The final health inspection proceeded quickly. The expert pilots only needed to subject themselves to a powerful scan just to check if they hadn''t injected any strange substances into their bodies or whatever.


    The mechers had already warned the pilots that they needed to be close to their peak condition in order to safely imbibe the elixirs. The probability of suffering from severe side effects rose sharply if the users were too far away from their ideal conditions.


    That did not do much to reassure them about the safety of these general cultivation elixirs.


    In any case, once the pilotspleted their brief inspections, they all changed into a tight but sophisticated medical vaesuit that precisely monitored and regted their body conditions.


    Expert pilots may have transcended their mortality, but unlike swordmasters and other personalbatants, their physical conditions barely evolved after they reached their current stages. They still remained vulnerable to many of the same dangers as ordinary humans.


    It was only when they advanced to the rank of ace pilot that their superhuman traits became increasingly more obvious, but even then they still remained awfully exposed outside of their cockpits.


    "It would have been better if we were able to swallow these elixirs inside rhe cockpits of our living mechs." Venerable Joshua muttered. "At least we will have our battle partners by our side if anything happens."


    The expert pilots had all been moved into a waiting room while the mechers werepleting their final preparations and adjustments.


    The young father was growing increasingly more concerned about the elixirs, and he was far from the only one who felt this way.


    However, they also understood the necessity of elerating the growth of their resonance strength. Even though Joshua had managed to grow particrly quickly due lo being paired with an excellent masterwork expert mech, he barely managed to scrape his way into bing a mid-tier expert pilot after so many battles and so much time spent on polishing his piloting skills.


    It was usually the easiest for younger expert pilots to grow their resonance strength at the early phases.


    lust because his resonance strength surpassed 20veres over the span of a few years did nor necessarily mean he could sustain this rate of progress going forward.


    Like many of the expert pilots gathered here today, Joshua yearned for greater strength.


    There was a lime when expert pilots meant much tor the n. That sentimentded now that the Larkinsons were beginning lo grow ustomed lo fighting alongside ace pilots.


    Joshua gripped his fist. The growing uncase in his heart did not discourage him from going through with using an elixir.


    He briefly shifted his attention lo the others.


    Most of the Larkinson expert pilots in the fleet had epted this offer. The patriarch had also graciously extended this offer to the expert pilots of the Glory Seekers. This was why Venerable Brutus Wodin and the Handmaidens of Death had joined the crowd as well.


    Apart of Joshua found ft a pity that the Larkinson n hadn''t extended this offer to the Cross n as well. The Crossers had fought just as hard as the rest.


    There were only so many elixirs avable, though. The avable supply would quickly get used up if too many pilots madeuscof them every standard quarter year.


    Joshua sensed increasing tension among the pilots. Now that the critical lime was drawing closer, the powerful men and women all couldn''t help but pick up greater warning signs.


    This did not necessarily mean that what was happening next would be dangerous to them. The only thing they were certain of was that they would not be liking the experience.


    Their patriarch eventually spoke.


    "Alright, the doctors have just notified me that they are ready to go. While they can technically allow a bunch of you to swallow the contents of the vials at the same time, it is better and safer to do this one by one. This way, all of their resources and all of their best experts will be able to monitor and respond to every individual case. 1 am told that the main effects of the elixir typicallysts for a couple of minutes, so you won''t have to wait loo long to have your turn. Who wants lo go first?"


    Everyone looked at each other. A few of them were more than willing to brave the unknown. They were expert pilots after all. It was just a question of who among them deserved to go first.


    "I should be the vanguard." Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson ted. m always the first to go into the fight. Besides, my mental and physical scores both rank al the top as far as 1 know. I''m confident that nothing will go wrong. It is best if 1 go into this without too much foreknowledge."


    Ves stared at his cousin for a brief moment before nodding. "Very well. You can go first."


    They all left the waiting room. The patriarch and the other expert pilots entered an elevated observation room where they could observe the proceedings from a respectable distance.


    A pair of mechers took Tusa to a medical chamber that was well-equipped with all kinds of high-tech instruments.


    The light skirmisher specialist slowly sal down on a contraption that looked like a cross between a piloting chair and an emergency treatment tank.


    The device began to look a little more disconcerting when various restraints appeared in sight only to strap Tusa into ce.


    Meanwhile, another mecher entered the observation room. The man greeted Ves in a familiar manner before turning to face the Larkinson and Glory Seeker pilots.


