Seed of Titan

"Bravo! You truly didn't disappoint, Drai Boy!" Ravi loudly applauded as he walked toward Drai before releasing the various equipment attached on his body.

"It was quite an experience," Drai weakly replied as he sat up. Ravi passed him a bottle of tonic that he pulled out of thin air which was quickly gulped down by Drai.

"Thanks, Professor. Do you have your own dimensional storage?" Drai inquired as he wiped his mouth. He was quite certain the professor wasn't showing him a magic trick.

"I certainly do. It's such a major convenience that I can't imagine going back to the days without it," Ravi sighed as he brought out a big rack full of variously colored vials before returning it back with a swipe of hand, much to Drai's bafflement.

"I also find it very helpful, Professor," Drai said. "There's a new move I recently learned that would be much more of a hassle if not for the device you've gifted me."

"I'm glad it came in handy. I found it too small for practical use other than keeping some snacks so I figured it would be more useful to you," said Ravi.

"Too small…" Drai muttered with a rueful smile as he remembered Natalia's comment about his storage being quite large. But upon recalling the size of the vial rack Ravi had summoned earlier, Drai thought that his storage was truly too small in comparison.

"Anyway, congratulations for passing the initial testing. I hope you're used to the feeling now because the main procedure will be similarly straining, if not more," Ravi said with an apologetic look.

"I think I can handle it," Drai replied quite confidently. "I just realized it, but experiencing a series of such severe pain should be beneficial for my body. It's just that the circumstance is quite different from my usual training, so it didn't register in my mind at first."

"You… you actually enjoyed it?" Ravi asked in aghast.

"I did, Professor. It was almost unbearably painful, but when I thought that it was just a different type of training, the pain became much more tolerable and I was excited to see how it might improve my physique or even mind," answered Drai truthfully.

"Crazy son of a bi—beautiful lady," Ravi muttered. It finally dawned to him that Drai's brain was wired differently compared to others.

"Thankfully you hadn't forced yourself to experiment on people who didn't pass your requirements, Professor. I can't imagine what would happen to those with lower constitution than mine if they were to undergo this procedure. They would probably feel even more pain," Drai pondered.

"Hahaha, the answer to that isn't much of a mystery, Drai. They'd simply die," Ravi said amusedly.

"They'd die?" Drai asked surprisedly. Although Ravi had occasionally mentioned about Drai's survival, Drai hadn't taken his words too seriously.

"Yup. They'd either die from a cardiac arrest due to the amount of pain or organ failure because their constitution couldn't withstand the alteration," Ravi said. "I didn't wait for the right person for years just because I'm patient, you know? In fact, I've tried simulating the procedure using predicted parameters based on the closest person to pass the requirements more than once throughout the years. It's a given that I couldn't perfectly replicate these individuals' actual physiology, but I'm sure they weren't too far from the real thing."

"And the results?" Drai asked despite knowing how it had probably ended.

"Let's just say it would've required a mop and a decent-sized bucket to clean up their remainings," Ravi replied shruggingly, making Drai wince as he pictured the hypothetical scene.

"Well, enough with the what-ifs. Let's return to the matters on hand," Ravi said. "How do you feel now, Drai? Although the readings show stability, there might be things that I've missed or aren't clearly indicated on the screens."

"I feel fine professor, but I don't really feel any changes in my body. Did the procedure really succeed?" Drai asked confusedly as he stretched and moved his limbs, trying to sense any semblance of physical improvement.

"Interesting… It's true that there's no clear indication of physiological changes that would've signified the effects of the stimulant," Ravi pondered as he stared at the data on his comm which seemed to be linked to his VC.

"Ah! Try opening your attribute page and see if there's any changes, but do make sure not to mention or indicate our little experiment to the System. I don't know whether the System had already noticed it or if it allows this kind of procedure, but let's try not to complicate things just in case," Ravi suggested.

"Okay, Professor," Drai replied before opening the System while heeding Ravi's warning. There seemed to be no changes to the System's interface, so Drai immediately went to his stat page, feeling slightly hopeful.

[Name: Drai Varz]

[Class: Seed of Titan]

[Level: 2]

[Strength: 44]

[Constitution: 44]

[Agility: 16]

[Dexterity: 10]

[Intelligence: 8]

[Transcendence: 6]

[Skills: Titan's Fortitude]

To his disappointment, Drai didn't see any changes to his stats at first glance.

