Seed of Titan-Chapter 192: This Much is Nothing

"Pardon?!"

Ailem’s question nearly jolted Drai out of his seat, but an invisible force suddenly pressed on his shoulders.

"No need to panic, Mr. Drai," Ailem calmly advised. "I’m not here to detain you or anything—I am not a law enforcer, nor do I intend to act like one."

’Then what’s with the restraint?’ Drai silently questioned.

Assessing the force holding him down, Drai felt that it wasn’t so strong that he couldn’t break free with some augmentation. However, he refrained from doing so just yet, not only because of Ailem’s words, but also because he didn’t want to end up being swarmed by Alancho’s army.

Seeing that Drai had calmed down, Ailem continued, "As you probably have guessed, I can detect lies, but the truth is, my ability is more complex than that. Basically, it’s some kind of synesthesia."

"Synesthesia?" Drai confusedly remarked, not recognizing the term.

"It’s when someone has their senses mixed up. Normally, this manifests as seeing colors for numbers, feeling textures with sounds, tasting words, and so on."

"What the—tasting words? Is that even a thing?" Drai exclaimed.

"It is, though it’s pretty rare. Anyway, those sense-pairings are but a few examples of what synesthesia usually entails. In my case, however, I can taste feelings."

This time Drai was left speechless. He couldn’t even begin to imagine such an absurd sensation.

"And my ’taste buds’ are quite sensitive, as in they can distinguish pretty specific feelings. For example, the subtle feeling you gave out when you mentioned you never hurt anyone, which tasted like smoked black cardamom, something I usually only taste when someone here recalls their kill or kill count. There was only a tiny hint of it, so I wasn’t too sure initially, but seeing your reaction made me certain." Ailem explained, much to Drai’s astonishment.

"I see... Well, I guess there’s no hiding it anymore. Yeah, I did end a few human lives before, all for good reasons if I may add," Drai finally admitted.

"Were there students among them?"

"No, these people were second-stagers or higher. And aside from one guy, the rest were Crimson Order members."

Ailem paused for a moment before saying, "I sense no guilt from you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your killings are completely justified—you might just be a psychopath or too numbed from repeated killings."

Hearing this, Drai frowned and protested, "I’m not—"

"Relax, I know you’re neither of those," Ailem quickly interrupted. "Those types of people emit a certain taste that I don’t sense at all from you. Alright, let’s go to the testing area now."

Ailem stood up and the pressure on Drai’s shoulder was instantly lifted.

Standing up, Drai remarked, "I didn’t think you’d reveal your ability just like that, Captain. And I thought you were going to ask more about the details."

"Most people here already know about my ability, so it doesn’t matter if I reveal it to you. And regarding the details of your killings, to be honest, I’m not that interested in knowing them. Our short talk was just to confirm my suspicion so that it doesn’t bother me again. Besides, I believe General Alancho has a pretty good eye for people, since the ones recommended by him are merely troublemakers at worst. But one can never be too sure—there’s always a first time for everything."

Drai had nothing to say about this, so he simply shrugged in reply before collecting his suitcase.

Ailem then led Drai out. The two left the building and walked a bit until they reached a particular building, which in Drai’s eyes resembled a large, fancy gymnasium.

Entering the building, Ailem briefly talked to the staff there before leading Drai further in. After passing a short hallway, they arrived at a vast indoor space.

"Whoaa..." Drai couldn’t help but exclaim as he gazed at the countless equipment there.

Most weren’t familiar to him, but a lot of them were pretty obvious in their functions, such as the large machine that held a stack of large, metal weights and another one that was basically an oversized treadmill. Interestingly, all of these machines were attached to a bulky device connected to cables that ran down, seemingly disappearing into the floor.

Drai and Ailem weren’t the only one there, as there were around twenty other people scattered across the spacious area. Drai saw that all these people were in pairs, presumably the test-taker and their supervising staff. They were mostly using different machines, such as the woman who was darting all over one of the wide treadmills, a man who was punching a machine with long pauses in-between, and another man who was leaping vertically in repeat, striking the lanky and extremely tall machine before him every time he peaked.

