As Corporal Vane led Null through the passageways of the sky fortress, Null couldn''t help but be amazed. Pipes lined the walls of the passage, going to various different areas through the walls. Various doors led to all manner of different areas, not that Null could see where, since they were shut, but still. Furthermore, all the people around them moved with a purpose. He could see crew members going to various locations. Security teams sweeping through the passageways with both high tech, magical guns, as well as melee options such as magical swords, maces, and clubs, which he could only guess was based on the personal preference of the security team members.


    That being said, the trip wasn''t the easiest thing in the world. He was still getting used to the Magimech suit and did stumble and fall several times. Fortunately, each time he did, Vane helped him to his feet with surprising ease. Null realized that it was probably a perk of soul tiers. At any rate, the trip through the fortress proceeds quickly.


    After a bit, Corporal Vane led him through an open area where Null could clearly see magical munitions being set up for transport to various areas around the fortress and eventually, they came to a relatively large open room with a small running track.


    "Welcome to the training room. We have a few hours to get you used to your suit. Once we get you used to it, we''re going to be putting you in a secure area with the other Dungeon core that lives on the fortress."


    Null looked at Corporal Vane.


    There''s another Dungeon core here on the fortress.


    Corporal Vane nodded.


    "Yep. But don''t let the name fool you. He''s a pretty decent guy as long as you''re not a demon or The Tyrant."


    Umm. What''s his name then?


    "Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death. He''s sworn death to all demonkind as well as the Tyrant. Supposedly, that''s why he chose that name in the first place. But like I said, he''s a pretty good person overall."


    Oh. So that''s who Delars was talking about back there. Null thought to himself.


    "At any rate, let''s get started. Clocks ticking. Run a few laps to get used to the suit. I''m going to get some gear ready to test some of the other functions."


    With that, Null began doing a few laps. He walked the first one just to get used to the suit. The next one, he jogged, falling down a few times. The lap after that, he jogged again, falling down only once, and finally on the third lap he managed to jog the entire lap without falling at all. Eventually he progressed to running and to his shock, he didn''t fall down once.


    Corporal Vane called him over.


    "Alright. It seems like the balance operational unit has finally finished calibrating properly. You should be good to go on that front now."


    With that statement, Null fell to his knees.


    Corporal Vane rushed over.


    "Are you good? What''s going on?"


    Null got back up, realizing that now was not the time for this kind of stuff.


    Sorry about that. I was just so happy that I figured out how to balance in the thing and you had to crush my hopes like that.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Corporal Vane laughed.


    "It''s all good. Actually, the balance unit was Sargeant Branchleaf''s idea. He said something along the lines of ''If he can''t operate something as basic as a hover pedestal, how do you expect him to balance properly''."


    Well, he can have fun paying for drinks all week. I don''t even feel bad about that anymore.


    Vane laughed again.


    "Yeah. I heard about that bet. Anyway. On to the next phase of testing."


    With a grin, Vane pulled out a large metal mace.


    Null backed away with his hands out in front of him.


    Hold on a minute. What are you doing?


    Vane tapped the mace on with his free hand and then pointed at the Null with the mace.


    "We threw armor onto the suit as well as a basic shield system. In the event of demons boarding the sky fortress, you may have to defend yourself. As such, I''m going to be testing the suit''s ability to stand up to strikes."


    Is that really necessary?


    Vane stroked his chin thoughtfully with a frown.


    "Well, technically it''s not. However, regulations prohibit us from allowing you to be in unnecessary danger, so we could take you out of the suit and place you into a heavily armored box for the duration of the fight if you''d prefer not to do the testing."


    You know what? Suddenly the testing seems like a great idea. I''m ready for the testing. Just tell me what to do!


    Vane smiled.


    "I''m glad you see it my way then. Now, to start off, we''ll be testing the protection system. It should resist impacts up to a certain force with no damage to the armor or you. You ready?"


    Yep. Ready to go.


    With that, Vane hit the magimech suit with enough force the Null flew through the air before hitting the wall on the other side off the room.


    Null quickly looked over his suit, shocked to find not even a dent where the mace had hit the suit. Meanwhile, Vane walked towards him, shaking his hand to get rid of the numbness that resulted from that strike.


    "Damn. That stung a bit. I thought that I could adjust my swing a bit from the first time..."


    Null felt a bit angry.


    First time? What do you mean first time?


    "Yeah. We tested that the armor wouldn''t take damage already. This was a test the inertial dampening system for proper functionality"


    Why weren''t you more specific about it?


    "I said we''d be testing the protection system, didn''t I? The inertial dampening system is part of that. Also, making sure that works properly is important for the next test anyway"


    Null sighed.


    Fine. Fine. I get the point. Alright. What is the next test?


    Vane smiled again.


    "Alright. For the next test, I''m going to be hitting you even harder. The shielding system should activate to prevent any damage."


    Got it.


    Null braced himself for impact.


    Go for it. I''m ready


    Vane, with another large smile, hit Null even harder this time. However, this time, a shimmering field popped up in front of him, absorbing the damage of the impact. That being said, he still flew across the room, impacting the wall at a decent speed. This time though, Null got up and wasn''t quite as surprised to see that there was no damage to the armor.


    Vane gave out a cheer.


    "Perfect. The protection system works perfectly up to standards then. Now, to check the energy management system for this thing to see how the energy levels are doing."


    Energy management system?


    "Yep. So, this thing is powered off of five tier 5 monster cores. It''s pretty power intensive to be honest, but we had to do it since the upcoming battle will be fairly brutal"


    Fair point.


    With that, Vane tapped on a gadget on his wrist and a holographic screen popped up. Vane tapped a few buttons.


    "Alright. So based on the calibration the system did with the testing, your suit power should be sufficient for the next five days or so."


    Five days? That short?


    "Yep. We had to add quite a few things into the suit and with you being a tier one dungeon core, having you power it yourself wasn''t a feasible option. After this battle is over though, the special production team does intend to develop a less energy intensive suit for you to utilize that doesn''t require an external power source."


    Fair point.


    Vane walked over to the side of the training area to what appeared to be a combat training dummy.


    "Alright, one last test. The suit should be able to allow you to defend yourself if necessary. This training dummy has sensors to test the strength of your punches. If you''d like to just come over here and punch the dummy as hard as you can."


    Sounds good to me.


    With that, Null walked over to the dummy and punched it.


    Vane looked at his holographic data readout.


    "Alright. Punch it again for me. This time with as much force as you can."


    Null punched it again. This time, with an audible boom.


    "Ha! Perfect. Yep. The systems appear to be working just fine. With that. The testing should be complete. Let''s get going. Time for you to meet the other dungeon core on the fortress."