CHAPTER 93

Ethan took a dull, F-rank lower-grade Aura Core from his storage ring and placed it in the palm of his hand. It felt like a smooth, inert stone. He then took one of the cyan Aura Gathering Pills and, without a second's hesitation, tossed it into his mouth and swallowed.

The pill melted the moment it touched his tongue, and a fresh, surprisingly sweet taste spread through his oral cavity. As the pill was swallowed, a warm stream of potent psionic energy instantly dispersed within his body, flowing smoothly and gently along his Aura Channels like a warm current.

Ethan immediately activated his meditation technique. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his speed of absorbing ambient Aura was indeed a full double of what it was before. At this moment, the pill had not yet been fully digested. Wanting to maximize its effect, Ethan decisively transformed into his newly unlocked Shocksquatch form. With the appearance of the large, yellow-and-black ape-like creature, his altered metabolism kicked into overdrive. The pill was completely dissolved, and its potent medicinal effects rapidly spread to every corner of his body. He felt his entire being become warm and exceptionally comfortable, buzzing with potential.

He then looked at the Aura Core in his hand, a moment of hesitation giving him pause. To be honest, besides the Skill Aura Core his aunt Lily had given him, this was his first time actively choosing to use a raw Aura Core for his own training.

Thinking of this, Ethan couldn't help but sigh. So I also have the attributes of being a complete pipsqueak… He still remembered that first trip into the wild, how he’d bartered for an Aura Core in The Undercurrent Market. That was two months ago. A full two months had passed, and in that time, he had trained unremittingly and finally, through a series of harrowing events, broken through to Rank Two, Level Three. Yet, astonishingly, he had not actively used a single one of his own Aura Cores for training. Sure, the Evolution Cult forcibly infused me with energy, but that doesn't count! In other words, he had already grown from a Rank One pipsqueak to a Rank Two big shot without ever actually using a core himself.

It was, he had to admit, a bit magical. Well, he reasoned, if they could force the energy into me then, eating it now shouldn’t be a problem, right? Thus, without further hesitation, he reverted to his human form, popped the Aura Core into his mouth, and swallowed it like a large, uncomfortable vitamin. He quickly sat down and began to meditate, priming his body for the influx of energy. The core began to dissolve, containing an extremely vast amount of psionic energy, which was now being absorbed by Ethan bit by bit.

This new wave of psionic energy was like a surging, roaring torrent, rapidly pouring into his limbs and bones. He felt a powerful and warm force flowing within his body, as if every single cell was being awakened and filled with a vibrant, new vitality. The Aura Gathering Pill exerted its double absorption effect, causing his absorption speed of this raw Aura to be incredibly accelerated.

At this moment, Ethan was completely immersed in his training. If before, training was like slowly, painstakingly sucking in Aura through a thin straw, then now, under the double blessing of the pill and the core, the psionic energy was like a gushing stream of pure water flowing powerfully and willingly towards his Aura Reservoir. The feeling was simply too comfortable, too exhilarating.

Time passed. After about an hour, the energy in the first Aura Core had been completely exhausted. And Ethan's psionic rank had successfully broken through to Rank Two, Level Four. But the effect of the Aura Gathering Pill still had eleven hours left.

“Can’t waste it!” Ethan gritted his teeth and took out another Aura Core. It was a bit large, so he had to transform into Shocksquatch again to swallow it before reverting to his human form to absorb its energy.

When the energy of this second core was completely absorbed, his rank had been raised to the absolute peak of Level Four. He decided to push his limits, taking out a mid-grade Aura Core and swallowing it again. The psionic energy contained in this one was even stronger, even purer. It took him a full hour and a half to completely consume its energy. At the same time, his rank also successfully broke through the bottleneck to Rank Two, Level Five, with about half the progress towards the next level already completed.

He had only an E-rank mid-grade core and a powerful D-rank core left. He calculated that the E-rank core wasn't enough to break through to Level Six, and using the D-rank core now would be dangerous and wasteful. Helpless, he could only spend the rest of the pill's duration absorbing the ambient Aura. Just like that, Ethan trained continuously for a full twelve hours, not eating or drinking, ignoring his parents' calls for dinner.

His efforts were not in vain. By the time the pill’s effect wore off, he was not far from the peak of Level Five. He had also unlocked two new alien heroes from the last two level-ups: Ditto and Big Chill. The former, he knew, could split into multiple, independent bodies, a perfect strategy for winning through sheer numbers. Big Chill, on the other hand, could spit out a freezing, ethereal cold ray, giving him a much-needed ice-based power. He was quite satisfied.

The sky outside had already grown dark. He could only rest for now and experiment with his new forms tomorrow.

The following week, spurred on by their own ambitions and the influx of new resources, Marcus and Seraphina also broke through to Rank Two one after another. Ethan's exclusive holiday also came to an end, and he had no choice but to return to school.

When he arrived at the familiar classroom for Class Four, he found that the vast majority of the faces inside were unfamiliar. The only ones he recognized were the few from the training camp who hadn't made the cut for the top classes.

???

“Sorry,” he muttered, “I must have gone to the wrong place.” He quickly backed out and looked at the class sign on the door. Class Four. “That’s not a problem, it’s the right room number.” He knew they didn’t change teaching buildings.

Just as he was feeling confused, he saw Mr. Gordon walking down the hall. “Sir!” he called out. “Mr. Gordon! What’s going on?”

“Oh, Ethan,” Mr. Gordon said with a smile. “I forgot to remind you. After the competition, all classes were re-grouped according to final rankings. You’ve been assigned to Class One, the key class. You should be there now. Hurry up and go find it.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

“Alright, hurry up and go. Class will start in a little while.”

“Okay.”

Ethan hurriedly made his way to Class One. After entering, he found that there were still many unfamiliar faces, a result of him rarely interacting with students from other classes. The only people he knew here were Marcus, Seraphina, and a boy named Kevin Zhang from his original class who had awakened a fire-type ability.

Oh, and Iris Thorne. They had fought before. So, he supposed, they could be considered half-acquaintances, at least.