The sun was high in the sky at the Godolkin University stadium.
Inside the public training room, Wade hovered in mid-air, surrounded by visible, turbulent air currents that sometimes compressed into a shield and sometimes extended into a blade.
Buzz—Poof!
Feeling the minuscule increase in power within his body, a surge of irritability rose in his heart: "The efficiency of training alone is too low... Why hasn't anyone come to pick a fight with me? Isn't being tenth on the rankings enough?"
The progress of acquiring superpower genes had also slowed down. Perfect opportunities for theft like the party were rare. Usually, trying to use mosquitoes to suck the blood of students who were thick-skinned, quick-reacting, and capable of protecting themselves was simply a pipe dream.
'In the end, it's because my own strength isn't enough that I have to resort to these sneaky schemes.' He recalled all his previous plans. 'If I were strong enough, all problems would be solved easily, and there'd be no need to hide everything.'
Just as Wade was lost in thought, the training room door was roughly pushed open.
A group of people led by "Fire Dragon" Chance filed in.
Chance had an unabashed look of triumph on his face, and standing beside him were two sturdy men with condensed auras.
"Cyclone!" Chance shouted loudly, attracting the attention of everyone in the training room. "It's time to settle the score from last time! Do you dare to have a formal wager?"
Wade floated back to the ground, his gaze falling on the two men beside Chance.
A bearded man with a tall build, under whose feet the ground slightly sank, spoke in a muffled voice: "I am Heavy Rock."
Another lean young man with a grayish-brown complexion gave an elegant bow: "I am Magnetic Clay."
Wade felt a strong sense of threat from the two of them and immediately became interested: "What are we wagering?"
"We're wagering on whether you can still be as arrogant as last time." Chance pulled a check out of his pants pocket and waved it. "I've invited two seniors to give you some pointers. If you lose, you'll make a public apology to me and admit that everyone from the institutions is trash!"
"If you win, you take this five hundred thousand, and our grudge is settled!"
"Oh, quite confident, aren't we?" Wade took the check, looked at it, and teased with a smile, "With so many people here, you wouldn't bring a fake one to trick me, would you?"
"Hmph, hillbilly, don't look down on people!" Chance, with his slicked-back hair, said nonchalantly, "My family isn't short of this kind of money."
"Fine, let's go to the arena." Wade handed the check back, secretly alert. 'Making me fight two-on-one, this guy must have something prepared... Is it a combined superpower technique?'
The group moved to the central arena of the stadium.
As soon as Wade flew onto the platform, he was immediately enveloped by gazes from all directions. There were far more students in the stands watching than he had expected.
"Look, it's Cyclone! And Heavy Rock, Magnetic Clay... What are they doing? A gauntlet match?"
"Place your bets, place your bets... The freshman dark horse, odds are ten to one, don't miss out!"
"This freshman is too arrogant, taking on two seniors who are about to graduate all by himself?"
As soon as the referee announced the start, the burly man codenamed "Heavy Rock" gave a low roar and slammed both fists onto the ground.
Boom!
An invisible, massive force pressed down violently.
Wade felt the air around him become incredibly heavy and viscous; even inducing air currents became exceptionally difficult.
His levitation effect was forcibly interrupted, and he landed heavily, leaving indentations in the ground.
"You're doomed!" Heavy Rock shouted low, as the terrifying gravity spread across the surrounding area.
Wade was pressed into a stoop, and a shrinking rock cage gathered around him, intending to imprison him completely.
At the same time, Magnetic Clay's figure flickered, and the grayish-brown clay on his body surface writhed as he lunged forward.
Boom, boom—
Wade barely managed to condense two air bullets and fire them off.
When they neared the opponent, they were like water droplets entering a sponge, instantly absorbed and neutralized by the surrounding clay.
Even more terrifyingly, Wade felt the air currents around him begin to turn chaotic, as if interfered with and pulled by an invisible force; the dissipated gas simply couldn't envelop the target.
Seeing the stone cage shrinking further, Wade slammed into it, blasting a large hole and successfully escaping.
He sped around the field, compressing air into needle-like shapes and firing them all at Heavy Rock, attempting to prioritize breaking the gravity field's hard control.
