"The taste is better than I expected..."
Along the way, Su Chen smacked his lips and stoppered the glass vial. The gnawing hunger in his stomach had completely vanished — he even felt quite full.
And two-thirds of the nutrient fluid Bai Fengxi had given him still remained.
"Doesn't look like much, but it actually tastes pretty decent." Su Chen tucked the nutrient fluid away.
After asking for directions a few more times, Su Chen found his dormitory building. Security was surprisingly strict — the guards at the entrance radiated an intimidating aura.
He had to swipe his student ID on a scanner before they let him through.
Thanks to the private room he'd secured during registration, it wasn't large, but it had everything he needed — at the very least, the bed was long enough for him to stretch out his legs.
"Hmm, gotta pay off the Strongman loan as soon as possible..." Su Chen pulled out the hemp rope and the Shadow Evasion Cloak he'd stashed on his person and tossed them under the bed.
He immediately assumed a training stance and began exercising with gusto.
The Body Tempering Trial required breaking through the body's limits ten times. For people of this world, that wasn't particularly difficult.
What was actually challenging was raising physical skills to the mastery level, which demanded persistent and consistent training.
The annoying part, however, was that since he was already a Strongman, his physical capabilities were exceptionally robust, making the training methods from his past life woefully inefficient.
It wasn't until around eight or nine in the evening that Su Chen finally felt his stamina nearly depleted. His body was pushed to the absolute brink — heart pounding like a war drum, skin glistening with sweat.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Suddenly, he felt something release within his body. A warm current surged from somewhere unknown, flooding through his utterly exhausted frame.
He checked the panel and, sure enough, he'd broken through one limit.
"This... this is brutal..." Su Chen collapsed onto his bed, not wanting to move so much as a finger.
On the panel, a number had appeared after Strongman.
[Strongman: 1%]
So this was class development progress? Quantifiable, too. Nice.
Even if he'd taken the class early, he still needed to fulfill the initiation requirements. But being able to simultaneously boost class development was profit no matter how you sliced it.
Class development brought overall improvements to one's capabilities, affecting every aspect. Reaching certain development milestones could even unlock additional class abilities.
'Still, I need to find proper training methods for my class. This brute-force approach is way too slow.' The thought occurred to Su Chen unbidden.
As classes advanced and physical attributes improved, ordinary physical training became increasingly ineffective. What he needed were corresponding advanced training methods.
From what he'd gathered at the library, the right training method could multiply class development efficiency several times over — but such methods were extremely rare.
'Advanced training methods are classified information. Under normal circumstances, getting my hands on one would be nearly impossible.' Su Chen lay on his bed, still catching his breath.
After resting briefly, he peeled off his clothes, took a shower, returned to bed, and began practicing the Candlelight Mental Forging Method.
Physical exhaustion and mental fatigue besieged him simultaneously. A first-tier professional hadn't transcended the concept of being human.
Not sleeping simply wasn't an option.
However, as the first faint hints of dawn crept in, Su Chen's body trembled slightly. He exhaled a long breath, feeling as though he'd been born anew.
[Candlelight Mental Forging Method — Mastery: 10%]
A single night was all it took to step into the mastery stage. The resulting boost washed away the mental fatigue of his all-nighter.
Overnight exertion had brought hunger crashing back. After a moment's consideration, Su Chen drank half of the remaining nutrient fluid and resumed training.
By mid-afternoon, he broke through another limit. He lay sprawled on his bed, staring vacantly at the ceiling. The exhaustion made him want to do absolutely nothing.
In a daze, the panel abruptly flashed a notification—
[The Scholar has witnessed your diligent practice. It fills him with delight, and he has decided to reduce the study-year requirement.]
Su Chen watched, eyes wide, as the Scholar's twelve-year requirement changed to eleven years and eleven months.
"Finally, a reaction..." He shot upright, the fatigue seeming to recede somewhat.
'So the harder I push myself, the happier he gets...' Su Chen was at a loss for words. It was only one month's reduction, but he'd only been training for a single day.
At this rate, three years' worth of time could be erased in a month at most.
A special class — he couldn't help but grow curious about what abilities it possessed.
With that thought, his gaze drifted to Mystic Artificer. He'd finally figured out what "class traits" meant.
Class traits governed a class's advancement path. The Strongman class, for instance, could only advance along strength-related class lines.
The Mystic Artificer shared the class traits of both Binding Adept and Mystic Apprentice, meaning he could choose to advance toward the higher-tier classes of either one.
