The next day, Lucas woke up very early as he was on a mission.
He quickly jumped out of bed and headed to a wider area to begin his physical strengthening.
He did some pushups, crunches and squats and then began to make a routine.
"So, I've got like 6 days left until the midterms begin and while strength would serve me well in that situation, six days isn't enough time for me to get reasonably stronger therefore I'll focus all of my training on improving my stamina and endurance." He said to himself.
"So, first things first, to boost my overall stamina I'll do some running around the campus grounds early in the morning, some jumping jacks could improve my stamina in explosive movements.
Also, since live sparring will be in the exams, I'll have to get my grip a little bit more solid and also get my arms to not get tired as easily when swinging the sword since these two major things were what allowed Garrett to defeat me so easily last time.
All in all, with only six days left there isn't much I can do physically but this should help me scrape by the physical parts of the exams by the skin of my teeth.
Next, would be the mental aspect of the test but I've already got that covered by studying with Lydia so the only thing left to do now is to ferment the Dragon Core elixir and then go for my first run." Lucas said.
He then went into the kitchen of his dorm. Yes, the rich kid dorm rooms came with kitchens even though they were the least likely students to use it.
So anyway, Lucas went into the kitchen of his dorm and grabbed one of the pots he had and put it on the fire.
He then began adding the ingredients, most of which were so generic his predecessor had had them in his kitchen even before the transmigration.
"So two cups of milk, a clove of garlic, 1 clove of ginger, one tablespoon of salt, two of sugar, two leaves of Weles grass and finally four Leklass fruits and seven Rainberries." He said, adding in the ingredients as he called them.
As he watched the items bubble, he said: "So, it should boil for about ten minutes on low temperature so until then I'll just do some pushups and squats."
Fifteen minutes later, Lucas was standing above the pot again, this time his face was slicked with sweat.
"It should be ready now. Let me take off the lid." He said.
Lucas lifted the lid and his eyes were greeted by the most disgusting sludge he had ever seen.
The pot held a thick, chunky mess that was dull green and brown. Bubbles came up and popped with soft, wet sounds, leaving slimy rings on top. Strings of gunk stretched and snapped as the nasty stuff moved around.
Dark bits floated inside, some sinking, some drifting in slow circles. A greasy film stuck to the edges of the pot, leaving streaks where it dripped back down.
"Well, I guess, it's better than nothing. Let's eat." He said.
Lucas grabbed a spoon and quickly devoured the sludge.
"It seems I've been deceived. I ate it and nothing happened." He said after finishing the sludge.
[Ding!]
[Did Host forget that it has a kick in effect and that it is recommended to eat only two spoonfuls a day to keep safe.]
"Wait, what? -AHHHHH!"
And just like that, Lucas was laying down writhing in pain. Again.
He lay curled up on the ground, his body twisting against the dirt. His hands clutched at his stomach. His face was pale with red splotches.
His teeth were clenched hard and his jaw shook with each breath. His legs kicked weakly and his heels scraped against the floor.
A low groan slipped from his throat.
But then, a sudden crackling sound broke out.
Lucas's skin began to crack all over like spider webs, and in just a few seconds, every single part of his skin was covered in these cracks.
This gross sight made Lucas look like a vase that was about to shatter into pieces.
Even his handsome face had been destroyed by all the cracks. He looked like a monster, a totally terrifying monster.
And in the next moment, fingernail-sized pieces of skin started flaking off his body one by one
.As each piece fell away, perfect jade-like skin could be seen replacing it. His new skin was as white as sheep's wool, and it was incredibly soft but tough to the touch.
Basically, his skin was as perfect as a newborn's and would make any woman jealous.
The potion might have been powerful but the pain and exhaustion from using it was not something anyone could handle.
It was so agonizing that Lucas couldn't even pass out.
[Don't worry Host. System is keeping your vitals stable. As long as nothing crazy happens, you should survive.]
While Lucas's outer skin was going through this transformation, his muscles were also being pushed to new levels.
His skin turned deep, angry red, veins popping out like dark ropes under the surface.
Muscles tightened and swelled in sudden, jerky bursts, stretching his skin until it looked about to rip. His back arched hard, ribs shifting with sharp cracks as his body strained.
Every breath came out as a rough gasp, spit dripping from his teeth. His fingers dug into the ground and the nails scraped deep grooves as his body thrashed against the violent growth.
His arms twitched and spasmed, tendons going tight like stretched wires. The muscles in his neck bulged, cords moving around under the skin.
His chest heaved like something inside was trying to bust out. Every heartbeat was a heavy thud that shook his ribs.
[Just hang in there, Host!]
Sweat poured down his face and dripped from his chin. His stomach twisted and swelled, the outline of shifting organs pressing faintly against the skin.
A deep cracking echoed from his shoulders as the bones adjusted, the sound sharp and wet.
His jaw clenched so hard it shook and his teeth seemed on the verge of cracking because of the pressure.
Like a cicada shedding its shell, Lucas was going through a new level of evolution.
In this short time, Lucas's body had gone through a terrifying level of growth.
At the same time, Lucas could feel the Mana in his body become smoother to feel and use. He felt like it had been directly upgraded to heights never seen before.
Soon, the effect of the elixir wore off and Lucas was left on the ground soaked in sweat and was shivering in pain.