Puff, puff, puff—Thud!
As soon as the hundreds of air needles left his body, they were torn to pieces by the terrifying gravity.
Wade raised both palms and tried to create an icy mist under the chasing Magnetic Clay's feet to hinder his pursuit.
But Magnetic Clay's clay armor seemed to have its own suction force, firmly locking down the surrounding air, making the effect negligible.
'Quite capable... It seems these two are specifically targeting me.' A chill ran down Wade's spine. 'Do I have to reveal other abilities?'
In his hesitation, he was completely suppressed by the two and fell into a disadvantage.
The onlookers were shocked and discussed fervently.
"This is bad!" "Fire Dragon came prepared."
"Cyclone's signature air bullets, air blade tornadoes, suffocation attacks, and even flight are almost completely ineffective... How is he supposed to fight?"
Wade could only rely on Invulnerability and Super Strength to endure the gravity suppression and rock impacts, dodging awkwardly under Magnetic Clay's close-quarters combat in a series of close calls.
Chance clutched his stomach and laughed hysterically off-stage, slapping his thigh: "Hee hee hee... Did you really think I was just some rich idiot? I'm going to play you to death!"
'Damn it!' Wade's heart sank. 'If I can't manipulate air currents... what advantage do I have left?'
While dodging, he noticed several floor fragments crushed by gravity; Magnetic Clay didn't absorb them but instead pushed them away.
'This person can only absorb gas and energy... His direct influence on physical matter is weak? No... the key is that his absorption requires contact and guidance.'
An extremely dangerous thought flashed through his mind like lightning: 'What if my attack doesn't go through external space, but instead, through direct contact, I forcibly pump high-pressure gas into his body?!'
"Heavy Rock, he's done for. Don't hold back!" Magnetic Clay roared, driving a sky full of clay toward him as the rock cage gathered again. The two intended to completely lock down Wade's last bit of moving space.
Wade dodged repeatedly, no longer trying to release any air currents outward, but instead frantically compressing all the gas inward.
He calmed his mind, gathering the oxygen and carbon dioxide accumulated in his body into his arms, creating high-pressure air channels.
Whoosh—Hiss!
Wade's muscles became extremely tight, and the veins under his skin bulged due to the internal high pressure.
Seeing him standing still, Magnetic Clay spread his hands and swirled the clay: "Stop struggling, junior!"
Wade's eyes turned fierce, merging the immense power granted by [Super Strength] with the air channels in his arms, concentrating it all into his right fist.
He condensed two clouds of air under his feet, took two steps and turned, bypassing the area where the clay was falling, and threw a punch toward Magnetic Clay's palm!
"You like to absorb? Let's see if I can burst you!"
This slow punch was silent and carried no wind.
The moment fist and palm met, under Magnetic Clay's arm surface, it was as if countless tiny air snakes had drilled in, expanded, and exploded.
Puff, puff, puff—
A series of muffled sounds came from inside his arm. The entire arm was like a sausage burst from the inside; muscle fibers and bones were torn apart, twisted at a bizarre angle.
The crowd didn't even see clearly what happened; they only saw Magnetic Clay crash through the stone cage and fly backward, screaming.
"What?!" Witnessing Magnetic Clay's miserable state, Heavy Rock's pupils shrank. Instead of panicking, he slammed his fists together fiercely.
Boom!
The gravity field doubled again, but its range shrank to five meters around Wade, the pressure becoming almost tangible.
Wade's knees buckled, and the arena floor beneath his feet instantly cracked.
"You're finished! I'm much stronger than that guy!" Heavy Rock roared, no longer giving Wade any room to breathe.
He swung his fists repeatedly through the air, and rocks condensed with terrifying gravity blasted toward him like cannonballs.
Wade dodged with difficulty in the swamp-like field, his body thudding as it was hit by rubble, leaving behind countless white marks.
He knew that passive defense was a dead end.
'I have to take a gamble!'
He internalized his [Gas Manipulation] ability to the extreme, creating several miniature, continuous exploding air cushions between his feet and the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Like a reverse-fired rocket, Wade relied on the continuous explosive thrust under his feet to burst through the viscous gravity field in a bizarrely swift manner, charging straight at Heavy Rock.
