"Stop right there, evil monster!" a man wearing a coloured, full-body suit warned, posing. It looked shiny, blinding the monster he was talking to for a moment. The monster in question was a fleshy blob that was sort of green. Its tentacles were thrown everywhere, tickling the humans close enough. After a lack of response, the man jumped towards the monster, shouting, "Super blood kick!"
Just before it reached the monster, however, a commercial break appeared. I stood, watching the show, 'Super Blood Man', on a TV screen in a mall. I was not standing there, watching it, because I thought it was a good show. In fact, it was the opposite: It was dumb. The monster on screen was completely unrealistic. First off, the bystanders would not have lived long enough for a 'Hero' to appear.
Before I could even take my eyes off of it, someone called my name from across the food court, "Travis! Travis, over here!" I looked around and then saw Daniel Davidson, one of my few friends' smiling faces, who was practically swarmed by girls. I weighed the pros and cons of going over to him. The obvious choice was to ignore him.
It was fortunate that Daniel struggled to stand up, taking him several minutes to get to where I was. In that time, I finished my strawberry smoothie. He sat down and joked, "You must've not heard me, right? I did call your name." I didn't answer, but just slurped on my strawberry smoothie, glaring at him. When he sat down with me, the girls all left, pointing and laughing at me. He laughed, not making eye contact with me, as I continued to glare at him.
"Traitor," I spat, finishing my smoothie.
"I promise you that it wasn't my fault, Trav." He then pointed at me. "If you had hurried your ass, they wouldn't have swarmed me."
"You're right, they wouldn't have. They would have taken you."
"Listen, Trav, you really should listen to what I say more than what you do. If you did..." I tuned the rest of his words out, making the most noise from my smoothie as I could. Even after the bell went, signalling the start of classes.
We made our way back towards the school building. It was surrounded by a massive wall on all sides, making it feel more like a castle than a school. I felt like a prisoner here. So does Daniel, but he never tries to escape, unlike me. The school was called Greenie Boarding School, a boarding school for people destined for the army. Even though the school felt like a prison, there was still a curriculum here, which meant there were classes. All of them sucked.
Especially the combat classes, where students fight each other, trying to 'Build up our skills for the monsters'. I think they really want to kill weaker people and show off those that are stronger. Everyone who hadn't yet fought stayed in the Armoury, which was exactly as the name implied. It was full of weapons and armour. We were expected to choose our own weapons. I went with a long sword, which was nearly too heavy for me to wear. The instructor would then call out random pairings of names, which we had to fight against. Personally, I always hope to fight against a Rogue class student, whose speed was far greater than their damage.
"Can Travis Grean and Alexa Loughter please go to the arena?" the instructor in charge of the armoury I was in called. I grimaced at my opponent. Sure, I wanted to fight a Rogue class student, but not the one that could defeat Tank classes! I almost started weeping, but my body still stood up and went to the main arena. I even started questioning why I couldn't wag the class. I started feeling stares of pity.
There I was, now standing in the arena, where at least a hundred students watched. I only felt a few eyes on me, but they quickly moved onto my opponent. Alexa Loughter stood there, confidently smirking at me. She wore light armour, probably flexible as well, holding dual knives. On the other hand, I stood there, wearing heavy armour, holding a long sword, and feeling sick. Then, the instructor overseeing our battle, Mr Kang, shouted out, "Begin!"
Alexa disappeared from my view and I started shifting my head in panic when I heard a voice right next to my ear say, "Sorry." Then, I felt something heavy hit me, launching me all the way out of the stage.
"Match ended!" Mr Kang shouted. Then, he added, "Classes will be ended here, so go back to your dorms!" I tried to stand up, but a sharp stabbing pain flared through my torso. Moving only made the pain worse, so I stayed still as much as I could.
After all the students left, Mr Kang stayed. Coming up to me, he commented, "Sheesh, kid. Every single time, you're hurt badly."
"Just the opponents," I responded, regretting opening my mouth as the pain moved to my lungs.
He laughed. "Yeah, you have really bad luck. You haven't won against anyone yet, right?"
I laughed in turn, retorting, "Thanks for rubbing that in." I really should've learned my lesson, but it felt wrong not speaking to Mr Kang.
"Right. Sorry." He coughed. "So, how's the wounds today?"
"Broken ribs. Something around my lungs." I didn't say any more.
"Sounds bad. Need any help getting to the hospital ward?" I shook my head. He sighed, drooping slightly. "Alright. Just remember that it's okay to take days off." I smiled bitterly at his words after he turned his back.
"No," I muttered, silently. "Not here it isn't."
Hours must have passed before I started moving, thinking I was used to the pain. Oh, I was so wrong. Every step shook my entire body, sending jabs of pain so bad I thought I was going to puke.
Thankfully, I reached my dorm, which was marked 808, and stumbled into the door. I listened for any sounds behind it, but heard nothing. Sighing in relief, I shakily grabbed my key, turning the lock.
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I stumbled through the shared bedroom, making a beeline for the bathroom. Again, a sigh of relief left my lips when I didn't hear my roommate. Locking the door behind me, I threw off my uniform, checking my body.
Yep. Even though I was only hit once, the damage was quite severe. Deep bruises all along my sides. I already knew there were broken ribs, but they weren't visible. They were just very painful. There were some older scars that had yet to heal.
I took out a first aid kit, fixing myself up with experienced motions. In fifteen minutes, I was done. All that was left was for my body to heal, which would take weeks, if I was lucky. In addition, I'd be taking more wounds because of sparring.
Leaving the bathroom, I picked up some of my clothes off of the floor, wearing my casual clothes. They were plain, black clothes that everyone was given. I say everyone, but those in higher castes had more variety.
