Transcendent Gene
Chapter 86: Guided Training [2]

Chapter 86: Guided Training [2]

"Hnngh..."

Gio stirred out of his sleep. It wasn’t a pleasant sleep, and when he woke up, he saw a ceiling quite reminiscent of the hospital ceiling he’d just woken up from.

Only, there wasn’t anyone next to him this time.

"Tsss..."

He stirred slightly, feeling the ache in his shoulder. His other hand went to it, touching soft skin that had just been regenerated.

’I see. That’s good.’

He shook his head, getting rid of the grogginess holding him back.

"How long has it been?"

He was still attached to the machines around him, but they weren’t pumping anything into his body anymore. He deemed it safe to disconnect them and stand up.

’It was a little scary for a second. I didn’t think I’d get hit that bad.’

Gio entertained the battle because he figured Tover’s energy would kill him if he tried to use it.

However, the man was on the verge of death. Humans, just like monsters, became much harder to kill when they desperately struggled against that edge.

But since he was fine, there was nothing to worry about.

Gio rolled his shoulder around a few times.

’It still hurts, but it shouldn’t be anything permanent. I think I should be able to fight again in a week or two.’

There wasn’t a better outcome for him.

In the first place, the original mission was a vehicle delivery. The last bit was an unexpected detour, but overall, everything went well.

Gio walked out the doors of the clinical ward and looked around the hallway to see if there was anybody nearby.

Not catching any familiar faces, he moved towards the main area.

Raymond and Natalia were both there, but the rest of the team was nowhere to be found.

On hearing the sound of the door opening, Raymond looked up, raising his eyebrows when he saw who walked in.

"Oh, you’re awake? I was sure it would take at least a few weeks."

It was a much more casual greeting than one would ordinarily give someone who’d suffered such a grave wound, but well...

It was only a grave wound if it was suffered by someone weak. Raymond and his team experienced these kinds of impacts too often for it to faze them.

And, when Gio’s state stabilized, there was no need to treat it as something major anymore.

Really, it was for Gio’s sake. It was better for someone who’d never sustained such a wound to think of it as something minimal as soon as possible.

If Gio reacted poorly every time something like this happened, he would be traumatized beyond repair before he ever grew into his strength.

Gio nodded at Raymond’s words and looked around the room.

"How long has it been?"

"3 days," Raymond replied.

"We’re already back in the air."

"Hmm..."

Gio gave a sound of confirmation while turning to look at Raymond.

"So?"

"So what?"

"I mean, are you not going to give me any context?"

"The Service Crew usually doesn’t get context."

"I’m not a part of the Service Crew."

Raymond’s eyes narrowed for a second.

"We talked about you when we got back to the ship. Nobody expected you to perform like that."

Technically, it wasn’t a very impressive fight. Without context, it was just another thing that happened. There was no need to think about it further.

But Gio had a dream that he’d made abundantly clear.

"Were you hiding your Sequence for our duel?"

Raymond steered the conversation far away from what was happening in the city, but this was a matter of more importance, so Gio had no choice but to let him.

"I didn’t hide my Sequence. I just didn’t have a chance to use it."

"You would have been a lot safer if you used it against the Blackwing Blood Serpent."

"I was saved before I had to."

Raymond couldn’t say much against that.

Gio was already prepared to justify his new abilities.

[Memory Book] wasn’t known to these people, and he didn’t have any official records at the moment.

The most his existence had been recorded was in the Old Lady’s research, and she only referred to him through titles like "the test subject," instead of using his name.

He could easily hide [Memory Book] and call Hekat his Original Gene.

Raymond watched him closely, looking for lies in his words, but there was nothing he could find.

"I understand that you have an interesting power, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready for ground operations. You saw it yourself. The enemies we’re facing aren’t people you can touch."

Gio couldn’t help but nod.

Even with a little bit of power, he couldn’t directly join them on their ground operations. It was simply impossible for him to be anything other than a burden.

"But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for me to do."

Gio never wanted to fight side by side with them. Well, it would be nice if he got the chance, but he didn’t logically think that moment would come.

He wanted experience.

That was the reason he chose to join them.

"Just give me some scraps. If you’re doing a mission where you think I can gain some experience, let me join you. When you’re not on missions, help me train, and if you see improvements, give me more work."

That was all he wanted.

"I don’t want to be delegated to roles off the battlefield anymore. I came with you to gain real combat experience, and that’s what I want to leave with. I know why you think you need to teach me the rest, but I promise you. You don’t."

He looked directly into Raymond’s eyes. If he was talking to anyone else, those words would have been incredibly rude.

However, Raymond understood what he was saying.

’But if he has those connections, why is he here? And why is he unrecorded?’

It was hard to make sense of the circumstances surrounding Gio, and that made it hard to make sense of who he was as a person.

Raymond only knew for certain what he could see in those eyes.

’Determination. A cold kind of determination that will throw anything aside in pursuit of the goal.’

Determination so powerful could be dangerous depending on who possessed it.

’I want to deny him to see what he does.’

There wasn’t a better way to test his character.

Still, Raymond frowned.

From his perspective, it was best to test Gio over and over again before giving him even a little bit of what he wanted. That was the safest and most secure way to go about things.

’When I was that age, if I was tested as much as he’s been and they told me I still had to pass more tests...’

"Haa..."

He didn’t want to sour his relationship with the young genius.

’And I don’t want to be the one he looks back at in twenty years with hatred because I stunted his growth.’

If Gio was skilled enough to use his Original Gene in combat already, this period while he was young was the best time for him to establish a foundation that would support him throughout life.

"Hmm..."

Raymond hummed as he thought about what Gio said.

"I’ll think about letting you come on calmer missions."

That part, he wouldn’t guarantee.

"But if it’s just training..."

If that was really what Gio wanted, he couldn’t have picked a better time to ask for it.