Chapter 115 ~ Advancement
<span style="font-weight:400">The advances made within the Research and Development department of the ck Knights have made a massive leap ever since Silver joined the ck Knights.
<span style="font-weight:400">His shockingly impressive skill with programming had made all the software that run every single machine belonging to the ck Knights 200% more efficient, including all the knightmare frames. The dy between the input given by the pilot and the output done by the burais have decreased significantly, allowing much smoother movements and quick reaction towards any input given by the pilot.
<span style="font-weight:400">He had also made changes and improvements to the machinery within the knightmare frames themselves and its weapons, making them more effective in battle and allowing even previously mediocre pilots to gainbat prowess equivalent to the knights of the Britannian Army.
<span style="font-weight:400">And now, another surge of rapid improvements and advances urred once more when Rakshata and her team became a part of the ck Knights after India made the decision to be a supporter of the ck Knights.
<span style="font-weight:400">With more helping hands, resources, and the brilliant minds of a renowned genius and a genius with knowledge of technologies far more advanced than anything that had ever existed in this world, the technological advancement of the ck Knights have increased significantly by leaps and bounds.
<span style="font-weight:400">And Karen was currently learning and getting used to the new features and upgrades Silver and Rakshata added to her Guren.
<span style="font-weight:400">As one of the two most powerful knightmare frames within their ranks, the Guren had received plenty of upgrades, including an update on its software mainframe to increase its processing speed, upgrades on its physical parts to increase its strength, durability, speed, and reaction time, andst but not least, a significant upgrade to its main weapon.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Right-Arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit was the first ever weapon created that employed the Radiant Wave technology. It was an extremely powerful weapon that dealt massive damage onto a knightmare frame upon contact by causing its parts to bulge, expand, and eventually, explode with the violent vibration it caused onto the liquid and minerals within its victims.
<span style="font-weight:400">But of course, it was not without its ws. For one, due to the dangerous chain reaction in the Radiant Wave Technology, the Radiant Wave Surger requires ammo to be used in an offensive manner. Without it, further usage of the weapon would potentially cause severe damage of the total destruction of the knightmare itself.
<span style="font-weight:400">Secondly, and the most ring weakness of the right arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit, and Guren as a whole, was its short range.
<span style="font-weight:400">With range only slightly further than an arm’s length, the Guren struggled with handling enemies at range. Although this weakness hadn’t be a problem yet due to Guren’s speed and the battles being mostly short distance confrontations, the fact was that it still existed and needed to be remedied before it became a life-threatening weakness.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thus, using Excalibur’s chest mounted beam weapon and the Luminous Shield technology as inspiration, Silver and Rakshata made a significant upgrade to the Guren’s Right-Arm in-built Radiant Wave Unit.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was now capable of shooting the Radiant Wave Surger in the form of a straight beam or a widespread beam, allowing the Guren to deal with enemies at range and inrge numbers.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was now also capable of creating a shield known as the Radiant Wave Shielding, which was capable of naturally dissolving bullets and even stopping heavy weaponries such as the VARIS, giving the Guren defensive capabilities against long-ranged attacks. After all, although Karen had been doing her best to learn Mordred’s skill to cut ranged heavy projectiles such as the VARIS in half, she was still unable to do it reliably. Thus, having this would greatly improve her defenses and survivability in the battlefield.
<span style="font-weight:400">Karen spent her time making sure she learned every single facet of Guren’s new features. And with the help of Mordred, she managed to get used to it very quickly while also enjoying every single second of it.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though, towards the end of it, she finally realized how close they’ve been all this time, squeezed into the cockpit of the Guren which was meant for 1 person.
<span style="font-weight:400">“H-Hey, you’re being too close…!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Her face turned red upon realizing the distance, or theck thereof, between herself and Mordred and red at him “threateningly” to move away.
<span style="font-weight:400">After all, she was sweating from head to toe after spending all these hours in the hangar with the Guren. And, she was also only wearing a tank top and short pants, since it was very hot!
