Volume 2 Episode 37

[ The Practical Zone Stadium ]

[ 3 days left until the semi-finals ]

April Yan was training in her room. She had been practicing relentlessly for the past few days. 

"Still practicing huh? Don't forget to take a break every now and then." 

April opened one of her eyes and saw Lily Green standing in front of her room with two bottles of energy drinks in her hands. April smiled and got up, and snatched one of the energy drinks from Lily's hand.

Both the girls walked to the break room near the rooms where the participants could hang out freely. They both sat down on a couch, drinking the energy drink they held.

"You really forgot to take a break didn't you?" Lily took one sip from the drink and looked over to April. From what she saw, April most likely didn't take a single break during training. April stayed silent for a while in response to Lily's stare, before giving up and admitting it.

Lily sighed at April's response, shaking her head at her musclehead of a friend. April had always been in love with training. She wished to make herself stronger until she became the strongest, like her dad. That was April's dream.

April was six years old when her dad, Tyler Yan, gave his life to fend off a rank five beast wave, in an attempt to buy more time for his colleagues to escape.

She had always heard stories about her fearless dad since she was little, and she grew up wishing to be just like her dad. Strong in both body and mind. That's why, when she finds a strong enough opponent, she'll forget about everything else, focusing only on her training.

"I have a strong opponent Lily." 

April looked up at the glass ceiling above them. The sky was bright blue in colour. April gazed at the beautiful scene for a while, forgetting to speak.

"Are you talking about the first year? Lin Hamill, from the Hamill family? Although I think I won't be able to handle him, I really think you have a chance at beating him."

April shook her head at the enthusiastic words of Lily.

"Even though hypothetically I win against him, don't forget the fact that he is still in his first year. A junior who just started highschool is capable of standing up to a third year senior. That's something I would never have been able to do. So even if I beat him today, I would still be behind him."

April squeezed her bottle, and Lily patted her back.

"I know, that kid is something else. You know, I wouldn't even be surprised if he's a thirty year old who was reincarnated into a body of a sixteen year old. But that isn't the point, is it? That boy might become stronger than you in the future. But by focusing on your future too much, you're forgetting about the present. You still have a chance at the present. Are you going to take it, or are you going to waste it worrying about something that hasn't happened yet?"

April looked over at Lily and saw her with her usual enthusiastic smile, and she couldn't help but sigh. She took a deep breath, and slapped both her cheeks all of a sudden, startling Lily. She then stood up swiftly, with her usual fighting spirit now in full form.

"You know what? You're absolutely right. I am thinking about what happens in the future when I should be thinking about the present. Thanks for reminding me Lily, I needed that. I have decided to give the semi finals my all, and I'll win no matter what."

Lily laughed at the fierce looking April who was back to usual, and drank her energy drink slowly.

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[ Lin's room ]

Lin had been continuously practicing for a while now. He had already made his men extract the internal digestive enzymes of the Doran that was killed, and made an enzyme bathtub to further strengthen his body.

It didn't as effectively as it did when he was just level nine, but it was still good material to enhance the body.

Lin was lying in the bathtub filled with enzymes, his body started burning due to its effects, and even his bones started being visible, before his body started healing to cover it up.

'The healing ability is still not enough.'

Lin compared the speed at which the enzymes ate through his body and his regeneration speed. He figured out that even though his healing might be considered by some as godly when compared to others, it still wasn't at the speed he needed it to be.

'What should I do to increase the speed of the healing? Are there any methods?'

He started thinking about the possible methods which can increase the speed of his regenerative ability. He wanted his regenerative ability to be on par with the speed that it got destroyed. It would be extremely helpful in fighting a really powerful opponent. Without it, if he fought an opponent way stronger than himself, there might be no chance for him if he can't take even one of their strikes. This would at least keep him alive even if he gets hit with attacks.

Of course, to win against a strong enemy, just that wouldn't be enough. He would need to get other ways to fight strong people, but this would help him to escape even if he's attacked.

'Wait a minute.'

Lin's eyes suddenly sparkled with interest. He looked at the enzymatic bath he was in and touched it with his hands, making them get burned in the process. But he didn't care. He watched as the enzymes burned the skin on his fingers completely, with only the bones left. 

He looked at his bony fingers and got up from the bathtub. He got dressed quickly, and got out of his room as his fingers were in the process of healing. He then called Charles over the phone.

"I need you to bring a lot of magic crystal solutions as fast as you can."

Charles, who didn't even ask why he wanted magic crystal solutions, brought them over as soon as he could, and left after giving his greetings to the young master.

Lin waited for Charles to leave, and moved his eyes to the bottle of magic crystal solution on his desk.

Magic crystals. The largest energy source in the magical world, the magic crystals are equivalent to oil and fossil fuels in the original world. But unlike the fuels in Lin's previous world, the magic crystals had plenty of other uses as well.

Magic crystals were used in making shields and weapons for the guilds usually because they were so strong and sturdy. They were also used to help preserve skeletons of ancient beasts. The skeletons are usually coated with the magic crystal solution, which is the extracted and refined liquid form of the magic crystals, and gets solidified after exposure to air. Moreover, the solution has no colour, which means that the solidified effect will not be visible to an outsider.

He then put his finger, which had already healed into the enzyme once again, until the skin was completely gone. Lin opened the bottle containing the solution and coated his still healing finger bone with it.

Usually, if someone's bones were painted over by something like a magic crystal solution, their body will not be able to function properly because of the foreign substance in them, because they couldn't handle it.

However Lin had a feeling that it might be different with him. Unlike other people, he had a body capable of healing faster than anyone. His body could even handle being stabbed in the heart, helping him to survive. His body was evolved to resist even the harshest of obstacles, and even though he might not be powerful enough to fully take advantage of it, he believed that it was more than enough for this experiment. 

If he took healing potions and some magic enhancing drugs, then he might be actually fine with it. After all, although the magic crystal solution was powerful and toxic, it certainly wasn't comparable to the doran's digestive enzymes, which would eat through anything if given enough time.

He coated the finger completely, and took the healing potion and the enhancing drug, and waited. He saw that the skin was regenerating around the coated bone, and successfully formed a fully healed finger. 

Lin was looking at his healed finger, waiting for side effects to happen if there were any, when he suddenly felt an immense amount of pain and quickly took some painkillers. After taking the pills, the pain went down, and he sat on his chair once again.

He studied the finger he had experimented on for a day to see if there were any reactions from his body, but to his surprise, there weren't any sort of side effects. Even the pain he felt stopped after a day.

'Interesting.'

Lin thought about the reason why he wasn't getting any reaction from his body. 

'Did my body get accustomed to the difference already? Is my body that good at adjusting?'

Lin at himself. Maybe he really was underestimating his body.

'In that case, Should I test its limits?'