'Did it fail?' Drai thought. 'There's no announcement from the System unlike when my stats change after leveling up, but maybe it's meant to be like that since we've kind of bypassed its workings. Huh? Wait a second…'

Drai's eyes buldged as he stared at a particular number among his attributes. With a huge grin, he turned to Ravi.

"It worked, Professor!" Drai exclaimed excitedly.

"Really? What changed?" Ravi asked impatiently, looking similarly excited.

"My int! It increased by two whole points!" Drai replied joyfully.

"Two points of intelligence? That's quite substantial for your level!" Ravi exclaimed delightedly. "What about the other attributes?"

"Uhm… They're still the same," Drai apologetically said, scratching his head while displaying a rueful smile.

"Interesting… The effect appears to be different compared to what I had presumed even after taking account of the simulation results. The formula wasn't meant to target a specific area, so I had expected the effects to be more general, encompassing most, if not all, attributes, or even adding some skills. I even expected it to possibly give some SP or EXP," Ravi mumbled while contemplating this result.

Drai waited silently as Ravi was contemplating, afraid of disturbing his train of thoughts. Eventually, Ravi sighed before saying, "Unfortunately, I can't provide a clear explanation now, Drai. I suspect it may require seeing the results of main procedure stage one before we can arrive at a concrete answer regarding the effects of the stimulant."

"It's fine, Professor," Drai replied. Drai was actually quite disappointed that only his int rose as he considered it his least valuable stat, but he felt that it's still better than nothing, especially since this was the initial testing phase for which they had to limit the dose.

"Well, at least our little test yielded positive results," Ravi remarked. "It's a step forward for my research and humanity's advancement. Thank you for being a part of this, Drai," Ravi gratefully said as he put his hands on Drai's shoulders, appreciating the qualities of the young lad in front of him that made it possible for his research to resume after years of stagnancy.

"Er… You're welcome, Professor," Drai replied rather bashfully. Drai still thought that he hadn't done much to return Ravi's kindness since the day they met at the Expo Center. Drai also thought that he barely did anything during this procedure. In addition, he was a bit ashamed that he had felt quite disappointed with the result, seeing how much this "insignificant" change meant to the professor.

"Alas, I must continue analyzing the details of today's procedure, Drai. Here's some stuff for you to consume for the following days," Ravi said as he handed Drai a pouch of tonics from his storage.

"Thanks, Professor," Drai said as he put away the pouch.

"Remember to notify me if you feel anything wrong with your body or mind, Drai. Ask Jack to take you back and grab some food from the kitchen if you want. Take good care of yourself, boy," Ravi said as he returned to his workstation in a hurry with an expectant smile.

Drai could only shake his head helplessly as he watched the professor immediately dive back into his work. After tidying himself, he headed toward the ground floor where Jack was waiting. Soon, the two drove away back to the dorm area under the gaze of a figure hiding among the nearby trees.

***

Today was another Combat Training class. The three supervisors of the class could be seen sparring with the students quite a distance apart from one another at the training ground. The students had been separated into three groups, and Drai was currently watching Samara who had just finished her current spar.

"Decent, Smith. You're aware of the pros and cons of your bladed body and you've adjusted your strategy in an attempt to complement and cover those variables. However, your skill execution leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever you were going to use a skill, your movement halted and your fluidity was disturbed. This meant that you're still not used to incorporating your skills during combat, and that is why I've mentioned repeatedly that training skills in isolation won't necessarily improve their effectiveness in actual combat scenarios. Had you manually attack me instead, it would've been much more effective. So train your skills more."

"And this advice applies to all of you too," Samara gestured toward the observing students of her group. "Train your System skills until they become natural enough to use regardless of the situation. I know that most skills are limited to mana or other similar finite resources, but that's more of a reason why you should strive to get the most out of your training unless your family runs a mana potion business. Now, for the next student… Janet, come forward."

As Smith returned to the group, a girl with uncannily lanky limbs stepped forward. While she started her spar with the professor, Drai didn't pay much attention because he was thinking about Samara's words.

'At first, I had thought that having skills was a definite advantage during combat and an instant power boost, but it seems like it isn't that simple. Maybe my thinking is true for fights between beginners like us first-years, but for the more advanced fighters, one's lack of proficiency with skills is probably pretty obvious and can possibly be exploited to their advantage instead.

