"Don't go falling behind, Wyn, I thought you were strong, is this all you got?"
SWOOSH!
A punch whizzed past Wyn's face, it carried a great force that made the air blow past, ruffling his black hair as he dodged it.
Wyn's sea-blue eyes stared wide, and he gritted his teeth. If he had been a split second late, his face would have been smashed.
Looking at Stone Light who was preparing to launch another one of those devastating blows, Wyn had a grim look on his face.
But everyone in the classroom was watching, it was the last day of school and some people just wanted to leave a record about their strength.
"He can dodge the strike at that distance?"
"It seems he has decent speed, let's see how he would counterattack."
In the center of the class where chairs and desks had been knocked away, Wyn regarded Stone light and saw his eyes burning with a light of zeal.
'#sshole, he really wants to show off, doesn't he?'
No doubt, he knew that for a level 10 like him, he stood no chance against someone who was a level 20.
There was this insurmountable line that separated their strength. And Wyn knew he couldn't overcome that, no matter how. Except if he leveled up.
"But I'm kinda busy, I have no time for yah!"
Just in time, Wyn took a thick metallic slab from a broken desk to block the incoming punch.
Stone Light's eyes widened, his punch had carried great momentum. If he hit the alloy, his bones would shatter under the impact.
In a flash, Stone Light's fist became covered in gleaming purple scales like reptiles and the muscles in the arm received more power.
BANG!
The powerful blow collided with the alloy slab. The collision almost knocked Wyn off his feet, and the shape of his knuckles was indented on the slab immediately.
"What monstrous strength! He just deformed a supersteel."
Wyn turned and dashed away, if he kept on with the childish antics, he would later leave with some broken bones.
Meanwhile, Stone Light had a confused expression on his face. He never thought Wyn would shield with the alloy slab.
If he had been a split second late in merging with his beast, his fist would have incurred great damage.
****
On his way home, Wyn looked up at the news playing on the virtual screen.
"Breaking News: Little Star has successfully completed the third phase of his evolution, emerging as a Celestial."
"At level 1500, Golden Butterfly has successfully unlocked the saint passive ability, Longevity. His life span has made a great leap, reaching 1000 years"
"Tragedy strikes as Purple Caterpillar failed to complete his metamorphosis. Reports confirm severe damage to his physique."
"In other news, the Milky Way Space Station intercepted an encrypted Drallock transmission. Experts believe it to be a warning."
Wyn squinted at the news, in this interstellar age, the dream of humans was to evolve and he wasn't an exception. The urgency immediately caught up with him, causing his heart to skip a beat.
It was five hundred years ago that mankind finally mastered faster-than-light travel.
When they flew to explore the vast universe, what they met was horrors, and they trembled under their own insignificance.
Even the most inferior race known was strong enough to subdue humanity and reign over them like kings.
However, a ray of hope finally shone. Just beyond the Milky Way, humans discovered planets inhabited by beasts.
And it turned out that only they could absorb the genes of the beasts. What was more, they could even contract with them.
It was their secret edge, a spark of hope in a universe that had always looked down on them.
With the genes of beasts, human could finally dream of becoming a superior race and re-establish their status in the vast universe.
With the ability to absorb genes, humans could level up their bodies, making great leaps in physical evolution.
And only by reaching a certain level cap could they evolve. Currently, there were five phases of physical evolution; Awakened, Ascendant, Saint, Celestial, and God.
"I need to level up so I can evolve."
Wyn clenched his fist. Being at level ten of the awakened phase, he would have to reach the level cap of one hundred before he could evolve to the next phase.
During evolution, humans would metamorphose, only by completing it successfully could they emerge into the next phase.
Wyn remembered the fight at school and his face hardened.
Even though they were both awakened humans, he couldn't lift a finger to Stone Light whose power level was twenty.
Humans' level also represented their power level and being a level ten, there was no way he could beat a level twenty awakened human.
He was once again reminded about how powerless he was, it wasn't only about the level alone but something more.
"I have to find a way to level up, I have to."
After getting home, Wyn freshened up and refreshed his mind.
He looked around the small old house and saw that it was silent.
"It seems mother has gone to work, and Louis hasn't come from school"
Although his father was late, Wyn lived with his happy family on planet Loki.
As a poor family, it wasn't easy in this interstellar age but they had managed to survive.
In just a month, Wyn would gain admission into a military school.
Ever since the human race had conquered many worlds in the vast universe, naturally, they had made both enemies and friends.
With humans' ability to fuel their evolution with the beasts others couldn't control, and also contracting with these beasts, there had been many organisations of alien races that rose against mankind for this reason.
Their blood kept boiling with jealousy and they couldn't resist the urge to wage war against humanity.
Therefore, the global government of humanity had mandated military education for every human student.
So Wyn was thinking about how he could make money. Once he entered military school, the role he took in supporting his family would vanish, and it would become harder for his mother and sister to survive.
"I should go now, I might just get lucky."
Wyn walked out of the house with a determined expression, he wanted to try his luck again today maybe he could level up.