Everyone watched as the soldier took out black attire from the box. He unfolded it to reveal a full-body dark suit.
From what Osho could see, it seemed to be made of a special material, and he guessed it was quite durable. When the soldier brought it out, Mrs Jane started speaking again.
"These suits are called Synthetic High Durability Suits. As their name implies, they are highly durable and meant to protect you from physical attacks. Of course, their ability to sustain damage isn’t perfect, and a strong enough hit will blow through them. In short, they don’t make you invincible, but they are a necessary measure, and you are all to wear them for the duration of the outing." When she finished, the soldiers in front of each line started handing a suit to each person as well as an explanation. When it was Osho’s turn, he received his suit and forced that it was a touch too big for him.
"Don’t worry too much. The suit will automatically adjust its size to match you. If you want to put it on..." The soldier gave him a brief explanation of how to wear the suit, and Osho listened attentively.
When he finished, he gave Ellie a wink as he went to the boy’s bathroom to change.
He noticed Gale looking at the suit curiously and briefly wondered if the bird could rip through the material, but he didn’t try that.
He did, however, try to rip the suit with his bare hands, and he had little success as no matter how hard he pulled, the material didn’t budge.
Satisfied, he changed into it as he entered one of the stalls.
True to the Soldier’s words, the suit automatically shrunk as soon as He put it on, and it hugged his body like a glove. However, he didn’t feel like his movements were being impeded in any way. Moreover, it was quite comfortable, and he felt like it was quite breathable despite the dark color.
Happy with this, he stepped out of the stall and looked at himself in the mirror.
The suit hugged his body quite tightly, so his lean muscles were quite defined. Thankfully, his genitals weren’t showing in any obscene way, so he didn’t need to feel self-conscious.
He left the bathroom and returned to the field where he had already seen a few students checking each other out as they had changed into the suits.
’The lack of pockets is a shame, though.’ Osho noted as he’d put his phone in his bag.
He had a feeling carrying his backpack wouldn’t be feasible, so he carried a more portable side bag. He had a feeling they’d be provided with some more essentials, so he didn’t take on too much.
"Whistle~. Looking good." A familiar voice caused Osho to turn and see Ellie, who was looking him up and down without an ounce of shame, her eyes holding a sense of hunger Osho couldn’t quite explain.
Then again, he wasn’t much better. The suits were, as mentioned before, tight-fitting, so they tended to show off the figure of whoever wore them, and the same applied to Ellie.
She had quite the youthful vigor, and Osho often joked about how she was walking eye candy, but it was a fact.
He looked her over a few times before getting his body under control.
"You look pretty good, too." He said with a thumbs up, and she gave him an exasperated sigh.
"Just ’pretty good’? Not, ’earth-shatteringly beautiful’ or ’kingdom toppling beauty?’ She said with exasperated gestures, and Osho just gave her his signature deadpan stare.
"This isn’t something cultivation novel. It’s more apt to say that you have an envious figure or you’re capable of turning heads wherever you go." He said in all seriousness, but it was still enough to startle Ellie a bit and make her blush. She forced a cough and spoke, sounding a but more subdued.
"Uh, yeah. That works, too." She then rubbed her face to get rid of her embarrassment and looked at Osho, or rather, Gale.
"Anyway, as I was saying before, did Gale get bigger?" She asked, and Osho just shrugged.
"He had a growth spurt." He lied through his teeth.
"Ah, is that lucky or not?" She tilted her head.
"I imagine you enjoy having Gale on your shoulder. So if he gets big too fast, you won’t be able to do that anymore." Her words caused Osho to freeze, and his eyes widened a fraction.
He... hadn’t thought about that.
"Oh... pfft. Seems like a hit a nerve." Ellie covered her mouth as she giggled. Osho’s discomfort serving to act as her revenge against his prior words.
Osho quickly regained his composure before asking.
"By the way, how do you feel about feeding Sugil tonics?" The sudden question caught Ellie off guard, and she raised a brow.
"I’m not particularly against it. Sugil has already received a few since she hatched. Why?" Osho nodded at this.
Tonics were relatively easier to make and were more widespread than evolution. That’s because they were developed on the premise that while all beasts were different, most still shared a similar attribute. For instance, blood.
Tonics essentially served as boosters. They allowed a beast to train and strengthen their bodies faster than normal. It also made them more active, enhanced their defenses, and provided a myriad of other benefits. They were still expensive, though. That’s why it was more common to hear people like Ellie using them.
"Well, I’ve been practicing, and I thought maybe after the outing, I could make something similar and give Sugil." At this, Ellie’s eyes widened a fraction with remembrance.
"Right, I remember you teeeling me to were undergoing so personal tutoring for that stuff." Then she frowned.
"Wait a minute, so does that mean Gale didn’t just have a ’growth spurt’?" Without missing a beat, Osho replied.
"Incorrect, it was indeed a growth spurt." Ellie’s eyes twitched.
"So what? You want to use Sugil as your test subject or something?" Osho cracked a smile.
"Oh, come on, I’m not that cruel." Ellie’s eyes softened a fraction, then Osho continued.
"That’s why I’m asking you. If anything happens, your dad can just buy you a bunch more eggs to hatch. Not everyone is as rich as you after all, so asking to use their beasts with a chance of failure is simply too cruel. You can replace at a thought." He spoke like he was doing her a favor.
The fist that flew at his face the following second let him know that he indeed wasn’t doing her a favor.
Avoiding a punch that would have made his nose unhappy with him, Osho quickly said.
"Okay, seriously. I’m confident in my ability to make stuff. Sugil will be fine, I’m not just using her as a test subject. Come on, have more faith in me." He said with a placating smile that made Ellie grit her teeth.
"I wanna punch you." She said outright.
"You will fail." He said calmly, causing her to sigh.
"Ugh, whatever. So what? You’ll just make the tonic and give me? How sure are you that it will work? Or even do anything for that matter?" She folded her arms and shifted her weight to one leg that caused her hip to shift in a way that made Osho feel things, but he just shrugged.
"I’ll be honest, the only thing you need to worry about is me forgetting to make the tonic." He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes.
"I swear you have ADHD." Osho snorted.
"Did you ever get diagnosed?"
"Well, no, but I’ve read about it, and I only show SOME similarities."
"Assumptions aren’t truth."
"But there needs to be some basis before assumptions are made. So, they are likely to be the truth."
"Likely doesn’t make it the truth."
Before the bickering could go on, Mrs Jane spoke again as it seemed like all the students had changed into their suits.
"Alright, if everyone is ready, we’ll start going. Each class has been assigned a bus, so enter in an orderly manner." She started assigning buses to each class.
Their class filed into their bus, and Osho marveled at the interior. Unlike normal buses, there were more seats than what one would normally find. But it made sense when you took into consideration the size of he vehicle.
Moreover, the seats had seat belts, unlike normal buses. There were also seats meant specifically for soldiers, and on those seats, where there were supposed to be windows, there were latches that found be opened to allow the soldier to open fire on whatever was outside.
The driver’s seat was also heavily protected and had all sorts of advanced tech that one wouldn’t find in a normal bus.
The floors were made of a friction-less material that prevented slipping if one needed to stand abruptly, and judging by how his steps didn’t cause much noise, he judged that it wasn’t hollow and difficult to get through.
He could also see the places one would put in ammunition for the turrets on the buses. Ammunition that sat with a bunch of supplies at the back of the vehicle.
"Hm, not bad." Ellie remarked as they found a seat.