The narrow hallway was brightening up with the white bulb colors fixed in the ceiling,
There was a door on the right side of the narrow hallway.
"Go inside and change into a battle suit. When you're done, enter the next room ahead," the bald instructor said curtly. He didn't wait for a response before turning away, his heavy boots echoing against the metal floor as he walked off, leaving Kurogami standing there in silence.
The door slid open, and Kurogami entered. He saw varieties of battle suits, displayed on shelves and some in a thick glass. None of the battle suits seemed to go with Kurogami's style. He looked around, and after a while, he couldn't pick one for himself. Soon after, a small robot head activated and flew towards Kurogami.
It had a head and two long hands. Behind its back was a blue stone that allowed it to float in the hair. It had a screen as a head, two digital eyes, and a mouth.
There was a small circular sensor at the side head, blue light came out of it reflecting on Kurogami's head, after a while of scanning.
"Hello, how can I be of assistance to you, mr Kurogami? " the robot said, showing a happy expression.
Kurogami wasn't shocked at all seeing this assistance robot; this is the level of technology humanity has achieved over the years. They were called an assist bot, and each household as one or two.
"I need a battle suit for a test," Kurogami said to the robot, floating above him.
The robot slightly tilted its head, with a curious expression displayed on its screen.
"What kind of test?" the robot said.
"I'm being tested for Obsidian Vessel Physique," Kurogami said
The robot face disappeared, and showed a loading sign. The robot's face soon appeared; the sensors on its head shone blue again, scanning its body completely. It seems to have a design for Kurogami.
"Obsidian Vessel Physique are mostly Chargers," it said.
Chargers are a class of Sentinels categorized by their exceptional body strength, endurance, and speed.
After assessing Kurogami's body, the scanner turned toward the suit builder, a towering machine lined with mechanical arms. Inside, a small spherical robot, about the size of a human head, whirred to life. Streams of light ran across its surface as it processed Kurogami's body data. Within seconds, it transmitted his exact specifications and measurements to the suit builder, prompting the machine to hum and begin fabricating the customized battle suit.
The robot turned at looked at Kurogami, with a smiling face, it asked,
"Do you have any personalization you would like to apply?"
Kurogami smiled and looked at the robot above, "I thought you would never ask."
Kurogami entered the chamber he was told to enter after getting a suit, the door closed, and he walked deep into the chamber. It was big. It resembles that of a battle chamber, the walls a dnt he floor where all covered with white tiles. As Kurogami moved in, both the bald instructor and the scientist administering him looked at his suit.
His new battle suit is clinging to his frame like living armor. The scientists in the control room froze the moment they saw him on the monitor.
This wasn't one of the standard designs displayed on the selection rack. It was different, personalized. The sense of style drew murmurs.
Even the bald instructor, standing behind the control panel with crossed arms, raised an eyebrow.
The suit's structure was familiar, its core design similar to the regular Sentinel suit.
Across his chest was a circular crest, and within it was the engraved outline of a dragon. It was the ancient insignia of the Chargers.
Iron plates reinforced his shoulders, joints, and ankles, while black, threadlike conduits ran between them, thick chaos-thread wiring pulsing faintly, tracing his muscles beneath the armor. The look was both functional and menacing.
But unlike the standard issue, Kurogami's suit bore a layered touch of tradition: a long, black woolen haori draped over his torso, the kind worn by old warriors of the East the fabric split at the chest, revealing the dragon mark beneath. The overall effect gave him the air of a modern ninja.
The door sealed behind him with a hiss. He stood silently in the center of the room as the lights dimmed, his reflection merging with the glass that separated him from the control room.
Inside, the instructor whispered.
"He modified a Charger frame… into that?"
The others said nothing. They only watched as Kurogami lifted his head slightly, his black hair falling across his eyes.
For Korugami, the suit wasn't just protection. It was a reminder home.
He turned to the instructor behind the thick glass, which was up above.
"Programming, online," the scientist said flatly.
"You're being tested as someone with an Obsidian Vessel Physique. Are you ready to commence the test, even knowing how brutal it will be? Even if you pass, if you don't meet the exact metrics, you'll still be disqualified," the bald instructor said.
