CHAPTER 54: A NEW RECORD!

In the end, being able to get a technique of their own was a pipe dream of every Altered, knowing that their chances of doing so were essentially nill.

Enlisting in the military for a minimum of 6 months was mandatory for all citizens the moment they make the choice of stepping through the teleporter into the Beast Domain and officially becoming an Altered.

The ongoing war with the Demon race mandated such a strict conscription, but it wasn’t as bad as it seemed on paper.

Most people weren’t fighters despite being Altered, so they were only given the most basic training and sent to the back lines and technical side of the military, while the actual fighters had a greater chance of being sent to the front lines, or any similar area where the chances of seeing action were much higher.

Nick had thought about this, since he naturally had to sign up for the military some day too, but he still had plenty of time before even considering that.

He until he was 30 years old to sign up, so by the time he did so, he didn’t even know how much stronger he’d be than he was at the moment!

Back to the present, Nick didn’t bother listening to anymore of the gossip surrounding Kye, and chose instead to see what all the fuss was about himself.

He’d never seen an elite in action before, so he was rather curious to see what the difference between him and Kye would be.

Though he wasn’t forgetting that Dido was an elite in her own right, but Nick was suffering in the stomach of the Whiteclaw Snake King, so he wasn’t really able to witness any of her prowess in action...

So this was his first time actually seeing an elite in person.

He was just curious, he wasn’t there to measure himself against some prodigy elite born with a golden spoon.

Even so, his gaze still followed the crowd, gathering on one particular screen where through the transparent barriers and the hazy shimmer of the heat resistant walls at the edge of the environmental testing room, he caught a faint glimpse of a figure moving through bursts of flame and falling debris with incredible fluidity.

The figure was fast, unbelievably so for an Altered.

Nick exhaled through his nose, very surprised by what he was seeing.

He could be mistaken, but Kye seemed to be moving faster than the limit imposed for Radiant Altered...

Which meant that he’d already acquired quite a high amount of Radiant Soul Seeds, and attained a decent mastery of his family’s technique...

’Tsk, still just a lucky brat. He’s had all his gifts handed to him, while I’ve earned mine through my own blood, sweat and tears.’

Nick tried to console his jealousy by reminding himself of his own achievements, which worked for the most part, but there was still a faint hint of jealousy buried within.

He was still just a hot blooded youth, just like everyone else there, so it was hard to suppress such emotions.

After a few more minutes, and after passing through the last few environments, Kye’s test came to an end.

"Holy shit! That’s a new record for Terminus!"

"Damn, he actually did it!"

"Kyaaa! I knew my Kye could do it!"

The cheers and shouts of the nearby Altered and... fangirls, could be heard the moment his result showed up on the big screen.

Naturally, there was a lot of fanfare from even the training centre’s system itself, since a new record wasn’t something that could be seen every day.

In fact, it became harder and harder to beat as more time passed, as even with the addition of new, stronger techniques being created and passed down through the years, there was still a hard limit for Altered that was impossible to push past without ascending.

75 BF was the real, actual limit for such Altered, even if they had all the resources of the entire Federation at their disposal.

This was still an incredible milestone itself though, as it nearly made them as strong as an Evolver, just in their base strength as well!

’8 minutes 49 seconds... That’s a whole 10 seconds faster than the previous record...’

Nick was also quite shocked by the record being broken, and by such a large amount as well.

’To achieve that, he must he near or even over 70 BF already...’

To know that Kye was near the hard limit for Altered, Nick was slightly disheartened, but didn’t let it show.

He kept reminding himself that he was from an entirely different world to prodigies and elites like him.

Though he also started to develop a distaste for Kye himself, separate from his distaste for the Renfield family.

With his status and influence, forget even the private testing halls in the Altered testing centre, his family probably had their own private testing centres in many of their properties across Terminus, so why would such an elite like him come to the cheap, public testing centre to test his speed?

To show off, obviously.

Nick could accept him being different and better than him due to his background, but to flaunt it in front of everyone like this was what pissed him off.

It only riled him up, making him even more eager to test his own speed and see where he placed now!

Kye left the testing centre without even giving a glance to the nearby Altered, since everyone there, despite having some wealth and influence of their own, were practically the same paupers in his eyes.

"Speed testing chamber 03 is now available. Next Altered in queue, please prepare for entrance."

Soon, Nick’s number was called, freeing him from the chaotic atmosphere that had erupted in the hall after Kye’s record breaking display.

Some heads were turned towards Nick when he entered the speed testing chamber, as the excitement from Kye’s performance had yet to die down, making them want to watch a few more Altered take the test before leaving.

Subject: Nick

Speed Evaluation: Unregistered

Battle Force Evaluation: Unregistered

However, when they saw he was just another newbie taking the test for the first time, their interest quickly waned.

But there was one set of eyes that eyed Nick’s testing chamber like a hawk.

’So his name’s Nick? Hmm.’

Beast Slayer noted the name down, finally learning the waste’s real name.

But even he was in a bad mood after seeing Kye’s performance.

’Looks like little brother’s improved again. Tsk, those old fogies must have ramped up their training for his technique to reach such a level.’

If his thoughts were voiced aloud, his disdain would have rocked through the entire hall.