I didn’t expect how little people there were in the Mall’s Food Court, but it was a welcome surprise compared to what I usually dealt with.

Still, I had to get my strawberry smoothie before classes started. So I got in line, waiting for my turn. For some reason, the shop was really popular, even though what they served wasn’t all that good.

After a while, it was my turn to order.

“Hello, what can I get for you?” the cashier said.

“I’ll have a Strawberry Smoothie, please,” I responded, waiting patiently.

“That’ll be-” She stopped, staring at me. She started smiling a little, as though I amused her in some way. “Did you get up early?” she asked. I nodded. “Well, if you have any free time, you can-” She was cut off by another employee handing me my smoothie before calling, ‘Next!’

I could tell I wasn’t welcome to hear what she had to say. But, at the counter, the two employees were arguing with each other.

I didn’t care about what they had to say, instead sitting down at a nearby, empty table. For just a moment, I thought it was quite peaceful, being up this early.

“Yo, Trav!” However, the next, I dreaded it. Daniel, who was somehow devoid of followers this early, put an arm around my neck. “Why you up this early?”

Pushing his arm off my shoulder, I responded, “Just because, I guess. Don’t you get here later, too?”

“Nah, not really.”

“It’s Daniel!” cried a voice, somewhere near the entrance.

“Damn.” He sighed, acting as though it actually bothered him. “Well, see ya!” I didn’t bother waving him off, instead watching the ever increasing female crowd trying to swarm him. I, too, left the Food Court.

A short time later, I found myself in the arcade, an area two floors above the Food Court. Most of the games were so old the screens were cracked, or duplicates of other games. It was always busy, no matter what time I went.

Still, I found the game I was currently hooked on, Pak-Boy, and started playing it. This game was a duplicate of another game, but I found the sprites to be better, so I played it.

Before I knew it, the bell went, signalling the start of the first class of the day. Walking at a leisurely pace, I made it there before the second bell went off.

Of course, my first class had to be history, with Prof. Osbourne. She was a teacher whose lectures were boring, but since she was well-endowed, tons of boys joined the class. Of course, I joined for the view, too, but, well…

“The first Monster was found in Greece, where its colony grew and grew, before it became a disaster for the Greeks.” Saying all this in a monotone voice, carrying a monotone face, did not excite me even the tiniest bit. In fact, I already had my head on the table, about to doze off.

Before I could, though, a SLAM! hit the table so hard I jumped upwards. Prof. Osbourne glared at me, asking, “I suppose you can tell us what the first Monster discovered was?”

“Uh…” I stammered, even though I knew I knew the answer. Everyone started snickering.

“I suppose not,” she said, forcing me to feel embarrassed. “The first Monster discovered was the Brown Wolf, a simple beast that could be taken down easily, if one had a sharp weapon. Now, who can tell me why it’s such an easy Monster to kill?”

Instantly, several hands shot up. “Pureah?”

Pureah, a girl who had migrated from the Middle-East, stood up, speaking fluent English, “Because it charges at you, straight ahead, without deviating, so you can stab it in the head.”

“That’s correct,” Prof. Osbourne noted, nodding along. “Their skulls are not that hard, being at the level of a Zero-Star Monster. But, since we’re not in Monster Theory, we’ll stop talking about Monsters. Instead, who knows what happened…?”

At that point, I lost interest, instead choosing to look out the window.

Finally, the lesson ended, leading to my next lesson, Morning Combat Class. Morning Combat Class was different from Afternoon Combat Class, in the way that it was not joint classes. And, as I belonged to the worst class, Class 80, I wouldn’t be beat too badly.

…Was what I thought. “Can Travis Grean and Alec Goshen come up to the Arena? I repeat…” Alec Goshen was someone who did not belong in Class 80, the weakest of the entire school. He was unable to take place during the Placement Tests that happened on the first day of school, due to several broken bones. He would have been around Class 50, on a bad day.

Now, I had to face the brute, and then go to the rest of my classes afterwards.

