Glan Natural Science Academy

Light and shadow crisscrossed, and all the images returned to being a milky white flame. 

At the illusory image, atop the flame, a hunched and decrepit man gradually emerged. The old man was without an eye and seemed to be in a critical condition.

“Future human, the Starcore is the Aurora Metal Fortress’ central controller. Returning to Aurora necessitates breaking through this world’s Starveil barrier first, then using the Starcore to activate the fortress’ communication device and contact Aurora.” 

“Where is Aurora?” 

The hologram seemed to be only a letter. Ryger, who was in a tiny, black form, didn’t get an answer.   

The old man continued, “The grand elder has been sealed by the indigenous creatures while the betrayers are using the power of faith and are getting stronger and stronger. We, meanwhile, have become dark creatures, suffering from this world’s rejection. Our understanding of this continent remains in a dark state. Many family members who’ve tried to go out and explore never return.”   

The old man’s eyes were lost. It seemed that he had completely lost hope and the only reason he left this letter was out of obligation. 

“I never thought that I would die here.”

 

    The old man’s voice was indescribably lonely, forlorn, and full of regret. 

“Valuable information from part of the continent of this world that has been explored is in the Starcore. Because it’s forbidden to privately leak the family’s inheritance, these are the techniques that I created with all my heart…” 

Gradually, before Ryger’s eyes, dense lines of words appeared.

Although the words were somewhat different from the modern human language, there were still some similarities. By recognizing bits and parts then forming a sentence, it was still possible to vaguely understand what it was talking about. 

“This is?”

《Self Control》

The first stage: self-control of muscles. 

Due to the limit of food and energy supply, the human body usually exerts only 20% of its capabilities. Only in extreme situations will it open its potential and exert 100% of its potential.   

Through refining flesh-corroding poisons, endangering the cells, then applying antidotes, the continuous process of poisoning and detoxification will stimulate the secretion of adrenaline, resulting in the elevation of the body’s ability to adapt to adrenaline. Gradually, this will liberate the body’s cell and allow it to exert its full potential.

 

The second stage – the self-control of the heart.

 

The blood is the basic energy unit of the human body. Search for creatures of extreme cold and extreme heat which have regenerative capabilities then inject into the heart the blood of the two unceasingly. The heart will contract and relax repeatedly in the extreme cold, strengthening the attribute factors of regeneration in the blood. By consciously controlling the flow of blood in the heart, it is also possible to obtain the power of hibernation and a transient burst in ability.

 

The third stage – self-control of the five senses.

The five senses are the human body’s basic ability to recognise the outside world. Look for radiation stones and through accumulations of extremely minute stimulations, obtain the subtle senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch as well as elevating decision-making skills, allowing for the choosing of the most suitable tactic in the shortest time.  

 

“Eh?” 

As if experiencing a lucid dream, Ryger struggled a few times then finally opened his tired eyes. A trace of brightness emerged in his eyes. 

“Mnn ……” 

He couldn’t help but let out a moan of pain.  

 

Apparently because he hadn’t moved for too long, his body was incomparably stiff. From a foetal position of sleep, Ryger saw through his blurry eyes many fish swimming around. 

Immediately after realizing something, Ryger instinctively cried out and struggled like he was drowning. The surrounding small fish scattered. 

At this moment, Ryger was lying in a huge fish tank and was breathing through a special mask. 

Splash! 

Ryger abruptly stood up. Panting violently, he looked confusedly at his foreign surroundings. 

The sound caused Cayleigh, who was napping aside, to open his eyes. Ryger looked dazedly at the unfamiliar environment. The room was filled with all sorts of biological specimens and although Ryger didn’t recognise them, that didn’t stop him from sensing clearly these specimens’ rarity and strength. There were all protesuses! 

The black cat meowed, yawned,  and said absent-mindedly, “You’re awake?” 

“Uh?” 