Kurogami raised his head; his eyes were calm.
"Let's get this over with," he said, the faintest smile curling on his lips, as if he already knew everything would turn out just fine.
The instructor gave a nod.
"Begin."
In the battle chamber, there was a barbell lying around, 20 steps around where Kurogami was.
"Lift the weight without the use of Khaos energy," the bald instructor ordered.
Kurogami walked towards the barbell and bent down, grabbing it. Of course, this would be an impossible thing to do. The barbell weighed 15 tons. A normal sentinel, without the influence of Chaos energy, is just as strong as ten grown men; even with the influence of Chaos Energy, they are only as strong as 20 men combined.
A Charger-type sentinel, however, can reach the strength of fifty men and more with khaos energy enough to lift the weight, and with training and battle experience, they develop further, especially when their Chaos Essence grows stronger and vast.
But an individual lifting this weight without a single drop of khaos energy has to have the Obsidian Vessel Physique.
Kurogami tightened his grip, his muscles contracting, He didn't struggle much, but as he started to lift, the iron around the barbell began to bend. The weight resisted, but between a few breaths, he had carried it on his shoulders. They knew immediately, Kurogami was born with the Obsidian Vessel Physique.
With a deep breath and a burst of power, Kurogami raised the barbell to his shoulders.
The bald instructor nodded. "As I thought… he has the Obsidian Vessel Physique."
Sir, my god, I can't believe this, he isn't even using 25% of his strength," a scientist said out loud, surprised.
The bald instructed immediately looked at the suit reading. It shows that Kurogami was just using one-third of his strength to lift this. This made him shocked,
The Sentinels' battle suit was like a second skin for the sentinels; it could measure their body performance. This was how they were able to tell.
The average positional Obsidian physique ever recorded could lift between 10 20 20 tons without the use of khaos energy. The best recorded feat was 40 tons, but that individual suffered severe side effects; his cells overheated, nearly causing a total physical collapse. This feat was only achieved by pushing his body to 100% capacity.
Seeing that Kurogami was only using 25% of his capability left the bald instructor completely dumbfounded.
twenty-five percent…! he thought, disbelief flashing in his eyes. He's only using twenty-five percent of his power!
Just from that alone, lifting over twenty tons effortlessly, Kurogami had already proven himself to possess the Obsidian Body Physique.
"This should be enough to pass the taste," Korugami thought as he looked up the control, waiting for further instructions. What he didn't know was that the suit measured precisely the strength he was using.
The instructor, however, wasn't satisfied. Excitement surged through him. He wanted to see more, to test the true limit of Kurogami's endurance.
He looked through the glass panel into the chamber, his eyes glimmering with thrill.
Meanwhile, Kurogami stood calmly, still holding the massive weight across his shoulders. His expression didn't waver, his breathing was steady.
"Drop the weights," the bald instructor commanded.
Kurogami did as told, and the heavy barbell slammed into the reinforced floor with a deep thud.
"Show me your speed," the instructor continued, his tone sharp and eager.
Kurogami lifted his gaze slightly, eyes narrowing. "Ha… wasn't that enough for him already?" he thought, exhaling quietly. "Fine."
After a few light jumps, he cracked his neck and legs, loosening up before settling into a running stance.
From behind the glass, the instructor muttered to himself, "The Obsidian Physiques may be incredible, but they have flaws too. Their initial burst speed is no faster than a normal D-rank Sentinel. Only after a few seconds does their acceleration spike, matching that of a Blood Leopard Cheetah."
That was the theory.
But when Kurogami began to move, there was no delay.
He shot forward instantly, the air around him whirling as his figure blurred. The scientists struggled to keep up with his speed; the sensors flickered in confusion. He was running so fast that his image fragmented into afterimages. Then, to their shock, he sprinted along the walls without the aid of Chaos Energy.
That was impossible.
No Sentinel could maintain balance like that without using energy to reinforce their footing. Yet Kurogami did it effortlessly, darting across the wall and even onto the ceiling before the instructor's voice barked through the speaker
"Stop!"
Kurogami slowed, landing gracefully. The silence was thick, filled with disbelief.
