Erik waited for the other students to finish their showers before going in. The shower room was large, with a high ceiling and many rows of stalls.
A row of urinals stood against one wall; another ran along its opposite side at waist height. At each end there were sinks on either hand, like those used by women in public washrooms.
Erik had never been in such large bathroom stalls; they were massive, easily larger than his own shower at home. He walked through the door and turned on the full water blast—at the warmest temperature it would go without burning him.
Erik relaxed for five minutes while taking a shower; he thought about nothing during that short time except how comfortable it was to have a big shower.
Erik got out of the shower and dressed, then went back to the gym, where only his teacher waited. Erik observed the man's face carefully as he entered.
He had a pointy nose, full lips, and brown eyes. He seemed fatigued; there was no expression at all on his face beyond that of intense concentration bordering upon boredom.
His black hair hung over his forehead in lank strands that brushed down his cheeks when he bent forward. There were wrinkles around the corners of his mouth, but otherwise, this middle-aged professor looked healthy enough.
As professor McAllister saw the young man, he approached him with his usual stern look. He carefully observed the young man's face and sighed.
Erik didn't know what his teacher was thinking about, but it wasn't probably anything good since he had a resigned look.
"Erik," he said, looking at Erik. "Things are going to get complicated for you."
"Why?" the young man asked.
"Because now that you have two powers, the militaries will do everything in their power to make you a killer."
Erik didn't reply; he only observed his teacher.
"It will be different from normal military training. It will be gruesome, harder than any training you have ever made. It is important that you train as much as you can during these months because if you lack skill, which you do, your training will be much harsher," the teacher said while looking Erik in the eyes.
The young man was starting to grow anxious.
"This is not the only problem; the militaries will want to make good use of you as soon as they can. They will probably send you to some dangerous mission, and you cannot go unprepared."
Professor McAllister looked into the young man's worried face and smiled sadly. Then he spoke: "Don't worry, I'll help you, but I need you to put in all the effort you can, Erik."
Erik nodded. He knew that things were going to get serious. Still, he felt confident that with Professor McAllister's help, he could handle whatever came up.
"Now go home, and don't forget to come back tomorrow morning," the teacher said.
"But, professor, tomorrow is Sunday," Erik said.
"It doesn't matter," the teacher replied.
Erik turned around and left the school building. As usual, he went toward the train station, the sun had already set, and the night was already there.
He hurried so that he wouldn't miss his train. On the way, he observed his surroundings while contemplating. Did he make a mistake by revealing his new power? Could he have kept it secret until he was older and stronger?
Would it have been better if he hadn't revealed himself? He didn't have answers for that, but he was sure of something. He didn't want to be treated like garbage anymore; whatever the case was, Erik decided to face it.
Erik arrived at the train station and then boarded the train; he arrived at the eastern district, and there he walked back home. As he arrived, Erik opened the door and left his backpack on the table. There were still many things to do.
"System, show me the quests."
-----------------------------
[Quests List]
[Daily]
<Eating Habits: COMPLETE>
-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points
-Failure Penalty: None
(Eat a healthy meal)
<Physical training: COMPLETE>
-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points
-Failure Penalty: None
(Train for at least an hour. The Host may choose whatever exercise to complete the quest.)
-----------------------------
<It looks like by training with professor MC Allister I completed my second daily quest,> the young man thought.
Later, Erik had dinner; while he ate alone, he thought about what professor McAllister had said to him. If it was true, then he was bound to face many risks once he got to the military academy. Erik wondered about what he could do to make things safer; his only conclusion was to train.
<I must take advantage of the system,> the young man thought. Erik approached his computer, and a holographic screen appeared in front of him.
[DEVICE FOUND: ERIK'S PERSONAL COMPUTER. DO YOU WANT TO CONNECT TO IT?]
"Yes," Erik said.
[CONNECTION TO THE DEVICE: ERIK'S PERSONAL COMPUTER, COMPLETE.]
Erik then searched the internet for hand-to-hand combat manuals. He chose the one taught by the militaries, the same one his teacher was trying to teach him. There were also some videos about it, so Erik downloaded them all.
<I want to inject information> the young man thought. Then a list of videos and books appeared on a window in front of him.
-----------------------------------------------
List of available information:
-Kyokar hand-to-hand manual.
- Kyokar hand-to-hand lesson 1
- Kyokar hand-to-hand lesson 2
- Kyokar hand-to-hand lesson 3
...
...
...
- Kyokar hand-to-hand lesson 20
...
...
- Kyokar hand-to-hand lesson 50
-----------------------------------------------
"System, will there be a problem if i inject all this information simultaneously?" Erik asked.
[ANSWER: THE HOST WILL LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS FOR TWO HOURS]
"If it is only that, then inject everything," Erik said.
It was the first time the young man was going to inject all this information at the same time, but luckily nothing major was going to happen.
After he had done so, he experienced a tremendous surge of energy rushing through his body and mind. It was as though he had injected steroids into his brain.
His thoughts became clearer and more focused than ever, but that lasted only for a brief moment because Erik slowly lost consciousness, and everything went dark.
Erik woke up two hours later; he felt as if his brain had been into a blender. Everything seemed foggy and vague.
After he regained control over his senses, he tried to look for any signs of damage or problems, but luckily he found no sign of anything wrong.
After his mind cleared, Erik thought about the Kyokar fighting style and immediately recalled the videos and the manual.
"Good," the young man said with a smile. "I better start making neural links too." Erik then stood from the ground and sat on the couch, where it was more comfortable; he then started focusing and trying to make neural links.
After a couple more hours, Erik went to bed. The following day, despite being Sunday, he had to go to school, probably to train with the other top students.