Chapter 8: Steel Body
Kalon felt the familiar pulling sensation as his time on Venduros ran out.
The garden faded around him, and the orange sky disappeared.
...
He opened his eyes back on the rooftop of the first-year building. The cold night air of Earth hit him.
He stood up and made his way down from the rooftop. Afterwards, he hurried over to his dorm room, constantly feeling the item in his pocket.
Once inside, he locked the door and sat on his bed.
He reached into his pocket and took out the Steel Pill. It was small and shiny, but heavy in his hand. The metallic surface glowed faintly.
This is it. Time to get stronger.
His only worry before consuming the pill was the fact that he hadn’t learned how to cultivate it.
Since advancing to Steel Rank was not allowed for first-year students, the method was not taught.
Luckily, it was common knowledge that there were no specific rules for cultivating the first pill.
All he had to do was consume it and wait whilst keeping his focus.
So, with a deep breath, he popped it into his mouth.
...
He swallowed the pill.
Immediately, a warm energy spread through his whole body. Kalon closed his eyes and focused on cultivating it, just like the instructors taught in class.
He felt the energy flowing through his veins, and at the same time, intense pain travelled through his entire body.
He wanted to scream, but his neighbours would probably think that the weird virgin was up to something... weird.
...
After a few minutes, the pain faded.
[Steel Pill Consumed Successfully]
[Rank Up Complete: Bronze → Steel Rank]
[Steel Body Trait Activated]
Kalon opened his eyes and immediately checked his full status, a smile growing across his face.
His entire body was drenched in an absurd amount of sweat.
[Kalon Manchester]
[Rank: Steel]
[Health: 75 → 100]
[Mana: F]
[Stamina: F]
[Durability: E]
[Strength: E]
[Agility: F]
Physical Traits
- Steel Body (New)
Mental Traits
- Mild Anxiety
- Low Self-Esteem
- Determined Mind
[Active Skills:]
None
[Passive Skills:]
[(SSS+) Alien Language Comprehension]
[(SSS) Formidable Body]
[Titles:]
None
...
His durability and strength had jumped to E. His health has also increased to 100, which was the average health for every newly awakened bronze.
Everything else stayed mostly the same, but the Steel Body trait made him feel much tougher overall.
All of his negative physical traits had been removed and replaced with that single one.
With it came hardened musculature, denser bones, and more resistant skin.
This was a Steel Body, the main difference between a Bronze Rank and a Steel Rank Awakened.
Kalon stood up and stretched. He punched the air a few times. His punches felt solid.
They weren’t quite powerful yet, but compared to before, it was night and day.
He made his way over to the full-body mirror and examined himself.
Kalon was once a short male with black hair and a scrawny body. He wore glasses, giving him that nerdy look, and had a small scar on his forehead.
Now... all of that was exactly the same. Nothing had changed in his appearance, but the differences were definitely there. They were just unseen.
If he wanted to look different, a simple pill couldn’t help with that.
This is real. I’m actually Steel Rank now. In a way, I’m stronger than everyone else in my year.
He thought about Richard and Ruby. About all the students who laughed at him. A small smile appeared on his face.
The bullies would get a surprise soon enough. He just had to wait until the end of the week when the Mock Battles arrived.
Still, I’ve got to get stronger. I’m still behind in other areas. I’m still in lacking in offensive skills.
Kalon lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
Even just lying down felt so much better than it did before.
Not to mention, he found himself constantly thinking about the alien maid, Josinia.
He wanted to know just how far he could go with her. Not only that, but how many SSS-Rank skills he would be rewarded with for completing more serious missions.
As he had the thought, he felt his Low Self-Esteem mental trait fade away.
It was replaced with [Slight Confidence].
When Kalon woke up the next day, he noticed that his body was in severe pain.
His first thought was that something had gone wrong with the cultivation of the Steel Pill.
Then he rose to his feet.
Wait... aren’t I higher up than I was before?
He shuffled his way over to the full-body mirror and examined himself.
What he saw made his eyes go wide.
Not only did he clearly look a few inches taller, but his body... it was even more muscular than it had been before.
He wasn’t large or bulky, but rather lean with densely packed muscle.
And his face...
My face looks sharper too.
After staring at himself for five minutes, Kalon decided to check his System again.
It was then that he realised what was happening.
[Physical Traits:]
- Steel Body
- Athletic Body
- Growing Frame
- Refined Features
- Increased Testosterone
...
This...
His Formidable Body trait no longer needed to spend time removing his negative traits or strengthening his musculature and such, because Steel Body had already taken care of that.
Now, it was trying to make sure that his outward body matched what was going on inside.
In other words... he was becoming more attractive.
The changes weren’t huge, but there was no way anyone could call him ugly.
He tried putting on his academy outfit, only to find that it didn’t quite fit him anymore.
He was both excited and worried at the same time.
These changes will make people suspicious. They’ll wonder how it happened in such a short time...
I’ll have to skip school until the end of the week.
It’s fine... I’m sure nobody will miss me.
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