    "Let me remind you all that everything that you will witness and experience on this ship is ssified. I am sure I do not need to borate any further of what this entails. Professor Larkinson has managed lo secure a fantastic privilege for you all by giving you the opportunity lo experience the benefits of our newly developed A7-KE1 General purpose pilot Cultivation Elixir. However, early products such as these are generally less stable and consistent. While we have done our best to test this form on a wide variety of expert pilots, our Association did not have much time to refine it any further. The side effects may be severe in individual cases, but it shall never reach the point where it may threaten your life. We have too many means to prevent that from happening,"


    Somehow, that made the expert pilots feel even less assured than before. Joshua and many others nced towards Ves, but their patriarch did not show any sign that he was worried about the elixirs.


    They had to be fine, right? This was the Red Association. The mechers always came up with the best stuff. Even theirtest inventions had to be of impable quality in order to march the high standards of their powerful organization.


    "What you may witness next may appear disturbing or distressing to you." Jovy continued to exin. "Do not be rmed. Nothing you can do will help him. The elixir will upy his attention to such an extent that he will be on his own. He cannot even hear or see what is taking ce outside of his own mind."


    The mecher basically warned the other expert pilots not to do anything stupid if they felt the need to intervene.


    Joshua silently nodded in understanding. He was not a doctor or an elixir brewer. This was so far outside of his area of expertise that it made no sense for him to step in if anything happened.


    It did not take much longer for the elixir to be brought inside the chamber.


    A pair of heavily armed and armored guards stepped in while escorting an extremely sturdy and damage-resistant storage container.


    The hovering metal box stopped in front of a doctor who wore a stereotypicalb coat. The mecher carefully went through the cumbersome process of unlocking it. From Inputting a numerical code to providing a sample of blood, it looked as if these people took the contents extremely seriously!


    When the box finally opened up, every single expert pilot gasped as they fell a strong but subtle presence emanating from the glowing vials!


    "That!"


    "Wiry do I?!"


    "What is this stuff?!"


    While none of the expert pilots knew what exactly they were looking at, they felt a considerable threat from the exposed vials!


    The contents of these vials were dangerous! They had to be! The mechers had massively undersold the danger they posed to expert pilots like themselves!


    What set the expert pilots off even further was that they were unable to figure out the nature of the threat. Was there some kind of virus in the vials? Was the elixir poisonous to human tissue?


    Whatever the case, Joshua doubted that he woulde out the same after he swallowed their contents.


    Even Ves widened his eyes in surprise and shock as he beheld the 11 vials that were reserved for this initial session.


    "Do you know what these elixirs are made of, patriarch?"


    A troubled look came over the mech designer''s face. "I''m not sure, but I have my guesses. I don''t think it is a good idea to say anything. It may set expectations that could prove detrimental to your first contact with these elixirs. If the mechers im that it is safe enough for you to use, then you can trust on this. Remember that they are made to strengthen you in the end."


    The RA doctor carefully took out a single vial and slowly brought it over to an apparatus that was attached to the strange chair.


    "The elixir needs to be ingested orally in its entirety within a short time interval. You do not want to know what happens if you fail to do so." Jovy Armalon said. "We will precisely measure the dosage ording to your individual condition such as body mass. It should not matter too much whether you ingest it while you are standing, sitting or lying down, but we have found that you pilots respond the best when you are sitting in the same posture as you assume in the cockpit. You will need all of the help you can get in order to endure this ordeal."


    Once the vial had entered the contraption, the glowing fluid was sent through a transparent tube before approaching a nozzle that was pointed straight into Tusa''s mouth.


    An invisible force field had forced the pilot to keep his mouth open. His eyes already started to shake while his force of will was urging him to get away!


    "Begin!"


    With a single spurt, the glowing fluid ejected from the nozzle and poured straight down into Tusa''s stomach!


    The mechers had already taken precautions to ensure that none of the liquid entered Tusa''s lungs Instead.


    As soon as the elixir settled into the expert pilot''s body, it began to produce mysterious reactions that initially did not seem so severe.


    That was until Tusa started screaming!


    "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH1"


    Joshua could feel the pain radiating from his fellow expert pilot! Tusa''s willpower became increasingly more disordered while his body was pressing against the restraints!


    What was even weirder was that ck lines and splotches started to show up on Tusa''s skin!


    It was as if Tusa suddenly gained a lot of tattoos that quickly spread across every surface of his body.


    However, these tattoos were not static! They looked like the manifestations of a deadly disease that constantly crawled across Tusa''s skin as if it was a water pool!


    Like fish swimming in a pond, these ominous-looking splotches made Tusa look as If he was being subjected to a form of corruption that came from a powerful source.


    If Joshua was able to feel how threatening they were from this distance, he couldn''t imagine what torture Tusa was going through at this moment!


    What the hell were these elixirs?! What taboos had the mechersmitted in order to produce these strengthening aids?!