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Chapter 50: School Starts!!!
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 15:16:34 +0000 UTC"School starts~~" Ethan Atherton walked on the road with his school bag slung over one shoulder, looking utterly listless. "How did the time pass so quickly?" he couldn't help but sigh.
Seraphina Linley said with a warm smile, "Every day it was either training or channeling Aura, with the occasional real adventure mixed in. Every single day has been so fulfilling, so of course, you'd feel that time passed quickly."
Marcus Vance, on the side, nodded in agreement. "That's right, we've all improved a lot this summer vacation." Then, Marcus said with some regret, "It's a real pity, though. I originally thought I could break through to Rank Two after the summer vacation ended. Sigh, I only managed to reach Rank One, Level Ten."
Ethan also sighed helplessly. "Me too. I'm just a little bit away from breaking through to Rank Two." In fact, according to Ethan's plan, his resources were completely sufficient to break through to Rank Two. But this half-month of time since his aunt's arrival was really too short. Even with sufficient resources, wanting to break through the major watershed to Rank Two in such a short period of time was still too difficult.
Seraphina said helplessly, "What am I supposed to complain about when you two are like this? I'm only at Level Nine now."
Marcus then continued the conversation, "We originally set a goal for ourselves, but in the end, we didn't quite complete it, so it's inevitable to feel a little disappointed. By the way, Ethan, has your aunt left?"
Ethan answered, "Oh, she left a long time ago. Their summer vacation at Pinnacle University is only fifty days, a full month shorter than ours. She was only at home for about twenty days in total and left a week ago."
Seraphina asked curiously, "Then you're at Level Ten now. Have you unlocked a new alien form?"
Ethan hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have, but this new form, how should I put it... to say it's strong, it's very strong; to say it's weak, it's also very weak."
Marcus pressed on, intrigued. "What does that even mean?"
Ethan sighed. After breaking through to Level Ten, the alien hero he had unlocked was Grey Matter. To say it was weak, its body was tiny, and its physical strength and speed were very, very weak. In a frontal battle, it would only get flattened into a pancake by any competent enemy. But to say it was strong… the Omnitrix itself, the most powerful device in the universe, was created by the smartest person of this very race, Azmuth.
Grey Matter's race is the Galvan, and its appearance is a bit like a small, green, bipedal frog. Although the people of this race are small and their individual combat power is weak, their intelligence is extremely, almost unbelievably, high. They can easily understand the complex structure of any mechanical equipment and proceed to destroy or improve it from within. And their tiny bodies allow them to easily enter various large-scale equipment for modification and repair. Their high intelligence allows them to easily understand the structure of any mechanical or technological equipment and destroy it from the inside out.
Ethan had already used him before, not only easily repairing his mother's broken-down electric scooter and all the other malfunctioning electrical appliances in his house but also upgrading them significantly. The efficiency of everything was now much higher than before. This form, he thought, should be able to play a corresponding, crucial role when he encounters psionic weapons later on, right? After all, at their current stage, they mostly still use cold weapons. Advanced technological equipment and true psionic weapons are strictly controlled by the state. Only by getting into a top university can they even begin to come into contact with them.
Seraphina nodded thoughtfully. "That's not bad at all, Ethan. You should know, at the current stage of our world, besides psionicists awakening their own abilities, various advanced weapons are also a very important part of our overall combat power. Once a beast tide attacks the city, the powerful thermal weapons at the defense base are the most important line of defense. The Global Concord spends a huge amount of credits every single year to research and develop stronger, more effective psionic weapons. If this alien form of yours can truly upgrade a weapon, and you were to submit that technology, you'd get a lot of prize money and recognition."
Ethan thought about it and felt that it made some sense. Although Grey Matter couldn't fight head-on, the technological advantages he possessed could still allow him to make a great contribution to the country.
Seeing the two of them still looking a bit listless about school, Seraphina couldn't help but say, "Alright, alright, new semester, new look, don't be so downcast!" She paused for a moment, a twinkle in her eye, then continued, "By the way, speaking of which, according to school custom, our academy will hold a trial competition right after school starts to assess everyone's summer progress. The top-ranked people will also get a very generous reward. I heard that the main reward this time is an Aura Core."
This one sentence immediately spirited up Ethan, who was originally feeling a bit down about not wanting to go to school. His eyes lit up instantly. "Aura Core!!!" An Aura Core was a high-grade training resource. Even if he already had one, who would complain about having too many?
Marcus, on the side, appeared relatively calm, but the sudden excitement in his eyes couldn't be concealed. He nodded and added, "That's right. Every year when the third year starts, the school will hold such a competition and will take out three F-rank Aura Cores as a reward for the top three finishers. For a high school-level competition, this is definitely a very generous gesture."
Ethan's eyes widened. He asked in surprise, "Is your information so reliable? How come I don't know anything about this?"
Seraphina helplessly rolled her eyes at him and said, "This news was announced on our school's official website a long time ago. The homeroom teacher, Mr. Gordon, also sent a notification in the class group chat a few days ago, reminding us all to prepare for it in advance. Didn't you see it?"
Hearing this, Ethan scratched his head awkwardly and muttered to himself that he had actually missed such important information. It seemed that in the future, he would have to pay more attention to the dynamics of the class group chat. Normally, after the holiday started, there would basically be no news in the class group chat. Even if there was, it wasn't very important. Moreover, the group chat messages had already piled up into the dreaded "three dots" of unread notifications; he simply hadn't even bothered to open it.
Marcus clapped him on the back. "Don't worry, man. With your current strength, you don't need to make any special preparations at all. Getting into the top three is basically a sure thing for you."
"No," Ethan said, shaking his head. "I don't want to expose the secret that I have multiple forms, so for this competition, I only plan to use one specific form."
Seraphina looked concerned. "Your ability to switch between multiple forms is a very special, powerful advantage. If you do that, you won't be able to use that advantage."
"No choice," Ethan replied grimly. "You guys know why. I really don't want to be targeted by those lunatics from the Evolution Cult."
"Then what form do you plan to use?" Marcus asked curiously.
"This time the competition is a team event, right?" Ethan asked hopefully.
Seraphina shook her head. "Can't do that. The rules state it can only be one-on-one. When the time comes, we'll all be opponents."
Ethan grinned mischievously. "Then I won't tell you."
"So cunning!" Marcus complained.
"Hehe," Ethan chuckled. "What if I get drawn against you in the first round? When the time comes, I can still take you by surprise."
"This is also a kind of valid tactic," Seraphina conceded with a smile.
"Can we use weapons in this competition?" Ethan asked.
Seraphina nodded. "You can, but you can only use the school-regulated ones. The school's unified training weapons won't be sharpened, so safety is mostly guaranteed. You might get injured, but at least you won't die."
Ethan sighed. "That's a pity. If it were a team battle, with me using Upgrade to assist you guys, we would definitely win first prize easily. Now I can only fight solo."
Marcus grinned, cracking his knuckles. "It's a good thing. We haven't had a proper spar since our training with my uncle. Let me see what level your strength has really reached now, Ethan."
Ethan shot back with a confident smirk, "When the time comes, you'd better hold onto your jaw, Marcus. I'm not responsible if it gets dislocated from shock."
