Star Forge Titan

Then he stood aside and thought about how to deal with this matter.

The Flawless Gem - Sea of ​​Miracles, was undoubtedly an extremely precious treasure. Furthermore, judging by the Great Mystery Ritual of the Origin, previously bestowed upon him by the Eye of Prophecy, Ishtarli, across time and space, it seemed to be something different from the other Flawless Gems, a treasure connected to the Titan heritage, just like the Eternal Flame.

Could it be an artificial gem?

Artificial flawless gems, if it were a Titan, this wouldn't seem impossible.

For a moment, Alvin had a headache.

His ethics wouldn't allow him to drive a Titan like a bandit, steal the Duchess's gems, and run away.

But the reality is that if he wants to take the Titan bloodline a step further, he needs to use the power of the flawless gem - the Sea of ​​Miracles to hold the second stage of the Great Mystery, in order to finally complete the awakening of the soul of King Uranus and achieve the sublimation of life form, and make the bloodline awakening to a deeper level.

Well, I'll just put this aside for now. You know, I'll soon have the chance to pilot a Colossus in real life. But before that, I obviously need to undergo the full training required to become a Colossus pilot, even though I've already undergone it, in a sense, and it's an enhanced and improved version.

Looking at the embarrassed Armstrong, Ivan spoke first while the other students were still hesitating:

"Mr. Armstrong, may I try this training machine?"

"Of course I can, but..." Armstrong glanced at the Duchess who was still retching, his face full of helplessness and a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

"Unless you give up being a driver, you'll have to try it sooner or later. Besides, as a man, there are always things you have to do." Ivan shrugged and said lightly:

As a time traveler who was familiar with the other party, he certainly knew what kind of words would immediately ignite this middle-aged man with a passionate knight soul.

"Oh, boy, these words really make my blood boil!" Armstrong instantly forgot that he almost shook the brain of a royal member.

Next is the machine debugging. The mice enter the running wheel, no, to be more precise, the trainees enter the machine.

The metal cantilever lifted the spherical pod again. Inside the pod, Alvin looked around curiously.

As a training machine, the interior of the spherical pod wasn't the simulated cockpit he'd envisioned. It seemed Linde's development of pilot training machines hadn't reached the level he'd remembered. Strictly speaking, this spherical pod was merely a device for extreme anti-vertigo training.

Of course, the pod still contained various devices that simulated the cockpit of the Colossus. Although they were just replicas with the same appearance, it still made Ivan feel nostalgic. And it was a double feeling of nostalgia.

It is both a remembrance of being a giant driver in the game, galloping across the battlefield with a huge body, and a remembrance of the feeling of omnipotence when oneself transforms into a giant god.

Unfortunately, I am not strong enough now. The giant god form is like an ultimate skill with a very long CD and cannot be used easily.

"Confirm that the safety device is in place." Armstrong's voice came from the wired communicator.

This is one of the projects being researched by the New Era Institute. It has not yet been used on a large scale outside the institute, but some departments in need within the institute have begun to try to install and use it.

"Please wait a moment." Ivan pulled down the safety bar which was wrapped in flexible material on the outside and solid metal on the inside, and then confirmed that the seat belts on his shoulders and waist were fastened.

"The safety device is in place." The black-haired boy said into the communicator:

"Okay, start the machine and you can start training at any time, but remember, please start from the first gear and don't try to be too brave!" Armstrong's voice was extremely serious.

Although he was not in a position to directly say, "Don't learn from the Duke's daughter," the meaning of his words of advice was very clear.

This made Catherine, who was supported by Diana and came to the back of the transparent shelter, feel embarrassed. Even though she was leaning against the silver-haired girl beside her, the Duchess's bright red lips were still pouting so high that an oil bottle could almost be hung on them.

"I understand." Alvin didn't say much, but just shifted the gear to third gear in one breath.

Armstrong's eyes widened. Are all young people these days so reckless? Why another one?!

The steel cantilever connected to the spherical pod began to rotate irregularly, and the speed also reached the third gear level with a very obvious upward trend.

At this moment, the rotating boom was already creating gusts of wind in the training room. But that wasn't the end of it. Inside the high-speed spherical pod, Ivan, with a nonchalant expression, calmly pressed the gear adjuster.

He had initially thought his untrained body might have some adverse reactions, so he simply shifted to third gear. But after a few minutes, not only did he not feel any discomfort, but from sitting for so long, he actually felt a little... a little sleepy?

This subtle feeling is just like calling a bathhouse chef to come over and give you a scrub, but the one who comes is a little girl with thin arms and who looks like she has no flesh on her body.

What? Master, haven't you eaten yet? Not good~.JPG

At this moment, the black-haired boy had a similar thought in his mind. So, without hesitation, he pushed the gear indicating the training intensity to the highest level.

Wow, now the entire training room is like twelve high-power fans turned on at once, and the cantilever that rotates at high speed and changes direction at high frequency brings up strong winds.

