Aiden checked his personal terminal and realised that approximately two hours remained before the animals he’d purchased were delivered.
Two hours. He had already obtained two valuable traits. Titan Strength and Regenerative Reconstruction.
But possessing abilities and understanding them were two different things.
Aiden didn’t intend to walk blindly into the apocalypse relying on powers he hadn’t tested.
He turned toward the university. On his way out of the forest, he remained alert, casually observing the wildlife around him.
Birds moved between the branches. A monkey watched him from a distance before disappearing into the canopy. Several insects crawled through the undergrowth. Nothing particularly interesting.
Then something moved near a tree beside the edge of the forest.
Aiden’s eyes shifted. A small wall gecko clung to the rough surface, its body almost perfectly blending into the bark.
He stopped as the gecko moved upward.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. ’Adhesion, such an interesting ability might prove useful later...’
The memory immediately surfaced. Wall geckos could cling to surfaces that should have been impossible to climb. Walls, glass, ceilings, and smooth surfaces. The potential was obvious.
Aiden followed the gecko without rushing. It climbed higher.
He waited. Eventually, it moved onto a lower section of the trunk.
Aiden’s hand shot forward and caught it. There was no chance for it to escape, the gecko could only struggle between his fingers.
Aiden looked down at it and a quick motion ended its struggle.
[Soul Essence Absorbed.]
Aiden’s eyes sharpened.
[You’ve gained the Soul Trait, Adhesive Dominion.]
[Source: Wall Gecko Soul Essence.]
[Type: Passive/Active Physical Trait.]
Aiden’s expression became slightly more interested.
[Description: The user inherits the microscopic adhesive mechanisms of the wall gecko, allowing him to consciously manipulate the friction and adhesion between his body and surrounding surfaces.]
[The user can adhere to walls, ceilings, glass, and other surfaces without conventional support.]
[The user can also concentrate the adhesion into specific parts of his body, dramatically increasing his grip.]
Aiden’s eyes brightened as he read this...
[Drawback: The stronger the adhesion, the more difficult it becomes to release.]
[Excessive adhesion can place tremendous stress on the skin, potentially causing micro-tears and bleeding if the user forcibly detaches himself.]
Aiden read the description twice. Unlike Slightly Sharp, this wasn’t merely a minor enhancement.
It was an entirely new physical capability. He could potentially move across walls, anchor himself against powerful impacts, prevent enemies from knocking him backward.
And, perhaps most importantly, maintain an unbreakable grip on a weapon.
Aiden’s gaze became thoughtful.
Titan Strength... and Adhesive Dominion. The possibilities were obvious. Titan Strength allowed him to generate abnormal physical force. But force was useless if his own body was thrown backward by the recoil.
With Adhesive Dominion, he could anchor himself to the ground. Or a wall, or almost any other surface.
He could create a stable foundation from which to unleash his strength.
A faint smile appeared. These two traits might complement each other better than I expected.
Still, he wouldn’t test the new ability yet. He had somewhere else to be.
...
Aiden eventually emerged from the forest. He checked his terminal again. Roughly two hours remained before his delivery.
He considered his options and realised there was no point returning to his dorm and sitting around.
He needed a controlled environment. Somewhere he could test Titan Strength without accidentally destroying something, or someone.
The answer came naturally; the university gym.
...
The university gym was considerably livelier than usual.
The upcoming launch of Eclipse Online hadn’t stopped people from maintaining their routines.
Students filled the exercise area. Some worked through traditional weightlifting routines.
Others used futuristic training equipment that displayed heart rate, muscle output, oxygen consumption, and other biometric information in real time.
Music played softly throughout the facility.
Aiden stepped inside and looked around, he wasn’t here to exercise.
He wasn’t interested in building muscle right now, his objective was simple: Find the current limits of Titan Strength without seriously injuring himself.
He walked past the lighter equipment, past the treadmills, past the resistance machines and headed toward the heavy-weight section.
A large professional-grade barbell setup occupied the center of the area.
The bar was already loaded with the maximum amount of weight permitted by the gym.
Aiden stopped and examined it.
Several students nearby noticed. One frowned.
"Is he actually going for that?"
Another looked at Aiden’s lean physique and laughed.
"He’s going to hurt himself."
Aiden ignored them and stepped toward the bar.
Then a familiar voice reached him, "Well, look who it is."
Aiden stopped, he recognized that voice. The Black Fang Gang, the same group from earlier.
They occupied several benches near the free-weight section.
The leader was lifting while two others sat nearby, smoking despite the gym’s rules. Another leaned against a machine, watching the room.
Their presence alone was enough to make several students keep their distance.
One of them recognized Aiden immediately, "Hey, isn’t that the guy from earlier?"
The leader glanced over, his expression changed. "Yes it is him."
