Fai was completely different now. Literally, the Fai who stood before the water was nothing compared to the same Fai from before.
His dark, curly hair framed a perfectly smooth, scarless face, and two fully functional eyes gazed back at him. It was a total contrast to his previous appearance. The shift was immediate and undeniable.
"I guess this really is a new start," Fai murmured, his voice filled with a quiet wonder, as a cool breeze brushed against his newly flawless skin.
After that moment of stunned realization, Fai quickly washed his face in the stream and returned to his training.
He spent more time practicing his sword strikes. However, after a few more swings, he realized it was getting late.
He gathered his things , that was when a sudden realisation hit him .
"I didnt even use my system skill due to my excitement of completing the quest , i guess im still a teenager afterall , the thought of having a game like system in me is still something that i haven't yet gotten used to "
"How do i even activate this ? "
He woundered.
"Maybe its like the system , if i think of it maybe it would activate "
Like that , he then thought about the skill, he said it in his head .
"Its not working " he then did it again and again but still nothing .
Then he tryed saying it out loud , still it didnt work .
Giving up Fai just went to pick up hus things himself since screaming the skill didnt even activate it.
In his mind he was thinking maybe he needed some type of energy to activate it ,
"maybe mana ,But i dont have any . why would the system evn give me a skill i cant use "
Fai asked him self as he started picking hus things , and he just decided to tey again , this time his bag in hand.
And it worked .His bag had disappeared right before hus eyes .
"It worked , that means all i needed to do was to come in contact with what i want to keep . Hehe, this is so cool " he said to his self as he started activating and disactivaing the skill , a wide smile plastered on his face .
With that, he stored all his things in his system and he began to move towards the exist
This time, unlike before, he had no trouble getting back home. The usual shadows and threats seemed to be absent from his path.
"Maybe what Sarah told them truly scared them away," Fai thought to himself as he continued to walk. This was one possibility.
"Or perhaps it's the fact that I've changed so much in appearance that they're finding it hard to pick me out easily, as they usually do." This second idea made perfect sense. Even Fai himself had struggled to recognize his own face; what were the chances his tormentors would?
Regardless of the reason, a deep sense of contentment settled over him, simply for not having crossed paths with them.
Even with the Fairy System, a miraculous gift that promised power, he was still incredibly weak. He wasn't at all sure he would survive a second beating, especially after the last time.
If Sarah hadn't intervened, he might have lost his second eye, potentially leaving him blind.
That grim thought solidified his resolve: he needed the system to keep providing him with quests, to help him level up and become truly strong, so he wouldn't have to live in fear anymore.
------------------
From that day forward, Fai's days blurred into a relentless cycle of training and brief periods of rest. Each day pushed him closer to the very brink of his physical endurance.
He rarely saw other trainees now; the dense forest had become his , a place where he could train without distraction.
Yet, he was no longer alone there. He was constantly accompanied by the silent, Fairy System, a companion that offered clear guidance and provided measurable rewards for his efforts.
He dedicated his mornings to completing the "Morning Grind" quest, pushing his body to its absolute limit. He began to feel small yet distinct changes.
There was a gradual hardening of his muscles, a new resilience in his frame. He noticed the increased duration he could run without gasping for breath, his lungs growing stronger with each kilometer.
The system, though unseen, confirmed his progress with mental notifications, fueling his determination.
[DAILY QUEST: MORNING GRIND]
[DESCRIPTION: Engage in your daily training regimen. Push your body to its limits. Focus on enhancing your Agility, Endurance, and Strength.]
* [REQUIREMENTS:]
* [COMPLETE 100 PUSH-UPS.]
[REWARDS :25 EXP]
* [RUN 5 KILOMETERS.]
[REWARD :25 EXP ]
* [TOTAL: 50 EXP]
* [QUEST STATUS :COMPLETE ]
[+50 EXP]
Fai's days continued in that manner , his constant cycle for an entire week. The time seemed to fly by, consumed by his intense focus. Just like that, the day of the assessment was tomorrow.
Fai now sat in his dark room, with only the faint glow from a single bulb above illuminating the space.
He focused his attention on his system, eager to review his improvements over the past six days since he had acquired it. It was a crucial moment of self-assessment before the impending test.