By the time I realised it, I was already in the Arena, carrying my normal weapon, a longsword. Alec easily carried a broadsword in two hands.

It was slight, but I felt myself grow, staring at him. My weapon felt slightly lighter. My feet felt cramped.

Mr Kang, who watched over the battle, shouted, “Begin!” As Alec lunged towards me, I raised the longsword just in time to block the blow. Still, my wrists hurt, and the blade was launched from my grip. “Stop!” Mr. Kang called, causing Alec to stop his lunge midway.

Alec clicked his tongue as he turned away.

As I walked past Mr Kang, he whispered, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” was my immediate answer. Surprisingly, it was the truth. My wrists had stopped hurting for some reason. I went off to retrieve my sword before heading back to the Armoury.

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My next class was Survival Training, where we learned how to survive in the wild. It was awful.

There were hundreds of poisonous fruit, mushrooms, and vegetables that would, at the very least, make us so sick we might as well have died. Then, there would be the animals, each just waiting to kill us and eat our bodies. Some didn’t even kill you.

Of course, I didn’t know which did what, or what was safe to eat. I could claim that no one else did in my class, since everyone who was called on answered incorrectly. Including me.

The class after that was Self-Defense Training, where we were actually taught ways to defend ourselves. I once heard a rumour that the higher classes learned new techniques to kill, not just how to defend themselves.

Then there was Break, where we got a break from our classes. It was the only one, and didn’t last nearly long enough to be useful.

After that was an Elective, I chose Botany, then Afternoon Combat Class.

Botany was held in one of the few Greenhouses in the city. They were large, glass domes filled with clean plants that would not kill you if you looked at it wrong. That was mainly why I chose it.

“Now, class, can someone tell me why it is that some plants grow faster in the dark, than they do in the light?” the instructor, Mrs Ivy, asked. Mrs Ivy basically ran the entire Greenhouse, doing little things here and there, and was the nicest instructor in the school. If you didn’t get on her bad side. “Travis, why don’t you tell us?”

“Ah, uh…” I knew the answer, but it was slow coming to the surface of my thoughts. “Is it because… sunlight hinders the growth… of plants?”

“Very good. That is because sunlight can get very harsh, especially during the warmer seasons, so some plants decided to start growing without it.” She clapped her hands. “Now, I would like everyone to form a pair, and to seek out one such ‘nocturnal’ plant before class ends. But don’t take too much, please.”

Everyone started splitting off into groups of two, heading in random directions. I saw a classmate on her own. Although we were frequently paired up, no form of relationship had ever grown between the two of us. Her name was… Mildew? No, maybe Aconite?

Silently, we both headed in the same direction, slowly looking over the plants we passed.

We didn’t have to bring Mrs Ivy the plant she was looking for, but it was still fun to do so.

After a long time of searching, we finally found a small, white vegetable that could be divided into four parts, and was sometimes used in cooking: Garlic. We took it back with us.

“So, uh, how was your day?” If there was any wind, I’d have thought it was so. However, I turned to Aconite, who seemed to be fidgeting. “I mean, it’s not like you have to answer, but, uh, I think it’d be nice to…” Her voice got so quiet that I couldn’t even hear what she was saying.

“It was alright,” I responded, after thinking through hundreds of responses in a single second. Strangely, her face started turning red. “How about yours?”

“It was, uh, fine,” she answered, looking anywhere except near me. I would have taken it as an insult, but I’d seen her like this before, with other people. The rest of the trip back was quiet.

Once we were in view, Mrs Ivy came to us, saying, “You found it! Good job! Here, have a slice of fruit.” From one of her many pockets, she pulled out half a strawberry and a quarter of an apple. I was already salivating. “Strawberry for you,” she sang, putting it in my hand. “Apple for you.” She put the apple in Aconite’s hand, giving her a meaningful look. However, Aconite’s face burned pink before she turned away.

