Anyway, I understood.
The idea is to create a mutual stimulus that forcibly familiarizes the alien genes with my body.
If an ordinary person had said this, I would have dismissed it as nonsense.
But when it comes to physical matters, Rose's words carry more reliability than future medicine.
"So bear with the pain, even if it hurts."
The nature of the stimulus changes just as I start getting used to it.
I said nothing and simply endured the pain.
The slight bead of sweat visible on Rose's forehead shows how concentrated she is.
That's not from exhaustion.
Considering her usual difficulty controlling her strength, it's proof of how meticulous she's being.
But how long do I have to keep getting hit?
In the end, I missed the entire lunch period and the first afternoon class.
¤¤¤
Two weeks have passed.
Lemon's body now feels like my own, and I rarely make mistakes anymore.
Rose visits me every three days without fail to train me.
She even insisted I learn her style instead of the ill-fitting Lion Form, forcing me to join the 'Rose' style.
Apparently, I'm her first disciple.
She says she'll devote herself to making me "usable."
I just hope her standards aren't too high.
The form of address is flexible, and the only rule disciples must follow is "continually strive for progress."
Considering that the internal disciplines of martial artists are typically incredibly strict, this is definitely preferential treatment, even among peers.
'Me, learning the Rose style.'
The supreme martial art in the story.
Later on, even the protagonist will reference the Rose style.
Though it still has deficiencies, these will be filled as Rose develops, and if I train from now on, I shouldn't get beaten up wherever I go.
Can I think of this as a green light for my survival life?
'Is it this way?'
I'm currently walking a path I haven't been on during the past two weeks.
I've been thinking constantly throughout this time.
What can I do?
What I know as the author of the story is certainly tremendous.
Using this knowledge, personal success would be a foregone conclusion.
But mere success has no meaning in this world.
Humanity's values are currently focused on survival, and I, as a cadet of the COH Academy, am at the core of this.
And here, a cadet's actions are greatly restricted.
To operate properly, I need to graduate first.
Considering 'that incident,' it might not take as long as expected, but there's actually little I can do right now.
'So the funds I can use amount to this much...'
Lemon has a background.
Quite an impressive one at that.
Even if he's in a position that's not highly regarded, he's far from destitute.
Just looking at the funds he can personally manage, it's enough to easily surpass what an ordinary person could access.
I've planted the seeds with this.
I've baited resources that wouldn't have surfaced in this timeframe normally and accelerated positive changes.
I covered the shortfall by taking out a credit loan, pledging the Monarch family name along with my COH Academy cadet status.
The Human Alliance, with its "very, very" keen interest in influence over superhumans, approved the loan at lightning speed.
'Here it is.'
And now.
I had arrived at an area with enhanced security.
As I stood in front of the door, there was a scan for identity verification, and then the door opened.
"You've arrived. Are you Leonard Monarch?"
"Yes, that's me."
"This way, please. Everything is prepared."
I had made the request a week ago.
Considering that cadet requests are typically resolved within the same day or at most within three days, this is quite delayed.
But given the importance of the matter, it's understandable.
"When I first received the request, I was puzzled. It took longer to prepare since it's not currently a practical test period. You mentioned an ability-related issue, correct?"
"Yes."
"I trust you're already familiar with the precautions. Please feel free to use the facility."
The staff member led me to a sealed space and then left.
Before me were aliens, restrained but alive.
'I can't believe they actually granted this request.'
The content of my request was as follows:
Aliens. As many varieties as possible, preferably intact and breathing.
The result exceeded my expectations.
There were three alien entities before my eyes, all alive.
Even if they were just barely kept alive, it was impressive.
Considering there's no nearby battlefield, this must have been arranged immediately after my request.
I was newly impressed by how powerful the support for the COH Academy is.
'A Level 1 Claw, a Level 1 Breath Worm, and even a Level 2 Blade Bee?'
Though I criticize Lemon, being able to start at the COH Academy is clearly a stroke of luck.
No individual can influence the Human Alliance as strongly as a superhuman.
And the collective power of individual superhumans is great enough to overthrow any balance.
In other words, the connections built here become power in themselves.
Moreover, the academy, equipped with everything needed to develop superhuman capabilities, is an ideal environment for me right now.
'Now, let's reveal my biggest card.'
I first approached the Level 1 Claw.
A Claw stands about 1 meter tall, has hundreds of legs, and eight pairs of wings made of membranes, allowing it to move across the ground as if flying.
They always move in groups of hundreds or more, and they're strong enough to win a fight against a 1,000-horsepower car.
Even at Level 1 danger, they can't be underestimated.
As soon as I removed the packaging that prevented contamination, a foul odor spread.
"Ugh... the smell is terrible."
The alien contamination level on the panel attached to my wrist was rapidly increasing.
The smell, worse than rotting corpses, stung my nose.
Normally, when facing aliens, one should wear protective clothing or combat gear with contamination prevention.
If exposed like this, an ordinary person would fall ill within a day and die within a week.
Even superhumans with strong immunity can get sick with prolonged exposure.
Suppressing my revulsion, which was intensified by the smell, I carefully placed my hand on the epidermis and activated my ability.
'Ah...'
