Understood. I get the idea what Rose was trying to implement.
The concept was to jointly create a stimuli which will force my body to become familiar with the alien factors.
If anyone else had suggested this, I would have dismissed it as nonsense. However, when it comes to the body, Rose's words carry more weight than any future medicine.
"So, even if it hurts, bear with it."
As soon as I got used to one type of stimulus, the nature of it changed. I didn't say a word and just endured the pain.
The beads of sweat on Rose's forehead showed how focused she was. It wasn't because she was tired; given her usual difficulty controlling her strength, it was proof of her meticulous effort.
But how long do I have to keep getting hit? I ended up skipping lunch and missing the first class in the afternoon.
***
Two weeks passed.
Lemon’s body had now become familiar, almost like my own, and there were hardly any discomfort. Rose came to train me every three days without fail.
She even insisted that I learn her lion-shaped martial technique, so I was forced to join the "Rose" school. She called me her first disciple or something. She promised to make me "useful" with all her heart.
I just hope her standards aren’t too high.
I was free to call her what I wanted, and the only rule between master and disciple was to "keep improving continuously." Considering that martial artists’ internal rules are usually much stricter, this was definitely a privilege, even though we were classmates.
"Me, in the Rose school." The best martial art in the story. Even the protagonist later references the Rose school.
Any current shortcomings would be addressed as Rose progressed, and if I kept improving from now on, I wouldn’t get beaten up anywhere. Can I consider this a green light in my survival life?
"Is it this way?" I was walking a path I hadn’t been down in the past two weeks. I kept thinking continuously. What can I do? What I know as the author of the story is undoubtedly immense.
Using this knowledge, personal success is a given. But simple success means nothing in this world. Humanity's value is currently aligned with survival, and as a cadet of COH Academy, I am at its core.
And here, cadets' actions are heavily restricted. To operate properly, I first need to graduate. Considering "that incident," it won't take as long as expected, but there’s not much I can do right now.
"The only benefit I have are the funds, the immense amount I can use now..." Lemon has a background. A pretty significant one. Even if he’s not highly regarded, he’s not penniless.
The funds he can personally manage far surpass those of ordinary people. With this, I planted a seed. I aimed to capture resources that wouldn’t surface at this point in time and accelerate my growth.
The lacking amount was covered by using my COH Academy cadet status and the Monarch family name to take out a credit loan. The Human Alliance, which has a keen interest in superhumans, approved the loan at lightning speed.
"Here it is."
And now...
I had arrived in a highly secured area.
As I stood in front of the door, a scan confirmed my identity, and the door opened.
"You've arrived. Are you Leonard Monarch?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Please, come this way. Everything is prepared."
I had made the request a week ago. Considering cadets' requests are usually addressed within the same day or, at most, within three days, this delay was notable. But given the importance of the matter, it was understandable.
"I was puzzled when I first received the request. It took a while to prepare since it's not currently a field test period. You mentioned an issue related to superpowers, right?"
"Yes."
"I trust you are aware of the precautions. Feel free to use the facility."
The staff led me to an enclosed space and then left. What lay before me was a living, restrained alien.
"They actually fulfilled this request."
My request was simple: aliens. As many types as possible, and preferably alive. The results exceeded my expectations. There were three living aliens in front of me. Even though they were barely alive, they were still alive.
Considering there was no nearby battlefield, they must have been brought here immediately after my request. This made me realize how powerful the support from COH Academy truly was.
"A Class 1 Claw, a Class 1 Breath Worm, and a Class 2 Blade Bee?"
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
While I often curse my situation as being made into Lemon, starting at COH Academy was undoubtedly a stroke of luck. No individual has as much influence on the Human Alliance as a superhuman.
The collective strength of superhumans is enough to tip any balance. Connections made here are power in themselves. Moreover, the academy provides everything needed to develop one's capabilities as a superhuman, making it an ideal environment for me right now.
"Alright, let's reveal the biggest card I have."
I first approached the Class 1 Claw. The Claw, about 1 meter tall, has hundreds of legs and eight pairs of membranous wings, allowing it to move quickly across the ground as if flying.
They usually move in swarms of hundreds, and their strength is enough to rival a 1,000-horsepower car. Despite being classified as Class 1, it cannot be underestimated.
As soon as I removed the protective covering upon the alien to prevent contamination, a foul odor spread.
"Ugh... what a stench."
The panel on my wrist showed the alien contamination levels rapidly rising. The smell, worse than rotting flesh, assaulted my nose. Typically, one should wear a hazmat suit or combat gear equipped with contamination prevention when encountering aliens.
Exposure like this would make an ordinary person sick within a day and dead within a week. Even superhumans with strong immunity could fall ill with prolonged exposure.
Suppressing the repulsion caused by the stench, I carefully placed my hand on the Claw's skin and activated my ability.
"Amazing..."
It was a strange sensation. It felt as if my hand extended, enveloping the Claw's entire body. At the same time, my mind cleared, and my spirits lifted.
It felt like becoming a computer. In that state, I [analyzed] the Claw. I attempted to collect all the data the Claw held, but most of it appeared to be junk.
[Claw, class 1 monster, 230 bits of information has been found.]
Bringing this entire dataset as it is would be foolish. I realized I needed to filter out the valuable parts based on the complete data and reassemble only the necessary parts for me as a
human. After extracting the useful information and discarding the unnecessary data, the volume significantly reduced.
[Claw, class 1 monster, 13 bits of information has been saved.]
What remained was less than 6% of the original.
However, this process isn't perfect.
Due to my lack of proficiency with my abilities, I can't efficiently carry out the extraction and application of data. It's like trying to run advanced software on an underpowered computer.
While there are many desirable pieces of information within the Claw entity, I can only select and extract one applicable piece of data at a time.
After selecting the top-tier trait.
[Claw, 2 bits of information has been confirmed finally.]
The data volume was reduced to just about 1%.
With that done, it was time to move on to the next one.
I applied the extracted information from the Claw to my body and moved on to the Breath Worm.
The Breath Worm, also rated at danger level 1, was similar in difficulty to the Claw, so it didn't take long to finish.
'Now, what about the class 2 Blade Bee?'
I didn't stop and immediately checked.
The Blade Bee is ranked just below the Mammoth in terms of danger. This adult-sized flying bee wields two-to-three-meter-long spears integrated with its hands and can perform advanced spear techniques.
Its tail harbors a powerful explosive stinger that can be fired from a distance, capable of piercing two meters of steel in an instant, making it a highly dangerous entity.
Blade Bee[3910]
My expectations were splendidly met, except for the fact that analyzing this thing would take all day.
Without delay, I touched the Blade Bee's outer shell. It truly was a level 2 threat. As I started analyzing it, the Blade Bee, even though thoroughly restrained, radiated an unmistakable fierce hostility.
If it could move, it would have torn me to pieces instantly. I could vividly feel its animosity through the fragments of data being collected. Boundless hatred towards humans. Given what I wrote, I understand the root of that hatred.
'Sorry, but I have no choice.'
Did I ever imagine that the characters in my story would come to life? If I had, I would have created a world where everyone was happy.
Then I'd be living a happy life myself by now.
Fortunately, I finished the task before exhausting myself. The Blade Bee couldn't withstand the extraction of information and died shortly after. But it wasn't over yet. I planned to organize today's gains before leaving.
Claw[2]
Breath Worm[3]
Blade Bee[11]
Mammoth[32]
These are the usable resources for now.
First, I needed to check if I could use my abilities without direct contact with aliens. The answer was yes. Using one of the meditation techniques from the Rose school for mental training, I succeeded in just an hour. If I could do it once, I could do it again, reducing the time needed through repeated practice.
I started by examining the information related to the Mammoth which I got recently and Lemon had already applied on his body.
Mammoth[32]
- Sticky Leg Tendons [67%, 4/23]
Greatly enhances leg strength and endurance.
- Reactive Outer Skin [92%, 7/192]
Provides significant resistance to beam-type weapons or concentrated energy attacks. Slightly thickens the skin.
- Thick Heels [54%, 2/14]
Improves propulsion.
- Trash [19]
Non-recyclable waste.
Clearly, it was haphazardly thrown together. There was more useless data than I expected. I discarded all the trash to reduce the burden on my body.
Mammoth[13]
The remaining percentages indicates how well my body has adapted to the traits.
It's been two weeks since Rose started beating me up, yet the percentages are still this low. It's a bit disappointing. However, there's hope.
One of the mottos of the Rose school is balance and harmony. By mastering the Rose techniques, I can imprint the alien genes in my body more quickly. It also helps suppress the extent of any side effects, allowing me to be more relaxed than before.
Claw[2]
- Wind Antenna [0%, 2]
Detects air movement through fine hairs that cover the entire body.
Breath Worm[3]
- Rapid Cell Division [0%, 3]
Allows for quick healing of wounds.
Blade Bee[11]
- Robust Wrist [0%, 11/29]
Significantly strengthens the wrists. Thick nerve bundles are distributed, greatly enhancing the sensitivity of the hands.
These are the top-tier traits I could extract from each entity. For the secondary traits, I'll have to wait for another opportunity. To fully develop the Robust Wrist trait from the Blade Bee, I'll need to gather more information specific to that trait.
"Hmm..."
Is this due to the large-scale integration? My whole body feels hot, like it's burning up. It's not unbearable, but I sense the need to be cautious.
I opened the door and stepped out. I'd been in there for 14 hours already, and the time had shifted from early morning to dawn.
"Are you coming out now?"
"Oh, have you been waiting?"
"Yes. We usually don't change the person in charge. Still, it took so long that I was considering requesting a shift change if it went past breakfast time."
"I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."
The staff member waved his hand with a smile. Then he glanced inside briefly.
"Is that no longer needed?"
"Yes, I've done everything I needed."
"I hope the results are positive. I'll take care of the cleanup. Due to contamination concerns, please use the disinfection facility on the left. It's mandatory."
Of course, I couldn't go back to my dorm in this state. I nodded and turned to leave. Not asking about the internal work is a policy under the Superhuman Information Protection Act.
After going through the complex disinfection process, I somehow made it back to my dorm, clutching my throbbing head.
The problem arose after I fell asleep and woke up in a daze.