Chapter 160: Testing (2)

Thick grey smoke curled off the impact pad as deep cracks spider-webbed across the reinforced alloy face. Above the machine, the digital display numbers spun out of control before flashing a bright, pulsing red.

[IMPACT FORCE: 185.4 TONS — WARNING: SENSOR OVERLOAD]

Silence descended over the testing floor.

The eight technicians stared at the redlining monitor, their jaws practically hitting the floor. Dr. Marcus pulled off his reading glasses, staring at the cracked adamantine block, then at my right fist, which didn’t have a single scratch or red mark on it.

"185 tons...?" one junior technician whispered, her voice trembling. "Without mana reinforcement? That’s... that’s higher than an unbuffed Dragon-kin warrior!"

I pulled my hand back, casually flexing my fingers. "Is the pad alright? I can tone it down if I’m going to break the equipment."

"No! No, it’s fine!" Dr. Marcus yelled quickly, wiping sweat from his forehead as he hurriedly typed on his console. "Move... moving on to Test Two: Kinetic Speed and Evasion Metrics."

The floor beneath the anvil opened up, sinking the ruined impact block into the ground. In its place, a wide, two-hundred-meter track materialized, surrounded by dozens of automated turret arrays mounted along the walls and ceiling.

"This track tests reaction speed, linear velocity, and spatial evasion," Dr. Marcus instructed, his tone noticeably more tense now. "The turrets will fire mana-dense kinetic paint markers at escalating speeds, ranging from Level 1 to Level 10. Level 10 fires at Mach 8. Your goal is to traverse the track while dodging the projectiles."

"Got it," I said, stepping onto the starting line.

"Initiating Speed Test in three... two... one... GO!"

SWOOSH!

The moment the light turned green, I vanished.

I didn’t even use a full sprint. Thanks to the peak physical optimization Paige had granted my body, I simply pushed off my back foot, blurring across the floor.

THWIP-THWIP-THWIP-THWIP!

Dozens of high-speed kinetic markers erupted from the wall turrets, crisscrossing the air in a dense, lethal grid of red light.

Level 1 was cleared in a fraction of a second. Level 3 was bypassed instantly. By the time the system automatically ramped the difficulty up to Level 10, firing hypersonic projectiles in overlapping patterns, I was moving so fast that the high-speed tracking cameras couldn’t capture a clear image of my body.

To the technicians watching the monitors, I appeared as a casual, dark blur swaying effortlessly between the beams. I didn’t waste a single millimeter of movement. A slight tilt of my head here, a smooth sidestep there, spinning past three incoming rounds without losing an ounce of momentum.

STEP.

Two seconds later, I crossed the finish line at the far end of the track, standing completely still.

I turned around, smoothing down my collar. There wasn’t a single spot of red paint on my suit, shirt, or shoes.

The telemetry display above the track hummed softly before updating the final score.

[ELAPSED TIME: 0.84 SECONDS]

[PROJECTILES DODGED: 450/450 (100% ACCURACY)]

[MAXIMUM VELOCITY: MACH 9.2]

"Mach 9..." Dr. Marcus muttered, clutching his terminal with pale knuckles. "He dodged a point-blank Mach 8 volley and actually accelerated past it..."

Over in the observation booth, Lord Victor stood with his hands behind his back, a quiet, satisfied smile resting on his face.

"Let us proceed to Test Three: Physical Structural Durability," Victor’s voice echoed smoothly through the intercom. "Bring out the Kinetic Compression Chamber."

A massive cylindrical glass-and-steel chamber descended from the ceiling, sealing itself over the center platform.

"This chamber subjects the body to localized gravitational pressure and omnidirectional kinetic shockwaves," Dr. Marcus explained, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "We will scale the pressure from Stage 1 up to Stage 5. Stage 5 simulates the physical pressure found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, paired with continuous explosive impacts. Press the red emergency button inside if your bones begin to crack. Or we’ll just stop if we see an emergency."

"Understood," I replied, stepping inside the chamber as the heavy steel doors sealed shut with an airtight hiss.

"Initiating Durability Test... Stage 1."

A heavy, invisible weight settled onto the room. Ordinary humans would have been pinned to the floor instantly, but to me, it felt like someone had tossed a light wool blanket over my shoulders.

"Stage 3." The air inside the chamber distorted. The gravitational force multiplied, and continuous kinetic shockwaves slammed into my body from every angle like invisible sledgehammers.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

My clothes fluttered against the wind pressure, but my posture remained completely straight. I stood in the center of the glass tube, my hands resting comfortably in my trouser pockets, looking back at the control room with an unbothered expression.

"He’s... he isn’t even bending his knees!" a technician gasped, checking the diagnostic readouts. "Increase to Stage 5!"

"Stage 5 active!"

BOOOM-!!

The floor beneath the chamber groaned under the absurd pressure. The reinforced runic glass turned dark purple as the gravitational density hit its maximum, pounding my frame with enough kinetic force to reduce a battle tank into a flat metal pancake.

Inside the chamber, I let out a small yawn. I reached up with one hand, casually adjusting my shirt cuffs, entirely unaffected by the crushing force around me.

DING!

The timer hit zero, and the pressure instantly depressurized with a loud hiss of steam. The heavy glass doors slid open.

I stepped out of the chamber, rolling my shoulders casually. "Is there a Stage 6, or was that the cap?"

Dr. Marcus stood frozen behind his console, staring at me as if I were an ancient mythical beast wearing a tailored suit. He slowly looked down at his digital tablet, tapping a few keys before raising his head to look at Lord Victor in the observation booth.

"Lord Victor..." Dr. Marcus said, his voice dry and breathless. "His raw physical parameters... strength, speed, reaction time, and kinetic durability... are all rated at Peak S-Class. And he achieved this without channeling a single drop of external mana or activating a physical transformation."