The agents' eyes widened. How could bullets bounce off without even having a bulletproof shield?
They noticed that Jonathan Russell's skin at the front had changed to a metallic material, different from that of ordinary people.
"It's a mutant! Everyone switch to special ammunition!"
"Type is physical enhancement ability! Skin hardening!"
Having gone through their fair share of experiences, their response was quick.
The agents who quickly switched to special ammunition fired again at Jonathan.
It was large-caliber special ammunition designed to subdue physically enhanced mutants.
No matter how strong a skin-hardening ability user was, when hit by this, their skin would typically shatter like glass.
-Tititping!
And the fired bullets, just like before, bounced off Jonathan's skin without penetrating."Uh..."
The sight was enough to stun the agents.
Regular bullets were one thing, but what were they supposed to do when even bullets made specifically for catching guys like him were bouncing off?
"U-upgrade the classification! Minimum Grade 2 subject!"
A grade 2 mutant could be considered quite high even within [Supremacy].
Especially considering how difficult it was to achieve high grades in the physical enhancement category, the current Jonathan could be considered among the top tier among similar abilities
"This kind of thing doesn't even tickle!"
The previous Jonathan would have been neutralized by the special ammunition.
But after following the harsh training curriculum designed by Asmer, his body had progressed even further than before.
He originally had a lot of muscle and bulk, but now he had completely burned off the fat and gained even more muscle.
That strengthened body also increased his abilities as a mutant.
The hardness of his skin hardening increased, and even his overall physical abilities improved.
The current Jonathan had developed remarkably compared to his previous fixer days.
"P-pour more bullets!"
"Grenades! Pull out the grenades!"
The agents realized they couldn't stop Jonathan with bullets and tried to unleash stronger firepower.
But Jonathan, who had been visible in the distance, was already right in front of them.
"How is he so fast...?"
The agent at the front felt Jonathan's shoulder connect with his face.
The agent spun around like he'd been hit by a truck as he flew through the air. His face was caved in.
An agent watching from behind shouted in terror.
"This, this crazy bastard! That's not a speed someone with that build should have!"
The agents had judged that while Jonathan might be strong due to his build, he would be slow. But because Jonathan's entire body was packed with muscle, his burst speed and agility were also beyond common sense.
Like a bulldozer without brakes, Jonathan pushed away all the agents in front of him.
He was truly like a rhinoceros charging through a flock of sheep.
"Hm. Not bad."
There was someone who blocked Jonathan's movement.
"You are..."
Jonathan stared at his opponent who was at a similar eye level.
He was a man who was a head taller even compared to the other agents.
His visible muscles and build were similar to Jonathan's.
He had a thick neck and angular jaw. His beard and sideburns emphasizing his wildness were striking.
"There are only weaklings and pushovers in places like this, so I was getting restless. But right when I needed it, a suitable guy to play with appeared. Truly heaven-sent."
Despite having seen Jonathan push through the agents, he remained composed throughout. This meant he had that much confidence in his abilities.
In reality, he was among the stronger agents. As evident from how he stopped Jonathan's charge, he too was an ability user related to physical enhancement.
However, while Jonathan was strengthened by mutant powers, he was strengthened by experimental powers.
Enhanced test subject.
That was his true identity.
"I've been wanting to fight a mutant with physical enhancement abilities. To see who's stronger. Well, ideally I'd want to fight a Grade 1 mutant, but that would be greedy."
"..."
"Please, I hope you can last at least 5 minutes."
Despite the agent's provocative smirk, Jonathan's expression remained unchanged throughout.
But the enhanced test subject thought Jonathan was scared.
"What's wrong, are you frightened? This is going to be a boring fight."
The enhanced test subject applied force to break Jonathan's arms that he had grabbed.
Tuduk. His bulging muscles ripped through his clothes. While visually overwhelming, his actual strength was even greater.
Just as he was about to break Jonathan's arms and play with him like a toy.
"Blah blah blah."
"Huh?"
"You talk too much."
The enhanced test subject flinched.
'What's this? My arms won't move.'
He was trying to twist Jonathan's hands, but at some point they wouldn't budge at all.
Even when he strained harder with veins popping out, his hands just trembled with no change.
"What, is this...?"
Could it be that this guy is stronger than me?
Even stronger than myself who matches Grade 1 mutants in measurements?
Jonathan spoke to the unbelieving enhanced test subject.
"Pathetic. You seemed so confident I wondered how strong you were, but is that all?"
"You, you bastard!"
Just as the enhanced test subject was about to shout something, his vision spun once.
-Kwang!
Jonathan slammed him into the ground. The ground cracked and fragments scattered.
"Kheuk!"
The enhanced test subject exhaled sharply from the massive impact across his entire back.
'This, what is this...!'
Even when he tried to get up, the pain prevented him from exerting force. More than the physical pain, what tormented him was the mental shock of being overpowered.
Jonathan grabbed the enhanced test subject's collar and lifted his body with one hand.
Despite the enhanced test subject weighing over 150kg, to Jonathan it felt rather light.
In his training to become a knight, he had lifted much heavier things thousands of times.
"Get lost."
Jonathan threw the enhanced test subject toward the agents.
The agents who were watching their fight became dumbfounded seeing their trusted enhanced test subject not only subdued but flying towards them.
The agents collapsed in a heap as they collided with the flying mass of flesh.
The agents watching from beyond aimed their guns at Jonathan.
"Prepare grenades!"
