Once everyone was gathered together, Pierce asked,
"Now, who would like to go first?"
Vision thought about volunteering, but before raising his hand, he glanced over at Aura. She eagerly shot her hand up, and he felt relieved that he hadn't been too impulsive. Pierce gestured her over to the arena, and she hurried into place.
Pierce kept an eye on Aura while slowly strolling over to where Flow and Veil were sitting.
"We need to talk after training ends today. Both of you, this isn't up for discussion."
Flow stiffened, looking as though she were bracing herself for a reprimand.
"Yeah, fine," Veil replied nonchalantly, without even glancing in Pierce's direction.
"I have a question!" Aura shouted from the field.
"I have an answer!" Pierce yelled back, and she smiled, saying,
"Is it alright if I use tools like my Wind Ring?"
"That's fine," he replied.
She placed a hand over her chest and sighed with relief while Pierce entered the code for her training.
Cantarella stifled a yawn while trying to focus ahead. Panther glanced at Shade from the corner of her eye. He didn't notice. His eyes were fixed on Aura, excited to see what she was about to show them.
Fenix sat with Caster and Mirror. He seemed to be deep in thought, then he mumbled,
"I hope she doesn't push herself too hard,"
Mirror giggled, knowing her sister would definitely go overboard, but she wisely decided not to say that aloud to a worried boyfriend.
The computer's voice chimed,
"Training Commencing. Situation: Guard your ally from invaders. Begin!"
The arena transformed into an open field with sparse trees. A person dropped to Aura's feet. It was a woman who was breathing heavily, with a fever and open wounds. Moments later, heavily armed guards appeared along the edges of the field and gradually closed in on Aura's location.
"They're coming, we have to hide," the woman muttered.
Aura looked at her for only a second before exhaling a thick white mist that surrounded them and concealed their location. She then lifted the woman up and carried her behind a nearby tree.
Footsteps could be heard all around as the soldiers searched for them. Even the group in the stands couldn't see where Aura had hidden herself.
While she had time, Aura activated her powers to send healing energy into the woman's body. The woman's breathing steadied, and after all of the wounds were closed, Aura said,
"Stay here."
The injured ally nodded. Though gradually, she began falling asleep, and Aura moved from her side, walking into the thicker parts of the mist alone.
There were a few guards staggering nearby.
"I'm over here!" she shouted while running in the opposite direction from her ally.
"The sound is coming from over there!" one soldier yelled,
"This damn fog is so thick, I can't see a thing!" another complained, while trudging in the direction of Aura's voice.
"Does... anyone else... feel really sleepy?" a soldier from a few feet away muttered, then a THUD could be heard from his location.
"Did you hear that?! She's over there!" the first soldier shouted while shooting a few bullets in that direction.
"Ack!" someone screamed, but it was clearly a man's voice. The soldier who shot looked around frantically, but he couldn't see more than a foot in front of him, and even that was beginning to look hazy; his brain was starting to feel numb.
"What are you doing?! Hold your fire until we find the targets!" his partner reprimanded, then he flinched a moment later as the shooter flopped over onto the ground. Panic shot across his face, and he began rushing ahead blindly, only to trip over the unconscious body of another soldier.
He tried to scream, but before he could muster a sound, sleepiness overtook him, and he collapsed too.
Aura watched the few who were still fighting hard against sleep stumble around while hovering safely in the air above them.
Some of the guards unleashed panicked barrages as they collapsed. The gunfire lured more soldiers into the denser areas.
"They must have found her if they're shooting," a soldier muttered. After taking just a few steps, he lost sight of the people walking beside him.
"Joe, Bill? Where did you go?" he called. He attempted to turn around, but he had no sense of direction and ran in circles. This man was the last one to fall. Aura inhaled the mist, revealing hundreds of incapacitated enemies, then she fluttered her wings as she slowly lowered to the ground.
The audience was in awe, and Fenix smirked and said,
"That's one way to win."
Aura made her way over to the ally and splashed a red liquid into the woman's face. The ally gasped and woke up. She was stunned for a moment, but soon noticed all her injuries were gone and stood up.
"Level 1 objective complete. Level 2 commencing," the system announced.
The area was cleared, and a new simulation was loaded. Aura was now in a tent with around ten injured people and two tired-looking nurses.
"Objective: help the staff heal the injured and prevent the enemy from entering the tent. Begin."
A sound like an explosion could be heard from inside the tent, and the nurses began panicking.
"We need to hurry and get our patients out of here!" one said, while shakily wrapping gauze around one's injured leg.
Aura stepped outside the tent to look around. There were no visible enemies, but the simulation did show several jets closing in on their location from multiple directions. Aura exhaled a bright yellow mist, then rushed back into the tent and tied the doorway closed.
"What's going on?" one of the nurses asked, but instead of answering, Aura laid her hand upon the nearest patient. He healed within seconds, and once his breathing was even, she moved on to the next one.
She repeated the process until another explosion echoed outside. This one was closer.
"Stay here. I'll be back," Aura instructed gently. The nurses nodded and silently watched as Aura left and closed the door behind her.
She took off into the air.
Once she was in sight, one of the jets shot off a missile in her direction. There was no more space to go higher in the arena's protective dome, so Aura lowered herself and flew in the direction of the one who had fired at her. She landed on the aircraft's side, and it began barrel rolling to get her off as she yanked on the door, eventually pulling it from its hinges and slipping inside the cockpit. The pilot kept the jet spinning, and Aura was thrown around while making her way over to him. As soon as she had an opening, Aura moved in and exhaled a toxin. The moment the pilot inhaled it, he lost consciousness. She gripped his seat to stay steady as the aircraft began descending rapidly.
Aura hurriedly seized the flight stick and used her limited knowledge to at least prevent a nosedive and divert the jet as far from the tent as possible before leaping out the same way she came.
The arena's barrier projected images of more enemies approaching from afar, but the jets couldn't actually be interacted with until they entered the space above the stage. This gave Aura very little time to deal with the remaining jets. She tapped her chin, while thinking of a solution when she looked over at the trees. They weren't real... but perhaps she could use her powers on them regardless.
As soon as she touched the trunk, the simulation flickered madly, similar to when Veil invoked his powers. The tree then grew to massive proportions, the other trees on the field followed suit, and formed a thick barrier around the tent's location.
The trees' appearance was so sudden that the enemy's jets barely had time to react. They hurriedly redirected their vehicles upwards, but the branches that brushed against the bottom of the aircraft stretched and wrapped around the jets, holding them in place.
Aura watched from the ground below. The pilots climbed out, only for the trees' limbs to seize them. Flowers bloomed along the branches and released spores into the captives' faces. She sighed with relief and ran over to inhale the mist obscuring the tent from view before opening the door. She worked quickly, healing each of the injured, even reattaching severed limbs. The nurses had administered emergency aid in the meantime and stood to the side, watching in amazement. After the last patient had recovered, the system declared,
"Level 2 complete. Simulation objective successful."
The trees and everything else in the arena vanished, and Aura fell onto her hands and knees, drenched in sweat.
Fenix jumped up from his seat and kneeled down in front of her.
"... Are you okay?" he whispered. She nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, you know me, I'll be better in no time," she assured.
He cupped her cheeks and his face came inches from hers. She blinked in surprise and her heart raced, aware of all the eyes on them. He then stopped himself and sighed. Fenix cradled her in his arms, carrying her back over to the bleachers.
"I can walk," Aura muttered shyly, resting her cheek against his chest.
"Did I ask?" Fenix replied playfully. Aura huffed, but gave no more complaints as he sat down with her in his lap.