Chapter 1523: Converting
As Ning reached the 10 spheres, the woman was very much looking forward to just how far he could go with it.
In terms of spheres, anything above 20 was considered decent. Above 30 spheres were
considered good. Above 40 spheres, one was considered talented. At 50, one was considered a rare talent.
60 spheres were simply unheard of for a living Converter, and it was said there had only been 3 in history who had crossed that number.
As for 70, that was simply unheard of for a Converter.
Given Ning's speed at which he was converting the spheres, Berraine began feeling hopeful. He couldn't possibly have absorbed even half the Spark just yet, so there was bound to be a lot of it within him.
At this rate, she wouldn't be surprised if he reached 40. He could certainly be a talented individual that the military had been looking for a long time.
Ning reached 20 spheres in a short time and Berraine's eyes never left the spheres. She stared at them, waiting for more of them to turn one after another.
And they did.
The spheres were petrified one at a time, at a proper and steady rate.
While Berraine was enjoying what she was seeing, Ning was annoyed by all hell. He wanted to convert all the spheres into stones, but he simply couldn't. There was just too much delay in the formation of energy from the Spark, and that was annoying the hell out of him.
He wanted to stop so he could use it all when there was more, but given how it was a test, he decided not to. Endurance could certainly be a part of the test as well, and he didn't want to fail just because he was a little annoyed.
Ning could also see the wishful eyes of the woman next to him as she intently stared at the spheres in front of her. 'She likes it a little more than she should,' Ning thought, continuing what he was doing.
Ning continued, turning more and more. At 65, he decided it was time to slow down a bit. The rate of conversion slowed, making the 66th stone turn into a rock just that bit slower.
"No, you have to continue. There has to be more," the girl said. She didn't touch Ning or do anything to hurt his concentration, but she did speak, which resulted in a frown from the other Chief Officer.
But when that officer saw the table they were working on, his eyes shone in surprise as well. Ning turned the 67th sphere into rock.
"I'm... running out of Spark," Ning said. "I don't have much more."
"Continue," the woman said. "Use every little dredge you have in your body. Do your best." Ning nodded and took a deep breath, showing as though he was struggling as he began converting the 68th sphere. The sphere turned, petrifying right before everyone's eyes, but it was slow, incredibly so.
Berraine cheered Ning, and the other Chief Officer left Parima to come to watch him do what he was doing. Parima too couldn't hold back her curiosity and looked at what Ning was doing.
When the 68th sphere turned, there was surprise and glee, but there was even more cheer above all that. They wanted Ning to do more.
Ning didn't disappoint. Immediately, he began converting the 69th sphere. Bit by bit, the sphere turned into rock, petrifying right before everyone's eyes.
It turned and turned and turned and turned, and finally, it turned into a solid sphere of rock. Ning had converted the 69th sphere.
"Yes!" Berraine shouted, celebrating. "Very nice, young man. This is incredible. No one in history has ever managed to convert that many spheres. Your efficiency is incredible."
"Truly so," the other Chief Officer said. "Amazing."
"Thank you," Ning said softly.
"Although I must say, it is disheartening to see you stop right before the 70th. If you could have-"
The 70th sphere jerked as a small speck appeared on top of it, slowly, very slowly growing. "Not yet," Ning said. "I have just a bit more left."