Aiden didn’t even look at them, instead he continued toward the barbell.
One of the gang members laughed, "Don’t tell me he’s actually going to lift that."
The leader looked Aiden up and down, "With those arms?"
Another gangster snorted, "He’ll break his back."
The leader chuckled, "Maybe he’s trying to impress someone. Dudes be doing anything for bitches."
A few nearby students laughed nervously but Aiden ignored all of them.
He stood before the bar and his gaze moved across the plates.
’This should be enough.’
He remembered the system’s warning. Titan Strength could allow him to produce tremendous force.
But his physical foundation hadn’t changed enough to safely handle unlimited output.
His bones were still bones. His tendons were still tendons. His joints were still vulnerable.
If he generated more force than his body could withstand, the result wouldn’t be greater strength.
It would be self-inflicted injury. Fortunately, the equipment had safety supports.
He could test the upper limit without risking being crushed beneath the weight.
Aiden reached down. His fingers wrapped around the bar.
Then he took a deep breath.
’Titan Strength!’
The trait activated, there was no explosion nor brilliant light, no dramatic transformation. Instead, Aiden felt something subtle shift inside his body.
His muscles tightened. His tendons seemed to become more responsive. Every part of his body suddenly felt capable of transmitting force more efficiently.
It was as though his body had gained access to a reservoir of strength that had always existed but had previously been inaccessible.
Aiden planted his feet, and tightened his grip.
Then he pulled, but got nothing, the bar refused to move.
Aiden’s expression hardened and increased the force. His arms trembled, his shoulders tightened.
His legs strained. For a moment, the mocking laughter behind him grew louder.
"See?"
"I told you."
"He’s going to hurt himself."
Aiden’s eyes narrowed, he pushed harder. He was experienced enough to know that while it seems like it, he wasn’t yet at his limit so the best he could do was ignore the comments of those airheads who can’t mind their business...
Then, the bar moved slowly and the laughter stopped.
Aiden raised it from the rack. The entire gym seemed to fall silent.
One of the Black Fangs half-rose from his seat, "What the..."
Aiden’s teeth clenched. The weight was heavy, very heavy. Titan Strength wasn’t giving him effortless superhuman power.
His body was struggling to handle the force. His muscles trembled, sweat formed along his forehead, his joints protested.
But he held. For several seconds, Aiden maintained the weight.
Then he carefully lowered it.
CLANG!
The sound echoed throughout the gym. Nobody spoke for a while, The Black Fangs simply stared.
Aiden looked down at his hands and flexed his fingers. Nothing felt broken. No sharp pain, nor torn muscles. No damaged tendons either. His body had held.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. ’So this is roughly where my current physical foundation begins to struggle... 350 kg’
He didn’t stop there. He adjusted the weight slightly. Then performed another controlled lift.
This time, he focused on the sensation inside his body, the distribution of force, the strain on his muscles, the pressure on his joints and the way his tendons responded.
Then another and another. He wasn’t trying to show off. He was simply gathering data.
Titan Strength wasn’t simply increasing every aspect of his physical abilities equally.
It was allowing his body to generate and transmit a disproportionate amount of force.
But his physical foundation remained the limiting factor.
The stronger his body became naturally, the more power Titan Strength would be capable of producing.
Aiden eventually lowered the bar for the final time and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The entire gym was still watching him. Even the Black Fangs had gone quiet.
One of them finally muttered, "How the hell did he do that?"
Another shook his head. "I don’t know."
The leader said nothing. He simply stared at Aiden. There was no mockery left in his eyes, his gaze was instead filled with uncertainty...
’Who is this guy? Is he the second coming of Anatoly?!’
Aiden didn’t acknowledge them. He returned the equipment to its proper position and stepped away.
He had gotten what he wanted. There was nothing left to prove.
As he walked toward the exit, murmurs gradually returned throughout the gym.
Aiden pushed open the doors. Warm golden light of the setting sun touched his face.
He stepped outside and checked his terminal. The delivery window was approaching.
He slowly clenched and unclenched his hand.
Titan Strength is powerful. But it wasn’t free power. His body remained the bottleneck. If he wanted to fully exploit the trait, he needed to strengthen his physical foundation.
Then his thoughts shifted toward the second ability.
’Regenerative Reconstruction.’ That changed things. If his body could repair itself from injuries, he could potentially push his physical limits much harder than an ordinary person.
Not recklessly, not yet. Regeneration could repair damage. It couldn’t erase pain. It couldn’t create nutrients from nothing.
And it certainly couldn’t guarantee that pushing beyond his limits wouldn’t cripple him.
But eventually... The combination of Titan Strength, Regenerative Reconstruction, and Adhesive Dominion could become terrifying.
Aiden’s lips slowly curved upward. ’With this, I should be ready for the apocalypse, but I need more souls!’