Once he logged out of Zenith Online, Kieran waited for the hiss from all the functions powering down to stop. Then, with the airlock disabled, he removed it from his head.
?α?dαsηθνε| After removing the helmet from his head, Kieran swiftly noticed that he wasn't the only individual inside the room.
Aside from him and Dr. Riley, there was also Altair, who was having comprehensive testing done. Considering the experiences Altair had accrued thus far, it was likely that this testing related to obtaining his Shadow Dancer Legacy.
Curious, Kieran picked up Altair's chart on Dr. Riley's desk and perused the information, searching for anything unnatural that could be of use to him.
Of course, Kieran wasn't completely familiar with the information on the tablet, so most of the information on it was useless jargon that escaped his understanding.
But what Kieran did note, however, was a comparison made between himself and Altair's overall comprehensive health screening.
'According to this information, Altair's Health isn't too far off from mine, but there are some apparent differences.'
One example of such differences was the way their bodies reacted to X-hancers. Though Altair's body was more receptive than the rest, even initially, his body suddenly started to absorb a higher concentration of X-hancers with less waste.
'So I guess this confirms it. Receiving the power of a Myth's Legacy somehow improves our bodies in the real world. However, the improvement varies based on when it is obtained and how much of the legacy is understood. My only question is… is it also capable of altering all of our personalities as well?' Kieran wondered, emphasizing his last question.
If he considered Altair's attitude in the past, it was despondent and distant, a feeling that he somewhat lacked at the moment.
Then again, Kieran wasn't complaining. He preferred this version of Altair that looked out for his comrades' safety over the wounded and shielded grim lone wolf he once was.
However, Dr. Riley and Altair soon noticed the movement coming from Kieran's general direction. With that, they looked at him, curious as to why he was already out of the game.
After all, it hadn't been that long since he logged back in.
At least, not in their opinion.
Kieran was known to remain inside Zenith Online for several days at a time before logging out for a second, where most people would miss any interaction with him.
"Yo, how's the body feeling?" Kieran questioned once he noticed that Altair's attention was on him.
"Light. And sturdier," Altair responded.
"Is that so? Care to find out just how light and sturdy?" Kieran asked, his expression showcasing his desire to battle properly.
Before answering, however, Altair turned to Dr. Riley as if awaiting her input. In response, she glimpsed between Kieran and Altair silently at first before ultimately giving a stiff nod.
"If you two want to battle it out, then be my guest. The diagnostic is pretty much over. Anything else that needs to be tested or recorded will happen later on, or the system will do so itself with the collected data," she told them.
As soon as he received the okay, Altair hopped out of the zero-gravity training treadmill outfitted with a strange fluid to make even walking extremely difficult before staring at Kieran.
"Ready when you are, Kieran," Altair remarked.
"Understood. Let's get to it." Kieran nodded.
…
A few minutes later…
Kieran and Altair stood across from each other in battle stances while blanketed by the setting of the facility's large-scale training area.
It wasn't something they used often, but it did experience occasional use when Altair trained Bastion and the others at once.
Surprisingly, even Dr. Riley joined in on their training due to Kieran's instruction. While he had agreed to be her trainer, she understood that there'd be times when he was unavailable, so she'd have to rely upon others for assistance.
After inching forward until he adopted a wide stance, Altair narrowed his silver eyes as they focused in on a vital part of Kieran's body.
Under these circumstances, Altair chose to aim for Kieran's throat.
Suddenly, an alarm blared in their ears, signifying the start of their small contest of power.
"Go!" Kieran bellowed.
Whoosh!
With great speed, Altair darted at Kieran with almost soundless movements. He was much faster than he was before, and this much was to be expected.
With the consistent training and greater access to X-hancers, his body was evolving quickly, but not at a rate that matched Kieran's frightening progress.
Scrutinizing Altair's movements with absurd precision, Kieran's pupils shifted across several areas of Altair's body before he chose to act, neutralizing every strike Altair threw at him, including the sneaky attacks aimed at his vital points.
Especially those attacks.
'He's very quick, astonishingly quick even. Then again, I didn't expect myself to have become so fast, and I'm not talking about my movements,' Kieran thought.ραпdαs `n?ν?| сom
It wasn't something he attempted to do naturally. Altair's movements merely seemed slow from Kieran's perspective.
