Rhys slapped the back cover of the book closed and dropped the three hundred and nineteen-page thing onto the dusty floor with a groan. His head ached slightly but the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment overshadowed that small inconvenience. He smiled, astonished at what he had just done.
He had just finished four books, all ranging from two hundred pages to four hundred pages, in about 15 hours, in one sitting. Rhys had always been a fast reader but never before had he accomplished a feat anywhere near this one. Although finishing four books in fifteen hours was quite possible for a lot of people, doing it in one sitting required superhuman level concentration. Rhys knew about a few brain enhancer cores that could strengthen comprehension abilities to this level, which made him even more impressed with the system.
He remembered it all too. He could still visualise the diagrams of yoga postures and breathing techniques from the pages of the first book, as well as recall all the names of the different Japanese spirits from the second book. His ability to comprehend and memorise had increased significantly and it was all thanks to his intelligence stat. Being smart made life significantly easier, so going forward he would definitely invest in that.
[Spirituality +1]
[User has gained useful knowledge through reading a total of four books]
[+ 60 Exp]
[User has come to understand that absorption is not just a skill but a way of life]
[+10 Exp]
[A skill has level led up!]
[Energy Absorption Lv 2 —> Lv3:
The complexity of the life force that you are able to absorb has increased. The user is now able to absorb small to medium sized plants as well as a few plant variants.]
Rhys grinned as he shakily got up from the armchair. The pain that shot through his stiff legs and back after not moving for so long was rough but kind of enjoyable. It was like the soreness he felt in his muscles after running home at full speed when he was chased by gangsters.
[Quest completed!]
[Reward: none]
Although there technically were not any rewards for this this quest, Rhys still felt pretty satisfied with the outcome. He had gained a good amount of experience and had finally levelled up his absorption skill, even if he was still only able to absorb plants.
[Name: Rhys Anson]
[Race: Enlightened Human]
[Level 3]
[Exp: 259/300]
[HP: 15/30]
"Enlightened Human?" Rhys frowned as he scanned over his stats and spotted the changes.
['After your reading of those books, the system has decided that this is the best English term to describe your stage of the transition.']
Rhys squinted as something caught his attention on the far side of the basement wall. "How many stages are there exactly?"
Rhys channelled his spiritual body skill in his legs because he was feeling too lazy to climb over all the discarded boxes and old furniture. Instead, he walked through the dusty objects with his hands in his cargo pant pockets.
['You don't need to know yet']
Rhys snickered annoyed at the familiar answer from the system.
"The whole point of me reading these books was so that you could explain everything to me, yet you're still hiding shit from me."
['If I hide shit from you, its because you aren't ready to know shit'] The teacher scoffed.
Rhys tentatively touched the blackened cement wall of the basement in front of him and felt the bubbly crispy texture under his fingers. He summoned his skill and watched as the dark wall in front of him started to glow a dark smoky green.
[Aura Detection Used + 2 Exp]
[Mold]
[Aura Detection used + 2 Exp]
[Fungus]
Rhys sighed in relief at this happy discovery and instantly activated his other skill. His HP was pretty low so he needed to absorb some energy.
[Energy Absorption used + 5 Exp]
Rhys watched elated as the dark green aura of the fungus and the mould was siphoned off the walls and came pouring into him. His fatigue and tiredness faded away as the energy was slowly absorbed into him.
[16/30 Hp]
Through the books he had read, Rhys had learned more about aura. Aura was believed to be a body of light that enclosed every human like a hidden anatomy. According to the texts, aura gives insight into the person's health and state of mind, a hypothesis that Rhys already knew to be true. When he had fought Sampson's friends and had injured them, their auras became distorted: the auras dimmed or disappeared in the places they had been injured. Through aura observation by psychics or some holistic practitioners, they were able to see what was ailing their patients and help them according to the distribution of their aura.
In other words Aura was like a map or spiritual projection of the body, Rhys just needed to figure out the key for himself.
[18/30 HP]
Rhys stared intently at the mould and fungus on the wall, and concentrated as the smoky green aura came pouring into him. He watched as the bubbly fungus began to dry and crumble as its energy was extracted from it. He watched as his own body greedily sucked up the energy and used it to strengthen himself. The paper cuts on his thumbs healed and the hunger in his belly disappeared. He could feel the affects of absorption more clearly now and he smiled brightly feeling a warm sensation reverberate through him.