<span style="font-weight:400">What if she smelled bad? What if he smelled her sweat?! Although she tried to act like she didn’t care about appearances, she was, at heart, a young maiden who’s still bothered by such things, especially when she’s in front of her crush.
<span style="font-weight:400">Mordred turned to her with an incredulous look. Or at least, that’s what Karen assumed his expression was since he was wearing a mask. She herself knew how ridiculous she was for telling him to get away from her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“How am I supposed to move away…? This cockpit is meant for one person…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Kuh… J-Just hold your breath! Don’t breathe!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you asking me to die?!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mordred shook his head tiredly and let out a sigh.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, let’s call it here for the day… We’ve gone through most of the stuff anyway. Do you want to go get a drink?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...Sure.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The two exited the cockpit of the Guren and stepped down thedder to dismount from the knightmare. Then, they made their way to themand center vehicle, which was the only ce within their temporary base with air conditioning.
<span style="font-weight:400">The two entered and found it empty, surprisingly enough. Normally, Zero would’ve been here for a meeting with several higher up members of the ck knights or going through his ns alone. And he was, or at least, Karen knew Zero was here thest time she saw him. But now, there was no one around, despite all the air conditions and machines still running. It was as if someone had just left themand center right before they entered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hm? Where is Zero?”
<span style="font-weight:400">She asked, turning her attention towards Mordred, who was considered the ck Knight’s second-inmand by all the members of the ck Knights.
<span style="font-weight:400">“He’s currently with Ainz, screening some new recruits. I don’t know when he’ll be back, but I guess that means we got this ce to ourselves for now.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I-Is that so…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Mordred entered themand vehicle, and Karen followed suit a bit behind him.
<span style="font-weight:400">He opened up the fridge and pulled out arge bottle of barley tea, and then picked up two sses from the shelves before going to the living area where Karen was.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Here you go.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ah, thank you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He poured her a ss of ice cold barley tea and then one for himself as well, before sitting down on the couch along with her.
<span style="font-weight:400">Afortable silence fell between the two as they leaned back onto the couch and rested.
<span style="font-weight:400">Karen was especially exhausted mentally after concentrating on learning as much as she could about the new features of the Guren for so long.
<span style="font-weight:400">So much so that she forgot the state of her outfit right now.
<span style="font-weight:400">A mere thin crop top, hot pants, and underwear she wore underneath those thin, minimal clothes were far from enough to hide her curvaceous, womanly body, dripping with sweat. And although she was merely stretching her arms and body, releasing the tension and rxing her muscles after the long hours of work, the mere act of doing so was akin to a devilish temptress’ seducing dance to Yuuji.
<span style="font-weight:400">Just a simple nce of her exposed, smooth, slightly sweating, skin was enough to make his heart skip a beat. And even if he were to avert his gaze, the prevalent scent of her pheromone and fragrance, which had been enhanced by her sweat, would still fill his nose, which was made worse by his keen senses.
<span style="font-weight:400">If not for his stone will and control over his libido that he had practiced vigorously just by living with his beloved mother, sisters, aunt, Aika, and C.C, just a whiff of her sweet scent and sweat was enough to cause his dragon rod to rampage and burst through the synthetic fiber material of his suit.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even now, his dragon rod was already making a massive bulge on his crotch area. It was a sight that would’ve caused an innocent, young maiden like Karen to yelp in shock and stare at it in both wonder and amazement at the same time if not for Yuuji using his space maniption magic to warp the space around his crotch to bend the light, creating an illusion that nothing was amiss.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Hah…</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">He let out a tired sigh inwardly. Sometimes, he wondered why these girls would smell so fragrant and sexy… Was it because they were “characters” in an anime? Was it the effect of his [Divine Physique] the keen senses it came with?
<i><span style="font-weight:400">Hah… I need to distract myself… I don’t want my horniness to ruin my rtionship with them.</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji quickly shook away his horny thoughts and remembered why he fell in love with Karen in the first ce.
