[CONSUMPTION OF PILL COMPLETE]
The system declared, and he could clearly see the message displayed in front of him, on the transparent screen.
Not only that, he could feel it: a profound, newfound energy within his body.
His muscles felt as if they were entirely new, a fresh, powerful component of his being.
They felt both light and heavy at the same time; it was a truly unfamiliar and exhilarating feeling.
Out of sheer reaction, he instinctively desired to check his status screen, eager to quantify this transformation.
[STATUS]
* [Name: FAI Oberon]
* [RACE: FAIRY]
* [STAGE: Seedling]
* [LEVEL: 3]
* [EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 125/200]
[ATTRIBUTES]
* [STRENGTH: 5 >>> 10] (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.]
He could see it clearly: the five points were indeed added to his strength attribute, and now it had increased from five to ten.
Furthermore, it was the only thing that had changed within the system; everything else on the system was still precisely the same as the last time he had checked.
During the time Fai was absorbing the pill, students were still being called up to the front to take the test, and right now, there were about seven of them left, including Fai.
"Fai,"
the bald man shouted, his voice cutting through the murmurs in the crowd.
Unlike the other students who were called up, the bald man didn't call a second name, only the first name.
And Fai moved his way to the front, knowing full well he was the one being called.
In this world, after the devastating war, any child who had lost their parents due to the aftermath of the conflict and wasn't adopted by any family would be unable to have a second name, a family name.
Fai was among such children, a solitary existence in a world rebuilding. But Fai wasn't the only one in this kind of situation; there were many others out there who had only one name.
Some were even in their very group, so it didn't come as a surprise to the other students.
Slowly, Fai made his way to the front. As he got closer, he could see that the machine was even bigger and more imposing than it had seemed from afar, its metallic surface gleaming under the harsh light.
Fai was now standing a few meters away from the machine, and he could clearly hear the other students whispering behind him, their voices cutting through the tense air.
"Hey, isn't he friends with that guy from earlier, the one who was able to perform as good as the Red Angel?"
a student spoke from the side, curiosity piqued. "Yeah, you're right, I saw them together earlier, and they've been close the entire time," another replied, confirming the observation.
"I wonder how he will perform. I mean, if his friend is that strong, he too is supposed to have a certain level of strength, right?"
The students continued chatting among themselves, their speculations growing.
"Nah, I don't think so," another student pointed out, a note of certainty in his voice.
"Take a look at his watch; it's glowing red. That's a sign that he's still human and hasn't mutated yet."
"If that's the case," another chimed in, dismissively, "then he's certainly going to lose this stage of the assessment.
I mean, even the strongest humans aren't able to get hit points above twenty. What will someone weak like him even amount to?"
It was clear; these students had already decided Fai's fate even before he had performed, their judgments swift and merciless.
In this world, books are litterally judged by their covers.
But no one could blame them; everything they said made sense, logically speaking, based on the known limitations of non-mutated humans.
The only crucial thing they didn't take into account, or that they simply didn't know, was the fundamental fact that Fai wasn't human.
All their assumptions and predictions were based on human limitations, some thing that didn't applie to him.... At least, not anymore .
Hearing what they all said, Fai wasn't even affected by it one bit.
His focus remained razor-sharp, fixed on the target directly in front of him. He thought,
'Screw what the other students think of me; it's not as if I cared about others' opinions to begin with, coming here I knew things like this would happen, and if I'm here right now it's to chage it. .'
Fai prepared himself, his resolve hardening, as he was about to take on the very first crucial step towards his ultimate dream.
He had trained for this moment for so long, enduring countless hardships. Even if he were destined to give up, he wouldn't do so without a fight, a truly defiant stand.
"Strike when you are ready," the bald man said, his voice a flat command.
Fai stood a couple of meters away from the machine, completely still for a moment.
Then, he positioned his right foot in front of his left, adopting a focused, balanced fighting stance.
Then, just like that, he had bounced off the ground, pushing himself powerfully forward, gliding across the floor as he rapidly built up his momentum.
As soon as he was close enough to the machine, within a perfect striking distance, Fai, with full force and newfound strength, pushed his hand forward.
The entire weight of his body following, seamlessly increasing the momentum of his strike.
It was a perfectly executed maneuver. He had begun by running, building up his momentum, and then smoothly adding the weight of his body to his strike.
It was certain that even if he were merely human, if his hand were to make perfect contact with the machine, the results would certainly be impressive....
Just as his hand was about to make contact with the spot, however, something entirely unpredictable occurred.
Somehow, his foot inexplicably slipped, causing him to lose balance at the crucial moment. The weight of his punch was drastically reduced; it wasn't heavy anymore, it was light, almost feeble.
He could feel the power draining from his strike. But it was too late; no matter what he did, his fist would still hit the spot, and his hit point would be irrevocably recorded.
And with their supervisor being the bald man, it meant there would be no second chance, no opportunity to rectify the mistake.
Fai couldn't do anything apart from desperately pushing the remaining weight of his body further into the strike, hoping against hope for the hit to be heavier, even though he knew it could very well amount to nothing.
Nonetheless, he still had to try something, anything.
Then, his hand made contact with the machine, and the familiar bang sound was heard.
As soon as his hand made contact, Fai had fallen over, tumbling to the ground, due to him losing his balance so completely.
His fist had indeed made contact with the machine, and it was only a matter of time before his hit point would be shown.
How many points would he have?...