Red Dragon Spaceship Awakening: I Gain Alien Abilities on Mars-Chapter 198: The Quiet Before The Storm
Now, the way his body was feeling was definitely not painful, but enough to remind him that he was still human, still limited by flesh and bone despite all the enhancements the System had given him.
When he finally stepped out, he dried off quickly, pulled on a fresh set of clothes: practical stuff, comfortable, nothing fancy, and ran a hand through his damp hair to push it back out of his face.
He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment, taking stock. He looked... fine. Handsome, actually. Sharp jawline, clear eyes, the kind of symmetrical features that turned heads without him trying. If Gavin, was a 6/10 in handsomeness, then Tatehan was easily a 9.99/10. Hell, maybe even a perfect 10 on a good day. The thought made him smirk faintly at his own reflection. Not that it mattered much in the grand scheme of things, but it was nice to know he still cleaned up well, even after everything he had been through.
Tired, maybe, but fine. Ready enough for whatever the day was going to throw at him.
With that, he left his quarters and stepped out into the corridor.
The rest of the day passed in a kind of relaxed, aimless drift that Tatehan found oddly comforting. There was nothing urgent demanding his attention, no immediate threats or crises to deal with. Just... time.
He spent the first part of the morning in the training gym, running through a series of drills that were more about keeping his body sharp than actually pushing his limits. He worked through forms, practiced his strikes against the reinforced training dummies, and spent a good half hour just moving through the motions of combat without any particular goal in mind.
It felt good. Meditative, almost.
[HOST STATUS]
Name: Tatehan
Level: 12
Species: Human (Enhanced)
Knowledge: 188/200 [+2]
Repair Points: 57/100
[ABILITIES]
• Gravity Manipulation - Level 12
• Regeneration (Partial) - Level 8
• Enhanced Durability - Level 3
• Heightened Perception - Level 5
• Phase Shift - Level 2
• Force Multiplication - Level 2 [+1]
[INVENTORY:]
[Shadow Goblin Cores: 0 total]
[Tri-Edge Shadow Chakram]
[Serrated Heavy Chakram]
[Backpack]
[Armor]
[Novels]
[Shadow-Forged Blade]
[Kinetic Absorption Armor]
[Devastator Hand Cannon]
[Core from the Destroyed Fortress]
Tatehan noticed that his work at the gym had given him an increase in the level of his Force Multiplication ability.
But how was that possible? Was it because he had been focusing on repetitive, controlled strikes against the training dummies, pushing his muscles to exert more force with each impact? Maybe the System tracked physical exertion differently than he thought. Maybe it was not just about using the ability in combat, but about conditioning his body to naturally amplify force output through consistent practice. It was an interesting thought, one that made him wonder if other abilities could be leveled up through similar indirect methods.
By midday, he had worked up a decent sweat and decided to call it. He grabbed a towel, wiped down his face, and headed back to the common area.
Riven and Lyra were already there, sitting at one of the tables with plates of food in front of them. They looked up as he approached, and Riven waved him over.
"Morning," she said, grinning. "Or afternoon, I guess."
Tatehan dropped into the seat across from them, still catching his breath. "Hey. You two sleep okay?"
"Like the dead," Lyra said, spearing a piece of something that looked vaguely like grilled chicken with her fork. "We got back pretty late."
"I noticed," Tatehan said. "Figured you were out having fun."
"We were," Riven confirmed. "Shopping, food, girl talk. The usual."
Tatehan raised an eyebrow. "Girl talk?"
"You don’t want to know," Lyra said, smirking.
"Oh... ok."
They talked for a while, the conversation light and easy. Nothing serious, nothing heavy. Just friends catching up, sharing bits of their day, laughing at stupid jokes. It was nice. Normal, even, in a way that felt increasingly rare.
Eventually, though, Tatehan excused himself and headed toward the Commander’s office.
He didn’t even know what she did all day. Maybe as head of the city and clan, she handled a lot of paperwork? Administrative duties, logistics, resource management, all the unglamorous but essential work that kept a city functioning.
Oh... and now that the city had been almost demolished by the Obscuron, there were lots of things to repair. Reconstruction efforts alone probably filled her schedule from dawn to dusk.
The door to the commander’s office slid open at his approach, and Tatehan stepped inside to find her seated behind her desk, reviewing something on a holographic display. The older woman glanced up as Tatehan entered, her expression unreadable.
"Tatehan," the commander said, gesturing to the chair across from her. "Sit."
Tatehan sat, folding his hands in his lap.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The commander seemed to be weighing her words, her gaze steady and thoughtful.
"Tomorrow’s the summit," she said finally.
"I know," Tatehan replied.
The commander nodded slowly. "You’ve done your research. You know what you’re walking into."
"I think so, yeah."
"Good." She leaned back in her chair, her fingers steepled in front of her. "These cities... they’re not going to make it easy for you. They’ve got their own agendas and their own priorities. Convincing them to work together is going to take more than just presenting a good argument. It’s going to take finesse. Patience. And a hell of a lot of luck."
Tatehan met her gaze evenly. "I’ll do my best."
He paused for some time before saying:
"It should be pretty easy to convince them. They wouldn’t want more chaos from the Obscuron."
The commander studied him for a long moment, and then, to Tatehan’s surprise, the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Being that it was rare since she smiled made it more wonderful.
"I believe you will," she said quietly. "Best of luck tomorrow, Tatehan. I hope you can convince them."
Tatehan nodded, the pressure of those words settling over him like a mantle.
"Yeah," he said. "Me too."
