CHAPTER 59
TWO WEEKS LATER!
Two more weeks had now passed, and Ray dedicated this time to training intensively.
From physical conditioning to daily quest completion and rigorous VMS gear drills, his schedule was packed.
He was a beast.
Due to his "perfect muscle memory," he didn't need to see an action more than twice to remember it perfectly and imitate it flawlessly.
The movements of the gear became an extension of his own limbs, fluid and lethal.
And soon enough, he earned a nickname amongst his class.
"The monster"
Though technically a low grader, he was starting to build a significant reputation amongst everybody.
He wasn't sure whether this collective sentiment was one of reverence, respect, or genuine fear.
He just knew he had built a reputation that preceded him whenever he stepped onto the training grounds.
His stats had also increased a bit during this period of relentless exertion.
"Status."
___
[Name: Ray Dawson]
[Age: 15]
[Race: Tribrid]
[Level: 4]
[Exp: 10/250]
[HP: 50/50]
[MF: 50/50]
[Energy: 100/100]
{Attributes:}
[STR: 26>>> 28]
[AGI: 30]
[INT: 24]
[PER: 25>>>28]
[END: 28>>> 30]
[Stat points: 2]
He had also leveled up once from completing his daily quest, and in turn, he earned a few points to some attributes, making him feel substantially stronger.
His own physique was growing on a daily basis.
His body was feeling more robust, the muscles becoming leaner and more defined under his skin.
During these past two weeks, he had managed to master the VMS gear flawlessly, and so did Kai, Trisha, and one other boy he didn't know about yet.
Van could perform basic movements, but not something complicated or high-speed.
In fact, a handful of the Aspirants were only able to perform the most fundamental moves without crashing.
Ray didn't know about the other class though.
But based on what he had witnessed before, Berg would surely do a fine job of keeping up with the elite standards.
In order not to attract unwanted attention towards them, Ray had asked Kai to not sit with them at the cafeteria again.
It caused quite the heated argument, but after laying out his points and being backed by Van, Kai finally gave in to the logic.
And now, they were in another homeroom lecture as usual, conducted by Sony.
The Aspirants were taking notes as another interesting topic perked their ears, including Ray.
The room was silent as the instructor prepared his lesson.
"... Many of us here are meta-humans. But I want to assume you all have no idea about the true nature of your powers, eh?"
'Uh-un.' Ray nodded inwardly as he leaned back in his chair.
Even though the system had tagged his ability as "bloodline," whatever that was, he knew that it was still an ability at its core.
And since he had a meta force tab in his system—the fuel for all abilities, this further proved his powerup was an ability, just tagged as 'bloodline' for some mysterious reason.
"We all know what powers abilities, right?" Sony said as he turned to the board and wrote a word in bold letters.
MF.
"... Meta force. Or MF for short. It is like a fuel that runs through our bodies and powers our unique abilities. Without it, you can't truly call yourself a meta-human."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the students for a moment before continuing;
"Most of you low graders, the reason you are weak is because your MF pool is too low. The meta-force is actually spread all around our bodies. Swirling and waiting for the command to gather and form a skill.
But if your mf pool is actually big enough you can become quite the monster."
'Hmm? For real?' Ray thought excitedly as his grin widened at the prospect of growth.
"... That is if you are not already a low grader. For them, it is much harder to evolve and would take many years of grueling work."
'Now this is confusing.'
"Now, we have a certain way to help you all. The Corps managed to figure out a way to increase a meta-human's mf pool. This method is arduous and, without the appropriate supervision, one can die."
Everybody gulped as the last sentence sounded overly ominous, echoing through the quiet classroom.
But Sony just brightened up and continued;
"For a meta-human to increase their meta force pool, you need to get your hands on some soul core."
— Soul core? What is that?
"A good question. Which I am about to explain." Sony smiled as he turned towards the digital screen and sketched an image of a peculiar object.
It was a shape, akin to a small, glowing egg.
"This is a soul core, which is usually harvested from beasts. For some reason, humanity figured out that the soul cores from beasts served multiple purposes, and one of them was to enrich their own bodies and boost MF pool."
'For real? How does that even work?'
Ray questioned internally, his mind racing with the tactical possibilities of such a power-up.
"... And to get a soul core—otherwise called a beast core—is not easy. Because only the advanced ranked beasts drop one upon their demise. Anything below that rank, you cannot find a soul core on them. Just a normal heart, like those found in humans or common animals."
Gasps rippled out on hearing all Sony was saying.
But amidst that awe, waves of confusion also rippled through the gathered students.
— If perhaps a soul core is found, how can one absorb it?
"Excellent question." Sony beamed, clearly pleased with the engagement of his pupils.
"All you have to do is actually crush the core in between your hands to absorb the essence from it into your own body."
'That's all?'
It seemed deceptively simple for something so life-changing.
"... But like I said, to do that, you need to be absolutely careful, as it's not every core you should absorb. Some are inherently destructive and can kill you, especially if they are from a powerful beast far above your lev…"
The instructor's words trailed off as the door to the classroom was swung wide open and a messenger rushed in, his face pale with urgency.
He moved toward the instructor, leaned in, and began whispering into his hearing.
"Huh? How come?" Sony's murmuring caused the Aspirants to glance at each other in mounting worry.
Ray could have chosen to eavesdrop on what was being said with his sensitive hearing, but he didn't care to intrude.
Instead, he turned his gaze to the window, watching the leaves rustle in the distance.
"Is that so?" Sony sighed while shaking his head as the messenger stepped away and then swiftly exited the class after handing the instructor a single sheet of paper.
Clap, Clap—!
Sony smacked his hands together, drawing everybody's attention back to him as a sudden, deep crease formed on his forehead.
The lighthearted atmosphere of the lecture had vanished in an instant.
"Listen up, Aspirants! A problem has occurred, and the higher-ups have sent an official order."
Hearing this, Ray shifted worriedly in his seat while tilting his head to face the instructor.
The air in the room felt suddenly heavy, charged with a tension that made his skin crawl.
"... A gate has appeared in a forest."
Everybody gasped in horror, their eyes widening in shock as the implications sank in.
'I have a bad feeling about this,' thought Ray.
His intuition was screaming at him that things were about to get messy.
"Fear not. It's a tier 1 gate. And some Aspirants from this class and the second have been hand-picked by your physical training instructor to go handle this gate."
— Wait, what? Why us? Aspirants? Why can't they send the Vanguard Order or something?
— Exactly. Why send a bunch of inexperienced kids to handle something the adults should?What happened to the Iron Corps?
"Enough!" Sony's voice immediately silenced the whole hall as he glared at them all with a fierce intensity.
"... You all just said it yourselves: 'inexperienced.' Hence, we are sending you out there to gain the necessary experience.
Or what do you think? If a surprise attack occurs in the middle of this place, you all won't be forced to fight for yourselves?
Yes, the soldiers here will try to save you all, but at some point, you will be forced to handle yourselves. So stop whining like toddlers because this is an order!"
Instantaneously, everybody quietened, with only the sound of their hearts pounding in fear and anticipation.
They sat in a stifling silence, wondering who among them would be called to handle this dangerous problem.
"Here are the people selected for this gate, so listen up…"
__
Our First Weekly challenge is still on guys!
2 Reviews= 1 extra chapter.
10 comments (paragraph or chapter comments) = 1 extra chapter.