After parting ways with Lilith, Vahn led the way through the laboratory's clean and sterile corridors, constantly attended by tiny cleaning and anti-gravity maintenance robots. For logistical purposes, the facility's central corridor was a straight shot from the training room's entrance to the lab's exit, so it didn't take long for them to reach the outside, passing through a pair of large, circular, metal, mechanical doors more than fifteen meters in diameter.
"Incredible..." muttered Korra, her icy blue eyes glistening with fascination as what came into view upon exiting the building was a borealis-filled sky and mountain-sized meteors comprised of various rare minerals, including a massive assembly of crystals more than thirty-seven kilometers at their widest point and eleven at their tallest. Said crystals produced a constant blue glow as it was ultimately one single mana crystal, harvested from the remains of a once-living planet.
"It's a tad cold, though," remarked Yasaka, her nine tails undulating slowly behind her as she scanned the area with her golden eyes. A small, city-like settlement had been constructed around the laboratory, comprised of fantastical, futuristic-looking buildings, but no pedestrians could be seen. There was also no natural foliage, but it didn't feel lifeless, as, in its place, there were synthetic trees and assorted flora emitting light, purifying the air, and regulating moisture alongside an assortment of robotic animals of various shapes and sizes.
"Where is everyone?" questioned Rias, impressed by the sight before her but unable to ignore the conspicuous absence of people.
"There are a few research types that have taken up residence here, but the majority have ventured abroad to make use of the unique terrain and training environments," explained Vahn, shifting his gaze eastward as he added, "The place I have in mind for our base of operations is a mixed plains and forest biome approximately seventy kilometers from here. The Vegapunks have robots that regularly collect herbs and mushrooms there, but no one has taken up residence there since the primary monsters that spawn are Slimes."
"Which makes it a suitable place for children to explore and recreate with minimal risk..." surmized Venelana, nodding approvingly.
"Precisely," affirmed Vahn, reciprocating with a smile and a nod of his own before spreading out his Domain and enveloping everyone present like a warm embrace. It would be easier to teleport, but since they had a bunch of children present and he wanted to allow everyone a view of the unique, once virtual ecotessera(a terrain formed of multiple unique biomes) from above, he decided to ferry them through the air, crossing thirteen distinct terrains before reaching the mossy clearing he had in mind—adjacent to a waterfall and a large, exceptionally clean, Slime-populated plunge basin...
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"Just die already...!" bellowed Bonney, dropping down from the sky like a meteor, landing a skull-denting axe kick to the head of a three-meter-tall Orc with blood-red skin, ivory undertusks, black tribal tattoos, makeshift metal and hide armor with spikey pauldrons, and braided black hair with the sides cut into a gradient fade. It wielded a large, multi-bladed cleaver in its right hand, vaguely resembling a saw, but Bonney's attack caught it off guard as its attention had been focused on Wendy and Carla.
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Though Bonney's attack cratered the ground beneath it, produced a large explosion of dust and debris, and temporarily caused it to shrivel from old age, the Orc, a B-Rank Boss variant called a Blood Orc Warden, unleashed a ferocious, ear-piercing roar of wrathful defiance. The resultant, crimson-lightning-imbued shockwave pushed Bonney back, and as the power of her Devil Fruit was purged from its body, its muscles regained their vigor and mass, and the heel-shaped dent in its head popped out—accompanied by a sharp, blade-like ridge to deter similar attacks.
"Aaaah! This is seriously starting to piss me off...!" exclaimed Bonney, her expression fixed in a deep, pouty glower as Wendy hurried to her side to heal the injuries she had sustained. The corpses of dozens of Orcs littered the area, so she couldn't help feeling frustrated by the Blood Orc Warden being so much stronger than its minions.
Fortunately, while Bonney's group had been unable to put it down, the Blood Orc Warden wasn't a great threat to them. The moment she was pushed back, Fran moved in as if the wind carried her, slicing open the Boss's left flank while Kakashi, using his Raikiri, stabbed him through the back, his Lightning-clad hand piercing its heart.
"GRR—RAAAGH...!!!"
Despite having its heart pierced, the Blood Orc Warden barely paused before attempting to grab Kakashi's hand, sticking out of its chest. The silver-haired Jonin instantaneously evaded using Shunshin(Body Flicker), but with the hole in the Warden's chest closing in less than a second, they were right where they left off.
"Should I lend a hand...?" asked a tall, dark-skinned, remarkably buxom, scantily clad woman with a large, pale scar across her six-pack abs, long and spiky grey hair, pointed feline ears, and a long tail fitted with a golden ring. She used to wear an eyepatch over her right, glowing green Demon Eye of Mana Detection, but since no one in the training room would try to steal it from her, she was using the five years to try and master its usage.
"Piss off, Ghislaine...we can handle this bastard ourselves..." responded Bonney, forcing herself from her butt to her feet after Wendy had finished healing her.
"Is that so...?" asked Ghislaine, the reticle-like pupils of her right eye contracting as she stared at the Blood Orc Warden, its body saturated with a tremendous amount of crimson-colored Mana. More than twenty minutes had passed since Bonney's group engaged it, but it didn't appear to be getting weaker. Rather, as evidenced by the ridge on its head and the chitin-like plating on its back, it was growing stronger or, at the very least, more resilient to counteract everything they threw at it.
"Honestly, at this point, it might be better to withdraw and find another Boss to take on," contended Carla, standing cross-armed and exhaling a faintly exasperated sigh as she hovered above the ground in her human form with diminutive, Angelic wings flanking her.
