however, as excited as she was, she had no intention of creating any further designs. Studying the model creation menu further, Rhapsody would choose a simple replacement of the default drones with her new designs, splitting the creation fifty-fifty. An ETA of the drones creation would be prompted, and Rhapsody would click to finalize and begin creation.

“Ahhhhhh, finally!” She’d exclaim, moving the control panel away and giving a large stretch, “That took much, MUCH longer than I was expecting!” She’d say as she leapt out of her chair and stretched her wings and tail out, “They won’t be available until noon tomorrow-” She’d remark, glazing out the domed window, realizing it had long since become nightfall, “-then I guess it’s time to sleep, I can pick up with some casual morning training tomorrow!” She’d finish with a smile before deciding to shut off the interior lights as she went off to her room.

It had certainly been a much more eventful day than she had expected it to be, but all her work was soon to pay off with the new training designs at her disposal. Once in her room, Rhapsody would take to tossing off the towel around her as well as the towel she’d worn wrapping her hair. As much as she wanted to brush her hair before sleeping, once by the comfort of her bed, she’d found her exhaustion much greater than she realized. She wouldn't even deign to cloth herself for the night, choosing instead to simply jump onto her bed and accept its comforting embrace.

The night would be a long one; while she was certainly exhausted enough to sleep, her mind would wander with stray thoughts about what the new training bots would be like. She would end up tossing and turning as bouts of excitement overtook her; so badly she wanted to simply leap out of bed and take to the gravity chamber to begin training, but she would exercise patience. Sleep would eventually come to her, overtaking her and allowing her proper rest; needless to say, it would be the first time since she was a child that she would sleep in past the morning, but upon waking, the excitement she felt the previous night would be upon her once again.

Awakening to the sounds of nature outside the ship that flourished with life after the previous night's rain, Rhapsody would hop out of bed and take to freshening up for the day to come. Sleeping unclothed was a new and strange, but not all too unpleasant experience. She felt a slight chill after waking up however, so it was likely not something she’d take to doing often. With a quick shower, and quicker breakfast, Rhapsody would don her newly regenerated garments and take to styling her hair. Once she found herself back in tiptop shape, it was time to take to the gravity chamber to check on the status of her training bots.

“Time to fiiiight, time to fiiiiight~!” She’d say in a sing-song manner as she entered the training room and quickly made her way to the computer, “Drones, bots, are they ready!?” She’d question, bringing up the prompt to find the process still only at ninety-six percent, “Geh, still not finished? Hmm… it’s really close though.” She’d say, crossing her arms as she contemplated starting her training early, “But… hm, no, I think I’ll stick to the original plan.” She’d say firmly, pushing away from the computer and exiting the gravity chamber.

She wouldn’t bring her training to a complete stop however, instead choosing to exit her ship and begin a more casual, morning training. She’d first take to some brisk meditation, strengthening the mind was always a must if you wanted your body to follow the instructions you gave it. Upon exiting the ship, Rhapsody would take a deep breath; the scent of rain had yet to leave the area, and was pleasant on her senses as the atmosphere embraced her form. Of course, the grass was still rather damp from the previous rain, and Rhapsody had no intention of dirtying her dress after it’d only recently recovered.

With a beat of her wings, Rhapsody would take to the top of her ship; the sun had dried up the water upon her ship, so she at least had a nice place to sit while she meditated. As she sat, she’d flinch from the warmth of the metal exterior; while it didn’t burn, it was completely unexpected, especially in the cold atmosphere of the outdoors. She couldn’t help but to give a soft hum as she grew accustomed to it, the warmth made for an even more comfortable sit than sitting on wet grass or a damp rock.

Closing her eyes, Rhapsody would begin her meditation; her ears would twitch as she took in the sounds of the world around her, reaching further and further throughout the forest. From the birds that had begun their seasonal courtships, to the squirrels that had taken to exiting their burrows to begin a new search for food after their winter supplies had finished. The breeze that blew through the area from the east to the west was pleasant, and helped Rhapsody to truly give herself away to her meditation. She found an equilibrium in her senses, being both in tune with all things, while also keeping her mind entirely clear. It was a light training, something to clear her senses; after an hour of meditation, Rhapsody would choose to end her session to move on to more physical aspects of training.

