A new wave of pain hit his body, making it hurt even more.
'Fuck you! What are you up to now? It's already embarrassing losing in front of everyone.' Rafael cursed under his breath.
The similar pain of the Synchronization flowed, as Rafael tried to move from the stage. Blood trailing behind him.
Fredric and Lyric were taken to the medical room. And he? Not even carried by someone to his seat. As an Evolved, his body tends to repair itself faster than a mundane human, but a pain is still a pain.
He somehow reached his seat, crawling.
A new text appeared in the thin air,
[ Synchronization Complete. Finally. Took you long enough to get hit that hard. ]
[ Physical Stats unlocked. Try not to cry. ]
Rafael stared, the mocking tone a fresh insult. Show me, he commanded silently, a spike of anger cutting through the pain.
The text dissolved and reformed into a stark, minimalist table.
—————
STATUS:
HP: 92 / 150
MP: 40 / 100
STRENGTH: 12
AGILITY: 15
DURABILITY: 11
PERCEPTION: 12
INTELLIGENCE: 101
—————
The numbers were clear, but their meaning was not. Before he could even form the question, the System responded, the text slithering into new lines.
[ Confused by the numbers, aren't you? It's simple, even for you.]
[ Baseline 100 is for the meat. The flesh and bone. Your meat is all pathetic. ]
[ But your HP... that's the container. And your container is being forcibly expanded. Be grateful. It's the only thing keeping you from being a stain on the floor. ]
'Average… is a hundred?' He chuckled weakly, then winced as the motion pulled at his ribs. 'Then what the hell am I?'
'I guess I am intelligent, huh? But why does it look like game interface? Fucking shadow playing games with me now?'
His knuckles tightened. A hundred. That was what everyone else in this academy stood on—what they called normal. While he was crawling on the floor, bleeding, a walking failure in numbers and flesh.
He pressed a hand lol lto his side, feeling the dull throb under his ribs. It wasn't just the pain of being hit. It was something deeper, heavier, spreading through his chest.
A new line appeared, followed by a faint, shimmering presence in his lap.
[ Reward for first combat synchronization: "Shard of Fleeting Voidmend" (One-Time Use) ]
[ Try not to waste it. It's more valuable than your current existence. ]
Rafael didn't need to be questioned to know what that reward was. He somehow knew it was related to healing.
Rafael felt something forming around his hand.
A black stone - like the one he got after the first Void Synchronization.
'But I can't keep it with me now, I don't have pockets or something to carry it,' Rafael thought inwardly, meant for the entity to hear.
Then, new lines appeared -
[ Access to Void Storage Granted - Level 1]
[ Host cannot store himself during his failure or to hide ]
[ Maximum of 10 KG can be stored, Only non-living things - yet ]
'I feel like this fucking Shadow is insulting me too much today.' Rafael let out a subtle chuckle. He didn't know if he should be happy or sad. He was feeling happy to dominate for a while in the fight, and sad after seeing his miserable stats.
The stone in his hand moved. It became black mist and swirled and became nothing. And another line formed in front of him.
["Shard of Fleeting Voidmend" stored, to see stored contents, host must say 'Show storage']
The texts faded without any more reappearing.
Rafael didn't try to call the storage thing now. He focused on the ongoing fights. The fights continued, and also continued the lessons of Rafael in the fight.
After the class ended, Rafael went to the Classroom building for regular studies. Humiliation followed, but he ignored that. He noted down everything taught in the classes.
Fredric and Lyric also returned at some point during the classes. Their injuries were gone, too
After a few hours, the bell chimed, notifying the end of classes. Students started to leave the classes, and so did Rafael.
"Hey, man. I heard you fought like your life was on it?" A voice came from behind him. A hand was on his shoulder. Rafael looked back to find Fredric.
"So bad, I wasn't there to see your fight. I bet it was amazing." Fredric added.
"I just did what I felt like doing. Thanks," Rafael replied, turning to the exit. He wasn't in the mood to tolerate the irritating nonsense from that boy.
"Hey, Raf, do you have any other plans for today?" Fredric asked, without caring for the expression on Rafael's face.
"No, I will go straight to the Dorms. I have to study." Rafael replied without stopping.
Fredric kept pace with him, his cheeriness turned dim, "Study? Come on, man. Your brain's probably smoking after that display. You need to decompress. And... I need to talk to you about something."
"Talk about something? Talk about what?"
"Something very important, something that I can't share with anyone else." Fredric paused for a moment. "Look, just ten minutes. Humor me."
Rafael stopped walking. He was tired. His body hurt. But the look on Fredric's face was serious. It wasn't his usual joking look.
"Fine," Rafael said. "Ten minutes. Where?"
A slow smile spread on Fredric's face. "Follow me."
They went off the academy campus. Towering structures faded behind them. Though the meg-glide station could still be seen.
The air began to smell different—less like filtered oxygen and more like damp earth and growing things.
The trail opened up into a small, hidden clearing. It was a pocket of quiet, tucked away from the rest of the world. In the center was a still, dark pond, its surface like a perfect mirror reflecting the deep purple and orange of the evening sky. Strange, glowing moss clung to the rocks at its edge, casting a soft, blue-green light. The only sounds were the gentle rustle of wide, silver leaves and the occasional plop of something small entering the water.
Rafael stopped, surprised. He hadn't known a place like this existed so close to the academy.
He turned to Fredric, only to find tears streaming down his face.
Fredric looked at him and said, "The world is cruel, too cruel."