Even when standing behind a transparent shelter made of hardened crystal, the students still felt their hair being blown upwards by the turbulent air currents, and their ears were filled with the whistling sound of the wind, making it almost impossible to hear any other sound.

"Mr. Armstrong, is this level of training really irrelevant to a newcomer?" Rimore couldn't help but shout.

Although he was a bit proud, after experiencing all the things that happened before, he at least regarded Ivan and others as companions, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious at this moment.

Moreover, given the current situation, considering that the wind in the training room was too noisy, if he didn't shout loudly, others might not be able to hear him clearly.

"Hahaha, I don't know! But that guy hasn't called for a stop yet. What a tough man he is!" Armstrong shouted with joy on his face.

"Are you sure it's not because he's already fainted!?!" Catherine couldn't help but ask loudly:

"Hahaha, don't worry, the instrument shows that his four-fluid balance values ​​are still within the safe range, wait..." Armstrong's voice suddenly paused.

"What happened?" Diana, who was originally supporting Catherine, frowned, put the Duchess down and walked towards Armstrong, completely unaware of the resentful look coming from behind her.

"Nothing much, it's just that the boy's heartbeat didn't even increase much, it was like he was just sitting on the couch."

The unexpected words left everyone stunned.

They couldn't help but turn their eyes to the cantilever in the center of the training ground, which had basically been turned into an electric fan.

This speed, this force, this frequency of changes in direction, not even a heartbeat changing, isn't that a bit disrespectful to the machine...

Fifteen minutes later, the boom slowly slowed down, gradually returning to a standstill. Then, the spherical pod, lowered to the ground, was pushed open from the inside, and Ivan emerged calmly. Diana, familiar with him, could even detect a hint of impatience on his calm face.

"Coach, I think I've passed this training, right?" Ivan walked up to the stunned crowd, knocked on the transparent shelter made of hardened crystal, and asked with some boredom:

Armstrong used the hand that was not bandaged to raise his thumb upwards without hesitation as a gesture of approval, and at the same time showed a very bright and generous smile with his two rows of snow-white teeth.

"You're qualified."

Then he turned and looked at the remaining students.

"Whose turn is it next?"

The air in the training room instantly fell into silence.

"Ahem." Limore cleared his throat. Apart from Ivan, Diana and Catherine, he had the best performance among the seven, so he had no choice but to take a step forward.

"It is a great honor for all of us to be able to join this top-secret program led by Director Christina herself."

However, he was clearly not ready to enter the ball that didn't look strange on the outside, but now made people feel inexplicably terrified. So much so that he actually wanted to use a long speech to temporarily delay time.

But Armstrong clearly didn't intend to give him enough time to prepare.

"Blond boy, it seems that you are very brave and understand the importance of honor to a knight." Armstrong clapped his hands vigorously.

"Good! Very spirited! You're next!"

"Wait, I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Limore, who was kicked into the pod by Aunt Catherine for his indecent behavior, immediately made a series of very indecent noises.

Bang! The hatch closed, and the Duchess, still pale, clapped her hands and walked back to the back of the bunker, then smiled at Armstrong.

"Sir, please begin."

"..." Even someone as bold as Armstrong couldn't help but shudder at this moment, as if he was remembering something in the past that made a tough guy like him tremble with fear.

By the way, if I remember correctly, he seemed to have mentioned that he had older sisters in his family, and his position as a younger brother seemed to be only slightly higher than his father's.

Recalling some past events in the game, Ivan's expression became a little subtle.

Anyway, the sound of wind was heard again in the training room, and along with it, the rapidly changing screams of a certain Mr. Wearing His Shirt Inside Out.

None of the other students escaped either, and one by one they tried out this training device, which in the future would have terrifying names such as "Death Yo-Yo" and "Hell Yo-Yo".

Except for Diana who looked slightly pale, all the iron buckets prepared in the training room were used one by one.

On the first day of joining the top-secret Giant God Soldier Project, the first lesson of the seven pilot trainees ended with a subtle smell.

The class seemed to be over, but Armstrong did not immediately announce the end of the get out of class.

He calmly looked at the students with terrible expressions, and then slowly said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, you may think this is the most difficult part of the Giant God project, but I must tell you that this is just an appetizer."

As he spoke, the muscular middle-aged man slowly untied the bandage on his head.

What was revealed made everyone gasp.

"Power and glory are never free; sometimes they even cost one's life."

Chapter 106 The Price of Honor

The coach, Baron Armstrong Krasawa, already had his head wrapped in a thick bandage.

Director Christina also explained that the temporary Giant God pilot and current coach was injured in a previous Giant God activation experiment.

At that time, because of the timely ejection, Armstrong did not lose his life due to the continued deepening of the assimilation reaction, but he did not escape without paying any price.

The layers of white cloth wrapped around the burly man's left eye and about one-third of his skull, making him look a little worse. However, compared to the real side underneath the bandages, a few more strips of cloth were nothing.

