Kyle settled into the padded seat of the virtual simulation pod, the cool metal frame pressing against his back as the hatch sealed shut with a quiet hiss.
The familiar blue glow of activation runes lit up around him, casting soft, shifting patterns across his face.
He took a deep breath, catching the faint, sharp scent of charged mana in the small, enclosed space.
As the system powered up. A gentle tingling started from the neural interface nodes resting on his temples, spreading slowly through his head.
The world outside faded, dissolving into millions of tiny glowing pixels that swirled and reformed into the simulation's training arena.
An empty space. White floor stretching endlessly in all directions under a pale blue sky.
Kyle flexed his fingers. They moved just as they would in real life.
Every step he took felt solid, every shift of his clothes natural. The simulation's system was flawless.