"The consumption rate is insane..."
He downed the last of the nutrient fluid and let out a satisfied belch.
The stuff could keep an ordinary person going for days, yet it had barely lasted him a day and a half.
'I need to find Jiang He soon, or I'll be starving again.' He ran the numbers — repaying the Strongman loan required constant training, which burned through nutrition far faster than normal.
He glanced at the wall clock. Already past three in the afternoon.
After resting a while longer, Su Chen left his dorm. At this hour, the corridors were mostly deserted.
He walked to the rectangular device at the end of the hallway — iron-brown exterior, LCD screen in the center.
Finding the narrow slot at the bottom, he inserted his student ID. A schedule appeared on screen.
This was his class timetable. Not too many classes, actually. He'd just enrolled yesterday, so there were none scheduled for today.
Tomorrow had only three classes, with Jiang He's Mysticism lecture as the second period in the morning.
'Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find her...' Su Chen frowned. Not having a convenient way to reach her was a pain.
He was sure this world had some form of communication technology — he just hadn't encountered it yet.
'Tomorrow it is, then. One more hungry night.' He shook his head and turned to head back for more training.
Footsteps thundered up the stairwell. A young man came bounding up, swept a glance his way, then scanned the room numbers on either side, muttering: "301, 301..."
Su Chen's eyes narrowed with curiosity. Isn't that my room number?
He said nothing, simply following behind the young man. When the guy found Room 301, he knocked on the door.
"Looking for me?" a voice suddenly came from behind. The young man nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Who—?" He spun around reflexively, his expression turning aggrieved. "Are you the one who lives here?"
"Yeah." Su Chen's eyes flicked to the student ID on the man's chest — Li Ming.
He then swiped open the door, proving his identity.
'What a weirdo. He definitely heard me muttering and just followed me without saying a word.'
Li Ming grumbled internally but said aloud: "Su Chen, right? There's someone downstairs looking for you."
"Who?" Su Chen asked instinctively, then immediately corrected himself. "Man or woman?"
"A man." Li Ming answered. "He's waiting downstairs."
With that, he turned to leave — only to find himself seized in a vise-like grip.
"What does he look like?" Su Chen fixed him with a stare. If it were a woman, the list of candidates would be Jiang He or Bai Fengxi. But a man...
"He's right downstairs. Just go see for yourself." Li Ming was growing impatient.
Su Chen said nothing, but his grip gradually tightened.
"Ow, ow, ow — bro, bro, please—" Li Ming yelped and hastily elaborated. "Well-dressed, pretty handsome, really polite. He asked me to come find you and even gave me a gold coin."
"Not from the academy — oh, and his eyes are blue."
'The creditor has come knocking!'
Su Chen's gaze flickered. He loosened his grip. "Go back down and tell him — a hundred gold coins, or I'm not coming down. Oh, and hold on, I'll give you a gold coin too."
Li Ming stared in disbelief. 'What the... are you two playing some kind of game?'
"I'll go, I'll go..." Li Ming had the distinct impression his arm was starting to ache again, so he accepted hastily.
"What a nutjob..." Li Ming didn't dare mouth off until he'd made it downstairs.
Rubbing his elbow, he exited the building and was about to walk away — no chance he was delivering a message for some lunatic.
"Excuse me..."
"Shit!" Li Ming flinched, whipping around. The man who'd sent him upstairs was standing right behind him, smiling warmly. Nobody knew when he'd appeared. A pair of deep blue eyes gleamed with an unsettling depth.
"Where is the person I asked you to fetch?" he inquired mildly.
"He... he wasn't there..." Li Ming wanted no part of this.
"Lying isn't a good habit." The man seemed to see right through him. "Think carefully, now."
Li Ming could clearly see flames flickering in the man's eyes. A professional.
'Just my rotten luck.' He cursed inwardly but relented. "He told me to tell you — unless you give him a hundred gold coins, he won't come down."
Li Ming noticed the man's face freeze. The smile vanished. Then the man looked up toward the dormitory.
After a long silence, he produced a specially made wallet, shook out a handful of gold coins, and said evenly: "Tell him — this is all I have on me. I'll keep waiting."
'He actually forked it over!?'
Li Ming's jaw dropped. He walked back into the dormitory in a daze.
Moments later, Su Chen stared at the gold coins before him. Each was barely the size of a fingernail — not the kind of gold he was familiar with. They felt warm and smooth to the touch, faintly radiating a subtle luster.
He fell deep into thought. What do you do when the creditor shows up at your door?