"101... 103... 105... Aagh!!"
Evan completely collapsed onto the cold, metallic floor of the gravity chamber.
It had been almost 1 hour and 40 minutes of the boy pushing his body to the absolute limit. Different combinations of push-ups, squats, sit-ups...
"Aag... aag..."
With his breathing still heavy, the gravity inside the room was already nearing 8x the normal level. Something that, for most students, would be a joke... but for Evan, it felt like a living hell.
"...I-I think I still have a few minutes left." Evan said, as he pulled out his sword.
With the remaining time, the boy swung his sword as if it were a massive iron stake, the blade barely even moving.
"Mikael is truly a freak... I can barely even feel my muscles under these conditions. A mere background character can't compare to a protagonist." the boy accepted bitterly.
Suddenly, a metallic voice interrupted Evan's short break.
"Time exceeded. Please leave the room." the robotic voice said, signaling the daily time limit for using the chamber.
The moment Evan stepped outside, it felt like hundreds of kilograms had been ripped off his body.
"Aaa... what a relief..." he breathed out, completely relieved.
As he left the training zone, Evan couldn't help but notice two figures training so intensely that they seemed to disturb the very energy of the place.
They could only be Erick and Mikael.
Erick was known for enjoying hand-to-hand combat, trained by the best martial artists in his family since he was five years old. He unleashed devastating sequences of punches, kicks, and elbow strikes against the combat robots available there.
And Mikael... swung a sword similar to that of royal knights as if it weighed no more than a feather. He executed his sword strikes at such an insane speed that it was almost impossible to follow.
"These guys are real monsters..." Evan murmured out loud.
But to his surprise, someone else was standing beside him, watching those two boys.
"See that, Evan? Do you think we'll ever reach their level?"
That voice could only belong to Victor, who kept getting closer and closer to Evan.
"Aah!" Evan jumped back, startled.
"When did you get here, man?" he asked.
Victor, with his usual dazzling smile, rested his arms on Evan's shoulder.
"I was just passing by when I saw you leaving the gravity chamber. I was only going to say hi... until I witnessed that show right in front of us."
As Evan frowned, he couldn't help but mutter internally.
'How do I get rid of this guy?'
"Well... I'm heading out now, dear Evan. See you another time!!" Victor said, hopping away through the corridors.
Meanwhile, Evan walked back to his dorm, exhausted.
"I think I need some rest... that's all I need for today..."
...
After taking a good shower, the first thing Evan checked was his status window, hoping his attributes had increased after the harsh training in the gravity chamber.
"Well, now that I don't have a potential limiter anymore, my gains should be infinitely greater..." Evan thought, but reality was far crueler.
-------------------------
Name: Evan Thompson
Potential: ???
Rank: G-
Strength: G-
Speed: G-
Endurance: G
Intelligence: G
Mana Capacity: G-
Luck: G+
Charm: G-
Affinities: Primordial Fire (Elemental)
-------------------------
"What?"
But it seemed fate wouldn't be so kind to the boy.
"Even after all the effort I put in during these days... not a single damn stat increased?!!" Evan complained bitterly.
He could truly feel the gap between someone like him... and monsters like Erick and Mikael.
"Well... I can't let that break me. I need to prepare my next steps..."
Returning to what should've been the novel's timeline, the first major event would happen during the first hunting simulation.
The class would be divided into about seven groups of five people each. Each group would be sent into a low-rank dungeon controlled by the academy itself.
It was public knowledge that Last Hope Academy owned several dungeons within its own territory, meant for practical training.
Even though many tests could be simulated through the academy's advanced technology, the faculty believed it was better to put young students in real conflict situations, in order to speed up their growth.
But Evan, as an expert on the novel New Era, knew exactly that when it came to Mikael and the main group, those kids would end up in deep trouble.
The instructor responsible for the practical tests was Edgar Hells, yet another human who betrayed his own race for scraps offered by demonic beings.
Watching a mere commoner like Mikael receive so much attention was something that deeply wounded Edgar's pride, and he managed to tamper with the group teleportation system.
An event that resulted in the death of more than ten students, who were sent into dungeons ranked above B+.
From what Evan remembered, that test should happen in about 15 days.
'I still have a few days left...' the boy sighed.
Thinking not only about the story's progress, but also about his own existence, which had been at risk since the moment he woke up in this world.
Sitting on the edge of the bed while staring at his own reflection in the mirror... that wheat-blond hair, those golden irises... the boy still couldn't fully accept his new identity as Evan Thompson.
To make things worse, he didn't even know whether the old Evan had a family, or any living relatives in this world.
"Grhg... I'll think about that later. I think it's better if I just rest for a bit."
After the intense training in the gravity chamber, even though he was still exhausted, the boy could feel his body stronger... even if it didn't show in the stats.
Before sleeping, he decided to meditate for a few minutes. It was one of the main methods to synchronize his mana circuits and calm his own mind.
As he slowly closed his eyes, breathing in and out through his mouth, sitting in a lotus position, Evan was swallowed deeper and deeper by the darkness inside his own mind.