Seed of Titan-Chapter 68: A Fulfilled Promise

"What’s the matter Drai?" Ravi asked upon sensing Drai’s hesitation.

Drai’s gears quickly spun, contemplating whether he should let the professor know more about his class.

’Christo did advise me to be careful, but based on my interaction with him during these few months, I can’t see how Professor Ravi would want to harm me.

’He doesn’t seem to be interested much in matters outside of his own research, and so far he’s taken care of me well, even going so far as to make the academy compensate me with credits after the venture—although I did think it was a bit unfair to my friends.

’Well, I think it will be fine, and it’s not like I’m revealing the whole story either, just a bit of my class features.’

Having made up his mind, Drai finally admitted, "My class is actually a bit different from others, Professor. When I first got it, it barely offered me any skills. And when I asked the System about this, it said that my class restricts skill availability."

"Oho... There’s something like that? I think this is my first time hearing about such restrictions. Do you know the reason for it?" Ravi inquired.

"I’m not really sure, but I think my class development should’ve been quite linear. But after this procedure, the notifications said that it had removed the restrictions, so I’m now able to access skills that were previously unavailable."

"So that’s why you shouted?"

"Hehe, sorry... I was a bit too excited when I saw a lot of skills in my skill tab. It used to so pitiful with only one skill available."

"So you’ve managed so far with barely any skills? That’s pretty impressive, Drai. I consider skills to be the staple of a class. Take your rector for example: strip all of his skills, and he would be no different from a useless grandpa. But I guess mages do rely on their skills way more than physical-oriented evolvers."

Ravi ponder over this information briefly before getting back to the screens. He wasn’t actually too surprised with his stimulant’s effectiveness, for he had been confident that it would be revolutionary. But now he felt a slight interested in finding out more about Drai’s class that seemed more intriguing the more he knew about it.

"Can I get my new skills now, Professor?" Drai asked.

"Could you wait a bit more? I’m almost done here," Ravi replied.

"Okay."

Drai decided to put aside the matter of his skills for now, knowing that he would feel tortured if he only checked without immediately getting them.

As the professor said, it didn’t take long for him to conclude his investigation.

"Okay, Drai. Let’s talk in the leisure room," Ravi said, gesturing Drai to follow him outside.

"What about these needles, Professor?" Drai asked.

"Oh, sorry. I completely forgot about them. Let me take them off."

With a wave of hand, Ravi removed all the tiny needles from Drai and put it away in a compartment behind the equipment.

After Drai wore his clothes, he followed the professor to the basement’s leisure room a few doors away from the lab.

Ravi gestured Drai to sit and proceeded to get them some snacks and canned drinks before settling on the sofa. He then opened a can and took a swig.

"Aahh... That really hit the spot."

Drai chuckled and got himself a drink. He figured the professor must be quite spent from all the monitoring and calculating. Reflecting on his performance in his theoretical classes, Drai was sure he could never do this kind of lab work.

"Alright. Let’s talk about the procedure," Ravi said after straightening his posture, looking at Drai. "If all had gone according to the simulations, there wouldn’t have been any critical issues during the procedure. The only questionable aspect was the duration since it’s difficult to conjecture how much your effort in enduring the transformation affects the duration.

"And everything did go according to my calculations—right up until your brain went haywire. That’s when shit hit the fan. Not only did you lose consciousness, your crazy brain activity didn’t cease."

Upon hearing this, Drai couldn’t help but think that this had something to do with the unbearable pain in his head that kept getting worse before he eventually blacked out.

"Boy, you should’ve seen your frozen expression. It’s the stuff of nightmares!" Ravi said as he slightly shivered upon recalling the sight. "And do you know that you were puking silver light like some kind of human lamp? With all this shit happening, how could I not think that you were a goner?"

Despite Ravi’s effort to sound nonchalant, Drai could sense a trace of anguish in the professor’s eyes. Drai fell silent, imagining how the professor would fare if he really did pass away due to the procedure.

’From what I’ve seen from the professor, he would probably blame himself, perhaps to the extent of abandoning his research. Thankfully it all turned out okay. But why did I puke silver light? Is it related to the titans’ white aura?’

While Drai was pondering about this, Ravi continued.

"And you know that it just got worse from there? After I realized that I had to stop the procedure, I couldn’t even terminate it from my VC, and your body didn’t want to let go of the tubes at all! That’s why I had to resort to cutting off all the tubes, leaving the needles on your body. But by then it was already too late since almost all the stimulant had been injected, or rather, syphoned by your body."

"My body did that?!"

