That same day, in the Secondary Awakening training room of the underground base, Hesta was already exhausted.
She faced two Chelated Beings bare-handed. Sweat seeped into her eyes again, and she was driven into a desperate corner once more.
These two Chelated Beings were nothing like the ones she had encountered by accident last time. One was exceptionally burly and immensely strong, while the other was small but agile and wielded a blade. Several shallow bloody cuts had already been carved into Hesta's cheek.
She had held them off alone for nearly half an hour, yet she could not hurt either opponent in the slightest.
Again and again, Hesta pressed the emergency button by the wall—the safety officers had told her that when she truly could not hold on any longer, Quicksilver Needles would appear after she pressed it.
Hesta felt she had reached her limit. In fact, she had exceeded it long ago.
But no one came.
"Is... is anyone there..." Hesta panted, gasping heavily. "Help... help me..."
Behind the one-way glass on the second floor, Miss Chiba watched the scene alongside several safety officers.
Even now, no one had figured out the mechanism behind Secondary Awakening. But through years of exploration, they had learned something about how to trigger the awakened state of Quicksilver Needles.
First, the Quicksilver Needle had to remain in close proximity to a Chelated Being. Second, the Quicksilver Needle had to clearly recognize that their life was under grave threat and subjectively believe that they were trapped in a desperate, helpless situation. Third, those conditions had to persist for at least four minutes.
When young Quicksilver Needles abandoned all illusions and became convinced that the so-called "safety officers" simply did not exist, placing all their strength and hope in themselves, the moment of Secondary