Chapter 22- Runes Of The Blood Man (Part 2)
George nodded his head and quickly rushed outside to check the condition of the machine. The moment the explosion happened, all the closest machinery was severely damaged, and some were even completely destroyed. The other machines, which were farther away, didn't seem to have as much noticeable damage on them.
The Blood Energy measuring machine was luckily one of the farthest machines away from the explosion. Sitting down, George tapped on the keyboard for a while, checking all the vital systems that keep the machine functioning.
"Is it still working?" Fiona asked.
"Yes, aside from some external damage, every component is still intact." He said as he adjusted his glasses. "I think we can still do the test."
"Good," Fiona said as she looked at Elio. "We will do the test and see how much your energy has increased."
"Judging from that explosion… I doubt it's anything less than one million energy points." Alex said. "That's… so far beyond ridiculous for someone who just awakened."
Even as he was saying those words, he wanted to laugh at how absurd that is. At first, when he heard about what happened yesterday, his reaction was to laugh it off as an error or perhaps a big miscalculation. However, when he saw with his own eyes how much energy exploded out of Elio when he awakened, he realized that this kid was indeed as much of a freak of nature as Fiona said.
That was simply unheard of. For energy to be that dense, strong, and oppressive in someone who just awakened, not even the geniuses had that much power at first.
With that, George stood up and started the process. Extracting the blood, he then put it in the machine and started the analysis. Elio sat there, a bit curious and anxious that something was wrong with his body.
After all, how could it be good that his awakening had destroyed the lab? Maybe he was damaged by that overflow of energy, too.
Waiting anxiously, the machine started analyzing the blood and measuring. However, it didn't take long for something interesting to happen.
The computer suddenly made a weird noise. Staring at the screen, they saw a notification.
'Measuring process has been halted. Error 2247 has occurred.' It said in red letters.
"Huh? What happened?" Elio asked.
"... An error…" Fiona muttered. "Is the machine broken after all?"
"No, I don't think so, Miss Fiona. Error 2247 isn't because of a damaged component. This error is…" The man seemed a bit taken aback. "It only happens when the blood being measured doesn't have any Blood Energy in it…"
"What?"
"..."
"What do you mean doesn't have any Blood Energy in it?" Alex asked. "That guy has more energy in his body than entire legions of freshly awakened users. That is simply impossible."
"I don't know why it says this either, sir. I will try to run the test again."
Getting back to work quickly, George restarted the entire process. But, not that long after, the same error occurred again.
"..."
Nobody knew what to say. They just stared at the machine without saying anything.
"It must be a problem with the machine itself. It isn't detecting the energy in his blood." Alex said. "Is that possible?"
"I… don't know. I have never come across a situation like this before." George adjusted his glasses. 'But, the computer isn't detecting any abnormalities. The entire measuring process goes smoothly at first. Even if there was a problem, it wouldn't start the measuring process until everything is working properly.'
Yet, the machine says that Elio's energy wasn't there. The scientist looked at the boy. His mind was searching for an explanation.
"Could we try with my own blood then? To test if it works." Alex said.
"Uh? Yes, absolutely."
"Good. Let's do that then."
So, George quickly took some of Alexander's blood and put it in the machine. A few seconds later, the measuring process began and… It worked.
The data appeared on the screen, fully clear with no errors. Alex had 1.3 million energy points in his body.
"..."
"It works?" Alex blinked. "What is even going on at this point?"
"I honestly don't know, sir. I don't know…"
'Woah, he has 1.3 million. That must be a lot of power.' Elio muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.
"If it isn't malfunctioning, then what the hell is wrong with this guy's blood?"
"George." Fiona, who had been silent for the past minute or so, finally spoke. "Do you know what the measuring limit for this machine?"
"..."
Her question submerged the entire place in silence. One that seemed so cold and dreadful.
"Fiona… Why did you-" Alex wanted to ask why she was asking, but midway, he realized what she meant.
"What's the limit, George?"
"It's… The limit for measuring for this type of machine is 20 million, Miss Fiona." He said. "Are you perhaps saying?"
"That Elio's energy exceeds 20 million? Yes. That's the only viable explanation. It's not that the machine isn't detecting anything. It's the fact that the machine is incapable of detecting that much energy." She said.
"20 million? Fiona. There is no way he has 20 million points. That is impossible. That is a level only reached by intermediate to advanced Vampire Hunters." He said.
"When you look at that explosion of energy and the effect it had on us when it happened. It makes perfect sense." Fiona's expression remained calm, but in her head, a thousand thoughts formed.
'20 million. That is somehow way more than I could've expected. This much energy is constantly moving around his body.' Staring at Elio, Fiona was certain that his body was being morphed rapidly with each heartbeat.
"20 million?" Elio raised an eyebrow. "Haha, surely not that much? I don't feel anything off with me."
In reality, Elio was feeling quite energetic at that moment. He didn't sleep well last night, so he was feeling tired and a bit sluggish. Yet, all of that was gone. In fact, he also didn't feel any muscle soreness anymore, or even any back pain that he had been suffering from for the past several years.
His body felt so refreshed and rejuvenated.
"Something is seriously wrong with him… How can a normal person have this much energy? I doubt he even has enough red cells in his body to create this much energy… Each cell must be generating tens of times the normal amount."
"We can't fully confirm until we measure it with a stronger machine. For now, I don't want to focus on that, Elio. The awakening has occurred normally, which is good." She said. "We need to know what kind of runes you have gained."
"Runes? What runes?"
"The ones that will grant you your core abilities. Each person gains 5 runes the moment they awaken. It comes with your energy awakening. You can learn more runes with time, from killing enemies or from buying them. But, usually, the main ones you gain are your most important weapons."
"So, I have special abilities now? Just like that?"
"Yes. I am honestly more curious what would be given to you. After all, the better your talent is, the better the runes you are granted are…"