Chapter 62: Insane Progress

Almost a week passed after that one-sided beatdown.

After witnessing what Adam did to James, no more challenges came his way... for a while, at least. No one knew who had started it, but word went around that Adam’s strength and speed were already at the peak of the first realm.

But more than that was the brutality Adam unleashed. It was a statement on his part. Whoever was bold enough to challenge him would get the same dose as James.

The large boy had been so humiliated that whenever he saw Adam, he would grind his teeth. The loss of face was too much for him, and his relationship with Ryner and Derek became shaky.

None of that concerned Adam in the slightest. Had his mood not been soured twice that day, then he would have perhaps held back more. But maybe that was for the best. Everyone would think twice before throwing a challenge at him.

During the days that passed, Adam accomplished several objectives he had set for himself. The progress raised his mood more than anything could.

After the second compulsory class that week, he focused on his indexes.

Among his Knowledge Indexes, Information and Mathematics were the easiest, as they were human inventions based on existing principles. Mathematics especially came with its surprises.

Adam never imagined he would one day be smart enough to find flaws in mathematical theories and principles. When he visited the department to share his views, the place had been turned upside down.

While the reception had been poor at the start, when he shared some of his own discoveries about what worked and what didn’t, the head of department himself — Mr Raymond Stance — stepped out to meet him.

The man had been over the moon when he saw some of Adam’s equations. The look in his eyes then had been as though he had wanted to kowtow before Adam. The man had even wanted to take Adam as his apprentice, only to be left disappointed when he realised Adam was already claimed.

His name spread across the academy yet again. They marvelled at his intelligence and dedication to learning. For a boy no older than sixteen to find errors and come up with mathematical theories and equations was insane.

He knew more than what even his seniors knew. That much progress and knowledge was unheard of. For all purposes, the intelligence and smartness he revealed was more than enough to recommend him for early graduation.

But he had just begun, and that was the frightening part. Just how monstrous was the boy called Adam Highstein? That was the question.

Meanwhile, his knowledge and understanding of the Information sciences opened his eyes to a new way of looking at technology and software. He could build his own AI assistant from scratch if he wanted to, but of course, he had other ideas.

Breaking secure systems around the world without leaving a trace. That... that was much more frightening. Perhaps there was more he could do with his knowledge, but he was in no rush.

[Knowledge Index]

[Information:...86.33%]

<Pattern Recognition:....91.56%>

<Data Structures:....95.87%>

<Algorithms:.....95.89%>

<Encryption:....95.67%>

<Artificial Intelligence:....95.66%>

<Machine Learning:.....95.31%>

<Networks:....95.76%>

<Computation:....95.11%>

<Signal Processing:....95.03%>

This was what his index looked like.

For whatever reason, he could not cross the 95% threshold. Perhaps there was more to discover, or the rest would have to be eventually discovered by him. Whatever it was, he would eventually uncover it.

[Mathematics:.....84.89%]

<Arithmetic:....100%>

<Algebra:.....94.52%>

<Geometry:....87.56%>

<Trigonometry:....88.12%>

<Statistics:....86.23%>

<Probability:....75.23%>

<Optimization:....89.57%>

<Calculus:.....93.12%>

With how knowledgeable he had gotten, Adam was more than ready for the job market involving those fields. The level of progress was truly insane.

The sciences also had their revelations and corrections. He became a hotcake overnight, as every department sought to claim him for themselves. He was just too smart and intelligent... a true genius.

His existence overshadowed all the other students who also wore blue. Even Riley could not help but envy Adam’s genius. It was like he was in a class of his own.

That was the true might of his Unique Skill: First Principle.

The way Adam saw the world changed in those three days. Many things he had taken for granted about the world suddenly made sense. He saw mathematical principles in every aspect of his life. The way he walked, the way he angled himself during training, the way he moved when he practised his martial arts... everything changed.

While those two indexes saw explosive growth, his other indexes were not left behind. The Physical Index was perhaps the index most related to Mathematics. Concepts of motion, force, momentum and friction saw huge improvements.

Almost no index was left unattended.

Adam realised he could exponentially increase the force of his attacks several times when he applied the knowledge he had gained from all those books. He could explosively increase his base speed just by manipulating the surrounding air, friction and force.

His control over his Spark also saw quantitative leaps, allowing him to do things with Spark that were not supposed to be possible until the third realm of the Mortal Evolution. He knew so much that he began to fear himself.

But as they said... Theory could only take one so far.

Adam needed time to practice and apply the principles he had discovered. Just because he knew how friction and other forces affected motion did not mean he could start running at the speed of sound and above. They could be disastrous if he wasn’t careful. He didn’t want another plasma blowing up in his face.

But the creation of other abilities and skills came a lot easier, especially auxiliary and enhancement skills that required no explosion. Adam had never felt so proud of himself. Seeing his own created skills brought him immense satisfaction.

A new section on his Third Genesis opened up with the creation of those skills. He had not known his system could do that. But it did make sense.

Skills under major abilities like fire, wind and lightning had additional tabs below them, creating a cleaner interface. But Adam had not gotten to creating skills with those elements, as he focused on the auxiliary ones.

[Skills (New)]

-Cellular Regeneration (auxiliary): Faster healing and regeneration from severe injuries.

-Adaptive Response (passive): Analyse harmful effects like poison and gradually develop resistance.

-Blood Ignition (enhancement): Ignite blood composition for increased strength, reaction and endurance.

-Vital Pulse (auxiliary): Release a pulse to clear fatigue, sharpen focus and stabilise injuries.

-Skeletal Reinforcement (enhancement): Reinforce bones to increase durability, strength and reduce risk of fracture.

-Cognitive Partition (auxiliary): Split attention across multiple tasks.

-Flow Sight (detection): Visualise air currents for reaction and tracking.

-Thermal Sight (detection): Visualise heat signatures for improved tracking and detection.

-Clear Sight (active): See through solid objects at will.

-Predictive Sequence (analysis): Calculate probable future actions with a high degree of accuracy.

-Force Grasp (active): Project an invisible force that can lift and manipulate a target from a limited distance.

-Mental Fortress (passive): Layers of mental defence against manipulation, illusions, will weakening and fear effects.

Each of these skills and more fell under their respective categories, granting Adam a flexible pool of skills he could draw from. He was especially proud of Force Grasp, as it made moving objects around a lot easier.

Naturally, his created skills had limitations like distance, essence requirement and level. But those were limitations that would lessen or expand the more he evolved.

He returned all the books he borrowed from the library at the end of the week. He had achieved the goal he had set for himself.

All that was left to do was begin practical application and develop more combat-related skills. That did not mean he would stop learning. All he needed was the inspiration and the right circumstances to create more skills and techniques uniquely his own.

It was time to see his master once again.