Standing up and leaping down to the ground below, Rhapsody would begin some light stretches before summoning her keyblade to her hand. Spreading her wings, Rhapsody would burst into the skies above, causing a powerful updraft as she climbed further and further into the sky. Once at the same level as the clouds, she would look out into the horizon and take in the nostalgic sight before her. Peering off into the distance, seeing the expanse of trees and distant mountains, Rhapsody couldn’t help but to think back to her life in her village. It was a pleasant feeling, but one that quickly gave way to a bit of worry as she remembered the state her father was in.

She’d shake the thoughts from her mind, focusing instead on the training she’d taken to; while not quite as effective as her gravity based training, it was still a worthwhile effort for keeping herself in shape, and maintaining her equilibrium for aerial based combat. She couldn’t allow herself to give in to despair or dread as she thought back to her fathers condition; she’d been entrusted with a mission, and she would see it through. Part of this mission was to gain the power necessary to impress the Guardian of Earth if necessary; if for any reason he would reject her request to learn his healing techniques, then she’d find herself at an impasse. As such, precautions were necessary to earn his trust, and she’d find herself making the strides necessary not just for the sake of gaining the Guardian of Earth’s favor, but in becoming a combatant capable of protecting those in need when necessary.

For another hour, Rhapsody would take to performing different aerial maneuvers and battle sets. Since learning how to redirect the energy within her into an attack launched from her weapon, Rhapsody had made it a point to practice the ability as often as possible so as to not lose the feeling. With several swings of her energy charged weapon, Rhapsody would send out several energy based spirals that would fly out through the air before returning to Rhapsody at a far more rapid speed than they had been launched. Like a dangerous boomerang of deadly energy, attuning her senses to energy outside of her body and moving accordingly was the main aspect of her training. Once the sun above began to crest, giving away the end of midday, Rhapsody would finally bring her training in the skies to an end and return to her ship.

Lunch was necessary to keep up her strength, and it was just about the perfect time for a break. Entering the ship and dispelling her keyblade, Rhapsody would quickly make her way to the kitchen, hesitating momentarily as her curiosity piqued at the sight of the training room’s door. “No no, food first, more training after!” She’d exclaim, mostly trying to convince herself so as to not simply rush into further training.

By now, she was certain the newly constructed training drones and bots were completed; but to train without rest was to ask for trouble. Rhapsody would elect to keep her focus on one task at a time, and the task before her now, was lunch! A snack pack made for a rather poor lunch, and so Rhapsody would take to cooking this time around. Sausage links cooked upon a skillet with added honey during the process to add a sweetened flavor. Eggs and potato, mixed and blended within a different pan before Rhapsody would add some shredded cheese and a few different types of seasonings and garnishes. With a few other preparations made, the final result would be the perfect assortment of delicacies prepared in an most desirable fashion.

Her lunch consisted of a delicious omelet, sweetened cooked sausage, a small bowl of mixed fruits, and a tall glass of orange juice. Rhapsody’s mouth watered at the sight, her eyes wide and nearly sparkling at the thoughts of digging into the feast before her. While the meals enjoyed back in her village certainly weren’t anything bad, they paled in comparison to the creations those of the city had thought up. An omelet was certainly something she’d enjoyed eating back in her village as well, but it certainly wasn’t to the degree of what she was able to enjoy out in the modern world. Fruits as well were typically limited to berries and apples, with what could be found in the forest surrounding her village being rather limited. Modern conveniences allowed access to fruits that could be found around the world, and were something that Rhapsody took great strides to enjoy. The only other things better were the creations such as ice creams and the interesting pastries and treats that could be found at the convenience store, but even she knew that such things weren’t suitable for training.

Rhapsody would hesitate no longer, taking to enjoying her meal with vigor as she held in a deep seeded anticipation to begin her next level of training. She’d make sure to eat slowly, as much as it pained her to delay her training further. Rather than ruin her diet or upset her stomach however, she’d tolerate the patience necessary; once finished however, Rhapsody would be quick to clean up her dishes and eating area before finally heading to the gravity chamber.