As the bandages tumbled down Armstrong's only usable arm, what was revealed was not the bloody and hideous wound the students had expected, but something even more physically unacceptable.

Armstrong had nearly half his head hairless, which is not a big deal for someone with a head injury because doctors often remove all kinds of hair when cleaning the wound to prevent bacteria from accumulating and causing infection.

But after the hair was gone, what replaced it was not a bald scalp with a bluish or red tint, nor was it the open wound that was bleeding and uncomfortable as expected.

Instead, it is a piece of fine blue crystal that grows from the inside out.

The blue-green crystal resembled a thorn growing from a plant, protruding outward from the wound filled with crystalline substance and extending diagonally backward for several centimeters.

Through the translucent blue-green crystal, one could even vaguely see the cracked skull and slightly trembling brain tissue inside.

No wonder I felt he looked a little strange with the bandages on...

All the students secretly thought of similar ideas in their hearts, and then some of them couldn't help but take a few steps back.

After all, this scene was too horrifying, especially for young people who had never been to the battlefield. When Alvin saw that the two relatively unfamiliar classmates wanted to vomit again, he couldn't help but shook his head secretly.

But he would not look down on his classmates because that would be arrogant and ignorant.

In fact, the other person's reaction is more like that of a normal person, while I appear abnormal because I am too "knowledgeable".

"Crystallization?" Catherine did not retreat, but she was stunned at first, and then immediately shook her head.

"No, the symbiotic crystallized tissue won't destroy normal body tissue. Could this be some kind of abnormal disease?"

"Yes, although I have reached the last step of the third-order road, I have not yet taken that crucial step and failed to become the champion knight wearing the laurel wreath, so the crystallization of my own organization has not appeared." Armstrong shook his head regretfully.

As we all know, although the advanced changes in each sequence of Palladia are not the same, there are still relatively prominent feature differences between each stage with a distinct style.

For example, for new professionals classified as disciples or apprentices at the first stage, although the physical changes are not significant, their magic power will begin to become more active.

As for the recipients who have been promoted to the next stage, they no longer rely solely on physical fitness and professional talents to fight. The free magic power floating in the external environment will be absorbed and transformed by them, and a certain degree of obvious extraordinary changes will appear in their bodies.

Extraordinary people's own magical reserves are inherently stronger than ordinary individuals of the same race, so when the tissues in their bodies are infected by a large amount of external magical power, various adaptive evolutions will naturally occur.

The most common change is often increased muscle strength. A slightly rarer one involves delicate organs such as the eyeballs. After completing a change similar to secondary development, vision can be improved to almost eagle-like level.

But the most special physical change is tissue crystallization. It is a rare transformation that occurs from the extraordinary person's own flesh and blood after absorbing excessive magic power or magic power with extremely special properties. Although it looks like crystal, it is still flesh and blood in essence. It will even repair itself over time like the original body.

The large amount of magic power contained in it is an additional mana pool for the caster. At the same time, it will have various additional talents or characteristics depending on the location of the spell.

However, the proportion of such changes is not high, and many lucky people who are about to complete the third-level fire sword path may not necessarily find signs of tissue crystallization in themselves.

After all, it is something that is closely related to the magic center after the fourth level promotion.

But the changes happening to Armstrong at this moment were obviously not the crystallization phenomenon that was rare in the realm of the extraordinary.

Although those crystals also possessed violent magical power, they were completely out of control. As soon as the bandages were removed, they immediately began to glow and even had a tendency to continue growing outwards.

Only then did the students notice that the inside of the bandage Armstrong had removed was densely stitched with various intricate rune arrays using fine needlework. It was these rune arrays that prevented the crystals on his head from expanding further.

Baron Armstrong calmly tied his scarf back on and showed the students a bright smile with a full set of good teeth.

"This is the price I paid for my reckless challenge to the Titan a few days ago. It was the assimilation erosion caused by that powerful weapon."

"Why? What is assimilation erosion?" Rimore asked subconsciously:

"The answers to these questions will only become clear once you gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the Giant God." Armstrong shook his head and did not answer his questions immediately.

Then, the burly middle-aged man suddenly became serious.

"As a survivor who personally experienced a machine going berserk, I must warn you all."

"Never think that those huge beings are just cold machines. They have their own emotions and almost instinctive likes and dislikes. Even if you are just in contact with their thoughts, you should remain extremely serious. If you are deeply eroded without realizing it, you will become something that completely loses itself..." Armstrong paused and did not continue.

But by the end, he was almost shouting and admonishing.

"Stay alert! Never let your guard down!"

"Yes, I understand!" The magician students who had received more than half a month of military training immediately responded and gave their answers.

Ivan, who was mixed in, felt a little guilty. Recalling the external link request that suddenly popped up in the system, he had good reason to suspect that the failure of the experiment a few days ago was related to him.