“K’Aman, could you please grab 2 of those collars for me from Hooke’s workshop?”
With a sigh the ox-based Zoan gets up from his chair and leaves the room, he looked a bit older than the rest of the crew, there’s even some white in his goatee.
Apparently H’Mara caught the curious look in my eyes as she suddenly starts explaining:
“That old guy there is K’Aman, this ship’s mechanic. Even though he complains a lot, he’s does a good job. I guess he did get a bit more cranky as he grew older.”
K’Aman suddenly stops walking and turns around to face H’Mara.
“Oi, I’m not deaf yet you brat! And go get your own stuff next time, you shouldn’t be so demanding of your elders.”
I can see where H’Mara was coming from, even though he grumbles about it, he still does what people ask of him…
After quite some time, K’Aman finally returns holding 2 heavy-looking collars.
“What took you so long? Did ya fall and have trouble getting up old man?”
“Tch! Youth these days really don’t know the virtue of patience.”
H’Mara grabbed the collars K’Aman was holding and started explaining how they worked:
“Alright pay attention. Inside this collar is the military training uniform I talked about earlier, It’ll automatically wrap around your bodies when you put the collar on.”
Ugh right, that training uniform with minor ‘ethical’ problems…
“The uniform has 6 trials built-in that’ll help you two train your bodies. You may choose one trial right now, and after 3 months, you’ll choose two new ones. If you wear this collar for 6 months straight while undergoing those trials, you’ll be able to upgrade your overall qualities to around grade E, although the Lunarian may reach D. After that, we can talk about either installing cybernetic enhancements or installing a flux-guide.”
A flux-guide?! I want that… No, I need that…
“Of course, nothing is for free. These trials are quite… *AHEM* ‘Painful’… No, to be honest, they are extremely painful. You might even die under the extreme stress alone…”
So that’s why that Chelou girl looked so miserable…
“You don’t have to undergo this training of course, but then you’ll probably be sold off by Bruce at the end of this year. Are you guys interested?”
I quickly nod, this is the chance I’ve been waiting for, it would be foolish of me to refuse. To my surprise, Ares also agreed to the training, apparently he has more guts than I thought, the way H’Mara talked about those trials sounded kind of scary… Although… Maybe I could get even more out of this opportunity…
“H’Mara… Would it be possible to undergo more trials? Or… Even all of them?”
“Pftttt! Bwahaha! Are you trying to impress me or something? Look dude, you’re kind of cute, but I need a strong male, or at least one that’s stronger than me, hahaha!”
Without changing my expression, I continue to stare at her. Signaling that I’m serious about this.
*SIGH* “Look, to be honest, I would already be surprised if you managed to withstand all 3 trials. This isn’t the time to show off, taking on all six trials is just plain recklessness. It won’t matter how fast you’ll improve if you won’t even survive the training. Not even mentioning the pain, those trials will have a serious impact on your psyche, taking on all 6 might just drive you insane…”
It’s not like I don’t understand the risks… But… I need every advantage I can get… It’s actually quite funny that I need to risk my life just to reach the starting line of that Lucien bastard…
“It’s not like I’m underestimating those trials, but… I have a goal, and ever since chasing that goal I can’t help but realize how much I’m lacking… I’m not talented, nor have any money, hell, I even became a slave… But I can’t help but reach for that goal… I’m not brave, nor am I reckless, this is just desperation… I need all the help I can get.”
*SIGH* “Fine, suit yourself, s’your funeral. You can choose 3 trials now if you want, and then another 3 later. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya though.”
“Thanks… So… Could you explain those trials now?”
“Ah right, like I said before, there are six trials to choose from: the trial of bone breaking, the trial of muscle tearing, the trial of oxygen deprivation, the trial of Blindness, the trial of Gravity and finally, the trial of nerve oiling. Explaining them all would take too long, so just ask about the ones that caught your eye.”
T-Those all sound horrible… We’re supposed to pick from those? I think I would rather just pick three random ones instead of getting cold feet after hearing her explain all of them…
Unfortunately, Ares can’t seem to contain his curiosity:
“I can guess what most trials are targeting, but what about the gravity and nerve oiling ones?”
“Ah those, the gravity one is quite simple, it increases the weight of your uniform by weaving dense metal threads into the fabric, it would about triple your normal weight I think? Hooke also explained the nerve oiling one to me, but I still don’t quite understand how it works, I just know that it helps improve your reaction speed by stimulating the nervous system. It’s supposed to be the most painful trial if I remember correctly...”
Oh god… Before Ares could ask more questions, I quickly interrupt him and choose my first 3 trials:
“I-I would like to choose my trials now!... The bone-breaking one, the nerve-oiling one and lastly… the muscle-tearing trial.”
I think I better get the most painful one out of the way now, that way I could get used to the pain. I also better train my muscles and bones first before increasing my weight…
“Oh the bone breaking trial? That one’s probably the most taxing on the body… Still, I really advise you to not take on three trials from the start…”
I look back at H’Mara with determination written across my eyes. I already made up my mind.
*SIGH* “Alright then.”
H’Mara walked over to me and released the hand-cuffs I was still wearing. After that, she opened up the collar with a small keycard and typed in some stuff before closing it again and handing it to me.
“You’re just removing my cuffs like that?”
Paypal
thanks for the chapter! aghhhh now back to waiting for more!
Thanks for the chapter!