Drai put away his suitcase on a nearby bench before returning to Ailem’s side. Glancing around, Drai really wanted to explore the area and perhaps try out some of the machines or watch the other testers closer, but since Ailem was still just standing there, he had to hold himself back.

Shortly after, a staff entered behind them and led them to one of the machines, which turned out to be the one with weight stacks.

As the staff began operating the digital panel on the bulky attachment at the machine’s side, Ailem turned to Drai.

"Your answers during the interview clearly suggest that strength and toughness are your forte, so we’ll be testing those two first. This machine, if it’s not obvious already, measures how much weight you can withstand—your load index. It’s more of a strength test, but there’s also a certain amount of constitution involved, as your muscle endurance and bone density will contribute to your performance."

Eyeing the weights, Drai asked, "Am I allowed to use skills?"

"Right, you did mention your stat-raising skills in passing earlier," Ailem replied. "Yes, they’re allowed. What isn’t allowed are skills unrelated to strength or constitution that may help withstand the weight, such as telekinesis or other external forces. We rarely pay close attention to skill usage, but since this is not a competition and there’s no prize for withstanding a certain amount of weight, I believe there’s not much incentive for cheating aside from bragging rights."

"So there’s no record for these machines?"

"Except for personal records, no. There might be private competitions or even betting among the soldiers, but this facility doesn’t accommodate such things. The main purpose of these measurements is to assess our soldiers’ development and adjust their regimens and assignments accordingly."

Glancing at Drai, whose eyes still gleamed with excitement from all the shiny equipment, Ailem couldn’t help but ask, "Are you actually interested in such things, Mr. Drai?"

"Huh? You mean these machines?"

"No, I mean competition—record breaking, personal records, competing with your peers, and whatnot. Wasn’t your question because of that?"

"Oh, that? Nah, I really don’t care about competing. It doesn’t matter how others do as long as I keep improving. I only asked about the record thing because I want to gauge myself and see how much of a gap there is between me and the best. I’m always up for some extra motivation, you know?"

’Yeah, now I know,’ Ailem thought as she chuckled a bit. ’Pretty sure he and Bruce will get along well—not only their main attributes match, he also sounds pretty obsessed with training, just like Bruce. He doesn’t really look the part though. Just like what Bruce asked earlier, shouldn’t he be way bigger if he isn’t just boasting?’

Just then, the operating staff said, "Mr. Drai’s profile has been set, Captain Ailem. The machine is ready too."

"My profile?" Drai asked Ailem.

"Yes, it’s for our personnel records. The results from these tests will be included there for future uses, along with your mission records and other relevant data. Anyway, please proceed to the designated spot. You can change clothes too if you want. I don’t think you want to accidentally ruin your nice attire."

Inspecting his clothes, Drai also agreed that he’d probably end up tearing them if he didn’t change. So, he asked, "Uhm, can I do the tests in boxers? I don’t want to make a mess of my suitcase if I can help it."

"...Sure," Ailem replied, after which Drai immediately stripped without any hint of embarrassment, leaving only a loose pair of boxers on.

Ailem, who had been watching from the side, couldn’t help but gulp upon seeing the extremely chiseled muscles that were finally set free. However, her entranced eye soon widened in surprise, since Drai had just made his clothes disappear into thin air like magic.

"Dimensional storage?!" she and the nearby staff simultaneously exclaimed.

"Yeah," Drai nonchalantly replied as he raised his left arm and shook his bracelet.

"This..." Ailem muttered, seemingly realizing something. "I’m sorry, Mr. Drai, but we might have to withhold your bracelet during your service."

"Huh? Really?"

"Well, this is unprecedented, so I’m not too sure. But what’s certain is that a dimensional storage makes smuggling prohibited items a breeze, and it’s not like we can inspect its contents."

"Can’t I just report the contents every day?" Drai argued. He was really reluctant to part with the ultra-convenient storage, especially since it had become a memorabilia of Ravi.