'I did think that skills are instantly mastered after obtaining them and don't require much training to use them, but now I realize it's not as simple as pressing a button to execute a skill effectively. Maybe my lack of skills is a blessing in disguise since I can focus on all the basics that I'm still lacking instead.'

Right after Drai was finished his thoughts, the spar had ended. These evaluative spars only lasted briefly due to Samara's quick and precise judgement of her opponent's strengths and flaws. After giving some advice to Janet, Samara called for the next student.

"Drai, come forward."

Drai walked toward Samara before stopping several feet away from her. He took his stance and focused on the professor. Samara nodded, signaling the start of the spar. Drai immediately launched himself forward. However, to the surprise of the observing students, Drai proceeded to kick the ground—as if he were kicking a ball—in the middle of his tracks, launching a pile of dirt and rocks toward the professor.

Seeing this surprise attack, Samara smirked before moving to her right, evading the mini avalanche. Drai quickly pursued her and launched a quick clothesline which was deftly dodged by Samara. She quickly countered with a low kick to knock Drai off balance, but her kick was repelled by Drai's sheer robustness.

'He knows his high toughness gives him a lot of leeway with his defensive measures, and it's not like I can use my whole strength either for this spar,' Samara thought as she distanced herself away.

Seeing the professor slipping away, Drai immediately took out a rock from his storage and punched it toward Samara. This was his new method to deal with agile opponents, and Drai felt it was a suitable situation to use it.

With a loud bang, pieces of rocks flew toward Samara, who proceeded to knock the dangerous ones off-course. However, Drai's figure was charging at full speed following the hail of rocks. This time he chose to forgo any punches or kicks and simply attempted to smash the professor with his right shoulder.

'I can't avoid this with my restricted speed,' Samara thought as she knocked away the few last rocks before she was launched away by Drai's shoulder smash. Samara did a backward somersault before landing herself on the ground.

Drai was in the middle of another charge when he suddenly saw Samara raise her arm, indicating the end of their spar. He stopped himself and nodded as he walked back to the place they were standing prior to the spar, which was soon followed by the professor.

"Good fight, Drai. You know your advantage lies in direct clashes and your newfound skill was aptly executed. If I hadn't jumped away right as you slammed into me to reduce the force, I probably would've been injured," Samara said.

Drai nodded without being complacent. He was aware that the professor probably didn't even use 30% of her strength nor did she use any skills.

"I would say that your overall training is heading in the right direction, although there's one thing I'm quite curious of," Samara said as she walked closer to Drai. She then asked in a low voice to avoid being heard by the other students, "Why didn't you use any of your class skills? Are you reluctant to use them because of my earlier words?"

"Umm… I don't actually have any skills except for a passive one, Professor," Drai answered truthfully.

"Really?" Samara remarked surprisedly. "Can you tell my why if you don't mind?" Samara inquired while assessing the young man in front of her. She was probably thinking along similar lines as the scouts did after Drai's awakening.

"Well…" Drai muttered slowly as he was reminded once again of Christo's warning, but decided that this wasn't that big of a deal and continued, "…I've only been offered one other skill and it's pretty costly. That's why I haven't been able to obtain it even until now, let alone use it."

Upon hearing Drai's explanation, Samara furrowed her brows as she found this to be quite odd. Drai was the first student she had ever known to be in such a circumstance. She stared quietly at Drai, perhaps trying to figure out whether Drai was telling the truth as it sounded pretty absurd.

Eventually, Samara spoke up. "Well, if that's the case, there's nothing we can do about it. You should just be patient and focus on the things you can improve right now. But it's really an interesting case. Honestly, it makes me curious about your class… It would be nice if you'd tell me about it whenever you have time," said Samara, which made a cold sweat trickle down Drai's back.

A short distance away, the group of students were loudly murmuring, talking among themselves. Some were bored and were gossiping while others were speculating why Samara's pep talk was taking a while and done quietly.

Realizing the crowd's restlessness, Samara cleared her throat before turning toward the crowd. "Thank you, Drai. Next student… Edwin, come forward!"

As Drai turned toward the crowd, he suddenly heard Samara whisper to him once again.

"How much does that one skill cost?"

Drai smiled helplessly as he didn't know why his professor was so preoccupied with predicament. He turned around a bit and quickly replied, "Forty SP," before walking away.

"Forty SP…" Samara muttered as she stared at Drai's back in bewilderment.

***