It's a strange sensation.
It's as if my hand stretches out to hold the Claw's entire body.
At the same time, my mind became heightened, feeling as if it were harmonizing.
Like becoming a computer.
In that state, I [Analyzed] the Claw.
When I tried to extract all the Claw's data, I realized most of it was garbage.
I realized it would be foolish to take all this as is.
Based on the entire dataset, I [Assembled] only the valuable parts and filtered out just what I needed as a human.
After removing unnecessary data and keeping only what was needed, the volume drastically reduced.
What remained was barely 6% of the original.
However, this isn't perfect either.
My proficiency with the ability is too low to efficiently process this.
In other words, it feels like the computer's performance is lacking.
There are several pieces of information from the Claw entity that tempt me, but to bring back information at an applicable level, I can only select and extract one of them.
After selecting Tier 1 characteristics,
The volume further decreased to just about 1%.
With one done, it's time for the next.
After applying the information extracted from the Claw to my body, I moved on to the Breath Worm.
The difficulty level of the Level 1 Breath Worm was similar to the Claw, so I could finish quickly.
'Then, what about the Level 2 Blade Bee?'
Without stopping, I immediately checked.
The Blade Bee is just one rank below the Mammoth.
This adult-sized flying bee has 2-3 meter spears integrated with both hands and can wield them with proficient spear techniques.
Its tail contains a venomous stinger with powerful explosive force, which can be fired from a distance and instantly penetrate 2-meter thick steel, making it an entity that requires caution.
My expectations were well met.
Except for the fact that properly analyzing this one would take all day.
Without delay, I made contact with the Blade Bee's skin.
Indeed, it deserves its Level 2 danger rating.
As I began my analysis, the Blade Bee, despite being thoroughly restrained, showed intense hostility that couldn't be hidden.
If it could move, it would have torn me to pieces immediately.
In fact, its hostility is palpably felt through fragments of the collected data.
Boundless hatred towards humans.
I understand the source of that hatred as I created it.
'I'm sorry, but it can't be helped.'
Did I ever imagine that all the characters in my writing would come alive and move?
If I had, I would have created a world where everyone was happy.
Then I'd be living a happy life by now too.
Fortunately, the work was completed before I collapsed from exhaustion.
The Blade Bee couldn't hold out long after having its information extracted and stopped breathing.
But I'm not done yet.
I plan to organize all of today's harvest before leaving.
These are the resources available for now.
First, I needed to check if it's possible to use my ability without direct contact with aliens.
The conclusion is that it's possible.
Using a meditation method from the Rose style for mental training, I barely succeeded after an hour.
Succeeding once means it's possible to succeed a second time, so I can reduce the time through repeated practice.
First, I examined the Mammoth-related information Lemon had applied.
「Sticky Leg Tendons[67%, 4/23]
Increases leg strength and greatly enhances muscle endurance.」
「Reactive Outer Skin[92%, 7/192]
Provides great resistance to beam-type weapons or certain concentrated energy attacks. The skin becomes slightly thicker.」
「Thick Heels[54%, 2/14]
Improves propulsion.」
「Garbage[19]
Non-recyclable waste.」
He must have just dumped it all in.
There's more unnecessary stuff than I thought.
I discarded all the garbage to reduce the burden on my body.
The percentage indicates how well each has adapted to my body.
It's been two weeks since Rose beat me up, yet the numbers are still so low.
I was about to feel disappointed.
But there's hope.
One of the mottos of the Rose style is balance and harmony.
Just by learning the Rose style, I can quickly imprint alien genes into my body.
I can also suppress the side effects, so I can be more relaxed than before.
「Wind Antenna[0%, 2]
Detect air movements with fine hairs covering the body.」
「Rapid Cell Division[0%, 3]
Wounds heal quickly.」
「Strong Wrists[0% 11/29]
Wrists develop significantly. Nerve bundles are thickly distributed, greatly influencing hand sensitivity.」
These are the Tier 1 characteristics I could extract from each entity.
Lower-tier characteristics must wait for the next opportunity.
In the case of the Blade Bee, I need to collect more information to complete the "Strong Wrists" feature.
"Hmm..."
Could it be the effect of a major patch?
My whole body feels hot, as if feverish.
It's not unbearable, but I sensed the need for caution.
I opened the door and stepped out.
It had been 14 hours since I entered this place, and the time was moving past dawn towards morning.
"Are you leaving now?"
"Ah, were you waiting?"
"Yes. It's our policy to maintain the same person in charge whenever possible. Still, since you were taking so long, I was planning to request a shift change after breakfast time."
"I've caused you unnecessary trouble."
The staff member waved dismissively with a smile.
Then he glanced inside.
"Are those no longer needed?"
"Yes. I've finished with them."
"I hope the results were positive. I'll take care of the cleanup. Due to contamination concerns, please use the disinfection facility installed on the left side. This is mandatory."
Of course, I can't return to my quarters looking like this.
I said goodbye and turned around.
Not inquiring about internal matters is in accordance with the Superhuman Information Protection Law.
After complex disinfection procedures, I somehow made it back to my quarters, clutching my fevered head.
The problem arose after I woke up from passing out completely.