From where his heart was, she could hear it.

The sound of his heart beating so loudly.

With the wound she knew was at his heart, the bandage ought to be soaked in blood by now, and yet, there was no blood at all.

Instead, all there were were tiny flickers of blue rays of light shining through the bandages.

What was more, she could see it, runic blue lines that spread out from his chest, moving all the way up the side of his neck.

Veins popped out from his neck like lurking snakes, but they weren't green; instead, they were blue.

His hands were the same, covered in the same blue runic lines, and they gripped the mattress hard.

"Hey, Everlearn. What is," She was asking when she watched his body suddenly lurch up, his eyes fully turning blue and letting out a blinding ray of blue light that shone upon the ceiling.

VROOOOOOM!

A terrifying shockwave bloomed out when his mouth widened, releasing the same blue light, and she was forced off the bed, blown back to the wall.

She moved in the next instant, appearing before him, her hands reaching for his chest, but they paused when she noticed it.

The heavy pounding of his heart began to fade, along with the blue light emanating from him.

Soon enough, the bulging veins in his hands and neck retreated, and his bulb-like eyes and mouth also calmed down.

His body gently settled back on the bed, and in the next moment, all the light withdrew back into Everlearn's chest before it completely disappeared.

For five seconds, his heart remained completely still, causing Lady Erendel's own heart to spike in fear.

He...he was dead!?

BAAAADUMP!

The heartbeat came right after, and this time was heavier, but the second heartbeat didn't come until two seconds later, when another heavy thud resounded.

As the blue light faded from Everlearn's eyes, his gaze regained clarity. He raised both arms to his face, clenching and unclenching his fists.

[Congratulations on reaching a 100-stats level.]

[Host has touched upon the first barrier of true power!]

The panel blinked, and in the next moment, Everlearn sat up.

The first thing Lady Erendel watched him do was have his hands reach for the bandage on his chest.

"Wait, don't pull i..."

RIIIIIIIPPP!

The sound of the bandages being torn apart rang out, and her jaws dropped when she saw his chest.

It wasn't just their musculature that blew her away, but that the huge wound she had sewn together and bandaged was no longer there.

His chest was as smooth as glass, and in the next moment, Everlearn rose up to his feet.

"I'm fully healed now," he said, turning to her, and she couldn't argue with that, though it still left her reeling in confusion as how that had happened.

"How did you—"

"I can leave now, right?"

He asked, cutting her off, and her brows furrowed once more before she tapped her spectacles twice.

In the next moment, the wall behind Everlearn opened, and without any more words, he stepped out of the room, leaving just Lady Erendel behind.

"That..." she mused beneath her breath, her head replaying the memory of what had just happened seconds ago.

"That isn't normal..."

__________

Walking down the street, the world around Everlearn felt... different.

The hoverboards that usually zoomed across the sky, vanishing before anyone could glimpse their riders, now seemed to move at the pace of a leisurely bicycle ride.

He could hear the rumble of engines from vehicles three kilometers away and even make out the license plate of one approaching from two hundred meters.

Though the vehicles seemed slower, and the same for the aircars, the people he was walking with were surprisingly moving at the normal pace that he knew.

The words and whispers of people didn't escape his hearing; even those coming from buildings five hundred meters away were crystal clear once he focused on their location.

At first, the world felt unbearably loud and disorienting from the flood of sounds, but he quickly learned to narrow his hearing range, limiting it to about seventy meters around him.

After ten minutes of walking, he arrived at the Students' Dorm Room.

Stepping in, it was as bustling as ever.

Most of the students don't go to sleep at night.

In the academy, there seemed to be no difference between actual day and night at all.

Everlearn ignored all of it, making his way to an elevator, and was quickly whisked upward.

DIIIIING!

The sound of the elevator opening rang out, and he stepped into the corridor, moving to his room.

His hand fished out his green card, and he swiped it on the scanner before stepping into his room.

It was just as he had left it, though there was still the faint smell of cigarettes lingering in the air.

It reminded him of her... faintly.

Taking a seat on the sofa, he exhaled slightly, his hand unconsciously reaching for his heart.

It was slow, but every pound was heavy.

What was more, just by the side of his heart, he could hear it.

HUUUUUUM

The sound of what seemed to be an engine humming within his chest, close to his heart.

"I am now a Corer."

Everlearn mused to himself, exhaling slightly before he grabbed his device.

Navigating through the challenges, he clicked the accept button.

The fight was scheduled to take place at the Battle Arena tomorrow at 5:00 PM.

He checked the stats of the one who had challenged him.

It was another student, with a total of 200 accumulated points.

He had already challenged up to seven people before Everlearn, and he had not lost.

Not even once.

When Everlearn moved to the challenge ranking, he found his name: Valcan Theropitica.

And right now, he was number fifteen on the Newcomer Challenge Ranking.

As for Everlearn's own ranking:

It was number 205, though the point he had now was something only those in the top thirty had.

His point was a big step up to the level he was in, and that must have been how he got easily noticed by Valcan.

"Valcan Theropitica, huh... We'll see."

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