Chapter 27
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: The Gigant's New Heart
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A personal training ground where one could operate a Gigant was nothing short of an enormous privilege.
There were plenty of training grounds for people scattered throughout the vast academy grounds, but Gigant training grounds were a different story.
‘There’s a reason the number of cadets is so small.’
There were forty first-years in total.
That might seem like a lot at first glance, but only about thirty could advance to second year at most.
The numbers dwindled further from there, and dwindled even more...
In the end, only about ten graduated with a diploma.
Considering how talents from not just the Empire but neighboring nations flocked to Del Modor Academy, it was a tiny number.
Yet even with such a small student body, not everyone had access to a personal Gigant training ground.
If they tried to build one for each, the grounds would need to be at least twice as large as they were now.
“It really is ridiculously huge.”
Abel muttered to himself without realizing it as he stood at the entrance to the training ground.
Having marveled like that, Abel walked forward again.
He didn’t need to worry about how to get in. As he approached the entrance, a security device came into clear view.
Abel deftly pulled his access card from his pocket and held it up to the device.
Woooong-.
Mana stirred, and the door opened on its own. Abel cautiously stepped through into the opened door.
The interior of the training ground was just as vast as it looked from outside.
It wasn’t quite big enough to run around freely, but it was more than sufficient for basic training.
As Abel surveyed the interior, his gaze suddenly stopped in one spot.
There lay a massive Gigant.
‘There it is.’
The Gigant hangar was right next to the training ground, so with prior arrangements, he could use it just like this.
Abel approached his Gigant.
Unlike last time during class, he was alone now, so he could freely walk around it and inspect it at ease.
“Perfect...”
Abel muttered as if entranced, staring at the Gigant.
If he really nitpicked, he might find a few scratches, but in his eyes, ‘Lupus’ was nothing short of a work of art.
It had been several years since he opened his eyes in this world, yet he still couldn’t believe giants like this walked around on two legs.
Gigants blatantly defied the common sense he knew from Earth.
But that was exactly why they made his heart race even more.
It wasn’t something he’d tell anyone, but in this world where he had nothing to grow attached to, these metal giants had been what sustained him.
“Heh.”
Abel chuckled softly and shook his head.
Even if no one was around to catch him gawking like a kid, time kept ticking away.
He couldn’t waste it like this.
Calming his excitement, Abel headed straight for the cockpit.
A ladder was already set up there for easy access.
Abel climbed the ladder and placed his hand on the cockpit’s armor plating.
Wooooong-!
A small amount of mana was sucked in, and with a resonance hum, the armor surrounding the cockpit slid open to both sides.
Abel carefully slipped his body inside.
Normally, he would place his hand on the core and activate it from there, but Abel didn’t this time.
He had other business today.
First, Abel closed the cockpit armor. Darkness soon followed.
“Huuuuu.”
Abel let out a long breath and pulled a small box from his pocket.
His heart was already racing to open it and pull out the contents, but he didn’t act rashly.
‘Stay calm. Calm...’
What rested on Abel’s palm now could become a treasure beyond measure or a disaster, depending on how it was used.
After several deep breaths, Abel slowly opened the box.
-Uuum.
No sooner had he opened it than a low, heavy voice echoed in his mind.
It sounded like a groan or like stretching after waking up. Abel slowly opened his mouth.
“You’re awake?”
-Indeed. Master.
Unlike last time, the reply came immediately.
The voice even seemed stronger somehow, as if its consciousness had sharpened.
Abel didn’t give it time to linger and spoke again.
“I have a gift for you.”
-A gift?
“Yes.”
Abel fully lifted the Gigadeus heart from the box and placed one hand on the Gigant’s core.
“You’ll need a body. In your current state, you can’t exert much power.”
-Umm. Not certain, but... it feels that way. Even short conversations are taxing.
“Perfect timing, then. There’s a body here that fits you just right.”
At Abel’s words, the voice showed signs of confusion.
-This is a body?
“Yes.”
-Something feels off.
“If you don’t want it, you don’t have to take it. It makes no difference to me.”
Silence again.
Abel waited a moment, then made a gesture as if to put the Gigadeus heart back in the box.
That was when the reply came.
-I understand.
“Huh?”
-I’ll take the body.
“You’ll take the body?”
Abel repeated the words. After a brief pause, the reply came.
-...I’ll gratefully accept the gift.
“Alright.”
The tone wasn’t particularly polite, but Abel chose not to risk more and lifted the Gigadeus heart again.
“But there are conditions.”
-Conditions?
“Yes. Obey my commands and do nothing to harm me. That’s it—those two.”
-That’s...
“No thought of refusing, I hope? I have no desire to take risks just to give you a gift.”
Even with the subtle urging, the reply didn’t come right away.
For a being that had been in a coma for decades, its judgment wasn’t impaired at all.
‘No, this level of sharpness is probably what’s left.’
