Luca had been so lost in his session that by the time he finally felt the burn, the skies had begun to reflect the crimson rays of the setting sun.

At that point, he had subconsciously slowed down. Sweat dripped down his form. His clothes clung to his body, wet and sickened from the moisture.

Even his breathing was ragged. His chest rose and fell as if he had run a marathon– and perhaps he did.

His momentum dropped to near zero until he was finally walking once more.

The Omnidrome hissed. A subtle rush of steam slithered out of its pillars, rushing upwards into the air vents.

Luca’s eyes were wide. His lips were tugged by the side by a smile he couldn’t contain.

Power flowed within his system as it had never done before. Exhilarating. Dangerous.

It was the kind of adrenaline rush one would get from seeing a movie that moved them to the edge of their seats– no, more than that.

Perhaps close to the ecstasy when one is about to release?

Luca wouldn’t know.

What he did in fact know was the reality of what he felt.

’The speed, strength. Even durability.’

He placed his arms on the handle and leaned forward.

’My body’s condition is superb! Everything is beyond what I would have expected from a 5%. Is this what they call efficiency?’

Luca began to realise that he may have just reached the edge already. And his body?

His body forged itself like liquid clay.

Moulded by his own hands.

He couldn’t describe the sensation, but he was satisfied– more than satisfied.

Lost in thought, he had not realised the small group of Gym members and instructors, of course, this included Jorash and Caedun who stood in silence.

Their eyes were glued to the screen beside the machine that reflected his speed.

Caedun gulped.

’303 m/s? He nearly broke the speed barrier.’

Lorash clapped his hands together, snapping Luca from his thoughts and pulling his attention to them.

It was then that he finally saw the people gathered.

"Nice one, Lucs. You’re the embodiment of what a Gym member should be."

Lorash couldn’t hide his grin– it was too wide, too clean.

Like he had found a treasure he wouldn’t trade for the world.

The other Instructors looked on in shock.

If word were to get out about a Gym member like Luca, the Gym Owner might have to come and ensure he actually stays subscribed with them for a long time, if not for life.

"Oh? When did you guys get back? You could have stopped me."

Jorash cleared his throat while Caedun gave Luca a wry smile.

"We’ve been here for about an hour and fifteen minutes now."

"Wha– What?" Luca whipped his head to the holographic analogue clock above the Elevator.

His eyes bulged open. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Shit, I didn’t realise."

He hopped down from the machine, just as the crowd began to disperse.

"Why are there so many people?"

Jorash didn’t reply with words. He simply pointed at the screen next to the Omnidrome.

Luca followed the direction and narrowed his eyes.

’Wow.’

He may not have gone to school, but speed and measurement were one of those readings you just had to learn.

Like being able to tell the time through an analogue clock.

It was an easy thing for Earth Supreme, since most kids had already matured their motor and retention memory at three.

"I nearly reached the sound barrier."

"At 5%," Caedun interjected. "Luca, it’s clear your powers aren’t just limited by synchrony.

Even your manifestation shouldn’t be able to bring this much."

Luca didn’t respond.

He was still busy calculating the numbers he saw.

’Explorers naturally reach the sound barrier at the 4th Stage, and that’s if they have a good amount of Synchrony and Manifestation.

I heard forms may have a part to play in it as well, but so far...’

He shook his thoughts.

’At least I’ve achieved what I wanted.’

He rolled his shoulders a bit.

’My body is completely attuned with my synchrony. With this, I should be able to manifest much more of my Archetype abilities.’

Something was missing in his realisation, though.

Egoists who were able to increase their attunement with their synchrony and therefore, their manifestation were able to manifest more Archetype– based skills.

Secondary skills that naturally follow the Archetypes.

But their Manifest score determined how many of those secondary skills they could obtain.

At 20%, Luca had the chance of obtaining two secondary skills, and the number of skills increases by one with every 10% increase in Manifestation score.

Though, the chances were usually low, it was the major reason Egoists pushed for using Talent Cores which were certain.

Luca had all seven Archetypes– meaning, if he were to train for either of the fourteen secondary skills, he would obtain them.

This was another method of obtaining Talents, as those skills would be registered as additional talents on the Interface.

