Professor Arya sprinted towards Rook, trying to reach him in time. All eyes were glued to the action; faces had gone blanched white with fear. Some of the girls had closed their eyes, too scared to watch.

Amidst all this, Rook and Ayush were cool. A smirking expression developed on Rook's face right at the moment when the goblin charged towards him with the deadly weapon. Dropping his gun onto the ground, Rook reached out to meet it with his fist.

Crack!

The sound of shattering bone echoed through the clearing. The students all gasped. Even Professor Arya faltered, staring through her black hair in disbelief. The goblin's skull had caved in under the force of Rook's punch.

"Is this really my power?" Rook muttered in surprise. He really had no idea he was that strong. What rubbed salt into the wound was the very fast answer; it had to be connected with the effect of the gene crystals he got from killing those beasts.

The other gene crystals Rook had collected flooded his mind. Feeling the danger of his gun to himself, he went bare-handed. Every punch he threw ended with a goblin skull shattering, the sound of bones crunching everywhere.

Other goblins that had been fighting the other students now concentrated on Rook. This time, Professor Arya did not move to stop him. Curious to see just how far Rook's new power had reached.

Rook blocked these club attacks with his bare hands, and he didn't even flinch from the impact. His muscles and bones had toughened significantly.

"-human or machine? How is his body able to take that kind of attacks?" one student asked, his tone awestruck.

Ayush just continued to sip his drink, not at all fazed by this display of strength which his friend had pulled off. For him, it was nothing. Just the sort of run-of-the-mill, expected kind of thing Rook would pull off.

Rook continued to punch, breaking all sorts of goblin limbs. The goblins roared in pain and anger, but they remained dogged. No matter how he just kept on pounding, Rook felt his strength slipping. He was using a great deal of his own essence when firing the Essence Blaster.

His breaths were deep and heavy, and the power behind his punches was waning. Professor Arya watched with bated breath, intrigued by just exactly how resilient Rook was.

Rook's endurance finally reached its limit, and that familiar hoarse voice resounded again in his mind.

Usser essence exhausted do u want to use F rank gene crystal to recover ur essence?

Rook was extremely excited and curious as he asked in a very low tone, "Yes.".

Suddenly, a small bubble surrounded Rook, well out to fill the instant portal. The goblins hung suspended in mid-attack. Ayush, Professor Arya, the officer, all of the students were frozen at their positions—their breaths suspended.

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Rook's eyes widened in disbelief. The ensuing stillness was unreal. More jarring were the changes taking place in his head. His eyes closed, he felt he was somewhere else—a totally silent place where every rustling sound echoed.

The place was pitch black. "Is anybody here?" Rook called again and looked around; his tone mirrored his doubt. Only the sound of complete silence and the echoing of his voice replied.

The darkness suddenly turned into blinding white. Rook shielded his eyes from the sudden brightness. When he opened them again, he saw a card and three gene crystals, just like the ones in his dream-like world.

The green jade-like card was very intricate in design and had a green design over it. Rook looked at the image in the card; there he saw the grassland from his dreams. There was a name on the card: Pocket World - 1: Faerie Felldown: Enchanting Realm of Fairy Grasslands.

Many things became clear to Rook at this moment, and he finally realized that it wasn't some ordinary dream; he was actually being transmigrated into this pocket world at night, which came out to be very stunning.

" Do u wish to continue to use gene crystal as an essence supplement " as a strange voice asked permissions again

"Yes," he replied promptly, not wanting to waste a second on permissions.

In front of him, the gene crystals broke open and shattered into fragments before turning into a liquid. This liquid, no doubt gray from its original color, gradually turned blue—low-tier essence—and shot into his body. Its force came hard and fast, hurting; Rook gasped and spat saliva.

"F*ck, I never thought this would hit me so hard," he grumbled, his teeth clenched.

Even with the pain, Rook detected his strength rising. His body shined blue as every cell seemed to breath, expelling essence smoke out his pores. The single gene crystal had filled him back up with essence, but the memory of the excruciating pain of using all three crystals at once held his hand from using the remaining two right away.

"But how do I get out of this place?" Rook wondered aloud.

Rook opened his eyes to the stillness of the frozen portal world. Goblins hung in mid-attack and everyone else was motionless. Rookseized an attacking stance.

The bubble of frozen time popped, and the world surged back into motion. gasped, in disbelief, as Rook – who had been depleted of essence only a moment prior – now resumed his fighting with renewed vigor. Excess essence streamed from his body like smoke.

Rook was faster and stronger now, smashing the remainder of the goblins with his fists. Every punch he threw glanced off with a cracked bone. His fists were covered in a truly infinitesimal layer of essence.

Although it was a bit too thin to be perceived by one's naked eyes, Ayush, Professor Arya, and the officer noted it with surprise.

For this was rare in any person who had just been promoted to F-rank hunter, when normally peak D-rank hunters could form an essence layer, and even then, never that thin.

Goblins poured in, still, until Rook's incessant attack beat them to the ground, one by one. Each blow was certain; his movement economically precise. The students gawked at his expertise; mouths agape.

"Is he human or machine? How can his body take it and hit back?" a student exclaimed, the picture of shock.

Ayush himself was still sipping at his drink, and appeared less than perturbed. His eyes followed his friend flex his muscles in a way that strictly avoided showing surprise or excitement. Rook continued his onslaught with a determined and focused expression.

Now, Professor Arya stepped off to view his skills critically. Even the officer watched with interest, knowing the up-and-coming talent when it crossed his path. Many thoughts seemed to come into Rook's head as he fought, including the pride in knowing that all this—pain, struggle—was worth it. He was growing stronger, and this… this was merely the beginning.