"Yes?" Nn asked the man, who fidgeted slightly—something abnormal for Sir Gerard, a man Nn knew to be perpetually calm, no matter the circumstances.
"The Kratos Training Area isn''t something your current self can handle."
"The training equipment there is far too advanced for you—not that I''m underestimating you," Sir Gerard said, watching as Nn nodded halfheartedly.
''Of course, that is underestimating me,'' Nn thought.
"And besides, there are a few Ascendants in the training area, and you know what kind of people the Kratorians are, don''t you?" Gerard added, his eyes searching Nn''s for understanding.
Nn caught the implication and calmly nodded.
"Don''t worry, Instructor Gerard. I''m just going for some familiarity."
"I won''t touch anything, and I won''t get into trouble," Nn replied, shrugging off Instructor Gerard''s concerns as he headed toward the elevator.
He stepped inside, and without needing to press a button, the elevator instantly began to ascend, whisking Nn away before Instructor Gerard''s eyes.
A deep sigh escaped Instructor Gerard''s lips as he shook his head. "It seems he inherited his n''s stubbornness," Instructor Gerard muttered. "Hopefully, he doesn''t get into too much trouble," he added, returning to his small book and immersing himself once again.
---
DING!
The elevator doors opened, and Nn stepped out, taking in the new sights with a nk, uninterested gaze.
Before himy an enormous hall, filled with various training equipment and numerous Ascendants.
Most of them were men, and if there was one thing they all had inmon, it was their impressively muscr frames.
As Nn entered, attention naturally turned toward him. They threw cursory nces at his clothing, their brows furrowing.
It was clear to them that he was a New Ascendant, but they had to admit his bravery.
Nn, unbothered by the stares, looked each person in the eyes before turning his attention to the various facilities, scanning them as if he were an inspection officer conducting an inspection.
Seeing that he minded his own business, the others returned to theirs, deciding to ignore him.
After all, if he hade here, that meant he was a Kratorian, like them.
He was a family.
There was no need to make him go through unnecessary trouble.
If he had been from another descent, things might have gone very differently.
Nn didn''t do anything to attract attention.
There were smaller training rooms in the area, each outfitted with high-tech equipment designed to test and improve strength andbat abilities.
Nn himself felt an itch to try one of them out but suppressed the urge, continuing his exploration instead.
There were over thirty training rooms in the Kratos Training Area, each equipped with its own specialized equipment and unique objectives.
A single nce was enough for Nn to realize that this training area was far more advanced than the one in the Neer Area.
He had to admit, it was impressive.
At the far end of the hall, there were a few additional rooms, but he couldn''t check them out.
A dome of energy blocked ess, and each time he touched it, the AI voice would ring out:
"Power level insufficient." "Risk of death: 100%!"
"I wonder what''s behind those doors..." Nn mused aloud. He took a step back when he saw one of the doors open, and a person stepped out.
It was ady with luscious dark hair, striking dark and purple irises, and a surprising height of 1.9 meters—just as tall as Nn.
Her gaze fell on him, scanning him up and down. She seemed surprised by what he was wearing but soon smiled at him.
"You want to know what''s behind those doors, don''t you?" thedy asked, pointing to the room she had just exited.
Nn nodded.
"It''s your death," she replied with a grin, poking yfully at his nose before walking past him.
[Talk of underestimation. It seems you need to work on your intimidating factor, Nn,] the system chimed in, rubbing it on him.
Truly Nn was 16, and even with his impressive physique.
One could still see it on his face that he was a kid.
Nn rolled his eyes at thement, then turned back and walked toward the other rooms.
He spent nearly an hour exploring the area, checking out everything essible to him.
When he was done, he headed back toward the elevator.
Like clockwork, the Ascendants didn''t bother him, even as he walked past them again.
He entered the elevator and disappeared from sight. The others grinned at one another before returning to their own training.
Nn didn''t notice their grins, and soon, he was outside the lobby, casually walking toward the exit after waving to Instructor Gerard.
The older man had a surprised expression on his face as he watched Nn leave the building with the same calm attitude he always carried.
"Seems like someone got lucky today..." Gerard mused with a smile before returning to his book.
If there was one training area notorious for its violence andck of hospitality, it was the Kratos Training Area.
The Kratorians were a violent race, so Gerard wasn''t surprised.
Still, seeing Nn walk out unscathed with his hands casually tucked into his pockets was certainly unexpected. Gerard chalked it up to luck.
---
Having checked out everything there was to see, Nn began to feel a bit of exhaustion and hunger creeping in.
Deciding to call it a day, he headed home, his pace quickening slightly.
It didn''t take him more than an hour to reach his destination, and a few minutester, he stood in front of the ss door, his runic card in hand.
Swiping it, Nn received a pleasant surprise...
The door actually opened up for him.
When Nn had done so previously he had noticed that the door was unresponsive to his one runic card due to a feature which forces him to knock to open the door.
Somehow it seemed the feature wasn''t working well today and actually allowed Nn in and he grinned happily at the development as he pumped his chest out and entered like the man of his house.
Arriving in the living room, there was a figure sitting down on the sofa, a bowl of popcorn in her hands once more and the TV was switched on.