Ivan didn’t know how much time had passed since he entered the capsule; it felt like he had suffered unbearable torture for years and was almost starting to feel like an eternity.

Luckily, just when he felt that he was reaching his end and would no longer be able to hold on, the pain abruptly vanished from his body.

Explore more stories with empire

He no longer felt the burns or the pain from his flesh being stabbed by thousands of needles, Ivan’s body trembled as he breathed heavily.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a red streak flashed past his eyes like red lightning; his body was numb, but he could feel the difference within him.

Suddenly, he heard a beep sound, and the capsule began to move. Before the lid opened, large smoke suddenly poured out from the capsule and let out a gust of hot air.

Ivan raised his head and met with his father’s serious gaze that hid his worry for him, a warm feeling formed in his head as he took a step out of the capsule.

His knee suddenly trembled immediately after his foot made contact with the ground, and his leg lost strength, Ivan found himself falling over, but he was caught by his father and the red-haired warrior before he could reach the ground.

“Haha, you well brat. Very good,” the man laughed heartily as he supported the powerless Ivan; Von didn’t let go of his son as well and kept his hold on Ivan’s shoulder.

“Come, come, there’s no time to waste!” The man said with urgency. They supported Ivan and followed the people in lab coats back to the previous laboratory before sitting him on a chair.

“You said he failed the examination before, right?” The red-haired man turned to look at Von and asked with a grin; the latter nodded without saying anything.

“Okay then, let’s try again,” he said before turning to the others.

A woman in a long lab coat walked toward Ivan on the chair that he was sitting before taking out a thin cable and plugging it into Ivan’s vein on his arm, Ivan didn’t make a sound because his body was still numb; he simply stared at the woman who plugged a few more cables into his body, blood flooded through the cables and enter a strange looking device with a screen.

This was the device that showed the result of the awakening; if a person had any talent with Ki at all, the device would show the amount of talent they had with it, and the result would determine that warrior’s standing.

Mind you, the lowest a person could get was 20% and even that would allow someone to achieve great things; just that warriors with higher talents would achieve even greater things.

Ivan watched as the woman pressed the various buttons on the device with an expectant look on his face.

The last time he did this test, his result had been a shocking but not so surprising 0 percent.

It was only shocking because his father was a warrior, and he should have inherited his father’s genetics; at the very least, he should have managed to have a bit of talent with Ki.

This time, Ivan hoped to at least get the basic 20 percent after going through that degree of pain for so long.

Soon, the screen on the device began to fluctuate as readings flashed across the screen. It took a minute before the readings stabilized and the result of Ivan’s re-examination appeared.

[Ki aptitude: 100%]

Silence!

It was a single line of words, but it sent everyone present into deep shock; Ivan was also equally shocked as he never expected such a result on his second try when he failed the first time.

“Impossible! M-maybe there was an error, I’ll run it again!”

The woman who was standing in front of the device said with a trembling voice as her hands ran across the buttons of the device; she was obviously shocked and senseless.

A hand suddenly grabbed her fingers, her body jumped and she turned to look at the owner of the hand in shock.

It was the red-haired man.

The latter shook his head at the woman before letting go of her hands.

“The device is never wrong; it simply shows that he’s a prodigy who needed a little push,” he said seriously before suddenly placing both hands on his waist and laughing into the air.

All the people in lab coats trembled under the sound of his laugh, their faces turning pale and ghastly for some reason.

The man laughed for a whole minute before looking at Von.

“What do you think? Still scared of risk? With such talent, you don’t have to worry about protecting him anymore. The camp will take full responsibility for him and no one will be allowed to touch him, didn’t I say it?!” The man said to Von with a wide cheeky grin.

Von smiled slightly, he felt that the character of this superior was too strange; those who didn’t know him well might think that he was a good person.

“Thank you for your help”

Nevertheless, Von still bowed and thanked him. After all, it was all thanks to him that Ivan was able to gain access to such a top national treasure.

“It’s nothing. The two of you can return first; I’ll contact you for further instructions.” The man waved his hands with a kind smile that reached his eyes.

Just before the two could leave, the red-haired man suddenly moved toward them and bent his body slightly to whisper into Ivan’s ears.

“Never, do not ever tell anyone about your hundred percent aptitude score, okay?” He had a strange smile on his face that made Ivan’s body tremble for some reason. Von’s body also tensed but he managed to hide it. The two left shortly after.

After the two of them left the underground laboratory, the smile on the man’s face faded like a passing spring and a cold expression appeared on his face as he turned to look at the people in lab coats behind him.

“Now, now, why don’t we make sure no one runs their mouth?” He said with a chilling smile that caused the people to shudder.

“S-sir, please. We swear not to say a word, please, we can sign whatever agreement you have!”

The woman who had been in charge of the device during Ivan’s examination fell to her knees and begged; her face was already covered with tears, and her eyes were red. The other also went down on their knees and cried like kids as well.

The face of the man grew even colder at the sight of this; he raised his left hand, and red energy condensed on it.

“Sigh, I promise to take care of your families,” he said before taking a step forward, and the eyes of everyone widened in horror.

Soon, anguished screams and begging voices filled the underground laboratory; no one witnessed what had happened except for the red-haired man.

…..

Outside, Ivan and his father entered their car. Von suddenly did something that puzzled Ivan; he issued a command to lock everything in the car, turn on the anti-sound function, and then shut down all working functions that would allow anything from outside to know what was going on inside the car.

After doing all of this, Von looked at Ivan. His eyes were now filled with dread and worry.

Ivan was beyond confused as he couldn’t understand why his father was reacting this way.

“Ivan, no matter how kind he acts or how well he treats you, be careful of him! Do you understand? Do not trust anything he says without evidence” Von said in a grave tone.

Ivan wanted to frown but maintained his expression, this didn’t mean that he wasn’t confused.

For all he knew, the red-haired warrior had been a very nice and helpful fellow since they met; he could not understand why his father suddenly wanted him to not trust the man.

Still, one was his father, who would never harm him; at least, he didn’t during all these years when he had been acting like a jerk. As for the other party, he was just a stranger to him.

Ivan would naturally decide to listen to his father.

“I understand,” Ivan mumbled after a short while.

Von nodded; he didn’t say anything else, and they drove home in silence.

The news of Ivan becoming a warrior was announced to the rest of the family, his mother and Nora were very happy to hear the news.

The two ladies worked together that night to set up a feast to celebrate Ivan’s successful awakening.

The next day, a strange order came. Ivan’s father was suddenly drafted for a galactic expedition, they were going to explore a newly discovered planet!

“Ivan, make sure you take care of your mom and sister in my absence. I know this mission might take years, but I expect to see a greater man when I return”

Where Von’s last words to Ivan before he left the house.

As for Ivan, he was taken away for special training with other new warriors. The training was going to be held on a different planet under Earth and would last for 3 years.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep