Upon finishing his training protocol, or really his pre training protocol, he looked around his apartment, realizing it looked like some wicked shit went down.
There was dark black/brown goo covering the floors, and it smelled absolutely rancid.
Andrew had to hold his breath upon coming out of the focus state, it was too much to handle.
He quickly busted out bleach and cleaning supplies and got to work, even washing his bed sheets with a touch of bleach as even that wasn't spared.
"Phew, holy shit…. I gotta be more mindful the next time i do this, definitely gotta lay down some plastic sheets or something." Andrew thought, finishing cleaning the swamp that his room became.
He immediately hopped in the shower after this, frantic to get the goo off his skin before he feared it would permanently stain his skin.
20 minutes of furious scrubbing later, he hopped out of the shower.
He started to feel around his body to examine it, he felt like his entire body was supercharged just from this training session.
He felt light as a bee, he felt looser than ever before, those hidden injuries he accumulated and forgot about almost seemed to be completely non existent.
He quickly checked his stat panel, eyes filled with anticipation.
"Status,"
[Status: Andrew Clancy
Strength : 45 (Average = 5)
Intelligence : — (Average = 10)
Endurance : 45 (Average = 5)
Agility : 45 (Average = 5)
(Locked)
(Locked)…
Talents: Talent : Low Grade - Level 1 Space-Void Body - (2X ALL Stats, Low Affinity to the Space-Void dimension)
Skills: Full Body Manipulation (Mastery), Meditation (Mastery), Pain Tolerance (High),
Lowest Grade Innate Energy Arts (High)
]
…
Seeing these stats, Andrew felt great excitement.
All his stats had improved from 30 to 45, however his intelligence row was still unviewable.
He felt this round of training alone had broken past a crucial bottleneck, pushing his Innate Energy Arts from the mid level to the high level of comprehension.
He could definitely feel the qualitative improvement, which he guessed to be around 10 points in each section.
Not only had that skill improved, but 2 of them had even reached mastery, and the other one hit the high grade.
He wasnt obsessed looking at his stat panel, it had only been a couple of days after all.
However, he felt greatly accomplished already even within this short time span.
He didnt dwell for too long on this, he felt like a new person and quickly went to the mirror to admire himself.
Here he could see a difference for certain, not so great he looked like a different person, but now he looked even more handsome, his features seemingly even more prominent in contrast to his skin tone and physique.
His body had surprisingly actually gotten more lean, but he didnt view this as a bad thing. To him it felt like all his muscles were densely packed like the spring of a car's suspension, just waiting to burst out with an unstoppable momentum.
"Cant get too complacent…. Might be strong now and for my age bracket, but compared to those true global geniuses, my talent and stats are still nothing…"
"Especially for those who have already been training, the old monsters that control the world through absolute power, this is just one step in the right direction…"
After calming his heart, Andrew steeled his heart, after all he hadnt forgotten what he had planned for the day.
"Right, let me get my pre workout shake ready for the 'protagonists' training session. Hopefully ill learn something for this."
He already felt in tip top shape even after busting his ass, however he needed a little edge boost.
He quickly whipped up a thinner, but still goo like concoction. This one was packed with all types of stimulants and otc performance enhancers.
Andrew had mastered this formula in just the right order of properties per compound to ensure max return with little stability risk.
Every compound was synergistic, meaning alone they might not be much, but all together thats where the magic happened.
"If you cant afford the expensive shit, gotta use what you can get," he thought.
Whipping this up, he checked the time, it was already 6:45.
He quickly downed what he had, and then got a few bottles of water with a few packets of his hydration formula before sprinting out the house.
He knew Zachary probably wouldnt mind him being a bit late, however he was looking forward to this.
He wasnt sure if it was because his neurochemicals were peaked right now, or because his brain and body intrinsically sensed an opportunity.
But he knew he wanted to be there as soon as possible.
Sprinting down the road, Andrew felt as light as a bird.
He felt that if he ran just a bit faster, he would turn into the air itself.
Upon arriving at the park, it was relatively empty except for a few kids and parents around here and there.
Upon seeing Andrew's figure, a lot of people stopped what they were doing to stare for a few seconds unconsciously.
The young kids looked with curiosity, the middle aged men with jealousy, and the middle aged moms with curiosity seemingly mixed with desire.
To these people, Andrew looked akin to a super model.
Andrew could feel this, he smiled in his mind for a second before walking over to the meet up spot within a denser patch of nearby trees with a clearing on the other side.
Here he saw Zachary, seemingly already hard at work, and he appeared to have been doing so for quite a while already.
He held a wooden sword, swinging it with extreme precision.
Andrew was kind of dumbstruck upon observation, he realized every swing seemed to contain power and sharpness that shouldnt even be possible from a wooden sword or its wielder being a high schooler.
"Yo, whats going on Zachary, already hard at work?" Andrew hollered out, breaking Zachary's attention away from his practice.
Zachary approached Andrew and wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve.
"Yea I felt that I was going to have a breakthrough in my swordsmanship after school—so I decided to come here a few hours ago to stuff in some extra reps." Zachary said with a smile.
"Very nice, actually i also had a slight breakthrough in one of my techniques as well, except it was just a simple one i downloaded off the internet."
"I cant see through your technique, what exactly did you have a breakthrough in?" Andrew asked curiously, wanting the inside info.
"Its called sword intent… I didnt expect you to already have gotten a grasp on it so soon. The younger generation really will surpass us in no time." said an old melancholic voice from behind a tree.
Andrew quickly got on guard, he hadnt sensed this man before, but upon him coming out of the shadows, he realized who it was immediately.
"The old man that took Zachary as a disciple!" Andrew thought, surprised his enhanced senses couldnt detect him.
"Master!" Zachary yelled as he quickly got on one knee.
"Now now, theres no need to bow to me. With how things are going, at this rate ill be bowing before you in a few years." the old man said with a smile.
He turned his attention towards Andrew.
"I heard you might have some potential, Zachary recommended you to start learning from me…"
"However i dont really know if your suitable for my teachings or not," the old man said as he got right in front of Andrew.
"For your little test, i want you to throw a punch at me. As hard as you can, dont hold back, you can utilize any technique you want to."
"Now, lets not waste any time, show me what you got!" the old man said, hands still clasped behind his back seemingly casually.
Andrew said no more, he knew this was a part of the plot and there was no free lunches in this world.
He quickly got into his stance, similar to the one he used on the placement exam.
He focused on his entire body, he started to invigorate the innate energy within him.
The old man sensed this and his eyes widened seemingly surprised for a split second before he broke into a slight grin.
Andrew rapidly accumulated all his innate energy, quickly filling his entire body with power.
_____