About twenty minutes later, Vogue walked through the front entrance of Titan Training Hall. The facility looked exactly as he rembered it—large, clean, professional, with dozens of people working out on various equipnt throughout the main floor.
The mont he stepped inside, the receptionist at the front desk looked up and her eyes imdiately lit up with recognition.
"Oh! Vogue, you’re actually here! We’re all so happy that you rembered this fine establishnt and decided to visit us!" the receptionist said with an impossibly bright, warm smile that looked almost painfully fake in its exaggerated enthusiasm.
Vogue’s face twitched involuntarily at the obvious insincerity. He had worked at this gym for months before his trial and knew this woman’s true personality extrely well.
"I would have believed that greeting if it weren’t for the fact that I worked here long enough to know your actual character, Fiona," Vogue said dryly, crossing his arms.
The receptionist—a woman nad Fiona who was probably in her late twenties—smiled even more convincingly, her expression becoming so saccharine it could give soone diabetes. But when she saw that Vogue was simply gazing at her with obvious suspicion rather than falling for the act, her deanor changed instantly.
She snorted dismissively and dropped the fake smile entirely. "Hmph! If it weren’t for Manager Tim specifically instructing to be extra polite and welcoming whenever you showed up, you’d better believe I wouldn’t waste even a fake smile on you!"
Vogue shook his head with exasperation and glared at her halfheartedly. "Would it actually hurt your soul to be genuinely polite to anyone? Just once?"
Fiona giggled at his complaint, the sound light and teasing. The movent made her rather substantial chest bounce noticeably beneath her tight receptionist uniform. "Do you want to practice being polite specifically on you, Mr. Fancy Dual-Talent Stellar Knight?"
Her tone was mocking but not actually an-spirited.
Vogue rolled his eyes dramatically. "You know what, just forget it. I’m not going to change your personality through conversation."
He turned to look around the main gym floor, observing the various people training. There were significantly more custors than he rembered from before his trial. Nearly every piece of equipnt was occupied, and there seed to be a waiting list for so of the more popular machines.
"This place is way more lively and crowded than it used to be," Vogue comnted with mild surprise.
Fiona went back to typing at the holographic keyboard projected above her reception counter, her fingers moving rapidly across the light-based keys. She popped her bubble gum casually while she worked, the sound obnoxiously loud.
"Yeah, no kidding," she said without looking up from her work. "Manager Tim used the news of you working here to gain a massive influx of new custors. It’s been incredibly effective for business."
She popped her gum again. "Since you’re now famous as a Dual-Talent student who survived the trial, everyone wants to be just like you. So they’re specifically coming here and using the exact sa workout routine and training regin you used to follow when you worked here. Tim even printed out copies of your old training schedule and sells them for fifty credits each."
Vogue raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed despite himself. "Manager Tim certainly knows how to capitalize on business opportunities. I should ask for royalties."
"Are you here just for small talk and nostalgia, or do you actually need sothing?" Fiona asked bluntly, still not looking away from her holographic screen.
"I’m here purely for small talk and catching up," Vogue said with obviously false sincerity.
Fiona rolled her eyes so hard it looked almost painful. "What do you actually need, Vogue? Stop wasting my ti."
Vogue coughed to hide his amusent. "I need to rent one of the private training rooms with full incognito mode activated."
Fiona chewed her gum thoughtfully while typing queries into the system. "Private room with incognito mode enabled... okay, there are two currently available. Will anyone else be joining you in the room?"
She turned to stare at him with a knowing, slightly mischievous expression on her face.
Vogue was montarily stunned by the implication in her tone, but then he smirked right back at her. "Yup, you’re coming with ."
Fiona’s expression didn’t change at all. She simply rolled her eyes again and turned back to her screen. "Just you alone, then. Got it."
She processed the rental quickly and then slid a physical keycard across the counter toward him. "You already know how the private rooms work since you used to work here, so I won’t waste breath explaining the procedures. Just don’t lose this keycard, or you’ll be charged a replacent fee that’ll make you cry."
"Alright, next custor!" she called out loudly, completely dismissing Vogue’s presence.
Vogue shook his head with a genuine smile despite her rudeness. Fiona was incredibly blunt and often borderline offensive in her interactions, but underneath that abrasive exterior, she was actually a straightforward, honest, and surprisingly decent person. She was also fiercely loyal to the few people she considered actual friends.
He took the keycard and headed toward the elevator bank.
Vogue rode the elevator up to the third floor where the premium private training rooms were located. He walked down the hallway until he found Room 34 and swiped his keycard to unlock the door.
The room was exactly as he rembered—approximately ten ters by ten ters, with reinforced walls, ceiling, and floor designed to withstand trendous impacts and energy fluctuations. There were various training equipnt stored along the walls, but plenty of open floor space in the center for cultivation or technique practice.
Vogue walked over to the smart panel mounted beside the door and activated the incognito mode setting. The mont he pressed the button, thick steel security walls began descending from hidden compartnts in the ceiling, completely sealing the room from outside observation or interference.
The walls locked into place with heavy tallic thuds, and the room’s lighting shifted to a softer, more ambient glow. Now he was in complete privacy with absolutely no risk of being disturbed or detected.
Vogue took a deep breath to center himself, then pulled the jade box containing the Creation Seed from his system inventory. He carefully opened it and removed the dried, wrinkled seed.
He stared at it for a long mont, feeling both excitent and slight nervousness.
Massive amounts of energy were required to transform this dormant seed into a functioning internal world. But according to the ancient texts he had studied, that energy requirent could be completely replaced by feeding the seed the blood of a legendary or divine being.
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