Location: Underground Facility, Training Grounds
"Kurome, stop. You're overdoing it."
Noah quietly warned the girl, who had already pushed herself into overtraining, and made her stop exercising.
He had analyzed the drugs these children used, and the chemical composition was reckless.
Aside from directly altering muscle density, most of the medicinal efficacy required high-intensity training to fully squeeze out their physical potential.
Until he spoke up to stop her, the girl's training regimen could only be described as suicidal.
She cared nothing for physical fatigue, maintaining her high-intensity training without a single break.
Coupled with the brutal effects of the drugs, Kurome's physical abilities were improving rapidly, but this efficiency came at the heavy cost of her natural lifespan.
"I can still keep going," Kurome gasped, her chest heaving.
Seeing her still trying to act tough, Noah replied, "Is that so? Then stop for a moment. I have something I want to tell you."
Kurome gave him a confused look, lowering her wooden training sword and temporarily stopping.
But right at that exact moment, her vision blurred, and she felt the entire world begin to spin.
Thud.
The girl collapsed to the ground.
Her entire body felt unresponsive, twitching slightly, though her numb nerves could barely feel it.
'Huh?'
She was bewildered.
Even though her consciousness was still clear, her body seemed to have slipped out of her control.
Because she didn't quite understand what was happening, she tried to use her trembling hands to push herself back up.
After a strenuous effort, her arms gave out.
"Wh-Why..." Kurome's face twisted with frustration.
She desperately wanted to see her older sister sooner.
The only reason they were separated was because her sister was naturally more outstanding than she was, compared to her, she was simply too weak.
Therefore, she had to work harder!
She needed to catch up to her sister's shadow as quickly as possible.
Obviously, there was no time to waste here, so why wasn't her body listening to her?!
Seeing the despair filling her expression, Noah leaned down to explain.
"The fatigue accumulated in your muscles has erupted all at once," Noah said gently. "For today, at least, you probably won't be able to move. Next time, you need to strictly adhere to the designated training volume, understood?"
In truth, to squeeze every ounce of value out of these living tools, the Empire had formulated a reckless, lethal training plan.
Many children dropped out halfway because they couldn't endure the cruel training, and were subsequently disposed of in secret.
Yet Kurome had pushed even further under this harsh regimen.
Her physical collapse was inevitable, rather, if it weren't for a powerful, desperate will sustaining her, she would have burned out and died long ago.
"Just this isn't enough... Sis... Sister."
Before passing out, the girl kept murmuring, reaching her small hand forward as if trying to touch something.
But the distance was far too great, preventing her from getting her wish.
Seeing that she had lost consciousness, Noah subtly manipulated Weaver to heal her.
The damage from the drugs was irreversible, but it wasn't impossible to mitigate.
Ever since he became more familiar with the members of Class A, he would secretly repair their failing organs whenever no one was watching.
If he kept this up long-term, it might extend their lifespans by five to ten years.
Provided, of course, that they didn't die in battle during a mission.
"What happened to Kurome?!"
Seeing their companion fall, Gin, Womyn, and the others gathered around in a panic.
"Supervisor, what exactly...?"
"What's wrong with Kurome, is she sick?"
Bombarded by the group's frantic questions, Noah waved his hand and answered calmly, "She simply overexerted her physical strength. Don't copy her. Also, Natala, you haven't finished your tasks for today."
"Ah..." Natala scratched his head, looking guilty.
As the only boy in the group, being surpassed by the girls—Kurome, Gin, and Womyn—made him feel a bit embarrassed.
The thick-nerved Remus patted the boy's shoulder and mocked, "Hahaha, Natala, you actually haven't finished yet?"
Seeing her arrogant attitude, Natala asked in astonishment, "D-Don't tell me even you...?"
"Oh, I haven't finished either."
Natala: "..."
Noah reminded her, "Not only have you not finished, you haven't even done half the required amount. If this keeps up, your dinner will be canceled."
"Ehhhhhhhhh!!!"
Hearing that her dinner might be canceled, Remus immediately shrieked and ran back to the training dummies.
But with her clumsy efficiency, whether she could ultimately finish before curfew was a fifty-fifty chance at best.
Excluding the two with the worst scores, the current combat performance ranking for Class A was roughly: Kurome > Gin > Natala > Womyn > Remus.
Even though she acted like an idiot, Remus's physical talent was still slightly better than an ordinary person's.
At the very least, her luck was stronger than the other children who died during the selection trials.
....
Two Days Later
Gozuki arrived at the underground lab carrying a heavy crate containing the items Noah had been eagerly anticipating—Shingu!
There were three items in total placed on the metal experimental table: a pair of heavy gauntlets, a massive two-handed greatsword, and a long katana.
"Unlike the Imperial Arms, Shingu don't actively choose or reject their users. You can try them out to see what kind of power they possess." Gozuki raised his hand, gesturing for him to go ahead.
Noah stepped forward, first sweeping his gaze over the three Shingu individually, then reached out and firmly grasped the heavy two-handed greatsword.
Appraisal.
[Water Dragon Sword]
Type: Shingu
Ability: Upon activation, it immensely enhances the user's physical combat power for three minutes. After the amplification period ends, the user will fall into a state of crippling fatigue.
Hmm?
From the moment he grasped the hilt, Noah sensed the violent energy hidden within the Water Dragon Sword.
He tried to drive the weapon with his mind, and a massive surge of power immediately flooded into his nervous system.
Seeing this, Gozuki revealed an incredulous expression.
He exclaimed in amazement, "You actually unleashed the latent power of the Water Dragon Sword that easily?!"
In response to his shock, Noah asked back, "Didn't you just say that Shingu don't pick their users like Imperial Arms do? Doesn't that mean anyone who gets their hands on them can use them?"
"How is that possible..." Gozuki rubbed his forehead, looking baffled. "Usually, when someone first obtains a Shingu or an Imperial Arm, even swinging it normally doesn't feel natural. It requires time to sync up with the weapon's wavelength, let alone activating the dormant abilities within the core. That's something that usually takes years of dedicated training to achieve."
"Is that so?"
Noah nodded in understanding, then immediately checked his own Falna status.
All his physical attribute values temporarily increased by 150 points.
'I see. The way the Water Dragon Sword increases combat power is by allowing the residual genetic power of the Danger Beast within it to fuse with the human body for a short period.'
Correspondingly, during the ability's amplification period, the user's physical characteristics would also visibly take on the traits of a Danger Beast.
Noah looked in the reflective glass of the lab window.
He saw that his hair had become somewhat bristled, appearing thicker and wilder.
At the same time, the shape of his pupils changed, becoming slit-like, cold, and full of feral ferocity, and his skin seemed to have grown a little paler.
'So this is the state of being influenced by the Danger Beast's genetic factors.'
A simple, brutal ability.
It was strong, and the stamina side effects were just as obvious.
He set the heavy sword down and the feral features immediately faded.
Then, onto the next one. He picked up the katana.
[KiriIchimonji]
Type: Shingu
Origin: A weapon forged by the Western Kingdom known as a "Katana".
Ability: Wounds slashed open by this cursed blade cannot heal or coagulate.
'A blade that prevents wounds from healing, huh? Just so-so.'
Weapons like this often have high requirements for the user's base physical speed and dexterity.
Even if such a lethal weapon is given to a rookie, it's impossible for them to scratch a seasoned master.
If the weapon's inherent ability cannot be utilized because the user is too slow, it loses all its meaning.
Through Appraisal, Noah traced back to the biological source of its forging materials—a rare, critically endangered Danger Beast without a single reported sighting in the last fifteen years.
It possessed razor-sharp claws, once slashed by them, the wound would bleed endlessly and be unable to heal. Its genetic essence was something akin to a supernatural "poison" that actively hindered blood coagulation.
The existence of Danger Beasts—although possessing formidable raw power, capable of wiping out nations and slaughtering tribes—seemed not to have a particularly high "tier" of conceptual power.
He had seen a similar ability before. It was the innate Device of his third-year senior, Ayase Ayatsuji, back at Hagun Academy.
Ayatsuji's ability was Tearing Wounds, an anomaly capable of conceptually expanding injuries.
Her Noble Art, "Gale Claw Marks," was an incredibly powerful conceptual interference-type ability. If slashed by her Scarlet Claw, it would result in severe injuries at the very least.
Especially on vital points—if attacked by the conceptual interference of tearing wounds, even a mere paper cut could result in a one-hit kill as the wound ripped itself open.
If it were him, and he was cut by this Kiri Ichimonji causing endless bleeding, he would simply need to use Weaver to expel the poisonous energy itself to return to normal, or directly manipulate his own blood to forcibly coagulate and stop the bleeding.
In short, he had several easy methods to counter it.
Putting down the katana, Noah looked at the last Shingu.
'This is...? Arm guards—no, heavy gauntlets.'
Appraisal.
[Crushing King]
Type: Shingu
Ability: Grants the equipper extraordinary kinetic strength. Overuse of the ability may cause severe stress fractures to the user's own bones.
'This thing..... It's the same type of brute-force equipment as the Raven Feather.'
Noah put on the Crush King gauntlets and briefly felt the massive amplification of his arm strength.
He first swung the heavy metal through the air a few times, then clenched his steel-plated fists at nothing.
As the name implied, if someone were hit by this thing, their head would most likely explode into pieces with a loud bang, just like a dropped watermelon.
This name was surprisingly fitting.
"To resort to pulling this batch of failed weapons out of the vault... is the Empire's political situation really that bad?" Noah asked Gozuki, sliding the gauntlets off.
If there was anyone who truly understood the current state of this country, the man in front of him was definitely one of them: the leader of the Empire's elite assassination squad.
Even if Gozuki was unwilling to answer, Noah could pretty much guess the gist of it.
If things hadn't reached a boiling point, the Empire probably wouldn't have activated the "Enhanced Unit" project.
As far as he knew, although there were many minor assassination units right now, by and large, there were only two core teams that mattered.
One was the elite unit directly commanded and cultivated by Gozuki himself.
Next was the experimental "Enhanced Unit," which included the members of Class A whom he was responsible for.
"Enhanced Unit" was just a superficial, clean-sounding term.
In reality, it was a suicide squad composed of enhanced orphans whose bodies had been illegally modified through toxic drugs.
Neither team had been deployed in actual combat yet; both were still strictly in the training phase.
The air blades and gravity rings that Gozuki asked him for earlier, along with the few Shingu sitting here, should all be the supplies desperately needed to cultivate the elite unit faster.
'Hmm?'
Seemingly not expecting Noah to ask such a blunt political question, Gozuki was momentarily stunned.
Then, he sneered, leaning against the lab table. "If it's you asking, I suppose there's no harm in telling you."
"This Empire, born a millennium ago, is currently facing the emergence of many regions across the country with blatant, organized anti-state ideologies. And yes, it's all due to the severe corruption of the central government."
"We, the heads of the intelligence agencies, are concerned about this rising rebellion. For this purpose, a specialized unit strictly responsible for assassinating those rebel leaders has been established. To prevent enemy infiltration, all the chosen members are pure orphans raised specifically as living weapons."
Noah frowned slightly.
'Since the Empire's problems obviously stem from the corrupt officials in the Imperial Capital, why don't you try to assassinate them and change this country instead?'
Of course, Noah wouldn't ask such a naive question out loud.
First of all, not to mention whether Gozuki was personally a part of the corruption, he was at least one of its willing enablers.
Secondly, the Empire's officials take their absolute orders from the Emperor, prioritizing the Emperor's commands above all else.
And the current Emperor... is hopeless.
Prime Minister Honest manipulated the young emperor like a puppet.
In other words, the entire Empire was essentially forced to obey the Prime Minister's orders.
And of course, the Prime Minister was not so bored that he would punish himself.
Nor was he a wise minister.
He was a greedy and insatiable man of power.
If there was anyone left in the entire Empire capable of restraining him, then it was probably only Great General Budo.
But Budo was a "traditional and rigid" man of foolish loyalty.
He acknowledged the system of the military handling external affairs while civil officials handled internal affairs, and he stubbornly upheld the principle of not using military power to interfere in politics.
That was precisely why the Prime Minister could so recklessly manipulate the young emperor without restraint.
"From what you're saying, rebellions have already broken out across the country, and even now they're still gradually fermenting. Yet this so-called assassination unit has only been established for a short period of time, so there's no one available to use?"
What was this supposed to be?
A collapsing empire?
Should he start planning how to run if the Empire ended up destroyed?
His original plan might have been far too slow.
He needed to rise through the ranks faster and quickly obtain the qualifications to come into contact with Teigu.
If the Empire was destroyed before he achieved his goal, then wouldn't all his work have been for nothing?
No.
Things like air blades and gravity rings were too small-scale.
Although they had enormous practical value, they required time before their effects could fully show.
He had to create something bold enough.
Something with enough impact to alarm higher-ranking figures who could actually help him.