[STATUS]
* [Name: FAI Oberon]
* [RACE: FAIRY]
* [STAGE: Seedling]
* [LEVEL: 3]
* [EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 125/200]
[ATTRIBUTES]
* [STRENGTH: 5] (Physical power)
* [STAMINA: 5] (Sustain physical and mental effort)
* [SPEED: 5] (How fast body can move)
* [AGILITY: 5] (Speed, reflexes, evasion)
* [ENDURANCE: 5] (Resilience and pain tolerance)
* [PERCEPTION: 5] (Awareness, sensory)
* [HP: 20/20]
* [USEABLE STATS : 6 ]
[SKILLS:]
* [Fairy Storage]
* [Description: This skill, when used, has the potential to store non-living things. Due to the user being at the seedling stage, the space is limited.]
* [ FAE EYES lvl 1 ]
* [Description : When activated the skill can give the user information about anything he scans or sets his eyes on. ]
Looking at the screen, Fai noted that there weren't as many dramatic changes as he might have hoped for.
He had only gone up by two levels, making him a Level 3 Seedling. However, he now had 6 usable stats he could allocate as he wished.
The problem was deciding where to put these precious points. Given his limited experience in combat, he found it incredibly difficult to choose, so he decided to hold onto them for the moment.
While having the system was undeniably cool, it was also somewhat frustrating how weak it made him appear.
His HP was still only 20 out of 20, a number so low it felt insignificant, barely a fraction of a percent compared to the health of experienced fighters.
And another persistent issue was the lack of diverse quests. For a while now, the system had only offered him the same daily "Morning Grind" quest and nothing else.
'Could it be that the system also sees me as too weak to even give me further quests?' Fai pondered, a theory forming in his mind.
'Maybe it's afraid that if it gave me more challenging tasks in my current state, I wouldn't make it. So, it's trying to make me stronger before the real challenges, almost like a game tutorial guiding me through the basics.'
'It makes sense logically,' he conceded, yet a wave of worry still washed over him. 'But tomorrow is the assessment day. I was really hoping to be in the next stage by now, perhaps with more significant power. If I go into the assessment like this, I might not even pass.'
Fai felt a growing knot of anxiety about the challenges that awaited him the following day.
The Dream of a Mutated Hunter
All his life, Fai had dreamed of becoming a mutated hunter.
This wasn't merely a fleeting childhood fantasy; it was a deep-seated aspiration, a purpose that fueled his very being. He sought neither wealth nor fame.
Instead, his motivation stemmed from a profound desire: to save other young children from the devastating pain of losing their parents, from enduring the solitude that he himself had experienced.
He yearned to become strong enough to have a voice, to hold influence in how the world operated, and ultimately, to dismantle the flawed system that had allowed such suffering.
And the only way he could ever achieve that was by successfully passing the upcoming assessment.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the system offered him a stark dose of reality. It allowed him to see just how incredibly far he still had to go if he was ever to stand among the strongest in the world.
The mere fact that he possessed the system was not a guarantee of future strength, but rather a hopeful sign that he would not remain the weakest.
It was a potential, a chance, but the journey ahead was long and was promising to be hard .
Beyond his level increases and the valuable usable stat points, there was another significant development.
After he had leveled up to Level 2, he had gained a fascinating new skill: Fae Eyes. Just as the system had stated, this skill granted him the power to gain detailed information about anything he scanned.
It was an incredibly useful ability, especially since it could even scan humans, instantly revealing their power level and their unique mutated cell abilities.
When he first obtained the skill, he was so captivated that he spent an entire day scanning almost everything his eyes could see in his meager room, marveling at the data that flooded his mind.
He found himself learning about the age of his bed frame, the precise composition of the dust motes dancing in the light, and even the subtle energy signatures of the sleeping scavenger in the hallway.
Lost in his thoughts, Fai's fingers instinctively went to the pendant hanging around his neck. He began to gently caress the smooth, cool surface of the small, spherical object.
It was a habitual gesture, something he always did when deep in thought or feeling anxious, and it usually brought him a measure of calmness.
It was then, in that quiet moment, that a sudden, compelling idea struck him: why not use his newly acquired Fae Eyes skill on his treasured pendant?
"Why not?" he murmured aloud. "There's nothing else for me to do right now, and the skill doesn't seem to consume any energy." A wave of intense curiosity washed over him.
"I wonder what it will tell me about this pendant. Will it reveal when it was made, or what materials were used? Perhaps even who owned it before me?" Fai's mind raced with possibilities as he carefully removed the pen'dant from his neck, held it in front of him, and focused his intent, activating the skill.
[FAE EYES ]
Fai uttered as he activated the system skill.
[Silver armored pendant]
[description]
[....,..,...]