[20/30 Hp]
The fungus on the walls covered a much larger area than he realised. It seemed that at least 70 percent of the 100 meter long basement was covered in it. Rhys slowly walked along the wall and trailed his hand over the mould and fungus so that his skill would work. The longer he walked the more intense the rush of energy flooding into him became. His heart beat quickened. His blood pumped. He stared at the fungus and watched it die.
[22/30 Hp]
[23/30 Hp]
Rhys was a in a trance as the energy came surging into him and before his eyes something strange happened. The green smoky aura of the fungus in on the walls suddenly swelled as if creating something. All of a sudden the tiny auras burst open, spitting out thousands of even tinier little green auras around the room like luminescent dust particles.
[Aura Detection Used + 2 Exp]
[Fungus spores]
From biology class, Rhys knew that fungus reproduced by releasing spores into the air. It was an amazing biological process that was highly effective. Rhys sighed as he dragged his hand over the wall and continued to absorb energy. Compared to the fungi's method, Rhys's way of absorbing energy was downright pathetic. If he could launch thousands of pieces of his aura into the air and absorb from those aura particles, this skill would be a lot more convenient.
['Hm... you are beginning to have less useless thoughts now.']
"Are you staring that it's possible? Can I really spread out my aura to do the absorption for me?" Rhys could not help but get excited at the thought of advancing.
['Perhaps,'] The teacher chuckled ['But first you need to unlock the Aura manipulation skill.']
Rhys nodded in understanding. It made sense that he would first need to unlock that skill in order to do what he wanted to achieve. The thumping in his chest got louder and faster all on its own as his head was filled with ambitious thoughts.
"ARGH!" Pain clenched inside of Rhys's chest, as if someone had grabbed a hold of his heart and squeezed it.
"FUCK!" He belched as he fell forward into the piles of discarded junk. "What's happening to me?"
['Oh don't be so dramatic, it's just your pathetic body reacting to the influx of energy.']
Rhys groaned out in pain at what felt like a heart attack. He helplessly lay on the floor and bit down on his lip as a horrible heat clamped down on his heart.
"Argh, is this because I absorbed too much energy?" Rhys winced trying to hold back humiliating tears.
['No, you are still within your limits. You can just consider this to be growing pain due to the changes your body is going through, your aura expanding is most likely the cause of this. I suggest that you pace yourself next time you absorb energy. Come now, there's no need to be embarrassed, everyone goes through this']
The mocking was clear in the teacher's tone which caused Rhys's face to redden as he was plastered to the floor. The pain was slowly lessening but not enough that he was confident about getting off the floor.
The door at the top of the basement suddenly opened. Bright yellow light flooded in from the first floor of the library. Rhys turned his head concerned to see what was going on. Thankfully there was a slit in one of the boxes in front of him so he could see what was going on at the stairs to the library.
There were two men dressed in black military uniforms. Their thick black combat boots and black leather sheathed weapons were telltale signs of the famous military elite forces.
Rhys bit through the pain and summoned his skill.
[Aura Detection used]
[Aura: Strengthening (strong)]
[Aura Detection used]
[Aura: Strengthening (strong)]
Rhys was once again greeted by the common yellowish auras.
"Here are the files you wanted. You have to read them quickly though, if anyone realises that these are missing I'm dead." The soldier's voice shivered as he handed over three red files to the taller, more well built soldier.
"Thanks."
Rhys watched curiously as the larger soldier licked his thumb and turned the pages of the first file.
"This ones interesting." A mischievous smirk darkened his expression as he stared down at the first file. "So she's the first success of the eugenics lab, poor girl, her life must have been hell."
'Eugenics lab...' Rhys winced thinking about the terrifying red coats.
"She's kinda cute too. Whatever, she's probably way too damaged to get close to if she came out with a poison generation ability anyway."
Rhys's eyes widened as the image of the dark skinned curly haired girl he had seen at the initiation test. She was the only other person in that room beside the electrokinesis guy whom the system labelled as strong. Could they really be talking about her? Could she really be involved with eugenics? Was she the result of their testing programs that they had been advertising all over the district? If she was, Rhys could only shudder to think about what she had gone through.
