Chapter 1: Academy

In a classroom, a teacher explained the topic of study to the students present. The room was quite spacious, accommodating approximately forty students. In the last row, a 15-year-old boy with black hair and brown eyes listened attentively. He was about 5'6" tall. To his right sat a frail boy of the same age with blond hair and rare green eyes, standing at 5'1".

"Zakir, what do you plan to do after classes?" asked the frail, blonde-haired boy. Zakir, who was focused on the lecture, turned his head toward his friend and said, "Jack, I've been saving points for the gravity training room for a whole year. I think I've saved enough. I'll train there today."

Jack's shoulders slumped with disappointment. Zakir was his only friend in the academy, and they were also dorm mates. Jack was very weak, and no one else wanted to be friends with him except Zakir, who had saved him from bullies on more than one occasion. Zakir was not weak; in fact, he was very strong for a normal human, but this was an academy for Awakeners, who were typically much stronger than average. Awakening was an artificial process requiring an awakening stone. Some people refused the awakening stone from the academy for various reasons. Most often, it was because they had an aptitude for magic and chose that path instead.

Zakir's reasoning for refusing the awakening stone was different. Accepting it from the military academy meant automatic conscription upon graduation, and he was unwilling to compromise his freedom. He wasn't from this world and wanted to explore Zamar freely. Military life would likely restrict that freedom.

"Plus, I also want to find the best awakening stone for myself," Zakir thought.

After classes ended, Jack headed to his room alone, while Zakir made his way to the training section of the academy. The academy was vast, almost as large as a small village, situated in a remote location for reasons unknown to Zakir.

Upon arriving at the training section, Zakir went straight to the gravity control room. He chose an empty room and entered. Inside, a controller displayed the number "1," indicating normal gravity. Zakir checked his stats before adjusting the gravity.

“System, show my status.”

[Name: Zakir]

 [Age: 15]

[Ability: Progressive Fortitude (passive)]

[Mana: 02]

[Strength: 17]

[Speed: 16]

[Endurance: 10]

[Intelligence: 12]

[2 days left until advanced functions are reactivated]

After reviewing his status, Zakir took a deep breath and set the gravity to 5, with a time limit of one hour. As soon as he confirmed the settings, his wristwatch notified him that 50 points had been deducted from his account.

This watch was issued to every student to manage the academy's points system and also displayed students' power levels. Zakir's power level was 170, remarkably high, even surpassing most Awakeners. Power levels were updated monthly, and students could test their power on a punching machine every 30 days.

As the gravity increased to 5, Zakir felt the air and environment pressing down on him. His body felt like it weighed a ton, and he crouched under the intense pressure.

“What the hell? I knew setting the gravity to 5 would make me weigh nearly 250 kg, but I never thought it would be this difficult. It's completely different from lifting a 200 kg object; this time, it's my entire body,” Zakir thought. “I must capitalize on this opportunity. I must endure and get familiar with the gravity if I want to become stronger and challenge even greater forces.”

Using his willpower, Zakir pushed himself into a straight position. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, then assumed a push-up position. Under normal gravity, he could easily do over a thousand push-ups, having increased his strength stat from 10 to 17 through constant effort. But for the past four months, his strength stat had stagnated.

“Now I might be able to improve my strength,” Zakir thought as he completed another push-up. As if to agree with him, his system chimed.

[Your strength has increased] [Strength: 18]

“Yes, gravity training is the best. Now, if only I can surpass 20 in strength before this one-hour session expires,” Zakir thought.

With each push-up, Zakir's muscles and bones ached more.

Ding!

[Your strength has increased] [Strength: 19]

“Yes,” Zakir inwardly celebrated.

After reaching 60 push-ups, Zakir was about to give up.

“No, I can't give up before reaching 20 in strength,” Zakir thought as he persevered through another five push-ups. Then, he heard another reward chime.

[Your strength has increased] [Strength: 20]

“Yes, I reached my goal in just 10 minutes, but I don't think I can continue. My hands feel like they're breaking apart,” Zakir thought as he stood up, sweat dripping down his face. He took a deep breath.

Ding!

[Your endurance has increased] [Endurance: 11]

“Wow, this is the first time I've ever increased endurance. Looks like all this muscle and bone ache is worth it after all,” Zakir thought. It had been 15 minutes since he started gravity training, and he was already seeing significant results.

Zakir tried to run to increase his speed, but he could only manage to walk.

“Come on, Zakir, you can do this. Run,” Zakir thought, putting more effort into it. His walking speed increased slightly, then more and more until he was running at a slow pace.

Ding!

[Your speed has increased] [Speed: 17]

“Nice,” Zakir inwardly celebrated.

After five more minutes, his running speed visibly increased, and he received another notification from the system.

Ding!

[Your speed has increased] [Speed: 18]

Zakir pushed himself harder, huffing and puffing. After ten more minutes, he gained two more speed stat points.

[Speed: 20]

Zakir stopped as he reached his goal and rested for five minutes.

He stood up again and checked his body. “Wow, it seems like after resting and gaining 20 stats in strength and speed each, I'm nearly adjusted to gravity 5. It's not nearly as difficult as when I first entered,” Zakir thought.

After resting, Zakir did some more exercises but didn't receive any more stat increases. Then, after an hour, gravity returned to normal.

“Wow, I feel so light. I feel like I can fly. This is awesome. I'm definitely coming back here again,” Zakir thought. He still had points for more gravity sessions, but he was very tired, so he decided to head back to his room.

He reached his dorm room, 109, and entered. Inside, he saw Jack working on his laptop as usual. Jack was his best friend, a boy with a high aptitude for magic and exceptional skills in technology. In this world, magicians weren't fighters; they were primarily responsible for technological advancements and creating portals to other worlds. Technology here ran on mana instead of electricity and was called MagiTech. MagiTech was far more advanced than Earth's technology; it could even transfer entire languages directly into people's brains. That's how Zakir knew the language of this world so well—it was as if he was speaking his native tongue.

Zakir lay down on his bed to rest and checked his status.

Zakir thought about his status window, and the system window popped up in front of him.

[Name: Zakir]

 [Age: 15]

[Ability: Progressive Fortitude (passive)]

 [Mana: 02]

 [Strength: 20]

 [Speed: 20]

 [Endurance: 11]

[Intelligence: 12]

[2 days left until advanced functions are reactivated]

“Ah, I can't wait to see what will happen in two days,” he thought.

After a little rest he and Jack head to canteen to buy themselves some lunch. They were given 10 points everyday by academy for free. To buy themselves food. And attend some premium classes. But most of the best classes required more classes. There were also some classes that were deemed too necessary and thus those classes were free.