"Then are you perhaps planning to form a team?" a man asked, silencing the crowd.
"You are?" Nash asked, sensing his unusual strength.
"I’m Van Gage, one of the handpicked seeded talents."
"One of the handpicked seeded talents?"
Like Camilla, William, and Skylar, Van Gage didn’t need to undergo the Nova Sector Cosmic Competition and was automatically selected as a seeded talent.
Looking at his combat power, Nash felt a spark of interest.
[Van Gage: Tier 2 Void Commander
Combat Power: 1.2 million]
Van Gage should have just advanced to the Void Commander rank, yet his strength had already reached millions.
Furthermore, as one of the individuals who completed the 10,000 level in the dark beast tower, his fighting ability shouldn’t be lacking.
Weighing the pros and cons, Nash turned to Van Gage and nodded.
"I do, indeed, want to form a team. What’s the issue? Do you want to join ?"
Although his own combat power didn’t even reach a hundred thousand, Nash was confident he could lead such a talent.
"I’m just asking," Van Gage replied, not committing imdiately.
Despite Nash’s undeniable strength, Van Gage still needed to assess his character.
After all, they would be fighting for their lives in the Cosmic Competition, not just a virtual one.
"Understood. For anyone interested, you’re welco to join my group, the Dark Shadow Squad," Nash announced, revealing the na he’d just co up with.
With his announcent, most of the crowd dispersed, realizing they couldn’t recruit Nash to their teams, while a few lone individuals still debated whether to join his.
Combat ability was just one aspect; they also needed to evaluate his leadership, adaptability, vision, and courage.
They planned to observe Nash a bit longer to decide if they could entrust their lives to him.
---
Soon, as the chatter continued among them, Zeke, their instructor, arrived.
"Hmm? 115 passed the trial? Not bad. It seems you only needed a little push to surpass your limits," Zeke nodded in satisfaction.
Previously, the seeded talents only needed to pass 1,000 levels, yet so still failed.
Now, though more than half didn’t pass, the few who succeeded had proven themselves above the rest.
Notifying those who hadn’t finished the trial to leave the tower, Zeke turned to the 115 individuals who had passed.
"Now that you’ve passed the first training, it’s ti for the next: Adaptability Training."
"Combat ability is just one aspect of your strength. Without adapting to various environnts, it won’t matter if you can’t exert your power."
"Thus, over the next nine months, you’ll undergo training in nine different extre environnts."
After explaining various details, Zeke gave them a day to prepare.
anwhile, looking at the over 200 individuals who didn’t pass, a cold glint flashed in Zeke’s eyes.
"Since you couldn’t even pass level 10,000, I’ll train you until you can..."
Unlike the adaptability training, the others would face a brutal regin that would leave them weeping.
---
With a day to prepare, Nash and Camilla returned to Auralis I.
Landing at the docking station, Nash took Camilla to the delivery site to pick up his battleship.
"Is this your battleship?" Camilla asked, intrigued.
Unlike hers, Nash’s ship was on the smaller side.
However, judging by its materials and design, it excelled in defence and speed.
"It’s mine," Nash nodded.
Though slightly different from what he’d ordered, it still bore a strong resemblance.
"Let’s go inside."
Signing the delivery confirmation, Nash led Camilla aboard.
"Wow, it’s so luxurious! Huh? You even have a kitchen? That’s too extravagant!"
"Haha, wait till you taste my cooking..."
As they explored the ship, it didn’t take long to complete a full tour.
Though the battleship spanned a few kiloters in length and width, most of the space was dedicated to the engine, thrusters, weapons, energy system, auxiliary system, and defense system.
As a result, only a few thousand ters of space remained.
The control room occupied hundreds of ters, with the rest divided into living, production, and training areas.
Nash’s living area was spacious, featuring recreation rooms, a garden, an aquarium, a library, an observation deck, a large kitchen, and more.
The production area was still mostly empty, equipped with only basic scientific equipnt to kickstart his career.
The training area, however, was packed with advanced equipnt, a fitness room, a sparring room, an agility course, a ditation room, a gravity control room, a soul pressure room, and even an escape pod for ergencies.
Having toured all areas of the ship, Nash finally had ti to examine the tier 4 runic weapon he’d customized earlier.
Opening the tightly sealed box, Nash saw a heavy-looking spear snugly fitted inside.
"A spear? I thought you used a sword?" Camilla asked.
"It’s all the sa. A spear has more range, so I opted to use it."
"Furthermore, who said it was only a spear..."
Grabbing the tier 4 runic item and binding it to his void signature, information flashed in his mind, revealing how to activate the weapon.
Following the void activation sequence, the spear transford into a bow, then a sword, knife, axe, hamr, whip, staff, claw, scythe, brace, and more.
"Huh? A shifting runic weapon? You’re quite wasteful!" Camilla exclaid.
Though it was a tier 4 runic item, its universal design to accommodate various weapons made it the lowest grade of its kind.
While it looked cool, it wasn’t as practical as a weapon crafted from matching materials.
"What do you know? Different weapons let adapt more easily to the changing environnts of the Dark Plane."
Though Nash sacrificed so strength, he gained practicality.
For him, it made no difference if the weapon was slightly stronger or weaker.
After all, even the weakest tier 4 runic weapon was still a tier 4 runic weapon.
As long as he could wound his opponent, it didn’t matter if it took one shot or five to finish the job.
"Alright, it’s your weapon, your choice," Camilla said, rolling her eyes.
"Haha, are you hungry? How about I cook for you this ti?" Nash smiled, recalling how Camilla had cooked for him after he arrived at the Nova Capital.
"Then I’d like to taste your cooking..." Camilla replied, her words carrying a playful double aning.
"You’ll see..."
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