Chapter 313: Let’s See How Much You Can Take.

Evelyn’s expression brightened almost immediately upon hearing Kael’s question. She seemed rather excited to discuss the matter.

"Oh, about that, actually, the additional upgrades weren’t something we originally planned. When we first received your armor, our primary objective was simply to repair the damaged components and restore its original functions."

She paused briefly. "However, while examining the armor, we discovered something rather unusual."

Kael’s interest grew.

"Something unusual?"

"Yes. There were faint remnants of an unfamiliar energy lingering within several sections of the armor."

Evelyn continued explaining.

"At first, we assumed it was simply residual energy left behind from whatever had damaged the equipment. But after conducting a few tests, we realized that wasn’t quite the case."

Kael furrowed his brows.

Residual energy? Could she be talking about Earth Energy?

That seemed like the most likely explanation. After all, he’d used Earth Energy to reinforce his body during combat on several occasions, including while wearing the Nano Armor. And unlike Mana, Earth Energy carried properties the Spectre Guild’s engineers might not be familiar with. If some of it had lingered within the armor after his battles, it wasn’t impossible they’d stumbled upon traces of it during the repair process.

Still, Kael didn’t interrupt. He wanted to hear what she’d found.

"We decided to study those energy remnants more carefully," Evelyn continued. "And after running several experiments, we discovered something rather fascinating."

Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"The energy was highly compatible with the materials used in the construction of your Nano Armor."

Kael blinked. "Highly compatible?"

"Extremely." Evelyn nodded enthusiastically. "In fact, the compatibility was much higher than we initially expected. Naturally, that gave us a few ideas."

Kael smiled faintly.

"I see."

"So, while repairing the armor, we decided to make several adjustments to its internal structure."

Evelyn gestured toward the testing chamber around them.

"We also incorporated some additional features designed to take advantage of that energy compatibility."

Kael nodded thoughtfully.

That was certainly interesting.

If the engineers had managed to modify the armor to work more efficiently with Earth Energy, then the upgrade could potentially be far more useful than he had anticipated.

However, there was still one thing he wanted to know.

"What exactly do these new features do?"

Evelyn smiled.

"Rather than explaining everything immediately, why don’t you try it yourself?"

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"Try it?"

"Yes."

She reached into her Inventory, and a moment later, a familiar object appeared in her hand, his Spectre X Nano Bracelet.

Kael’s eyes immediately settled on it. The bracelet looked almost exactly as he remembered, its sleek design unchanged, the familiar dark metallic surface and subtle blue accents giving it the same futuristic look.

At least from the outside, there didn’t seem to be any obvious differences.

Evelyn held it out toward him.

"Here you go, Mr. Kael."

Kael reached forward and accepted it.

"Thanks."

Kael proceeded to fasten the bracelet around his wrist, and immediately the familiar sensation of the device securing itself against his skin returned, along with the neural link.

He flexed his fingers a few times before looking toward Evelyn.

"Alright. Let’s see how it works."

Evelyn nodded. "Go ahead."

Kael activated the bracelet and immediately, countless black nano-particles began emerging from its surface.

Whoosh!

The particles spread rapidly across his arm before flowing over the rest of his body, and within moments, they had covered his torso, legs, and shoulders, assembling into the familiar black-and-blue armor.

The process was smooth and almost instantaneous.

Kael blinked.

Hm?

Something felt different.

He looked down at his armored hands before flexing his fingers.

"Is it just me, or did the deployment get faster?"

The armor had always been capable of assembling itself quickly, but this time the process felt noticeably smoother. Kael didn’t dwell on that thought for long, though, his attention quickly returned to the armor itself.

He raised his arms slightly and examined the familiar black plating.

From what he could see, the overall design hadn’t changed much.

The armor still possessed its sleek, streamlined appearance, with dark surfaces and faint blue lines running along different sections.

Its weight also felt familiar.

Kael moved his shoulders and took a few steps, testing the flexibility of the suit. There was no noticeable restriction in his movements, if anything, it felt slightly more responsive than before.

Still, aside from that, he couldn’t immediately pick out any major differences. There had to be more to it than this, so where were these new features?

Just as he was wondering about that, Evelyn spoke. "Mr. Kael, try using that energy."

Kael turned toward her. "The energy?"

"Yes, the same one we sensed traces of in the armor. I believe it’s something you can use, right?"

She gestured toward his armor.

"The modifications we made were specifically designed to interact with it. You won’t be able to observe the full effects through ordinary activation."

Kael understood immediately. So he needed to use Earth Energy to activate the new features? That wasn’t a particularly difficult task, so he nodded.

"Alright."

He glanced down at his armored hands once more. Although he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, he was curious enough to give it a try. With that thought, Kael began circulating Earth Energy within his body.

The familiar power responded immediately as a dense surge of energy flowed through him, gathering beneath his skin before spreading outward.

Normally, when he released Earth Energy like this, it would radiate outward from his body, filling the surrounding space with its presence. This time, though, something completely unexpected happened.

The moment the energy touched the Nano Armor, the suit reacted.

Whoosh!

Instead of letting the Earth Energy disperse into the surroundings, the armor began absorbing it, and not slowly either, the energy was being drawn in at an astonishing rate.

Kael’s eyes widened slightly.

"Oh?"

He looked down at his body, a grin spreading across his face. "Oh... it’s hungry."

Kael glanced toward Evelyn. She was watching him closely, her expression filled with anticipation, it was obvious she was waiting to see how the armor would respond, as if even she wasn’t entirely sure where this was going.

Kael looked back down at the suit.

Interesting.

He could feel the energy disappearing into the armor, but he hadn’t noticed any particularly dramatic changes yet.

Perhaps it simply hadn’t absorbed enough.

And if that was the case...

Kael smiled.

Well, he certainly wasn’t lacking in Earth Energy.

Considering the amount he possessed, the energy he had released so far was practically insignificant.

Even if the armor continued absorbing it at this rate, he doubted it would make much of a difference to his reserves.

Besides, if the suit was responding this strongly to a small amount of energy, he was curious about what would happen if he provided it with more.

There was only one way to find out.

"Alright, then."

Kael adjusted his stance slightly. "Let’s see how much you can take."

With that, he began releasing even more Earth Energy, the flow of power surging through his body intensifying almost immediately. But rather than escaping into the surrounding chamber, the energy continued pouring directly into the Nano Armor.

Without holding back, Kael kept feeding the suit more and more Earth Energy, eager to see just what kind of changes the Spectre Guild had made to his armor.