“Now!” She’d exclaim as she entered the training room, before freezing up at a remark she’d recalled the Grand Elder mention when she was younger, “Now… an hour of meditation.” She’d sigh, knowing that she had to rest after eating before taking to physical exercise.

First checking the computer in the room, Rhapsody would inspect the status of the training bots and drones, finding that they’d been completed. She wanted to begin her training immediately upon getting this information, but would endure. She’d take to activating her artificial gravity to the level she was comfortable with without really feeling the effects, and would finally take to sitting in the middle of the room for more intense meditation. It was only another hour, but had felt like the longest hour she’d endured; but finally, with her meditation finished, Rhapsody would take to beginning the training that she had longed for since the night prior.

Her training began with the release of the drones; panels on the ceiling would open up, and from them would be released five of the oval shaped drones. True to their design, they were quite larger than the training bots she’d been fighting against, however in spite of their much larger size, the new drones move at a speed and with a maneuverability that betrayed their appearance. Back and forth, the drones displayed the ability to to rush from location to location, dead stopping before quickly changing direction.

Rhapsody would summon her keyblade, before rushing in to fight against the newly designed drones. To her surprise, durability hardly needed to be something she needed to concern herself with. Unlike how she fought against the previous design of drones, these new drones showed the ability to stop just shy of being hit by Rhapsody’s weapon, before quickly changing course and escaping her reach. The battle against the drones became an ironic game of cat and mouse, as Rhapsody darted through the room under the effects of increased gravity in an attempt to take out the drones. Her efforts would bear fruit as time went on and she realized the habits of the drones, after destroying the first however, Rhapsody would quickly stop.

“Already too easy!” She’d exclaim as she caught her breath and moved over to the gravitron controls, “Let's pick up the difficulty!” She’d say excitedly as she adjusted the gravity to a measure she hadn’t yet grown accustomed to; once set, she’d take to then releasing a set of five spherical training bots that were set to charge into Rhapsody at full speed during her training.

Due to the size of both the training drones and training bots, the room was quickly beginning to feel cramped. Rhapsody would refrain from allowing more than ten in total to be released, and with the increased gravity, it was more than enough to spice up her training a great deal. Finally, the same intensity she’d felt back when she first found her ship had returned to her. The large, spherical training bots would all charge at once, forcing Rhapsody to concentrate greatly on her dodging. While it wasn’t a condition forced by the training, Rhapsody had imposed the condition of not attacking the training bots, and to focus solely on attacking the training drones.

Her training was now at its peak with her imposed conditions and increased gravity; if not for her meditation and mental training, it may have been impossible to split her focus so well. Between resisting the forces of artificial gravity, dodging the enlarged spherical training bots, and chasing down the speedy oval shaped training drones, Rhapsody was finally enjoying a decently large difference in training compared to what she’d been doing the day before.

She’d find herself struck several times by the spherical bots, having the wind knocked out of her each time due to the training bots sheer size and weight. She counted her blessings that the training bots weren’t any faster like she’d wanted them to be, if they had been then she was likely to incur much more damage than she was taking now. She would endure as her training went on however, increasing her speed and power through sheer grit as she forced herself to fight harder and faster. By the time she finally struck down the first oval training drone under these conditions, hours had passed, and she was already finding herself worn down despite the excitement that had kept her going. If anything, the added excitement might have only caused her to lose more energy throughout her training. With that in mind, while undesired, Rhapsody would take to ceasing her training early; and with the sight of nightfall outside the windows, it seemed like the perfect time to turn in for the day.

With dinner had, and a nice bath after, Rhapsody would finish her day out and go to sleep; her morning coming fast with some light exercise before taking to the gravity chamber yet again. Day after day, the process would continue; Rhapsody would battle the machines she’d taken to affectionately calling her training dummies, dodging the bots and chasing after the drones, increasing her speed and power with each passing day.

After a week's time, she’d bring her training to an end for the time; her abilities having grown considerably, but her progress against the training dummies not nearly as far along as she would have liked. In all the days of her training, she’d still only managed to destroy one drone before the day would be up; but though she’d reached her limit for the time, she in no way intended to call this the end. She’d return in the future after she’d journeyed for some time further, and attempt the trial yet again!