But the next test began immediately.
From the floor, two massive iron boxes, each four times his height, rose with a grinding metallic roar. One black, one white.
"Punch it, the white," came the command.
Kurogami walked towards the whit box and tightened his fist and exhaled. With only 25% of his strength, he struck.
The box shot backward nearly seven paces, metal bending inward like paper. A circular dent, almost perfectly spread across its surface, with cracks around it. The scientists stared, speechless. Another record broken.
Then, a mechanical whir filled the room.
From above and below, gun barrels unfolded, dozens of them.
Kurogami frowned. "So it's that kind of test…" he muttered.
Without warning, the machine guns unleashed a storm of bullets. The impacts tore through the air, sparks flying, shells clattering everywhere.
Kurogami raised his arms, shielding his face, but didn't move. Bullets rained down relentlessly, clanging against his suit. The Obsidian Vessel Physique could absorb kinetic energy through impact, turning pain into raw power.
His suit began to glow faintly red, and the shower soon ended.
Kurogami gritted his teeth. "Isn't this enough already?"
The instructor smirked through the speaker. "I'm still the one in command. I can fail you if I please."
Kurogami snorted.
He gathered the kinetic energy he'd absorbed, channeling it through his arms. Turning toward the final wall target, his eyes narrowed.
With a low green growl, he swung his fist forward.
He'd meant to hold back, but this time he used 30% of his strength, plus the explosive release of the absorbed energy.
The impact was catastrophic.
BOOOOM!
The wall shattered, debris flying in every direction. The explosion rippled through the chamber, dust, smoke, and broken tiles scattered across the floor.
The scientists inside the control room shielded their eyes from the flash.
The bald instructor froze, eyes wide. His earpiece screeched from the shockwave.
And deep down, he thought
"All that… without a single drop of Chaos Energy."
"Just what kind of monster are you, Kurogami?"
The sound of a click echoed softly through the instructor's earpiece.
"Hello, sir? What is it?" he asked, still staring at the shattered wall before him.
A voice crackled through the line; it was the other instructor from the main testing hall.
"Sir! We finally got an S-Rank talent!"
The bald instructor's eyes widened. "S-Rank talent? Who?"
"It's Selene from the White Lotus Clan," he said
For a brief moment, silence filled the control room. Then, the instructor's lips curved into a rare smile.
"S-Rank… that's wonderful," he muttered under his breath, pride flickering in his tone.
"What about the others?" he asked.
"Kenji from the Rangoku Clan came out A-Class. Laiji from the Phantom Vaal Clan, also A-Class. The rest of the heirs are between A and B-Class, with only a few C-Class talents. No D-Class detected this round."
The bald instructor leaned back, exhaling deeply. "Impressive. Truly impressive."
He thought about Selene, the elegance and sharpness she carried, and then about Kurogami, who'd just shattered a wall with his bare hands.
A small grin spread across his face.
"Selene… Kenji… and this monster."
Meanwhile, Kurogami stood in the ruined chamber, his arm still raised, faint smoke curling from his knuckles. He glanced at his hand, confused, and chuckled softly.
"I didn't even control my strength properly," he murmured, hiding his face with his palm.
The bald instructor whispered to himself
"This is going to be an interesting batch."
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The door slid open with a soft metallic hiss. This wasn't the same door they had entered through earlier; it was the one that led deeper into the academy, toward the heart of the facility.
Kurogami stepped out, now dressed in his normal clothes instead of the battle suit. The air outside was crisp and clean. The path before him gleamed faintly beneath the artificial light, and the surrounding architecture looked flawless, beautifully structured, balanced, and precise.
He took a slow breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
Then, his attention caught someone nearby, a familiar figure sitting casually on the floor behind a wall, holding a worn black bag. Kurogami blinked. That's my bag.
The boy noticed him, his eyes lighting up instantly. With a grin, he stood and tossed the bag toward Kurogami.
Kurogami caught it effortlessly, slinging it over his shoulder. For a moment, the two just looked at each other and smiled.
Daichi's grin widened. It was clear he had passed his test, too.
Together, the two walked down the gleaming corridor, side by side, deeper into the academy.