Seed of Titan-Chapter 199: Response Drill

Contrary to Danny’s expectation, Drai’s response was lukewarm at most, so he quickly added, "I said we’re cursed, Drai! Cursed!"

In reply, Drai nodded weakly and gave him a complementary thumbs-up.

At the same time, Beachball slapped Danny’s butt, telling him to zip his mouth, as they had just arrived at their training ground.

On the way here, Drai had been thinking that they would be training in a smaller outdoor field, but it turned out their training ground was practically indoors because the relatively small dirt field in front of them was fully encased in thick metallic walls aside from its entrance.

"Will you be having the usual menu, Sergeant?" an operating staff member asked loudly from a raised platform close to the entrance.

Instead of replying, Frost conjured an ice pillar beneath his feet that brought him up next to the operator. Then, he proceeded to discuss a few things with him.

"I guess he’s modifying our training because of Drai," Mandy commented as she glanced at the discussing men whose voices didn’t reach the squad.

"I like that. Our usual drills were starting to bore me," Danny chimed in.

While the squad broke into murmurs due to the presumed training change, Drai kept quiet and recalled the mission Frost had told him last night instead.

’Raiding a smuggling depot, huh?’ he mused. ’That seems a bit too much for my first mission, but I guess they wouldn’t just randomly pick up a simpler mission because of me. Well, I hope I can get a sense of how I’d fare on the field from our training.’

A few minutes later, Frost finally returned to the squad.

"For today’s sessions, I’ll be focusing on assessing Drai’s performance, especially in comparison to the rest of you. This will allow me to get a clearer picture on his suitable roles or how he could complement our squad," Frost announced before turning to Drai. "I do have your test results in hand, Drai, but I’d rather see you perform in person."

Drai simply nodded since he had no problem with the arrangement.

Frost then led the group to the center of the field before briefing them.

"For the first session, we’ll be testing your response speed. A virtual projection will appear randomly in the field, and you’ll have to rush to it and ’touch’ it. This will not only take your reaction time into account, but also your burst of speed—unless a projection happens to appear within arm’s reach. You may also use any skills if they aid your performance. Now, any questions before we begin?"

"Can we get in each other’s way?" Danny asked.

"No hindering your squadmates for this one, Daniel," Frost replied, causing Danny’s shoulders to slump slightly. "I just want to purely look at your response speed toward unexpected variables—though technically, you’ll be anticipating these projections."

Seeing that nobody raised any more questions, Frost finally signaled to the operator to start the session.

"Ready yourselves," he remarked seconds before the first projection, a big hazy figure, appeared at the corner of the field.

Danny was the first one to react, followed closely by Beachball, and the two immediately rushed toward the projection in their own ways.

Danny kicked up a cloud of dirt with each powerful stomp, propelling him forward in long, rapid strides. Right behind him, Beachball was rolling forward smoothly just like a literal ball, which reminded Drai of Paul, since the planted agent had done a similar thing before he began his first lecture.

The two men’s abrupt departure caused the rest of them to dash away approximately at the same time.

Although Drai had activated his aura, which boosted his physical attributes by another twenty-five percent, he barely managed to keep up with Mandy, who seemed to be sprinting normally. Cubes was sprinting a few meters behind them, seemingly with all her might. Meanwhile, Gramps was lagging behind, nowhere close to the middle pack.

When Drai was about halfway there, Danny’s fist had already punched through the projection. Around a second after that, Beachball rolled through the figure’s legs.

A few seconds later, Drai and Mandy touched the projection almost at the same time, followed by a visibly exhausted Cubes.

The group then waited behind the projection for another ten seconds or so before Gramps finally jogged through the projection, with Frost arriving right after him.

Looking at his comm, Frost announced, "Linus, 17.65 seconds—slow and lackadaisical as usual."

Drai saw that the man in question was nonchalantly picking his ear with his pinky, not at all concerned about his poor evaluation.

"June, 7.16 seconds," Frost continued. Glancing at Cubes, he then added, "For the following rounds, just use your boosters. I’ll apply for their reimbursement later."

"...Kay," Cubes gasped amidst her panting.

"Geez, why trouble yourself, hun? Just take it easy like me," Gramps advised. And just as the rest of the squad expected, his unsolicited wisdom seemed to bounce right off her.

"Mandy and Drai, 6.18 and 6.23 seconds respectively. A decent result, Drai. Do you think you can do better?" Frost asked.

Drai figured he might be able to boost his speed quite a bit if he could somehow incorporate Aspiring Grabber into his strides, but since that likely required some intensive training before he could consistently use it, he simply replied, "If I’m allowed to fly, then maybe."

"If I recall correctly, your flight isn’t really sustainable, is it?" Frost asked.

"It can be, but only when used in short bursts, because the longer I maintain my flight, the longer its cooldown," Drai explained without mentioning his cooldown recovery skill, as he preferred to keep his essence-related abilities a secret, especially since it was practically impossible for him to replenish his essence while being cooped up inside the base.

While waiting to fall asleep last night, Drai had even pondered that if Bio Drain didn’t shrivel its target, he’d inquire whether the base ordered their meat supply alive or prepared. In case of the former, he’d then try to apply for butchering duties so he could slowly amass essence. Alas, doing that now would likely expose his scheme in no time.

"Hmm, in that case, you may as well use it," Frost said. "Depending on how effective it is, it might become your primary means of moving during our missions."

Frost then announced the rest of the results without additional comments. Beachball’s time was 3.95 seconds, while Danny’s was 3.12 seconds. And to Drai’s astonishment, Ghost, whom he still couldn’t easily notice, managed to clock in a blistering result—merely 1.31 seconds.

’Did he teleport or something?’ Drai couldn’t help but wonder as he glanced around, trying to locate the invisible speedster.

"Frost, can I use my marbles?" Beachball suddenly asked.

"No, they’ll hinder the others. This is not a competition, Eric—no need to go that far just to gain a slight advantage," Frost said.

"Aww, shucks..." Beachball muttered in disappointment, prompting Danny to crouch in front of him and tease him with a funny face, earning the lanky goof a light smack on his cheek.

"Now, ready yourselves," Frost instructed again before glancing at the aloof Gramps and adding, "And try to do your best."

"Me being here is already my best, boss," Gramps mumbled as he ruffled his messy gray hair, causing Danny and Beachball to chuckle.

Meanwhile, Cubes took a small metallic cube out of her pocket and threw it up slightly. Almost instantly, it transformed into a pair of jetpacks that automatically moved to her back and legs before attaching themselves to those parts.

’Now I get why she’s called ’Cubes’...’ Drai mused after watching the scene. Unlike her, he didn’t immediately ready himself but opted to wait for the projection to appear before activating Nova Flux. Not only was the skill’s activation practically instant, Drai also would rather lose a bit of time than waste the skill’s duration.

As if matching his prudence, this time the squad had to wait for a while before the next projection finally appeared across the field, near the farthest corner from their spot. Its appearance was the same as before, a big hazy figure.

Once again, Danny and Beachball, and presumably Ghost too, reacted the quickest, and the two jolly men sped ahead in the same manner as before.

This time, however, upon reaching the center of the field, a blazing blur overtook them. And a split second later, a white streak also passed by them.

Although Drai had maxed out his flying speed, he still couldn’t overtake Cubes, who was flying centimeters ahead of him. Slowly but surely, the distance between them widened, but before Drai could lag further behind the redhead, the two had already arrived at their target.

While Cubes had to make a sharp turn and fly a bit further before she could slow down and shut off her boosters, Drai only needed to will himself to a halt just beyond the projection.

As Drai waited for the others to arrive, he inspected his surroundings, trying to find out if Ghost had already arrived before him.

Moments later, Danny and Beachball arrived, then Mandy, and finally Gramps, still with his leisurely jog.

"Impressive, Drai," Frost praised upon arrival. "Your skill is probably impractical during stealth operations due to the light, but for overt missions, you should try to move around with flight, especially when speed is paramount. Just make sure you manage that cooldown properly."

"Yes, sir," Drai replied with a nod.

"Now, let’s see..." Frost muttered, checking his comm again. "Linus... I won’t even bother mentioning your dismal result. Mandy, 13.81 seconds—not bad. Eric, 7.12 seconds, and Danny, 6.41 seconds—both pretty good."

Although Frost had said that this wasn’t a competition, Drai still waited in anticipation for the top three results. He mainly wanted to know if he actually managed to beat Ghost, who hadn’t been told to change his method, unlike him and Cubes.

"Drai, 3.38 seconds—like I said, impressive. June, 2.80 seconds, also impressive, though your boosters are way more finite than Drai’s skill."

Cubes nodded in acknowledgment. Although her equipment was reusable, its usage required fuel, something that she could only bring in a limited amount and had to be constantly replenished.

Meanwhile, Drai was a bit perplexed by the results.

’Cubes didn’t even beat Ghost? How fast could he even be?’

Frost’s following words immediately answered his question, but with a twist.

"Nas, 1.31 seconds."