If special ammunition didn't work, they planned to use explosives. No matter how strong Jonathan was, it would be difficult to take grenades head-on with bare hands.
But there was something the agents overlooked - Jonathan hadn't come here alone.
"You bastards!"
"Are we invisible or something!"
Four people who quickly emerged from behind Jonathan pounced on the agents trying to fire grenades.
Anthony, Jersey, Burke, Perth.
While they were once ordinary fixers, after receiving hellish training to become knights, they played with the agents like children.
There was no need to draw weapons. The enemies would fall just from a light hand strike, they would tumble just from a light kick.
"Hahaha! Look how weak these guys are!"
"How can your legs be so weak? Need to do more squats!"
"Do you even eat protein!"
"..."
The agents weren't weak by any means. They too were trained individuals, and some were even experimental subjects.
While not on the level of the enhanced test subject Jonathan faced, they were skilled enough to tear apart ordinary people with bare hands.
But even such agents were no match for the four knight candidates.
"What, what are these guys! Are there more physical enhancement mutants?"
From an outsider's perspective, it would be easy to mistake the newly appeared four as mutants as well.
The remaining agents aimed their guns at the four. Unlike Jonathan, they didn't seem to have abilities like skin hardening.
But before they could pull the triggers, a third party's hands landed on both their shoulders.
"Gentlemen. Isn't it cowardly to shoot from afar while others fight with their sacred bodies?"
It was David who had approached without anyone noticing and put his arms around the two agents' shoulders.
The agents naturally drew daggers from their waists and just as they were about to stab at David's vital points with the daggers.
-Wuduk.
David simply applied force to his arms and subdued the two agents.
It didn't even take 5 minutes for all thirty-plus agents to fall.
This was the result without even Asmer stepping in.
The knight candidates who subdued all the agents became bewildered looking at the carnage they created.
"What's this? Why was it so easy?"
"Shouldn't the guys guarding a secret lab be stronger than ordinary mercenaries? They're too weak?"
The fight ended one-sidedly, making their tension seem pointless.
It wasn't that the others were weak. It was that they had become unrecognizably strong.
That fact gave the candidates even more confidence.
Fire burned in their eyes. Just seeing the results of their training felt like compensation for all their past suffering.
Asmer watched the scene from a distance with a satisfied expression.
The 6 knight candidates he personally taught.
While their bodies didn't match up to Osian or himself, they had reached a sufficient level to be called knights.
The basic stage was complete with this. After this fight, it seemed they could move on to the next stage.
"How are they, Successor?"
"They've all grown splendidly."
Osian who arrived at the scene gave his honest impression looking at the agents sprawled on the ground.
Though he watched them train diligently every day, he didn't expect such amazing results.
The thought of stepping in if things got dangerous now felt foolish.
"They are people who admire you, Successor, and want to become knights. They've continued hellish training for that. We are not that weak."
Osian nodded. It was as Asmer said.
They are ones who didn't run away from that hellish training and endured until the end.
Like iron becoming harder the more it's hammered, their bodies became stronger than ever before but an even bigger change was their iron-like mental strength.
Not giving up, not yielding, and stubbornly pushing forward.
That was the most important mindset for a knight.
A smile formed on Osian's lips.
A knight's will does not disappear.
Even if the stars in the sky faded away, that light was burning brilliantly here on earth.
"Let's go. We need to clean up the remaining forces."
"Yes!"
That day Osian and Asmer's group raided as many as 5 secret laboratories.
In the ensuing fights, there were of course no casualties, and even injuries were minimal.
It was truly an overwhelming victory.
"Congratulations."
After the fights ended, Osian spoke to the 6 candidates following him.
"You must have realized it too. Having endured that training, you've become incomparably stronger than when you started."
Jonathan nodded and the others agreed with those words as well.
They had become stronger and they had changed a lot. The bugs who lived in anxiety every day while working as fixers were now gone.
The training that was only painful at first somehow became enjoyable at some point. Every day was fulfilling and they felt proud of their growth.
People who admired someone and followed their footsteps could finally look back on the path they had walked.
And now, they realized how much they had grown.
From that day until today.
‘We really came far. We really worked this hard and put in so much effort.’
While working as fixers, they lived day by day not knowing when they would die.
They lived like bugs, thinking they could never escape no matter how much they struggled their whole lives.
They lost their dreams and chased reality, forgot romance and pursued money but that day, the starlight that Osian showed them revealed a new path.
Rather than living like bugs like this, they wanted to try something, anything. They didn't want to end their lives without having done anything.
"You worked hard."
With that one phrase from Osian, they felt some knot of anxiety in their hearts melting away.
Jonathan shed hot tears and the other fixers were the same.
They had resolved to change. They wanted to live a different life.
They were just people who wanted to be proud of themselves but it would be a lie to say there was no desire for recognition.
They wanted someone to acknowledge how they had changed. It would be fine if it was their comrades who shared their hardships, or Asmer who taught them.
Still, if there was someone they needed recognition from first, it would be Osian.
The starlight of admiration that made them dream again.
They had finally received recognition from him.
They thought they could never reach him no matter how much they stretched out their hands. They thought they could only look up to him.
Because that's what an ideal existence was.
How deeply touching was this one phrase saying they worked hard. Those who had come closer to becoming knights shed hot tears and resolved.
Yes, the path they walked was not wrong.
That the choice they made that day, throwing away all their pride, was the best choice of their lives.
Osian declared to those who held starlight in their hearts.
"Congratulations on becoming apprentice knights."