This charge was entirely self-destructive; every step bore the recoil of his own explosions and the crushing gravity, but he succeeded!
Heavy Rock hadn't expected the opponent to move while carrying double gravity. Just as he raised his arm, Wade had already broken into his two-meter range.
Wade held his palm out, aiming at the air around his head.
Hiss—
A miniature vacuum zone formed instantly, enveloping Heavy Rock's mouth and nose.
"Heh!" Heavy Rock's attack suddenly stalled. The intense feeling of suffocation caused his brain to go blank for a second, and his ability immediately cut out.
The gravity field on the arena dissipated instantly.
"Goodbye!" In his palm, Wade instantly condensed an extremely compressed air bullet and pressed it against Heavy Rock's waist.
Boom, boom, boom—
Heavy Rock tumbled through the air, a large spray of crimson liquid splashing from him as he was knocked off the platform by the successive exploding air bullets.
The match was decided; the entire place was silent.
A few seconds later, cheers and discussions erupted like a tidal wave.
"Cyclone! Cyclone!" "He actually won?!"
"Hahaha, I made a full fifty thousand... Cyclone, I love you!"
In the audience, Jordan Li, Luke, and Andre sat in a row with varying expressions.
Andre held his water bottle without taking a single sip, remarking with emotion, "Is Wade really a freshman? This is too insane. He could still counter-attack even when his ability was weakened like that?"
Jordan Li was scrolling through a tablet, replaying the battle video and analyzing seriously: "Under a gravity field, gas should be harder to control... Look at his body; it suddenly became exceptionally lean during the fight. He was using the gas stored in his body to fight, putting his life on the line!"
"This shows his strength, defense, and agility are all very high; otherwise, there would be no room to operate." Luke waved a towel and shouted toward the stage, "Hey, Wade... that was a beautiful fight!"
Wade nodded to the three of them and then floated off the platform. Air flowed into his body with his breaths, and he felt countless tiny Cyclones scurrying inside, bringing waves of heat and numbness.
Heavy Rock clutched his waist, struggling to crawl up, his face full of incomprehensible shock; Magnetic Clay lay motionless on the ground, clutching his shoulder and groaning in pain.
Chance looked ashen. He walked forward tremblingly and handed the check to Wade with both hands: "You, you... you're amazing. I'm convinced!"
Wade took a few deep breaths to calm his pounding heart before stuffing the check into his pocket: "Next time you want to give me money, remember to bring someone who can actually fight."
Chance's face turned green with anger, but he didn't dare say a word. He turned and started kicking and punching the two lackeys who were still filming: "What are you staring at? Hurry up and take the two seniors to the infirmary!"
Wade watched the group leave, secretly delighted as he sensed the newly collected [Gravity Rock Bind] and [Magnetic Clay Adsorption] in his genetic map.
"Pressure brings motivation; I guess I was forced into a new move today." He quickly calmed down. "This time I won by surprise. Once the opponent is prepared, it won't be so easy."
Wade was hovering in mid-air, preparing to leave, when Harper brought a crowd of people over, surrounding him in a rush.
"Cyclone! You're so amazing! How did you do that punch?"
"Can I have an autograph? Just sign it on... sign it on my clothes!"
"I want a photo... is that okay?"
Looking at these fanatical faces, Wade felt no emotion, only thinking it was a bit noisy.
Harper held out a pen with her tail: "Wade, just sign... they're all from the fan club, and they were cheering for you for a long time just now."
"Alright." Wade landed back on the ground, a slightly tired smile on his face. "Don't push, one at a time."
An hour later, he finally escaped from the surrounding enthusiastic fans and flew back to the dormitory.
'Too much attention... this kind of focus will hinder my private actions. As my rank rises, there will be more eyes on me.'
He needed space to operate in the shadows, not a stage illuminated by spotlights.
'I need to create some negative news to cool down the hype... I'll start by skipping Ms. Sierra's "Hero Image Management" class at the School of Performing Arts.'
Thinking of this, he picked up his messenger bag from the bed: 'Calculating the time, the Mayor of Baltimore should be heading back this afternoon, right? It's the perfect time to intercept him...'
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