Chapter 128: A Summons

Adam returned to the academy past midnight, as the registration and sieving process took a lot longer than he anticipated. He had to put on a show of his combat abilities, performing stunts that would have been useless in a real fight.

But none of that mattered.

The looks and fingers thrown his way when he arrived at the dormitory did not come as a surprise to him. Whispers had almost always followed him around. But with that article pointing out his potential capabilities, people’s curiosity had awakened anew.

Adam ignored and refused anyone who approached him, quickly taking the elevator to his room. With so much happening in such a short amount of time, he was beyond exhausted.

After a quick scan around his room for spyware and a bath, he retired to the comfort of his bed, falling into deep sleep in seconds.

His relationship with Aurelius was undefined at the moment. Whether they would recover from the toll their mission had had on their relationship would be a matter for the future. For now, however, he would focus on himself and his goals.

Adam woke up close to noon, surprising himself. He didn’t realise he was that tired.

Picking up his phone, he checked his messages, replied to a few and then tossed it aside. The text he sent to his master last night had not been replied to yet. With nothing particular to do, he spent a few hours cultivating, checking his stats afterwards.

[Third Genesis System]

[Host: Adam Highstein]

[Bloodline: Highstein Blood]

[Unique Skill: First Principle]

[Physique: Titan Genesis Physique]

[Affinity: Genesis]

[Tier 1: Mortal Evolution]

[Realm: First Realm]

[Strength: 185 — 190]

[Agility: 188 — 193]

[Vitality: 180 — 186 ]

[Perception: 179 — 184]

’As I thought, it increased again.’

Adam had known for some time that whenever he engaged in strenuous activities that put him on his toes, his physical stats grew accordingly. It did not look like a significant increase at a glance, but he was past the regular level for mid-level Second Realm awakeners.

In addition to his physical growth, his Knowledge Indexes had been steadily increasing, his understanding of reality and abilities reaching levels his old self would have never recognised.

His mind wandered back to the just-completed mission. There were some things he could have done better, limitations he knew would hold him back. The guns were one such limitation.

"I need to speed up my understanding of the space element."

So many things would become a lot easier once his understanding of the space element became high enough for him to manipulate.

Adam’s stomach grumbled at that moment.

"Right. I haven’t eaten anything since last night." He muttered and stood up, making his way to the bathroom.

Knock. Knock.

While in the bathroom, Adam heard knocking. He looked through the walls and narrowed his eyes. He did not recognise the person. But the person seemed to be an academy staff member.

"Coming!"

Quickly rinsing his body, he wiped down and wrapped the towel around his waist before moving to open the door.

"Good day, Mr Hig— Oh, I apologise."

The lady dressed in a sharp business suit paused when she saw Adam’s naked upper body. She gave Adam a once-over and nodded, not bothering to hide her blatant staring.

"What do you want?" Adam asked flatly.

"Oh, right." The lady passed an envelope to Adam, who gingerly received it.

"Inside the envelope is a summons from the Principal."

Adam raised his head. "The Principal?"

"Yes." The lady nodded. "I am to personally take you to him."

"Right now?"

"As soon as you’re done." The lady revealed a professional smile.

Adam opened the envelope, realising it was indeed a summons from the Principal. ’What could he possibly want from me?’

"Give me a few minutes."

"I’ll be waiting downstairs for you then." The lady replied and turned around.

Adam observed her for a moment before closing the door behind him. He carefully studied the letter for a moment before putting it on the side table. He did not like this one bit.

He returned to the bathroom to finish up, dressing in his uniform before stepping out. While preparing, he could not help the anxiety that gripped him. He had never imagined being summoned by the Principal.

Every reason he came up with made him more anxious than the last. But with no way of knowing the exact reason and no authority to refuse, he could only follow the woman.

***

The lady, whose name was Vanessa, drove Adam to a part of the academy he had never been to before. During the drive, Adam tried reaching his master to no avail.

"We’re here," Vanessa said.

Adam snapped out of his thoughts and looked around. Before him was a line of tall trees that revealed the field of cleanly cut grass past their stems on the other side. He stepped out of the car and glanced at the lady.

"He’s waiting for you." She gestured towards the walking path through the trees.

With a soft sigh, Adam closed the car door and began walking, not bothering to look back. The surroundings were quiet and the air fresh. He looked around as he walked, soon arriving at the tree lines on the other side.

"There’s no one here."

Adam muttered and looked around. The field before him looked like a golf course. For a second, he thought he was tricked into coming here. His instincts proved him right when he sensed someone swiftly closing in on him from the back.

The moment he turned around, he saw a fist closing in on his face!

’Shit!’

The fist connected with devastating force, the sound of his nose breaking resounding with a chilling crunch. Adam grunted as the blow sent him into the ground. His vision turned blurry in an instant.

Warm blood trickled down his nose, the pain blinding. But there was no time to waste. Through his blurry vision, he saw the attacker descending from above with another blow. Adam rolled out of the way without hesitation.

The blow connected to the ground with a soft boom, blasting dirt and dust outward.

Adam cursed under his breath as he swiftly spun and skidded backwards, his hand digging into the ground. He ground his teeth and locked onto his disguised attacker, who shot out of the resulting crater and dust.

’I’m not in the mood for nonsense!’