Infinite Awakening: 10,000x EXP Converter!

The East Wing lab looked exactly the same as yesterday. The workbenches were messy. Hand drawn maps of energy lines covered every wall.

Serah was already ready when Alvian walked in. Her computer pad sat on the middle table. It showed a clear map of his Clearwater energy lines from their first meeting.

"Sit," she said. She did not look up. "Same position. Palm up."

Alvian sat on the metal stool. He held out his right arm. The glass plate from yesterday was still on its stand. Its top was still rough and eaten away from his acid test.

Serah picked up her tools. Today’s tools were very different from yesterday. The tips were thinner. There were more of them. They spread out like a fan and glowed much brighter. She had changed her plan using the facts from their first session.

"Today I will work on your main Clearwater line," she said. She held the tools above his arm. "This is the main pipe for your power. Yesterday I made the small branches wider. Today I will fix the main trunk."

"Will it hurt?" Alvian asked in a calm voice.

"It will feel bad, but not painful. Your arms will get hot. It will feel like holding your hands over a hot stove. Tell me if the pain gets sharp. Sharp means I hit a scar. If that happens, I must stop right away."

She started the machine.

An electric hum surged up his arm and into his shoulder, a hundred times stronger than yesterday. Intense heat followed, radiating deep into his muscles and bone like a burning fire.

For fifteen minutes, Serah worked with total focus, guiding her tools with surgical precision.

Suddenly, the heat shot up!

Alvian took a sharp breath. "That one was sharp."

Serah pulled her tools back right away. She looked at her screen. She moved the tool a tiny bit to the side. Then she started again. The heat went back to normal.

"A scar," she said softly. "Just a tiny bit, right where the lines meet. It likely formed when you Awakened. The energy got stuck and made a block. I will just go around it."

The work went on for twenty more minutes. When it ended, Alvian’s arms were red and hot. It felt like he had held a boiling cup of tea for too long. The hot feeling slowly went away when Serah put her tools down.

"Test it," she said.

Alvian pressed his hand flat on a new glass plate. He used his Clearwater Palm skill.

The result was huge!

"Ssssssss!"

The new acid was very thick. It was thicker than all his past tries. It stuck to the glass like an evil slime. It did not splash. It bubbled and hissed so loudly that Serah jumped back in fear. The glass did not just melt this time. It broke! Large cracks spread out from his hand. The strong glass was falling apart completely.

[Ding!]

[Clearwater Palm enhancement detected!]

[Source: External Essence circuitry modification (Session 2 of 3)]

[Skill parameters updated!]

[Corrosion Depth: 0.7mm -> 1.2mm on Rank 1 chitin]

[Corrosion Depth: 0.4mm on Rank 2 hide]

[pH Level: 1.6 -> 1.2]

[Corrosion Duration: 18s -> 25s]

[Brittle Damage Bonus: +15% -> +25%]

[NEW SECONDARY EFFECT: Internal Corrosion]

[Corroded surfaces become permeable to Clearwater]

[Acid seeps through armor into internal structures]

[Damages organs, joints, and soft tissue beneath external protection]

Alvian looked closely at the blue screen. Internal damage. His acid could now melt through hard armor and destroy the soft body parts inside. It was a dark and ugly way to kill someone. But in this harsh world, he could not complain.

Serah stared at her screen. She looked completely shocked. He had never seen her look like this. Her eyes were huge. Her mouth was open. The wires on her arms flashed wildly. They matched her fast heartbeat.

"Internal damage," she whispered. Her voice shook. "Your power can hurt organs and bones through armor. That is not an E-Rank power. That is as strong as a C-Rank!"

She put her screen down very carefully. She acted like it was a live bomb.

"If we finish the third session, this change might become permanent. Your power will still say E-Rank on paper. The school’s tests cannot see this hidden change. But your real power level will be a strong D-Rank. It might even get higher if you keep using it."

Alvian moved his fingers. The heat was gone. Now, his arm just felt very full. It felt like the energy pipe in his arm had grown. It went from a tiny drinking straw to a huge water pipe.

"You are doing something other E-Ranks never try," Serah said. She spoke slowly and carefully. "Most people accept their low rank and give up. You are working hard on a power that everyone said was useless."

’Most E-Ranks just accept being weak,’ Alvian thought with a dark smile. ’But they do not have a deadly acid factory hidden inside their arms.’

"I told you yesterday. I do not have the choice to give up," Alvian said.

Serah looked at him for a moment. She did not ask more questions. She never did.

"There is one more thing," she said. She opened a new page on her screen. "The fighting contest. Are you joining it?"

"Yes."

"I am joining too." She stopped talking for a second. She tapped her fingers on the screen. "My family wants me to win. I just want to finish my science work. The contest is a waste of time. But I will win. It is easier to win than to explain why I lost."

Alvian almost smiled. That was the most honest thing she had said to him.

"The fight groups are sorted by power ranks," she said. Her voice became serious. "E-Ranks fight the weakest people first. Then they might fight D-Ranks or weak C-Ranks. But the rules are made so E-Ranks must fight strong C-Ranks by the third round. The school does this on purpose. They want the strong students to show off in the final rounds. They do not want E-Ranks to win easily."

"So I get two easy fights, and then a brick wall."

"Yes. Two easy fights, then a wall. The top eight fighters get money. You need to win your first two fights and just stay alive in the third one." She tapped her screen two times. "Do not show all your power early on. The rich viewers have special cameras. These cameras can read your energy. They will see your acid power. If it is too strong, people will ask questions. You cannot answer those questions."

Alvian nodded. He already knew this. Show enough power to win. Hide enough power to stay safe.

"One more thing," Serah added. "Darius Magnus is in your group. His C-Rank Lava power is very dangerous. He will throw fire at you to end the fight quickly. You must stay close to him. Do not let him stand far away."

She turned back to her table. She started cleaning her tools for tomorrow. Their talk was over.

Alvian headed for the door, power still humming through his hand. Two sessions complete, one to go. If Serah was right, tomorrow would make it permanent, turning his garbage E-Rank power into a D-Rank force.

He walked home through the school halls. He passed groups of students. They were talking about fight plans and power ranks. Nobody looked at him. Nobody cared about the E-Rank boy. They did not know he carried an acid that could melt through steel armor.

Back in his small room, he opened his blue screen. The contest was in four days. He needed to be faster. He needed speed to run close to enemies. He needed speed to dodge fireballs. He needed speed to hit them with his acid before they could blink.

He spent 5,000 EXP on Agility.

[AGI: 22 -> 25]

The new speed hit his body like a bolt of lightning! His fingers shook. His eyesight became extremely sharp. The dark room suddenly looked very bright and clear. It felt like someone had washed a thick layer of dirt from his eyes.

┌──────[ Profile]──────┐

│ [Host]: Alvian Vance

│ [Level]: 19 (Mortal Tier)

│ [Talent]: Clearwater [E-Rank]

│ [Skills]: Clearwater Palm [E-Rank, Enhanced x2]

│ [STR]: 20 | [AGI]: 25 | [VIT]: 35

│ [INT]: 13 | [Essence]: 12

│ [Karma Points]: 0

│ [EXP Bank]: ~66,000 / ∞

│ [Re-Roll Token]: 1 (Active)

│ [System Shop]: Unlocked

└───────────────┘

Martha coughed in her sleep. The sick sound was a bit softer tonight. However, the grey spots on her fingers had grown longer. Leo slept next to her. He held his black drawing coal in his small hand. He mumbled in his sleep about bugs.

Alvian closed the blue screen. Just one more session tomorrow.

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