A stabbing pain was digging inside Kintar's mind, twisting and intensifying every so often. That might have been the reason she finally woke up. Unfortunately, her head was throbbing with pain just as much as her mind. This made it all too clear to her that even her soul was not doing too well.

"Fuck!" Kintar held her head, grimacing. Opening her eyes was another painful endeavor. It seemed as though each and every one of her cells was screaming. When she finally managed it and feebly flew inches from the floor, she saw a few others waking up and groaning.

All the Unlimited Stars were rising, cursing the pain and disorientation just as much as Kintar.

"Took you long enough," a voice said, drawing all their attention.

Uyuniya was standing by the consoles, crossing her arms. She gave Kintar, who squinted at her, a nod.

"What happened?" said Kintar. Her memory was playing hide-and-seek with her.

"We managed to flee from the Retucent, but the speed proved to be too much for you all. You were out for quite a while."

Yuyui whimpered while struggling to stand. "That might be… the scariest thing I've ever experienced."

"Yeah. That thing is freakishly dangerous. We didn't even get to see what it looks like," said Grim. The color still refused to return to his skin. "How common is it in the great void?"

"Thankfully, they are quite rare, but they do move around. And from what I gather, that Retucent might have been a mild one. That's a generous guess too, I think."

Pherdanta grunted at that, and Uyuniya nodded as if to say, I know, it's annoying.

"We're in the clear now. Why don't you all give yourself time to rest?" said Uyuniya, and she gestured towards Kintar. "I can operate Amanas well enough. And look, we are finally on course towards Zelozeld." She pointed out the transparent walls at a very distant cluster of shining worlds that created a formation resembling a typical sword. "We call that particular collection of Prime Worlds, Sihon. Soon, we'll be able to see Hihon and the—"

"Stop, stop, stop, you're going to make my head hurt even worse!" said Kintar, and she plopped onto one of the seats. "You can tell me all about that after I confirm that my brain isn't some grey sludge in there." She knocked lightly against her temple with her knuckles.

Uyuniya chuckled and watched as the other Unlimited Stars, agreeing with Kintar, took their seats and continued groaning. Yuyui contemplated killing herself to recover from the damage, but ultimately stopped herself. The rest of the Stars thought to use Granted Restoration, but resisted the urge too.

That wouldn't do them any good in the long run. There were probably going to be many more instances where they would need Amanas to kick into Sliepr, so they resolved to gradually get used to that horrific sensation. It was anything but easy to do so, however.

Kintar was cursing every minute, much to Uyuniya's amusement. The princess herself was suffering in silence. Being Divine, her body's pain tolerance was much higher than that of mortals, but that didn't mean she hadn't taken any damage from moving at that absurd. She would never tell the Stars or anyone else, but immediately after returning Amanas' speed mode to Nordi, she spent the better part of fifteen minutes rolling on the floor in agony – a humiliating experience for her. Thus, slightly, ever so slightly, she found the Stars' suffering amusing.

'Is Kintar rubbing off on me?' she thought immediately after, reprimanding herself.

Four hours later, Kintar gladly indulged in laughing at everyone else as they woke up, groggy and in excruciating pain. Even for the Troops, the aftereffects of ultra-high speed, like having your innards tossed around like a salad, were too much. Kintar flew over Gerriey, who found it absurdly difficult to rise from the floor, while laughing in her annoying, chittering fashion.

Thankfully, Pherdanta was there to encourage the Troops instead of beating them down, telling them to endure, even if it felt like they could soil themselves from the pain. They were to get used to this much if they were supposed to be Skullius' ultimate fighting force.

Uyuniya was watching closely.

'She was made to be a leader, or rather, she's quickly fashioned herself to become a very good one,' she thought. 'I would have thought that would be enough for her, but like the rest, I guess not. She's got her own obsession.'

The princess remembered Pherdanta's question from earlier.

How do I compare as a Swordmaster to the experts from Zelozeld?

Frankly, Uyuniya didn't know much about Pherdanta's full strength as a Swordmaster, so she couldn't say for sure, but…

'No. I don't think there can be anyone, or anything as sharpened as that geezer?'

"Congratulations for retaining some modicum of dignity." Elita approached her, weak-kneed and looking as though she'd aged by several decades.

"Thank you," said Uyuniya, laughing. She quickly wiped away the mirth, though. "That could have just as easily gone terribly wrong."

"I know," said Elita, and the fear in her eyes worsened. She gulped hard. "After Void took me from Aigas, we once came upon one – a Retucent. I wasn't in any danger with her around, of course, but… I never forgot that feeling. I saw it up close."

Uyuniya sympathized. "I imagine everyone here will not soon forget that feeling either." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Elita looked around. She saw the same fear diffusing through her right now in most of the experts within Metgard, especially the new ones.

Aegir, Remos, and Muezzi had it rough, but they were quickly recovering - physically, at least. Soidon and Sause fared far better, the former especially.

Kintar gave them all a judging look. Pherdanta had told her that there were promising specimens among the new experts, but Kintar wondered if the ones Pherdanta thought to be promising would be the same as those she (Kintar) had judged to be worthwhile. She had her eyes on a few indeed. Remos and also…

"Hmph."

Kintar frowned when she locked eyes with Muezzi. Almost immediately, the woman rose to her feet and wobbled towards the Unlimited Star. When she reached her, she smiled.

"Can we finally continue our talk? We were interrupted earlier."