A couple of days had passed since I helped Alexandra get through the process of upgrading her implant. Over that time, all the members of the bootcamp had been called in to help with the testing process and I'd somehow become the go to guy for helping people get upgrades. Honestly, I'd rather of just kept observing the tests. The vast majority of the people I had to help were not nearly as nice to look at as Alex, and several of them were just assholes.
I shook my head as I remembered one who had blatantly refused my advice and chosen a path that would leave him unable to ever unlock his mindscape or heartforce. The naive fool wanted to become 'One with the Sword' and didn't realize that his idiocy had crippled him for life.
I'd pointed him out to Princpal Hubert, and he'd just sighed and said, "It's his choice, and even if he's a cripple he's still worth training if he manages to kill even a single corrupted being."
His words reinvigorated me as I remembered the true purpose of all these people coming here. We were trying to create a group of people strong enough to protect Earth while the truly strong ones fought on the front lines. We may not decide the outcome of the coming war, but we will damned sure save billions of lives.
Despite my belief in the process, it was still mind-numbingly boring and I couldn't believe how weak these people were. Frankly, reaching the first stage of body refining should've been easy for all of them given their affinity levels, but they just hadn't put in the time and effort to train. The more I watched, the more I wanted to slap some of them upside the head. It didn't help that Rick and I had spent the last couple of days worrying about Beth and Connor and the two of us where getting more and more grouchy.
Which was why it was such a relief when Beth jumped onto my back and started yelling in my ear while pretending to be an announcer. "The face of Modern Cultivation Daily, the Icon who brought America to it's knees... Sam 'Avalanche' Hughes!"
Laughing, I tugged her off my back so I could give her a big hug. "When'd you get out?"
"A couple hours ago, had a giant meal and then spent some time perusing the forums. Have you seen the videos yet?"
"No, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Grabbing my hand, Beth dragged me away from the testing site saying, "You've spent more then enough time playing examiner, you've gotta see this." Before long, we'd entered the teachers lounge, and I watched in surprise as she moved around it like she was at home.
"Since when have you gotten used to being in the teachers lounge?" I asked her as I watched.
"Alaric has been sponsoring me for some events in Rafta, so I've spent some time in here with him." She said as she kept looking for something. "Got it!"
She picked up a remote and a nearly 100 inch TV appeared out of no where along with a couch. Sitting down, she patted the spot next to her as she said, "Interface with my implant." The TV showed the MSE forums. Pinned to the top of it was a message from Gifted Academy. Clicking on it, a video appeared.
I watched in absolute horror as the entire video of the fights in the Colosseum played out in front of me. The school had obviously gotten a profession editor to come in, the video was so exciting and amazing. I watched my fight with a grimace on my face. The image of me laughing as I used a barrier like a snowboard in the middle of an avalanche made me break out in hives. I looked like some sort of action hero about to sacrifice himself to save the damsel.
Beth laughed at my expression and said, "That's not even the worst part." Closing that post, she moved over to another pinned post showing a clip from the Tonight Show. Hitting play, the host came on and a video of my snowboarding down the mountain came up.
"I know all of you are thinking, this has got to be CGI, but you're wrong. Sam Hughes after only a few weeks of cultivation is strong enough to snowboard down a mountain in the middle of an avalanche. Now, we at the Tonight Show wondered if he'd be able to survive in different situations."
The screen changed and an obviously Photoshooped video of me laughing while surrounded by my dark-gold barrier, shooting out of a volcano as it erupted. Another one showed me at the bottom of the ocean, waving to the camera's as I rode a massive shark like a cowboy. It went on and on, before the host came back on. "Looks like he can survive just about anything."
The screen changed again, showing a picture of Rick using his shield surrounded by holy light to hold up the world. As the host said, "Of course, it wasn't only Sam who surprised us."
Closing that post, Beth navigated over to another one that showed the front page of the next Modern Cultivator, the magazine that all Energy Cultivators subscribed too. They'd managed to pick the perfect frame from the video. It captured my face and body as I shot lightning into the war elephant while snowboarding down the avalanche.
"Enough! I've seen enough!"
Beth shook her head and said, "Last one, you've got to see this." She smirked at me as she searched for an interview. Jennifer Thompson, one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood who Beth knew I had a massive crush on was asked by the host of another late night TV show, "You've seen the videos from Gifted Academy, what do you think about them?"
"I don't know about the others, but I wouldn't kick Sam Hughes out of bed..."
Beth was laughing her ass off at my poleaxed look, but I was too busy imagining being in bed with the actress voted most beautiful woman alive last year. For some reason, it didn't seem as appealing to me as I'd thought it would. She was gorgeous, but after cultivating everyone is gorgeous. Compared to Ariel, she's a fake who uses makeup to look like that. Also, how could she be expected to keep up with me now that I'm a cultivator who can go at it all night long?
While I was thinking, Rick walked into the room carrying a life sized poster. Unrolling it, it was the picture of him using his shield to hold up the world. Except it didn't show him in armor, instead he was naked and chewing on a cigar. "What do you guys think? Awesome, right?"
I couldn't help laughing as I said, "Beth, I think we've got a problem, Rick's ego is going out of control again."
Looking at the poster with a look of concentration, Beth took a while to respond as she stared at a certain part of Rick's anatomy. "I thought you had a bigger..."
Rick lunged across couch, covering up her mouth before she could finish, but taking another look I couldn't help saying, "You may want to Photoshop that."
I spent the rest of the evening joking with them, and gave Connor a huge hug when he finally woke up a couple hours later. However, the changes in my reality didn't really sink in until I hopped out of Rick's truck to find my house surrounded by reporters. In the end, I had to summon a gust of wind to blow them away in order to get through the front door.
Of course, the video of reporters flying 20 feet through the air before landing softly on their feet as I slammed the front door of my house shut became the #1 video within an hour.
"God, I need a drink." I said to myself, really wishing I'd gotten Ariel to give me a bottle of that Spiritual Liquor.