"And do you expect the inspectors to blindly trust your words? You can very easily avoid revealing any banned items without them knowing," Ailem pointed out.

"Well, you can be there to confirm my words, can’t you?"

Ailem shook her head. "I’m a captain, not your future squadmate, Mr. Drai. Not only will I not have the time or impetus to monitor a single soldier regardless of your ’special recruit’ status, it’s also not guaranteed that we end up in the same company or even battalion."

Hearing this, Drai’s shoulders slumped as he gazed at his beloved bracelet with a resigned look.

"Sigh... Alright, I’ll try talking to your superior about the matter after you’re officially enlisted—maybe you’ll get a better arrangement," Ailem helplessly said, causing Drai to lighten up.

"Then I’ll be in your debt, Captain," Drai cheerfully remarked before heading to the machine.

"Please stand on that spot and face outward," the staff instructed him while gesturing at a small metallic platform.

After Drai was in position, the machine hummed, and a few pairs of slabs came out from behind him and slowly wrapped around his torso.

’Wow, this is new. I thought I’d be holding up the weights like usual,’ Drai thought as he inspected the metallic casing that resembled a body-fit armor.

"This is to avoid burdening your arms too much, otherwise your striking test could be significantly affected," Ailem explained upon noticing Drai’s intrigue.

"I see. Should we start?"

Ailem nodded at the staff, and shortly after, Drai felt some pressure.

"It’s too light," he mentioned to the staff.

"That’s just to test the waters, Mr. Drai. We don’t want to accidentally crush you because of a malfunction, do we?" the staff amusedly remarked as he slowly raised the weight.

Although Drai felt a bit more pressure, he wasn’t impressed at all.

"Can’t we skip to the heavy part? This much is nothing."

"Well, we could. How much weight do you want?" the staff asked.

"I don’t know. I’ve never measured my weight tolerance. Maybe start with ten times the current weight?"

"Ten times, huh? I think it’s not too much..." the staff muttered, raising the weight once more.

Drai’s muscles tensed as the pressure multiplied. Still, he felt that it was lacking, so he said, "Multiply this by five, sir."

"Five times? Are you sure? That would be one hundred tons, Mr. Drai."

"Go for it," Drai said, utterly unfazed by the number.

"Well, if you say so..."

Ailem watched closely as the pressure multiplied again. She then glanced at the staff and gave him a stern look, signaling him to be alert and trigger the emergency release if needed.

Still far from his limit, Drai said again, "Multiply by three."

The staff didn’t comment this time, as he thought the young man was quite aware of his capabilities.

With three hundred tons pressuring him, Drai had to do his best to avoid buckling.

’Did he reach his limit? That’s pretty impressive for someone his age, probably around the strength of a peak second-stager with a physical class,’ the staff mused.

However, to the staff’s shock, Drai didn’t stop there.

"Add... a third... of this weight..." he muttered with difficulty.

This time the staff had to look to Ailem for permission before he dared to raise the weight again.

Ailem’s eye locked onto Drai briefly before she eventually nodded.

The last set of pressure dawned on him, forcing Drai to wring out all his might just to avoid getting crushed. All his limbs were buckling, and his veiny, bulging muscles seemed ready to pop out at any given time.

What Drai didn’t know was that the machine had a built-in stopper to prevent fatal accidents.

’This is his limit,’ Ailem mused. ’Four hundred tons—almost a mid third-stager’s strength. Objectively speaking, it’s just a bit above average. But considering his level, it’s pretty much unheard of. He’ll be able to at least double his load index when he reaches his next class. No wonder the General eagerly recommended him...’

As Ailem and the staff expected Drai to give up any time soon, he suddenly emanated a white aura. At the same time, his physique transformed, rapidly getting denser and in turn, stronger.

A second later, he stood straight, seemingly unperturbed by the weight that was still pressuring him.

"Phew! That was a nice workout," he gleefully remarked.

Meanwhile, Ailem and the staff’s jaws were hanging so low that they could probably fit a Rubik’s cube into their mouths if they tried.