After changing, I ate some tasteless food packets.
Finally, after almost half an hour of doing nothing, my roommate, Jason Alibrandi, entered through the door. He had blond hair and tanned skin, and he was drenched in sweat. He gave me a quick wave before heading into the shower. Soon, he was singing, sounding like a cat that was drowning. I even thought about checking if he was okay.
Thankfully, he was out quickly this time, clean and dry, before he decided to give me a bear hug.
"Let... go...!" I mumbled, feeling the pain flaring instantly.
"Sorry, sorry, my friend made of glass!" he apologised, carrying an accent from somewhere he wouldn't tell me about. "Quick, quick! The news!"
Moving energetically, Jason navigated the TV remote to the news, showing a warehouse.
"Here we are," stated the newscaster, "at what was once the most filled food storage we have left. Now, it's mostly empty, save for what you see right now. What caused this scene was a Monster that had somehow breached the walls. Thankfully, the Army dealt with it before it could deal any massive amounts of damage."
I turned to Jason, whose smile would split his face in half, and asked him, "Is this what you wanted me to see?"
"Yes!" he proclaimed, pointing to the screen. "Look! You can see the species of the Monster! It's a Five-Star Monster! This one's called the Walking Mushroom!"
"Gee, I wonder why," I said, staring at the body of the dead Monster. Just like its name, it looked like a Mushroom had grown legs and started walking. Except for the fact it was massive, easily reaching the roofs of buildings.
"Now, I have a theory," he started. Immediately, I groaned. He got a theory off of everything, from ants just walking around, to the birds in the sky being cameras. "No, trust me on this: The government let it through the walls. I don't know why, but I also have the feeling they guided it to the food. I also know the government could not have killed it, so it likely died from previous wounds inflicted by an even stronger Monster."
"Of course you think that. You think they'd give us contaminated food or something, too?"
He looked at me like I was stupid. "Of course they'd do that. You know we're more like Test Subjects in their eyes. It's just that they'll likely wait for it all to cool down before doing that stuff."
I hated that I actually thought about his crazy theories. From any other person, it would've sounded stupid. But he made it sound almost reasonable.
"It's too late for this stuff," I decided, heading off to my bed.
"Yeah, it is," he agreed, going to his.
Because of how I kept my side of the room, I walked over clothes that were thrown on the ground. Glancing at my desk that was covered with open books, I sighed. Instead of going to bed, I sat down, looking over my notes again and again. It wouldn't help me, but it made me feel like I was actually trying.
After a while of that, I finally crept into my bed, feeling so fried that I would fall apart.
The pain didn't make it any easier to fall asleep, until a singular, monotone voice rang in my head, saying:
Congrats on being the first Evolved Human on Earth! Due to being the first, your Path to Evolution will be longer than others', but you will gain enough benefits in the end for it to be worth it! Right now, the Body is Evolving! Choose which path to take your evolution!
Bodily Copy(1): The Body copies the target body slightly. Gain 5% of their highest Stat. However, you will lose 95% of the target's lowest Stat! For each Evolution, the advantages increase by 5%, while the disadvantages decrease by 5%. (RECOMMENDED)
Unrivalled Strength(1): The Body becomes stronger, but loses out on speed. Strength increases by 10% per Evolution. All other Stats decrease by 15% per Evolution.
Lightning Speed(1): The Body becomes faster, in exchange for power. Speed increases by 15% per Evolution. Strength decreases by 5% per Evolution.
God's Hands(1): The Path to a Master Craftsman. Dexterity increases by 20% per Evolution. Decreases Speed by 10%, Charm by 3%, and Pool of Mana by 6% per Evolution. (NOT RECOMMENDED)
Merlin's Wrath(1): The Path to a Great Magician. Increases the pool of Mana by 5% per Evolution. Decreases Strength by 10%, Speed by 9%, Charm by 3%, and Constitution by 15% per Evolution.
Invincible Tank(1): The Body becomes tougher, in exchange for speed. Constitution increases by 20% per Evolution. Decreases Strength by 3%, speed by 20%, and Pool of Mana by 4% per Evolution.
Casanova's Teacher(1): The Body becomes more beautiful. Charm increases by 15% per Evolution. All other Stats decrease by 20% per Evolution. (NOT RECOMMENDED)
Please, choose before Midnight, or else the decision will be randomly chosen! Be aware that choosing a different Path after today will force extreme pain to both the Body and the Mind!
I opened my eyes, looking for the source of the sound. There was nothing around that could speak, except for Jason, who was snoring. I would have written it off as nothing, but the words kept ringing through my head, appearing as vividly as though I were reading them.
In the end, I chose nothing, intending to stop thinking about it. However…
A Path has not been chosen! The Path of Evolution will be randomly chosen!
In my head, I could see one of those wheels people spin in game shows, split into seven sections. Each section was labelled. I thought that the ones not recommended had smaller sections than the rest, while the recommended one was the largest area.
It started spinning, speeding up to speeds so fast I couldn’t see it, before it started slowing down, just as suddenly. Eventually, it stopped, landing on Bodily Copy(1).
Congratulations! Bodily Copy(1) has been chosen! Survive tomorrow for the chance to gain a Streak Reward! It is likely that the Evolved will be here tomorrow!
As those words faded from my mind, I jumped into a sitting position, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down my body. My first coherent thought was, ‘I’m hungry.’
I turned to Jason’s bunk, where he was still sleeping. That’s weird. Normally, I’m awake after he’s already gone. Oh, well.
Leaving my bed, I knew there was something I was forgetting about… I think I had a very weird dream, maybe? Anyways, shrugging that feeling off, I changed into some relatively cleaner clothes, and left the dorm.