Finally, Afternoon Combat Class came. As per usual, everyone spent the time they weren’t called into stretching or doing whatever rituals they did. One guy sat on his knees with his weapon placed in front of him, while another meditated.

I, however, sat, shifting nervously every once and then. Until, finally, hoping beyond hope for an opponent matching me in strength, my name was called.

“Wata Ishiban and Travis Grean, come to the Arena.”

Once I was on stage, I felt the lack of eyes on this battle; no one usually watched a battle between two nobodies. Still, Wata Ishiban was the lowest in Class 20.

Hopefully, I would be able to dodge an attack from him. But, as I thought that, I felt something start to change in my body. Slowly, my stomach kept dropping and dropping, until I was sure it had reached the bottom of my body, then it dropped some more, before-

“Begin!” Mr Kang instructed.

I only reacted to his blade by throwing myself to the ground, quickly coming up from a roll. As if waiting for me to finish, Ishiban stabbed towards me just as I regained my footing, causing me to haphazardly dodge again. Then, again, and again.

After the fourth dodge, for some reason, I was out of breath, my knees already wobbling. As he stabbed towards me, I thought, ‘Oh, is this it?’ But my body, thankfully, had a mind of its own, dropping me to my knees. Then, I fell face first into the tiled floor.

The next thing I knew, I woke up to the familiar Hospital Ward, already feeling so much stronger than before.

“Finally, you’re up,” said the doctor’s voice. “How long has it been, kid?”

“Half a year, Henry,” I responded, using his first name. He always insisted on doing so.

“And I’ve seen you, how many times? Say, you’re not avoiding me, are you?”

In truth, I was. However, the words that came out of my mouth were, “No. Why would you even suggest that, Sir?”

“Henry,” he automatically corrected, before giving me a long, hard stare. Then, nodding as if he was satisfied, he spoke. “Never mind that. I’ll tell you that, by the time you reached me, you were perfectly fine. Did you eat anything weird today?”

I shook my head. “No, just stuff from the Food Court.” I omitted Mrs Ivy’s Strawberry.

“Good, good,” he mumbled, staring more into my soul than at me. “Alright, well, you can leave… after you try this new medicine I’m creating. Don’t worry; it hasn’t killed any test subjects.”

For him, that was really exciting. For me, I was wondering what side effects they received but, in the end, took just one tablet.

“Alright, off you go. And don’t forget to check in with me in the morning!”

That gave me shivers.

“Yo, Travis!” Jason greeted me when I walked through the door. As usual, he was watching the news.

“Hey, Jason,” I responded. He didn’t ask where I was, and I didn’t mention going to Henry. “Anything happening today?”

“Nope,” he responded, continuing to watch the news.

I nodded along, reaching for some food packets. Yep; they were still tasteless. After eating, I changed before flopping onto my bed.

I was out like a light.

Congrats on living through the first day! Two options are now given: Continue on the same Path, or choose a new one! Pick before tomorrow, or else it will be chosen for you!

Bodily Copy(2): The Body copies the target body slightly. Gain 10% of their highest Stat. However, you will lose 90% of the target's lowest Stat! For each Evolution, the advantages increase by 5%, while the disadvantages decrease by 5%.

???(2): Randomised from the previous options! It will match the level of the current Path.

Beware that if a new Path is taken, horrible pain will be inflicted!

I remembered this dream from yesterday. Did it continue to today, or is it…? Well, if it was, I did not want to feel ‘horrible pain’.

I decided to stay on the same ‘Path’, mentally choosing Bodily Copy(2).

Evolution requirements have been reached! Evolving into level 2!

To Evolve into level 3, 2 people must be copied.

The Streak Reward has been reached! The Streak Reward is Advice!

Get something to hide the identity of the Body, preferably a Mask.

WARNING: An unknown substance has infiltrated the body! Identify what it is, no matter the cost, and neutralise it.

Survive tomorrow for the chance to gain a Streak Reward! It is likely that the Evolved will be here tomorrow!

As those words fled from my mind, I resolved to remember what happened when I woke up.