"Hey speed it up." The smaller soldier pleaded. "I need to be back there in like five minutes."
"Okay, okay."
The soldier opened the next folder, immediately his eyebrows shot all the way up his forehead.
"How the hell did a guy like this end up in the Sector 5 recruitment pool? He should be in Sector 1 with the rest of his family." The soldier gripped the file firmly as if his fingers were just as shocked as his face.
"Hey! Don't crumple it. They'll know I moved it!" The anxiety level of the other soldier spiked.
"With this ability there's no doubt that he's a Tardras. What is he even doing here? Oh wait, here it says that the general discovered him in a juvenile facility..." The soldier chuckled lifelessly. "Thank my lucky starts that I don't have to be in the same year as him. Can you imagine? A Tardras family member with anger management issues. I'll pray for these freshmen."
The other soldier forgot his anxiety for a moment and nodded in solidarity with the larger soldier.
Rhys was wide-eyed on the floor as he listened to the two soldiers. There was no doubt that they were talking about his juvenile facility attending, electrokinesis having roommate. Apparently he was a Tardras... Whatever that meant it sounded important. District 20 was not really connected to the news and going ons of the higher districts, so perhaps that was why he did not recognise the name Tardras.
"His name here is listed as Connor Twenty. He has the twentieth district's collective orphan surname, but there's simply no way that he's an orphan with the electric current manipulation ability."
"Yeah, yeah, thats all very interesting but quickly read the last file." The smaller soldier snatched the two files away and pushed the last file towards him.
"Okay, let's see." He mumbled while focusing on the small letters. "His name is Rhys Anson, and his ability is unknown. Wait, what? Huh, what's going on? Why isn't his ability listed here?"
Rhys's stomach turned to ice as he heard his own name come out of the soldier's mouth. He should have seen it coming, but he had not.
"No way, all his information has been blacked out."
"Huh, let me see."
The two soldiers gawked at the file of the seemingly harmless looking teenager and wondered who on Earth he was that his file had been meticulously blacked out.
"Oh wait here's something."
Rhys immediately focused back on the two soldiers wondering what had been written in his file.
"He's on the termination list."
There was a brief but frigid silence between the soldiers as the reality dawned on them. An even icier feeling was settling in Rhys as he mulled over the word 'termination'.
"They're, planning, on exterminating him..." The smaller soldier's shoulders dropped. "But he just turned seventeen."
Rhys smiled bitterly as he remembered that today was his birthday. He had forgotten because of everything that was going on. But at least this sweet piece of news would brighten what was left of his day.
"Why would they want to kill him? His ability is unknown so why are they being so proactive on this?"
"It's not that simple." The soldier closed the red file and handed it back with a solemn expression. "Trust me, if the general wanted someone dead he would not have waited for this Rhys to get here. He would have been dead and buried in the district he came from where his body would not be easily found. The general must have brought this kid here to test him and see if he really needed to be culled or not."
"Then why put him on the termination list at all? Why not just..."
"It's a safety measure. In case something gets out of hand in a training period per say, whoever is supervising won't need to waste time and call in for permission, they will legally be allowed to execute him on the spot. That's the beauty of the termination list, if an instructor or supervisor kills a student on the list they won't face any penalties. It's a safety measure for the military against government involvement if they decide to kill him."
The smaller soldier slumped back against the wall and sighed. "Poor kid, he's walking around with a target on his back without even knowing it."
The soldier shook his head and frowned. "But still, they're this cautious when it comes to unknown abilities?"
"They have to be because of what happened last year."
A light of curiosity went off in the younger soldier's eyes. "What happened last year?" He asked with bated breath.
"Don't you need to put those files back?" A smirk spread across his face as the other soldier's expression spiralled into panic.
"Shit!" He snatched the last red file away and ran up the basement steps. "Dammit Ryker, you should have reminded me!"
Ryker chuckled as he walked up the steps after his friend and closed the basement door behind himself.
The pain had long since gone from Rhys's body but he remained shell shocked. He lay on the floor thinking about the complicated life he had that he knew was only going to get more complicated.
"Happy birthday to me."