Ravi’s words baffled Drai since it sounded like his body had acted autonomously. Drai was also absolutely sure he didn’t possess the ability to syphon liquid using anything else but his respiratory organs, so how did his body manage to accomplish that?

’Is my body being hijacked?’ Drai couldn’t help thinking, a shiver ran down his spine.

Sensing Drai’s worry, Ravi quickly reassured, "Don’t fret it, boy. The System is mysterious, and honestly, kind of fucked up. Strange things happen all the time. There’s no use in worrying too much."

"Is this really normal, Professor?" Drai doubtfully asked. It’s not that he did not trust Ravi, but it was his own body they were talking about, so Drai had more stake in it than the professor, and he couldn’t easily be that nonchalant.

"Well, I wouldn’t say normal per se, but compared to the freak incidents that had happened in all these years, I’d say yours is on the milder side, especially since you’ve come out unscathed.

"For example, there’s this infamous incident that happened in Gerdatti many years ago in which a fire bender exploded out of nowhere in the middle of the street."

"Exploded?!"

"Yep. I bet barbeque was off the menu there for that day, hahaha!"

Drai didn’t react to Ravi’s joke as he was still baffled by this info.

"But why did he explode, Professor?"

"No one knows for sure. Investigations indicated that it was highly unlikely for a third party to be involved. And it didn’t seem to be a suicide either since the man had just accepted a new commission that morning and was in the middle of eating skewers that he had just bought at a food stall nearby. And furthermore..."

Drai gulped as he waited for the professor’s words.

"...he seemed to be looking at his status right before he exploded—at least that’s what several witness said in their testimonies. There are a few other stories that are similarly eerie, but not many are as straightforward as this one. One second a guy’s enjoying some meat skewers and suddenly—kaboom—he turned into the thing he was eating. Now do you understand why I said that the System is fucked up?

"But like I said, don’t worry about it too much. It’s clearly outside of our current understanding, and it’s not like you were harmed either. But I think it did cost me a few years of my life, hahaha!"

Drai nodded and decided to not think about it any further for now. He felt that it was better for him to focus on training and improving instead, especially after he found out about the overwhelming darkness that seemed to be targeting the titans.

"Anyway, from my investigation after our procedure, I failed to find any definite leads to what might have caused this problem. And the matter regarding your normalcy instead of brain damage after that prolonged extreme cerebral activity is also unsolved.

"So I partially believe that the issue occurred mainly due to the System, or specifically, your class, which creates some complications for my research. And another part of me thinks that there are decisive variables that I’ve failed to consider in my calculations, but it’s unclear whether this is due to my negligence or because these variables cannot be measured by my current means.

"Either way, this means I must delay the publication of my research and the distribution of the stimulant until I am totally sure that this complication won’t be reoccurring problem in the future. But for now, you have fulfilled your promise, Drai."

Ravi then grabbed Drai’s hands and gave his sincerest smile that was devoid of his usual mischievousness.

"Sorry for inconveniencing you so much, Drai. I know it’s been hard for you. And thank you for helping this crazy old man fulfill his dream. I would still be in perpetual hopelessness had you not decided to participate in my research. I’m forever in your debt, boy."

Drai wanted to refute the professor since he hadn’t felt too inconvenienced nor had he done too much. But seeing the professor’s sincerity, Drai kept his thoughts and accepted the gratitude.

"I’m glad I could help, Professor. And if not for you, I wouldn’t have studied here and met my precious friends, so I’m equally indebted."

Ravi merely nodded upon hearing Drai’s words. He already knew that Drai wasn’t the kind of person to take advantage of others. So far, the boy had barely asked for anything from him. Ravi was sure that if it had been any other person, they would have probably made better use of their crucial role, wringing himself dry.

"Anyway, it’s already quite late. You should go back and rest, boy. Don’t forget to contact me if any problem arises. Now I need to tidy up the data and prepare for tomorrow.

"Oh—and don’t be a stranger now that you’re done with the procedures. Come visit me anytime you’re free."

"Don’t worry, Professor. There’s still a few years until I graduate. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you a lot."

"Hahaha, true. Well, let me walk you to the front gates. I think I’ve skipped this courtesy a bit too much."

Drai didn’t refuse and followed the professor to the front gates where Jack was already waiting in a car. Soon, Drai was off, heading to his dorm.

As Ravi silently watched the car drive away, a thought surfaced in his mind.

’If I had a son, I’d like to think that he would be as splendid as you, Drai boy.’

Seconds later, the car finally left his sight, and Ravi headed back inside with a lingering smile, ready to toil away in his lab for days to come.

***