<span style="font-weight:400">He didn’t fall in love with her solely due to her beauty. He fell in love with her determination first, and the bravery she showed by fighting in the front lines against the oppressive Britannian empire despite only being a highschool girl.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then, he fell in love with the kindness and innocence she showed underneath her tough exterior.
<span style="font-weight:400">He opened his eyes, nced to his side, and looked at the gently smiling girl enjoying the refreshing barely tea deliciously. A smile appeared on his face.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hey, by the way…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hm?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji snapped out of his daze and saw Karen now wearing a slight guilt on her expression.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’m thankful that you’re helping me, but didn’t Excalibur also receive some upgrades? Is it alright for you to help me instead of getting used to your own knightmare?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji titled his head in confusion for a moment.
<span style="font-weight:400">He had spent some time in the morning before his meeting with Karen to get used to the new additions Tatsuya and Rakshata made to the Excalibur. It didn’t take that long since Tatsuya had told him most of the things they''d added to the Excalibur in private as the development progressed. He knew full well the extent of the features and upgrades, so all he had to do was experience it in real life to get used to it. And, with his elerated learning speed, he was able to grasp every single new feature quickly and get used to the controls in minutes.
<span style="font-weight:400">But then, a thought struck him which made him realize why Karen had a guilty look on her face.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh? So you know this, but still asked me to help you~?”
<span style="font-weight:400">His words struck her right in the heart with guilt perfectly. S-She didn’t really consider at the time that Mordred would also need time to get used to his own knightmare since the Excalibur also received quite a lot of upgrades. She just wanted his help and his presence there to boost her confidence and do her best to get used to her new Guren as quickly as possible.
<span style="font-weight:400">Only after they were done did she remember, and guilt began to creep up in her heart.
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji saw her guilt-ridden expression and decided to stop teasing her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I was kidding. You don’t need to feel guilty.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Eh?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Karen looked at him in shock.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ve already gotten used to it since I’ve also been working closely with Silver during its development. So, I’ll just need a bit of time, maybe an hour or two, and I’ll be fine.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...Really?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji nodded and patted her on the shoulders.<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“Really. Also, I enjoyed the time we spent together. It’s more fun doing that kind of thing with someone else instead of being on your own.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nn…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Karen fell silent for a moment, before a look of determination, and a blush, appeared on her face.
<span style="font-weight:400">“T-Then, I’ll return the favor and apany you too!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Her heart beated rapidly as she looked at the man before her nervously. She was extremely embarrassed for even saying those words… After all, she was essentially asking him to spend some time together again! And for a moment, she regretted saying it since she was afraid he’d reject her offer.
<span style="font-weight:400">But before such negative thoughts took root in her heart, she heard his answer.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure. I’d love to. Thank you. ”
<span style="font-weight:400">Her expression immediately brightened up, and no matter how much she was trying to hide her smile, subtlety was never her strong suit. Her beautiful, bright smile of happiness that rarely appeared even before the people closest to her, was on full disy for the man that had stolen her heart.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Y-You’re wee.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji felt his heart melt when he saw Karen, the usually tsundere and fierce girl, being so cute.
<span style="font-weight:400">He just wanted to pull her into his embrace. But just then, Karen’s handheld transceiver red with a familiar voice.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Karen! Come to the second warehouse now! And bring Mordred if he’s with you! There’s something big happening!”
<span style="font-weight:400">The voice belonged to Ohgi, and Karen and Yuuji immediately went into high alert.
<span style="font-weight:400">She picked up the transceiver hurriedly and pressed a button to respond.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright! We’ll be right there!”
<span style="font-weight:400">She ced the transceiver into her pocket, and the both of them stood up immediately.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Let’s go!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Yuuji quickly made his way to the second warehouse. And he couldn''t help but get the feeling that the next arc would be starting soon.