"Are we still going for that Duel? I’m actually itching for a match right now."

Caedun’s face paled while Jorash’s grin widened.

"No need for the Harmonic Pulse?"

"No need. I’m fine."

Jorash nodded. "Let’s go then."

Caedun lingered behind the two as they exited the first floor through the Elevator.

Their destination is the second floor.

On getting there, Jorash spoke with one of the Instructors of the Second floor and a room was quickly provided for them.

As they prepared to enter the room, Caedun stopped Luca and Jorash in the process.

"Be honest, Luca. Are you really a 5%?"

Luca’s curiosity was evident in the way his eyes sparkled at his question.

"What do you mean? The processing assessment doesn’t lie."

Jorash hummed in agreement. "If it did, wouldn’t the capability of the Institution and therefore its soldiers be questioned?"

Caedun hesitated for a moment.

"The– then how?"

"A title."

Luca responded without missing a beat.

’If things continue like this... more people will begin to question my score, and who knows what might happen then.

Instead, let’s give them half the truth.

A title would more than explain it. It’s rare and the nature of it is obscure even to the Processors.’

Caedun and Jorash both widened their eyes at his response.

"What rank?"

Luca turned to Jorash.

"I believe that would be too much information even for you guys.

All you need to know is that it increases my output by a bit more."

Caedun nodded slowly.

’That would explain it. I was going to ask my parents to look into this guy and the score, thinking the Institution was hiding it, but with his response, it’s clear that it is indeed a title.’

His smile returned. Replacing the serious face that had been on his face all this while.

"You hit the jackpot! I heard titles change an Egoist’s life for the better."

Jorash scoffed and opened the door.

"It does both. I’ve seen many soldiers fall because of the restrictions of those titles.

Titles don’t just come with improvements, they have their own restrictions to balance things out."

They walked into the dark room which had begun to come alive with the light bulbs that turned on in sequence.

Soon, the training room, or otherwise called the Temporal Time Dome, came to life.

It was a dome-shaped room. Large and spacious.

Racks of weapons stood at the corners while different elemental and non-elemental structures were anchored at different corners.

It ranged from bowls of water, a giant boulder, a thin sheet of metal and even a slab of ice.

It was a Chamber that provided the physical and mental necessities of an all-out battle.

Able to resist the weight of Reckoners.

From the Invoker upwards, no human-made machine could dream of holding them back.

"I’m aware," Luca replied as he looked around.

"Don’t you think 5% is a bit too bizarre for our times?"

He added a bit of a lie to the truth. Now, they wouldn’t be able to guess what his title did, or whether or not his Synchrony was true or false.

Simply put, Luca had an alibi.

"Oh! That makes perfect sense!" Caedun laughed out loud and dropped his hand over Luca’s shoulder.

"No wonder there’s so much power in this little body! If I weren’t higher than you in core, I might have been scared shitless."

Jorash shook his head.

"It doesn’t matter if you were a 4th Stage Explorer or even a 1st Stage Observer, Luca would wipe the floor with your face."

He pointed at either side.

"Get in position. I believe you must be running out of time."

Luca walked in the direction assigned to him with his brows knitted.

’Did we tell him about our positions?’

Caedun whipped his gaze at him suspiciously.

"We never told you our Cadet ranks."

Jorash scoffed.

"How many of you brats do you think I’ve witnessed? Now get in line and stop wasting your time.

If you don’t make it, you will miss your resources for the month, completely."

With that, the boys went silent and positioned themselves at either side.

Their faces were locked on each other as the tension of their duel finally got to them.

"Don’t forget. This is merely a fun duel where you feel each other’s abilities.

From what I’ve seen, Caedun still has a long way to go before he reaches his true potential, but Luca has already begun to bloom.

But this has nothing to do with what goes on here and out.

Fight with your heart’s content. If I find that one of you is in danger of death..."

His gaze lingered on Caedun, and the bulky boy didn’t find it pleasing.

"... then relax. I’ll intervene and stop it."

Luca sighed as he took a made-up stance.

His fists in the air and his legs parted apart.

Caedun and Jorash immediately noticed the holes, but said nothing.

"Begin."