There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 411

Chapter 411: Chapter 403. The Art of Taming

As the best guild in the nation, Celestia had a state-of-the-art training ground.

Or so Senia thought.

But here, beneath the luxury of a glimmering lobby that made the guild building look like a hotel, was a massive underground colosseum with three floors of gym, arsenals, and private chambers that were protected by the strongest mana-resistant material, several layers of barriers, and wide-area anti-teleportation spell.

Fuck. She thought the saying that Trinity was made of gold was merely a rumor. The place was basically a shelter with an armory.

"Where are you taking me?" Senia asked the men who hadn’t been saying anything all this time.

"A place where we can unleash our power without worry," Bassena answered briefly.

That place, of course, was Bassena’s private training chamber. Not only was it exclusively used by Bassena, but the place was also designed so it would be able to hold him when he went berserk. The door itself was made by mixing mithril and adamantium; the single slab was enough to build a house with a private bunker.

Bassena hadn’t been using the place much lately, since he was busy training the other espers. Also, he has yet to lose himself ever since he found Zein--except for the time he thought the temple kidnapped his boyfriend. So it was already a long time ago when Zein came inside the room. He recalled seeing the room was filled with deep gashes at that time, and yet, right now, it was as good as new.

"Hmm..." Senia looked around the room, trying not to seem too impressed.

Since the room was made for Bassena, it was huge and had all the amenities that one would need for closed-door training--including bathroom, shower, wall-mounted bed, and food station. While the two espers were heading toward the center of the room, Zein walked to the living corner and took some snacks from a hidden compartment.

Hmm...he was getting influenced too much by Han Shin, it seemed.

"You’ve never faced me before, haven’t you?" Bassena crossed his arms, staring at Senia with a keen gaze. His voice was no longer angry nor accusing, but a solemn one.

It was his ’instructor’ voice.

And Senia felt annoyed to recognize it.

"So what?" she pursed her lips, more like a petulant child than an overbearing princess. Experiencing the Deathzone simulation had shaved some of her haughtiness. While her actual body wasn’t moving, the mental offset of near eruption exhausted her mind.

"Nothing," Bassena shrugged. "Since this is your first time, I’m just going to tell you the skill I’m going to use."

"Why bother? It’s not like I don’t know--" she pressed her lips instantly, since it gave away that she put that much attention to Bassena. Turning her face away, she mumbled instead. "It’s not like I’ll know what those creatures will throw at me." _{freewēbnoveℓ.com}

Zein nodded in agreement while opening a bag of chips. True; not even the borderland unit had a comprehensive list of the beats that existed in the Deathzone. Not to mention, from what they had experienced during the excursion, the beasts seemed to have the ability to evolve.

And from the way the corner of Bassena’s lips lifted slightly, he actually rather liked this response. "Very well," Bassena nodded and raised one of his hands, snapping his fingers. "Let us begin."

Immediately, the room darkened, and Senia jumped back in reflex. For magicians, the first thing they needed to make sure was distance. Even though they could utilize mana barriers as a defense, using their destructive ability at close range might hurt them too.

Of course, such a thing did not apply to Bassena, who had a strength akin to warrior-type espers, and whose attack did not work on himself.

But Zein could see that, despite her arrogance, Senia had the skill to back it up. She immediately roused her mana and managed to activate her skill before her feet landed on the ground. A blaze of fire and a gust of wind manifested above her palm, and they combined into one flaming whirlwind when she clasped her hands, hurling it toward Bassena without hesitation. Without waiting for any reaction, she conjured up an ice shield all around her and froze the ground, preventing the many spikes of darkness from piercing her from above and below.

Yes; in a one-on-one situation, she was indeed one of the best. Zein, who was staying inside the protective barrier around the living area, observed the fight in leisure. It was fun, but to call it a test was rather misleading. They knew well that Senia Azra was good--as long as they only saw the skill and not the personality.

But they didn’t really need to test her, did they? What they needed to do was to tame her.

So Zein patiently waited.

Perhaps because she was still affected by the simulation, or perhaps because she couldn’t find a guide willing to cleanse her before coming here, her corrosion level was increasing fast. It could also be because she had bad corrosion management, Zein thought.

"Until...when, do I have to--haa--do this?" she couldn’t even hide his exhaustion. Conjuring high-level spells one after another made her corrosion increase exponentially, and it sucked up her stamina.

"Until you can exhaust me," Bassena smirked.

"I’m--"

"You can cleanse yourself if you want," Bassena shrugged, nonchalantly making a chair from his darkness. "Just remember that the more you do it, the more you give me a chance to rest."

Senia gritted her teeth and turned around to run toward the protective barrier. "Guide! Cleanse me!"

Zein looked at the girl who was in an absolute mess. Her eyes were red--an early sign of high-level corrosion--and she was panting for breath, but her voice was as sharp as ever, even if it was slightly hoarse.

With one hand on her hips, she shoved the other arm in front of Zein.

What else? What did he mean by what else? Senia chewed the inside of her cheek, commanding her brain to think hard. What did this guide want from her? From the look of those eyes, was he angry? But why?