Erik woke up refreshed the following day. His mood was on the stars since he was bound to acquire another brain crystal power in a couple of days.
It wasn't the first time something like that happened to people; some were born with brain crystals that later on allowed the individual to develop a second power.
It was rare but possible; Erik, though, had to complete four daily quests in order to get enough DNA points to give the system the required energy to use the so-called extraction power.
So, the first thing the young man did when waking up was check his daily quests.
"Quests," the young man said.
-----------------------------
[Quests List]
[Daily]
<Eating Habits:>
-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points
-Failure Penalty: None
(Eat a healthy meal)
(ACCEPT QUEST) (REFUSE QUEST)
<Physical training:>
-Rewards for completion: Ten Experience, ten DNA points
-Failure Penalty: None
(Train for at least an hour. The Host may choose whatever exercise to complete the quest.)
(ACCEPT QUEST) (REFUSE QUEST)
-----------------------------
He then accepted both quests and walked to the kitchen to complete the first one. He needed food anyway. As soon as he finished eating breakfast—a bowl of cereal with milk plus a banana—he returned to his room to get dressed for school.
He looked at his status quest in satisfaction since the first daily quest sported a huge COMPLETED beside the quest name and gave him ten DNA points.
A few minutes later, wearing the school's black uniform, Erik headed out to the living room and then left the building from the main door.
As usual, the young man headed to the train station, going through the full of billboards city streets until arriving there.
There he took a ticket using the terminal and entered the waiting area where many students waited before boarding their trains.
Since it was the last school month, most of the students were heading home after classes, while others would stay behind because they had exams or other extracurricular activities planned for the week.
It was important to get good result before entering the militaries since that would mean they would be much more interested in the student in question, and opening a wide array of possibilities.
Erik waited for a bit and then the train arrived. He then jumped on a carriage and sat down near the window.
In less than five minutes, the train departed, leaving the platform and speeding through the floating rails stretching inside the city as a maze.
As he went toward the west district, Erik observed the cars and the trains floating above the city streets. The trains looked like giant snakes crawling through the air.
They moved very fast along the tracks suspended between buildings and bridges, making sure not to collide with anything else.
The trains went here and there, leaving and going into the station as if they were entering their burrows, disappearing from Erik's view.
Sometimes, they floated between the clouds when they were low enough to float between the city's skyscrapers.
All this fascinated him greatly. He frequently saw this scenery, but he couldn't stop marveling at the sight every time he looked at it.
"This is incredible!" Erik exclaimed. Wondering how that was possible. He then arrived in the western district and headed to school.
Then, the young man had the usual routine of people staring at him or making fun of him because of his power, unaware that he had been subject to great changes in the last week.
Not only was he now Ranked E on the Ferebitz scale, but he also fixed the problem that prevented him from making new neural links. He was bound to develop new connections sooner or later.
Not only this, but the next day he was going to get a new power. He didn't know which one, but it would certainly help him become even stronger.
For the moment, however, Erik had to focus on what was happening, which meant dealing with his classes. Luckily, today he only had theoretical classes, so he didn't have to embarrass himself in front of his classmates.
There was more, though; since the day he shared Logan's and his friends' video, they stopped outright beating him. It was probably due the consequences would be much worse now since the school found out he set a bathroom on fire.
After taking his seat in the class, Erik stared blankly outside the classroom windows, watching everything pass by slowly.
Soon, everyone started talking about what they had done the previous day until the teacher finally arrived in class and the lessons started.
At the end of the lessons, Erik stood up and left the classroom without saying goodbye to anyone. He had to reach the farm to work. So he walked toward the train station and headed to the northern district this time.
After a while, he arrived at Mister Fox's farm and found him there using some sort of machine to drag the tree. He made it grow away from the main gate.
"Good morning, mister Fox," the young man said.
"Erik... I was wondering if you could explain this tree out here," the old man said while transporting the tree out of the way. Erik followed Mister Fox but didn't know what to say to his employer. "Was it you?" Mister Fox asked.
It was obvious it was him since he was the only person in the whole city capable of making plants grow faster. Besides, the tree wasn't there the previous day, or better, before Erik left the farm.
"Yes, sir."
"Care to explain?" Mister Fox asked.
Erik panicked; he didn't know what to say to Mister Fox. If the attack happened elsewhere, he could have at least said that he didn't have anything to do about it. Still, the tree was in front of him, so it was pretty obvious he made that apple tree grow there. In the end, he confessed.
"Yeah, it was me. Sorry Mister Fox," the young man said.
"Why did you do something like that? I had to carry this damn thing alone over there!" the man replied.
"I...I Was attacked," Erik hesitantly said.
"Attacked? By what, a thaid? Here inside the barrier?" Thaids inside the barrier were rare but not unheard of.
"Yes, sir. It was a thaid." Mister Fox didn't know what to believe.
"And I should believe that it was able to enter the barrier? Despite all the security involved?"
"Sir, this is what happened. I barely escaped with my life."
Mister Fox was unconvinced by Erik's story. Still, something did happen. Otherwise, the young man wouldn't have used his power without any reason.
"If what you say is true, you should have called the blackguards or the militaries. Why didn't you do so?" Mister Fox asked.
"Sir, I was scared, I had a train to take to go home, and I was in a panic..."
Erik told the old man what did happen, and once he finished Mister Fox looked at him and sighed. He gave in in the end and didn't say anything else regarding the matter.
"All right, just do your job, all right?"
"Of course, Mr. Fox." The young man nodded. Then he went to the barn to change. They continued working together as usual, except Mister Fox kept staring suspiciously at Erik, who pretended not to notice.
The young man then went to work. He used his power to make plants grow faster. After that, the old man ordered Erik to go collect the potatoes and he did so while using the usual basket.
After a while, Erik stopped to eat under one of the trees on the farm. The scenery was beautiful today; the sun shone brightly above them, and the sky was clear blue.
Erik took off his jacket and shirt and lay down beneath the shade of the tree, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight against his skin.
While eating, Erik thought about the events that occurred last night. His mind drifted back to the moment when he saw the thaid coming toward him.
He remembered how terrified he felt. And how things unfolded, the quest, the blood, the corpse, and how he managed to escape death.
After his brief rest, Erik went back to work again. Soon enough, he finished harvesting the vegetables from the garden.
Erik then went to change back into his school uniform, which was stored in the barn. When he got changed, Mister Fox came into the room where Erik waited for him.
"Hey, kid! You done already?"
The young man smiled nervously.
"Yep, almost," Erik replied.
They both exited the barn and headed toward the house. Probably to give him the money he earned during the day. He was still suspicious of Erik and didn't believe what the young man said. They walked through the fields until arriving at the main gate. As soon as they reached the door, the old man handed Erik the money for his work. "Here," Mister Fox said.
Erik opened the bag and counted out the money; there were twenty new dollars. He couldn't help feeling relieved after receiving payment.
As Erik raised his head, he saw a group of men and women walking in his and Mister Fox's direction. They were militaries wearing full combat gear with their faces concealed behind a helmet. The soldiers were directly looking at the duo; there was no doubt that these people wanted to talk to them.
"I'm Sergeant Roma Sinclair. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?" the woman said.
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