If someone like Dr. Riley were to switch places with Kieran, she would have frozen on the spot due to the sheer speed of Altair's movements.
'Is this related to my Hypervigilance that I trained last time? As far as I'm aware, it can improve how intense one's perception is. However, that doesn't explain why my body, which was admittedly lacking in comparison, can keep up to a certain extent.'
Curious about it all, Kieran chose to become more engrossed in the ongoing training battle.
Once he noticed his current approach was laughably ineffective, Altair decided to switch up his style, including many feints in his attacks.
Some were executed so well that it was hard to distinguish them from actual attacks.
The difficulty of it all was understandable, though, seeing as Altair was currently mimicking some of his class skills, which were perfected by Zephyr.
Nevertheless, the perfected nature of these innate skills didn't do much for Altair when it came to overwhelming Kieran.
Swoosh!
Kieran evaded Altair's series of sharp strikes before slapping his hand away and half-balling his fist. As his punch was about to make contact with Altair's rib, Kieran pulled back, though the transmission of some force still occurred.
Surprisingly, that was still enough to make Altair groan and retreat with a few large backpedals. 'I saw it… Kieran pulled his punch in the end, but what the hell is this frightening sensation?'
In the meantime, Kieran stared at his fist, taken aback.
He was familiar with what had just occurred because it was a sign of increasing mental power. 'Force Discharge. But… isn't it too early? I don't feel like my mental capabilities are comparable to that time. Or maybe… does it have something to do with my healthier body?'
Right now, Kieran was having some difficulty comparing his current parameters to what he possessed in the past at the same stage.
After all, he didn't, or rather couldn't, account for some anomalies. Still, his assumptions were more or less accurate in this situation.
Force Discharge was nothing tangible; it was merely the byproduct of his healthy attack. Mixing his current attainments of the Inhuman Threshold with the present limits of his physical body created a situation he was not prepared for.
Though he was not powerful enough to be considered an Infighter-type Inhuman, with the techniques at his disposal and the instinct branded upon his soul, it wasn't incorrect to call him a pseudo-Infighter.
Cautious, Altair now viewed Kieran differently, regarding his strikes as unimaginably dangerous. After all, a proper connection could lead to several broken bones.
Yet, this danger excited him. It awakened a bestial instinct within Altair that made his eyes shimmer with a strange glow.
'It's that unusual ability again. I believe the Wiyans called it the Primal Urge. I'm curious to know its effects,' Dr. Riley mused, becoming deeply invested in the ongoing training session.
"Again!" Altair exclaimed, following up his shout with a lightning-quick bum rush.
In contrast, Kieran remained rooted in place, curious to learn more about his Infighter-type capabilities.
Could he repeatedly obtain these weakened versions of Force Discharge?
Zealous in his pursuit of this answer, Kieran controlled himself to unleash attacks that combated all of Altair's approaches. Whenever he successfully slapped away one of Altair's strikes, Kieran would respond with an attempt to release another Force Discharge.
However, the output of it and its success rate varied greatly depending on the type of action Kieran performed.
For example, he couldn't get his kicks to cause a Force Discharge at all. On the other hand, when Kieran tweaked his punches to pull them back at the last possible moment, the sudden change resulted in a discharge.
Eventually, Kieran realized that what he was doing was merely turning the air into his weapon, rather than actually performing a true Force Discharge.
There was no mental energy coating the attack at all.
'A strike so precise it mimics a Mental Technique? How strange…' Kieran thought, mystified by the abilities his return granted. If he were a normal person, unleashing this would be next to impossible.
What Kieran relied upon was something no other person could—a set of integrated instincts and memories.
Soon enough, Kieran put an end to this bout, passively disarming and neutralizing Altair. "You've grown so much faster."
"Yes… but you've grown both faster AND stronger. Also, your movements are sharper and more lethal," Altair replied, gradually reining in his desire to continue fighting. Once the Primal Urge died down, Kieran released his hands.
"I've had more time with my class. It's only a matter of time until your body assimilates more of its traits. If our situations are identical, that is," Kieran replied.
"Ah, so that's what this is. Zenith Online is so unusual. No wonder so many companies are reaching out to guilds or spending an absurd amount of money," Altair muttered in response.
"Yeah." Kieran chuckled lightly. "Speaking of which, is everyone ready to visit Minence City? We'll need to leave very shortly."
Altair nodded. "I can have Nemean and Alice get them prepared."
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