Galon and his sister chose seats towards the back and scanned the students in the seats in front of them. Everyone was wearing Saint Ying Academy uniforms, with the girls dressed like his sister in white short-sleeved blouses paired with miniskirts and black tights. The boys sported tailored, handsome white shirts with black trousers and leather shoes, all looking uniformly neat.
These students were grouped into various clusters, chatting and laughing continuously.
Not long after the bus started, it stopped again to pick up two more students from the academy. This pattern continued for a while until two handsome boys, one slender and the other robust, boarded the bus, laughing and talking. Their confident demeanor immediately attracted the attention of some girls on the bus.
Sitting next to his sister, Galon noticed Ying'er's gaze involuntarily shifting towards the two new arrivals. He compared himself to them and, with a resigned shake of his head, looked away after a brief glance.
Like him, many ordinary boys sat in unremarkable places on the bus, utterly overshadowed by the two outstanding newcomers.
Galon turned to look out the window at the passing scenery. The clean, gray-white streets were lined with black lampposts, and the buildings were mostly ordinary white cement houses, with the occasional white stone house. The style was somewhat European, and cars occasionally passed by.
"Mom and Dad said you don't have to come straight home next week. You can eat at school. They have to go on a business trip for the company and might not be back for a week. We have to fend for ourselves," his sister suddenly said in a low voice.
"Okay, got it," Galon responded in his usual tone. "By the way, did Dad buy you a Bunnie Bear because you moved up a few places in the last exam?"
"So what?" Ying'er turned her head away, ignoring him. "If your grades improve, Mom will also buy you a gift."
Galon smiled and said no more. Unexpectedly, he suddenly noticed five faint red figures appearing at the bottom of his vision. They were represented by strange symbols denoting four different attributes. Curiously, he did not recognize these symbols but understood their meanings.
Galon's smile faded as he felt a jolt of shock. He quickly looked around, but no one seemed to notice anything unusual; the usual chatter and school gossip continued. Meanwhile, his sister took out a history book and began to quietly memorize it.
"Is this some kind of bonus for crossing over?" Galon had read many stories about transmigration involving such bonuses. He thought he hadn't received any until now when these figures slowly appeared. He focused on the five symbols, silently reading them: "Strength 0.31, Agility 0.22, Constitution 0.27, Intelligence 0.32. Potential 25%."
As he deciphered the meaning of these symbols, a brief flurry of residual memories flooded his mind.
Galon suddenly closed his eyes, sitting motionless for a moment before slowly reopening them. "Is this a superpower mutated from electrocution and transmigration?" He recalled the entire process of this ability's mutation and formation, filled with coincidences and complex changes that ultimately shaped this current ability.
"This potential, once fully charged, can actually increase the other four attributes?" Galon wondered, looking at the last figure, Potential 25%, feeling incredulous. "Isn't this just like playing a game? I can change my attributes at will in real life."
He was aware that in this world, where technology lagged and warfare still involved a mix of melee and firearms, such a superpower could significantly alter his future in unimaginable ways.
"Could it be a hallucination, though?" Galon chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Maybe I'm just obsessed with the idea of having superpowers."
The bus suddenly stopped.
"We're here, everyone off," announced the driver, a bearded man, as he turned around to shout.
Students began to disembark, and Ying'er nudged Galon as a reminder before taking her backpack and book and getting off first.
A large, circular green lawn bordered by black buses parked along the grass greeted them. Students from Saint Ying Academy disembarked, all dressed in the uniform white tops and black bottoms.
At the end of the lawn stood a large complex with white and dark yellow patterned domes, including a central square dome flanked by tower-like buildings. In the distance, similar large buildings were visible, with many students and some teachers in black uniforms milling about.
Galon, a pale and slender boy with purple hair and red eyes, stepped off the last bus, looking listless.
He surveyed the academy's facilities and size, then looked back at the tall white iron fence enclosing the entire campus. The buses entered through a white iron arch and were now leaving after dropping off the students.
"It's not much different from schools on Earth," Galon mused as he followed the other students towards the
buildings.
"Galon is in Class 2 of the first year at the first campus…" Following his memory, he quickly made his way through the crowd to the left side of the vast campus, pausing in front of a trapezoidal building before ascending the stone steps.
The second classroom on the second floor was marked with a brass plate for Class 2 of the first year.
Entering with two other boys, Galon went straight to a seat by the window at the back, stuffing his backpack into the desk before concentrating on the five attribute symbols. Being new to the class and introverted, he hadn't made any friends.
The first class was mathematics, taught by a stern-looking middle-aged woman, but the content was elementary, and Galon soon lost interest. Then came the national language and literature class, which he also ignored.
During the etiquette class, Galon continued to explore the connection between his physical state and the attributes. Suddenly, he felt the potential percentage in his vision twitch and tremble.
Startled, he looked around, then back at the lectern.
The etiquette teacher, a meticulously groomed man with glasses, was discussing the importance of personal appearance and jewelry in showing respect to others. He emphasized that nobility wasn't just about wealth but also about inner qualities such as self-discipline, elegance, and courage.
As the jewelry box was passed around, Galon's faint red attributes began to change, with his potential slowly increasing from 25% to 26%.
When the box reached Galon, a cool sensation flowed from it into his body as soon as he touched it, reminiscent of air from a refrigerator.
Carefully examining the contents, Galon's eyes were drawn to a black and red pearl that intensified the cool sensation.
The potential percentage in his vision skyrocketed from 26% to 50%, then 80%, and finally 100%.
Upon reaching 100%, the pearl seemed to dim and age in his hand.
Galon passed the box to the last student, a red-haired girl with a ponytail who took it without a glance and passed it on.
Focusing on his potential percentage, Galon realized he wasn't hallucinating but had indeed acquired a real superpower. Excited by the realization, he pondered which attribute to enhance.
Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence.