Loud bang noises erupted from the main deck of the ship Lord Gravax worked in, one that flew next to Grania’s.
At that moment, the Granian Lord and his breakthrough, a perfected Granian Clone, subjected themselves to competitive tests to prove who was more perfect in terms of physical and mental prowess.
The first tests were mental tests, designed to help Gravax know whether the clones would handle themselves in certain given situations and scenarios while also following commands, the same way a real soldier would do.
After a few hours of trial and error had passed, the clone completed Gravax’s test decently. Though in his opinion, there was still tweaking left to be done.
The next series of tests, however, produced better results than he had ever expected/anticipated.
"The subject has completed the mental aptitude tests and has produced decent results. The new batch will most certainly need a few adjustments in terms of their mental capacity.
"At the moment, I, Lord Gravax, will conduct physical tests along with the clone and see if it will be able to keep up with me...or I with it...."
He smirked, then laughed at the last statement he made.
"...who knows. Maybe it will prove me wrong."
After recording himself, Gravax led the clone to a compartment in the Behemoth ship dedicated to physical training tests and exercises. This was where soldiers would come and perfect themselves before a battle, or just test each other for the fun of it.
This time, however, it was going to be used competitively.
"Clone," he addressed the clone, "before you is a room where I will challenge you to a series of physical tests and exercises designed to see whether you can keep up with me. In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, I am one of a handful of incredibly strong Granian soldiers.
"I am stronger than the average Granian soldier, so I wish to see where you land on our power scale. The first test will compare your speed over mine, then strength, and lastly, energy output in hand-to-hand combat."
Following orders – the way it was "programmed" to—the clone nodded in agreement and followed Gravax to the start of the speed-testing obstacle.
The obstacle’s design was similar to what humans made on Earth for competitive sports. The only difference it had, and a significantly large one, was its lethal components that would kill a person if they fell in, touched, grazed, flew threw, slid under, or jumped over mistakenly.
Seeing this, the clone showed a new emotion, fear. Gravax studied as his creation became uneasy, its body showing signs of nervousness and discomfort. But in an instant, all the fear it felt vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by another emotion: anticipation.
"You seem more willing to participate in this. Am I right?"
"Yes," the clone answered, wearing a grin on its scaly fac,e "I am. It looks...doable. Shall we begin?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽
The first test was complete. Lord Gravax came in second, performing much slower than the clone.
The gap in the time they both covered the speed-testing obstacle course was quite wide, showing the significant difference in speed between the two.
Of course, Gravax would have easily won had he used his Eneraflux abilities. But because the clone didn’t have it, nor was it capable of learning it as Gravax theorized, he opted to stick to his normal strength to even the playing field.
And even then, the clone had completed the course faster than he did.
"That was...enjoyable," the clone remarked, barely out of breath, unlike the Granian Lord, who looked a little bit tired, "let’s move on to the next."
’Why does it talk like that?’
The next test was one of physical strength. Both Granians were tasked with punching a machine that would read their power level, pull heavy objects from one end to another, and withstand blows from turrets, testing their physical resilience.
[Strength output - 1305]
"Quite a high score," Geavax mentioned, pointing out the clone’s incredible display of strength, "your strength clearly proves that you are leagues above the average, well-trained Granian soldier in terms of strength. However..."
Gravax flexed his hand and slammed his fist as hard as he could into the machine, damaging parts of it in the process.
The numbers it displayed increased, rose beyond the clone’s output, and ended in a jarring result.
[Strength output - 5039]
"...you still have a lot of training to undergo if you and your kind are to be more than exceptional warriors."
The second-to-last test was hand-to-hand combat, which ended in another win for Gravax. The clone stood no chance, which was quite unfair on its side, given that it only existed for a few minutes and barely possessed any form of proper fighting skills other than swinging arms, kicking aimlessly, and swaying its tail.
"I don’t think that should count..." the clone, who was healing rather quickly from its wounds, spoke to Gravax, who remained stunned by its regenerative abilities. Granians, to some extent, could regenerate to a certain degree from minor injuries.
This clone, however, sustained a few serious injuries and yet was able to stand and move about as though nothing had happened to its body.
"... I’ve only existed for a few hours. Surely you couldn’t expect me to keep up with you in hand-to-hand combat."
’The clone is already aware of its existence. Interesting.’
"I did take that into account," the Granian Lord replied, "but I was able to test your resilience and regenerative abilities. You heal much faster than even I do. If I took the same level of damage as you did, it would take me a bit longer to heal than it did for you."
The Granian Lord saw all he needed to see, learned what he wanted to learned, and made the necessary decisions before executing them.
The clone was close to perfect, but more adjustments needed to be made before he could deem it, and the rest of its kind, worth fighting in the battle with them.
Regardless, this was a big accomplishment for Gravax, one that he was well pleased with.
’Onto my next greatest creation.’