Luke and Lawrence were both grinning as they teleported to the weapons studio. As he began to pick out his first weapon, Lawrence spoke.
"Two down, eight to go. I've no doubt you can make it further, but I doubt you'll make it the whole ten days. We made a friendly wager this morning, though, so I hope you can make it at least that far."
"Hehe." Luke laughed. "Watch me."
Selecting a laser rifle, he smiled. 'Laser tag for the win.'
A short moment later, he returned and grabbed a short pistol.
Two pistols.
Lawrence wasn't too surprised. As long as he used the right cover, he should be fine in the laser weapons assessments.
As he surmised, Luke quickly passed them. He chose the heavy weapons next.
As Luke began to fire the missiles, he quickly grasped their timing. Using them against the behemoths in the sky, he appropriately targeted their weak points before coming back to the studio.
Lawrence grinned. The kid might be a savant, but next up was the slug cannons. There was no way he'd pass this assessment without prior training. The recoil alone on these weapons would throw off any marksmans shot.
He grinned as Luke picked up a large shotgun. He was a bit non-plussed once he returned, but he chalked it up towards luck.
As the boy picked up a sniper rifle, he grinned again. The use of such outdated, manual technology was hard for anyone but the one who had already mastered it.
But against all odds, Luke returned.
"Seriously?" Lawrence uttered.
"Yep, I'm just that good." Luke said before jumping in again with a grenade launcher.
"Who is this kid?" Lawrence shouted to the weapons studio. The weapons studio was silent.
Luke quickly finished the assessments before returning once again to the weapons studio. He had his trigger-happy uncle to thank for it.
Although he was a rich snob, his uncle didn't have a kid of his own. Splurging on Luke was his way of making up for it.
"So, how'd I do?"
Lawrence's face was complete stone as he spoke.
"You were a quite a bit slower than some of our pilots, but you managed to score high on the tactics portions of the tests."
He couldn't tell Luke that they had all committed suicide once they received a weapon they didn't know how to use…
"How long will it take for them to start me on a cultivation plan?" Luke asked.
"Not long, not long at all. They can actually scan your body and find your most natural weapons, spirit energy, and more. That being said, the reason why we still do the weapons tests is actually quite simple."
"How much do you know about Spirit Embryos?" Lawrence returned.
"Once a knowledge sea is opened, a cultivator can fuse the concepts of a cultivation path into a spirit embryo of that path. The spirit embryo can then hold that cultivation path separately for the cultivator apart from their original cultivation path."
"Additionally, every cultivator is only ever able to create a single spirit embryo; while there are methods to create additional spirit embryos using treasures of heaven and earth, it is outside a normal cultivators' talent and resources."
"That is correct." The stout, well muscled pilot added. "But what if I told you that our shared talent,
He smiled as he continued. "The reason why a cultivator can only have a single spirit embryo isn't linked to the amount of their spirit energy, but the quality."
"Similarly,
"Our talent also effects the number of spirit embryos you can handle. Every time you reach a cultivation tier, your
"Correspondingly, you'll be able to create another spirit embryo. We're not too picky in terms of which spirit embryos you'll pick up but we do have some stipulations."
"You'll have to select a spirit mech as your next embryo, and select at least 1 weapon embryo before you select another. Since you have a card embryo, it technically counts, but seeing your skills I would still recommend a weapon embryo for you."
"I see." Luke murmured, beginning once again to plan his future path.
Breaking his concentration, the grizzled pilot brought out a small box. "In return for taking two of your precious slots, the military gives you a gift in return. This is a fruit of the Spirit Flame Flower. With it, you can qualitatively enhance your Soul Power by one tier."
"It will retroactively apply itself to your cultivation, thereby putting you one step ahead for the rest of your cultivation journey."
"On behalf of the Galactic Federation Military, I present you with this gift, and implore you to protect the Federation with your life."
Kneeling, Lawrence bowed as he presented the gift.
"I accept the gift, and will gladly serve the Federation as long as they'll have me."
Picking up the box, he pulled out the fruit and swallowed it with a single gulp.