"It's just a single monster," argued Bonney, her right fist gaining a glossy black luster that was invisible to most people as she reminded, "Besides, even if we die, we'll just respawn back at our base. If we can't give it our all even with such a failsafe to fall back on, how can we expect to surpass our limits?"
"Bonney's right, Carla. If we give up here, how can we expect to stand and fight against foes we can't afford to run away from?" asked Wendy, positioning herself beside Bonney with a similarly resolute expression as she gripped her S-Rank, wing motif staff with both hands. Its name was Wing of the Pure, and its enchantments functionally doubled the effects of Wind, Healing, and Support Magic without increasing their cost.
"Ah, to be young..." sighed Carla, closing her eyes and shaking her head in mock exasperation, even though she was the youngest present. However, as she counted her age according to cat years, she considered herself the group's most senior and mature member.
With Wendy bolstering her parameters across the board by 140% using Support Magic, Bonney resumed trying to defeat the Blood Orc Warden with raw power and grit. Each of her punches and kicks sent it stumbling and left deep indentations in its body, and whenever it lost its balance or tried to counterattack, Fran and Kakashi would charge in with impeccable timing, temporarily severing its tendons or leaving debilitating lacerations across its body.
Though the Blood Orc Warden did its best to endure, its ability to adapt was hindered by its Rank. And the more it regenerated, the more its body heated up, eventually causing it to become sluggish and drop to its knees with pale pink steam leaking from its pores after more than three hours of serving as Bonney's punching bag. Bonney was likewise exhausted by the ordeal, but since she spent hours each day training her physique, she was able to stand tall over the crumpled Warden, her shoulders rising from her labored breathing and body coated in sweat, but her amethyst eyes filled with determination as she said, "You were one tough bastard, I'll give you that. But this is the end for you..."
Instead of responding to Bonney with words she couldn't understand or a war cry, the Blood Orc Warden swung its serrated cleaver at her one final time. To its surprise, she didn't try to dodge that time but instead blocked it with her left forearm, protected by Busoshoku(Armament) Haki.
Grabbing the Warden's wrist with her left hand and its forehead with her right, Bonney activated the power of her Devil Fruit to transform it into a literal skeleton, shouting, "Near Death Experience...!" before tearing away its arm. Less than a second later, the Warden reverted to its original form, but with its regeneration having surpassed its limits, its wound closed into a stump rather than producing a new arm.
"Alright!" exclaimed Bonney, grabbing the Warden's head and turning it into a skeleton a second time as she shouted, "Fran! Kakashi! Finish this bastard off...!" in a commanding tone.
"So bossy..." sighed Kakashi, closing his eyes and briefly exhaling from his nose, concealed behind his face mask, before moving in concert with Fran to sever the Warden's spine in two places. That allowed Bonney to pull its head clean off, unceremoniously ending the protracted battle and causing the bones and bodies of the Warden and its minions to dissolve into bright crimson mist. In their wake, various drop items were left behind, including a B-Rank Constitution Crystal.
"Hell yeah! Now this is what I call booty...!" exclaimed Bonney, picking up the bright green crystal and eyeing it with a broad, starry-eyed smile. The B-Rank Stat Enhancing Crystals dropped by Boss monsters were worth as many as a hundred weaker monsters and had a much higher drop rate. To increase their Constitution from B to A-Rank, an Ascendee would need to absorb the energy of a thousand B-Rank Crystals without waste, so it was a substantial boon, to say the least.
"You had better not go scarfing it down without thinking," chimed Kakashi, his tone flat as he reminded, "You might feel like you contributed the most to the battle, but that crystal belongs to Carla."
"Hey, just who do you think you're talking to, you glum, facemask-wearing bastard?" challenged Bonney, frowning as she tossed the crystal over her right shoulder, surprising and forcing Carla to hurriedly catch it as it came sailing directly at her face.
Understanding the futility of attempting to argue or reason with Bonney, Kakashi shifted his gaze to Fran and said, "I'll see you back at the base..." before disappearing once the raven-haired Black Cat offered a nod and a curt "Nn..."
"Hey! Get back here, you bastard...!" exclaimed Bonney, raising her fists and angrily stamping her right foot. She tolerated Kakashi periodically tagging along with their all-female Party since he and Fran had started dating, but at the same time, she resented the fact that they were able to be lovey-dovey while she was forced to endure.
Interrupting Bonney's rage, Wendy approached with a disarming smile, followed closely by a hovering Carla as she asked, "What do you want to do now, Bonney? That battle took much longer than we anticipated, so I believe we could all benefit from some rest and something to eat."
As if in response to Wendy's words, Bonney's stomach produced a low, protracted growl. Immediately after, she reverted to her child form, which had grown nearly ten centimeters and had become simultaneously more compact and fleshed out since entering the training room.
"Alright, let's—" started Bonney, her words cutting off as Vahn appeared from a flash of golden light, sporting a relaxed smile as he asked, "Shall I prepare something special to celebrate your achievement...?"
Snapping Bonney out of her open-mouthed stupor, Wendy, beaming from ear to ear, promptly pounced on him, shouting, "Vahn! You're here...!" in a happy tone. It was a little awkward since she was in her mature form, but he was able to suppress his body's almost instinctual impulse to place his hands on her butt and greet her with a kiss. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and cradled her head tenderly as he affirmed, "I'm here..." in a soft, soothing tone while meeting the increasingly angry-looking Bonney's gaze with a smile...
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