Ryger tried hard to recall and managed to remember some things that happened.   

Creak. 

The wooden door opened.

 

“Junior brother, you’re finally awake!” 

A pleasantly surprised voice came. It was Enid, who had returned from specimen collection in the Accipit Jungle and was called here by Ryger’s struggling in the water. At the moment, she was looking at the confused Ryger and was running to him while shedding tears of happiness. Slight moisture came out of her canthus. 

“Senior sister?” 

Lei Luo was stunned for a moment, then suddenly thought of something. He abruptly covered his important part. He was at a loss for words. “Sister, you, I, you, you…” 

Pfft! 

Seeing his actions, Enid smiled through tears, “What are you covering for? In the few days you’ve been unconscious, I’ve looked at it for who knows how many times. What is there to cover!” 

Hearing what she said, Ryger’s cheeks got even redder.

He covered his shy parts and daren’t look at his senior sister. Restlessly, he said, “Senior sister, you go out first!”

Although the corners of her eyes were still a little wet, at this moment, Enid was convulsing with laughter. In her eyes, Ryger at this moment was really funny and cute. 

Only after a good amount of time did Enid regain some of her composure. She turned her back and said, “I collected and put all your belongings into the spacebox. I’ll go down to let mother prepare the meal. You best rest again and let the fish clean your wound so that there won’t be scars. Come out later.”   

“Senior sister! How many days have I been unconscious?”

Ryger hurriedly took the opportunity to ask. 

“Nine!” 

Enid closed the door of the room. Ryger squatted and muttered while lost in thought, “I can’t believe I’ve been unconscious for nine days.” 

A strange tingling sensation came from his shoulder bone. Ryger was surprised and turned to look only to see hundreds of round mouth small fish gathering around his bright red, tender flesh and feeding without stopping. The wound was clearly visible. He could easily imagine just how much danger he was in in that fight some days ago!   

If it weren’t for… 

That’s right! 

The Starcore necklace!

He anxiously searched for the Starcore necklace. Now, he finally knew the origin of the necklace. It was actually related to the historical feud between the Church and the sorcerers and could even be traced back to an unknown world called Aurora! 

No wonder the capital city of the Great Light Empire is named Aurora! 

“These fish are precious curatives that your mentor borrowed for you. The recovery fluid inside this fish tank is even more precious. Otherwise, with your injury, even if you won’t be disabled, you can forget about recovering unless you take months to do it.”

 

Murmured the bored Cayleigh. Ryger looked over nudely and finally saw his spacebox. He then spouted, “Why are you still here!” 

The black cat looked at Ryger strangely. After realising, he said annoyedly, “What are you looking at? I’m a male cat. Anything you have, I have too!”

“Eh?” 

All of a sudden, a mysterious line of words appeared in Ryger’s eyes. 

Prompt: High energy unknown creature found. Shielded by unknown energy field. 

Ryger thought of something and hurriedly took off the mask on his face which assisted him in breathing..

The mask was emerald green and had dense wooden scales carved onto it. Each wooden scale was only a few millimetres in size and was in turn carved with fine spirals. There seemed to be other secrets too.   

Could it be that the Starcore necklace and this mask have merged into one? 

“Hey, handsome, come over and play with me. Hehe.” 

An unfamiliar female voice came from behind him and he instinctively turned his head. What he saw was a tall girl with malt-colored skin lying on top of a table. The girl was gesturing for him to come over while smiling. Ryger instinctively covered himself with  a towel, and said with great alarm, “Who are you?”

 

At the same time, the prompt once again appeared in front of his eyes. 

Prompt: High energy unknown creature found. Shielded by unknown energy field. 

The malt-skinned girl changed to a black cat who glimpsed at the dumbfounded Ryger and left the room without looking back while grunting, “Dumba$$.” 

Ryger didn’t get angry because of Cayleigh’s harassment. With a face full of incredulity, he said, “the Starcore… merged with me!”