Abel thought that and spoke again.
“In return, I won’t harm you lethally without reason or give you absurd orders.”
-Truly?
“Yes. This is a ‘pact’.”
-A pact...
Short silence again.
But this time, Lupus broke it.
-Fine. I accept.
Hearing that, Abel inwardly sighed in relief.
He’d kept up a calm facade during the talk, but in truth, his palms were drenched in sweat from tension.
Fortunately, the other side hadn’t spotted the loophole in Abel’s conditions.
Even if it figured it out later, it wouldn’t matter.
Woooong-.
A pattern had already floated up on the smooth surface of the Gigadeus heart.
The pact’s pattern.
Now, Abel and ‘Lupus’ could never break words spoken aloud.
In other words, primary safety was secured.
Abel quickly gathered his thoughts and spoke again.
“Good. Then I’ll give you the body. It might be a shock, so prepare yourself.”
-Shock? What do you...
Clack-.
Before Lupus could finish, Abel shoved the Gigadeus heart into the core.
Wooooooong-!
-Krgh?
Blue ripples spread across the core’s surface, and at the same time, a pained groan echoed in his mind.
But Abel didn’t stop; he pushed harder with his arm.
The repulsion was fierce, but as he pressed firmly, the heart began slowly getting sucked into the core.
-Kuaaaaaah!
Even hearing Lupus’s groan, Abel didn’t stop.
Truth be told, it wasn’t easy for him either.
Along with the strong repulsion came a jolting pain like an electric shock through his whole body.
The kind of pain that made him want to yank his hand away immediately.
But Abel gritted his teeth and shoved the heart fully into the core.
Finally, when the heart was completely absorbed into the core.
Kuuung- Thung-!
With a vibration, brilliant light began pouring from the core.
At the same time, the dark cockpit interior lit up brightly.
Lupus’s voice came right after.
-Krgh, this, what...?
The voice, laced with considerable bewilderment, no longer echoed in his mind but resounded from the core itself.
Abel gave a simple reply.
“That’s your new body, Lupus.”
-This is my body?
“Yes.”
Answering that, Abel placed both hands on the core.
“I’ll show you properly.”
No long explanation needed—Abel poured mana into the core.
Up to that point, it was the same as always, but what followed was different.
The mana sucked in through the core spread out at a speed incomparable to before.
And when the mana circulated back and forth to complete the cycle, a vitality unlike any before surged through.
Wooooooong-!
Abel felt his senses expand in an instant.
With that, Lupus slowly pushed off the ground and rose to its feet.
Kuuung-!
The training ground interior vibrated faintly.
Lupus stood on the earth with both feet.
-This sensation... it’s been ages.
Abel snapped out of his brief intoxication with the omnipotence at Lupus’s words.
The voice carried a strange emotion.
Longing. Familiarity. Bitterness.
A complex feeling hard to pin down.
“How is it? Like the new body?”
-Not great, but not bad.
“Good to hear. At least it passes muster.”
Abel smiled and slowly walked around the training ground interior.
While he inspected the machine, Lupus stayed quiet before suddenly asking a question as if realizing something.
-But didn’t you say this was my body?
“I did.”
-Yet you’re the one moving it?
It was a question Abel had anticipated, so he answered without hesitation.
“Yes. Your role is to assist me.”
The reply didn’t come right away.
But dissatisfaction transmitted through the core.
Unfazed, Abel spoke in a kind tone.
“What’s wrong? Prefer lounging in the box over this body? I can send you back if you want.”
-No, no. Of course not. I prefer this state.
The voice brimmed with flusteredness.
Abel grinned.
He hadn’t dropped his guard, but he had no intention of being dragged around.
With the pact in place, Abel held the hilt of the sword.
Lupus had no way to get what it wanted without harming Abel.
‘For now, at least.’
Thinking that inwardly, Abel offered a carrot instead of the stick this time.
“Of course, I don’t plan to exploit you forever.”
-What do you mean?
“If you help me well, I’ll gift you a proper body. One you can move with your own will.”
-I see. Understood.
He could feel much of Lupus’s dissatisfaction easing at those words.
“Good. Conversation ends here. Let’s test you out properly.”
-Test what?
“What else? Check your abilities.”
-Ah, right.
Lupus accepted immediately.
Having just awakened after so long, it was probably curious too—how much power it could wield.
Abel recalled Lupus’s abilities in his mind.
Most were for actual combat or experiments, but not all.
Like pushing the core’s performance beyond limits, for instance.
‘In the game, output nearly doubled for a short burst.’
Like that, Abel listed things to check one by one.
But then.
Wooooooong-!
A cluster of light suddenly formed on one wall of the training ground.
Abel hadn’t expected this and narrowed his eyes at it.
The light soon gathered into letters.
[Entry Permission Request]
[Visitor: Professor Scarlett de Klein]
Abel’s expression shifted subtly.