Dr.
Smith’s eyes were burning.
He was right, totally spot on!
Such a perfect test subject.
Alice’s potential was indeed off the charts!
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Dr.
Smith could finally submit this test subject’s profile to join that highly confidential experimental study.
Coupled with his stellar results in both the Neural-Link and nanofluid projects, Dr.
Smith’s promotion was well within his reach.
He must absolutely grasp this chance firmly.
The minds of the adults in the underground gym were filled with their own thoughts, but Alice, the person involved, was solely focused on improving her own physique.
This is not the peaceful world you think it is.
The low and deep baritone of the man still reverberated in Alice’s mind.
It was both a plain and playful tone, but she could feel the seriousness behind his words.
Alice herself had seen the signs, and now that it was pretty much confirmed, she wanted to become stronger and more capable in order to prepare for what the future might hold for her.
Alice’s mentor was no longer here to train her, but she had the world’s best and most advanced technology in her hands, not even the people in the outside world get to be in contact with these miraculous technological innovations.
Alice might just be a test subject to this laboratory, but Alice still aspire to become the strongest test subject, using the experiments and clinical trials they perform on her as her part of her own resources.
If it could be of use to her, why not take it?
Now that her perspective had changed, Alice felt a sense of freedom.
Her mind was clear now that she had a goal.
Her body felt lighter as her mind lightened up.
Alice did not even realize that she wore a hint of a smile while panting like a dog, doing the last set around the training ground without falling, walking steadily as if she had never been unable to walk before.
[Vitality +1]
[Mobility +1]
[Balance +1]
[Endurance +1]
[Coordination +1]
Finally, with her small chest heaving as she took deep and regular breaths, Alice’s own two feet stopped in front of the gate of the training ground.
The training ground she was in with the instructors was an open ground, and it looked like a courtyard with organized training tools arranged inside it.
Alice looked at the idyllic scene in the village.
Right now, the sun was not yet nearing the horizon, still shining in the western skies.
The cool wind blew from the grassy plains into the lush foliage of trees, and the rippling lights shone down to the ground, casting shadows and light on the training ground.
The world was filled with both idyllic beauty and unknown danger.
Just because a person knew that there was some unknown danger waiting for them out in the world, did it mean the world had stopped?
It should not stop anyone from enjoying the peace and beauty of the moment.
In fact, I must treasure it even more.
When the little girl opened her eyes, her entire body was relaxed despite being soaked in sweat.
She looked back at the instructors and, all of a sudden, took off running.
!
“Hey, little girl—Apprentice Hero, take it slow!”
The instructors were a little alarmed.
Although the girl could now finally walk just as fine as any other kid, as if she had drunk some kind of miracle drug that cured her overnight—alright, maybe she did have those miracle drugs in the form of the nanofluid and the neuro-medical pod—still, she had never tried running just yet.
As expected, the little girl fell down flat on her face.
The instructors ran to help, but before they could, the little girl pushed her arms on the ground and climbed back up on her own two feet, and continued running.
The instructors felt a little helpless.
“This girl is usually obedient, why is she suddenly acting like this?”
The other instructor rolled his eyes.
“Why do you even ask?
I think the girl felt a sense of urgency because of the sudden deadline.
You know food is her lifeline, if she fails to accomplish the main quest within the time limit, her delicious meals will have to fly away from her grasp.”
They exchanged looks with each other.
“So, do we continue?”
“The little girl is willing, why can’t we adults just let her?”
“Then continue the training!”
The training went on until the sun finally began to sink on the horizon, and the torches in the village were lit up one by one.
In the end, it was proven that running was way beyond the current curricular scope.
Alice overestimated her body, and she ended up drained of all energy, her entire body and mind exhausted, and she almost could not finish her dinner.
Alice was too tired that when she finally settled down inside the neuro-medical pod in the healer’s hut, she seemed to feel as if she had forgotten something.
However, her mind was already very sluggish, and the moment her head touched the bed, Alice immediately sank into a deep sleep.
The interior of the neuro-medical pod began filling up again with the medicated liquid, and the massage function was activated, along with the soft lights of aurora shining on the starry sky.
Above the neuro-medical pod, in an augmented dimension no one was aware existed, a tall man with long hair and wearing moon-white robes floated in the air quietly.
He looked down and saw the little girl’s sweetly sleeping face, clearly already deep in her dreams, and finally chuckled.
Then he vanished.
The next morning, Alice woke up and stretched inside the neuro-medical pod.
The interior of the medical pod imitated the morning view outside, and the little girl felt like she was surrounded by the trees and melodic singing of the birds, with the golden rays of the early morning sun shining over her. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
Status window.
Alice was confident that her body was truly back to normal now.
Even if she had overexerted herself and ended up almost collapsing, it was undeniable that she was able to run some distance for a while, although sometimes her balance and coordination still felt a little off, and her chest would heave as she gasped for air.
The blue window with elegant wood and vine borders appeared in front of her.
[Name: Alice]
[Rank: Apprentice Hero]
[Level: 2]
[Health: 80 / 100]
[Initial Hero Attributes]
[Vitality: 8 “How healthy your body is”]
[Mobility: 7 “How well you can travel”]
[Balance: 6 “How well you can stay on your feet”]
[Endurance: 7 “How long you can keep going”]
[Coordination: 4 “How smoothly you move”]
Seeing the numbers, and knowing that the baseline for an average human attribute of a child her age was ten, Alice was overjoyed.
It was very fulfilling knowing that she was getting stronger, faster, and healthier, and seeing it this way filled Alice with even more motivation to push her limits to the maximum attribute value of ten.
The coordination attribute was low because it was the last to start showing improvement, but when it started, it grew fast with as much practice as Alice did.
I can definitely max it all out before the afternoon ends!
Perhaps before nightfall, I can finish challenging the main quest…
Oh.
I forgot.
Alice froze, the small smile on her face freezing as well.
Nightfall.
Alice and Azure were supposed to meet up and talk last night, but she totally forgot about it.
Or rather, she was too exhausted to even remember it.
Alice felt a little guilty.
Pursing her lips, she tentatively asked:
Azure?
Are you there?
It helps me a lot.
By the way, I just want to make sure you are all aware…
Right now, we’re at the leisure period, the calm before the storm.
Please, my dear readers, don’t forget the title and the label ‘no one under 17’, because the future chapters might be a little hardcore~
( ˘ ³˘)