BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

8 days had passed since Erik acquired the Lomalin's power; nothing major happened. Apparently, the police were still investigating Logan's, Conal's, and Orson's disappearances, but everything led them to believe that the young men died at the hands of some gang.

It wasn't a rare occurrence; maybe they had been robbed and tried to fight back, leading the thugs to kill them.

It was a little bit weird that their bodies had not been found out, contrary to what usually happened, and the police didn't have any clue regarding the situation.

The three men's parents still hoped that their children would be alive, but the police were aware that if they had been kidnapped, they would have received a ransom demand, which did not happen.

Another alternative could be that they had been kidnapped and used to harvest organs. This also frequently happened since, due to the war, there was a high demand for organs.

Though, nothing was certain, and the six parents were trying to figure things out.

During these 8 days, Erik completed his daily quests, went to work at the farm, and trained with professor McAllister and the other top students.

He also killed six more Lomalins, leveling up again and bringing his dexterity to 18. At the same time, he gained another neural link, in the sharpening power this time, further increasing his physical statistics.

What Erik found weird, though, was that he couldn't find any other thaid in the forest surrounding the city, only Lomalins.

This prompted Erik to do a little research about the thaids, and he did find out that he had been damn lucky. Lomalins weren't particularly strong thaids, but they lived in colonies, with them sending small numbers of their units to search for food or resources.

Erik only found small groups of 5-6 individuals, but normally the Lomalins attacked in droves, the individual count not being less than a hundred.

Chills ran down Erik's spine as he read this information, so he decided to inject information about the thaids around the world. This way, he would be much more prepared when fighting new creatures, and he could even know what kind of brain crystal power they possessed.

Clearly, the news of the teleportation device spread rapidly around the world. Many people wondered if, thorugh it, it was possible to reclaim back the Mur continent, where most of the thaids lived.

That was an uncharted place, full of dangerous and never seen thaids, yet it might have been worth the risk. A lot of people wanted to explore those areas, including Erik himself.

But he still needed a lot of strength before he could do so. If even Solomon Judd, the strongest man who ever lived, perished there, what were his chances of surviving? None.

The TV and the media talked non-stop about the device for a week. It also became a hot topic at school, with countless people discussing the possibilities it opened to humanity and the risks.

A lot of debate went on about how the device would work. Did it destroy the individual and rebuild it elsewhere? If yes, did this mean that the device killed an individual and recreated it elsewhere? Or did it work differently? The debate was strong, and many religious groups condemned the upcoming technology as something satanic.

Erik didn't know how things worked, but he was going to find out once the technology became available for the masses.

Aside from this, nothing major happened. Since Logan and his friend disappeared, the school was much more peaceful than before. People didn't dare to bully the young man anymore since he could now defend himself.

Many people saw him training with the school's top students and were astonished at how he improved, starting from a situation where he knew nothing of martial arts.

It was true that his brain crystal wasn't as powerful as other people's, or at least that was what he made people think. Still, his physical stats made up for it, making him extremely strong.

Erik had just finished working at the farm when a message arrived on his phone; it was sent from Amber.

[Come to school as soon as you can. Professor McAllister has a huge announcement to make. DO NOT BE LATE. SENDER: AMBER JOYCE.]

<An announcement? What could it be?>

Erik then increased his pace and went to the train station. After having boarded the train, Erik sat near the window as usual and observed the scenery change from a rural area full of farms, fields, woods, rivers, and streams to New Alexandria's suburbs.

Skyscrapers and buildings gradually grew denser until reaching the downtown area, filled with tall skyscrapers and crowded streets. Once the train reached its destination, Erik got off and headed towards the school building.

It took around 15 minutes for the young man to reach the school. Before entering, Erik noticed a crowd in front of the electronic information board. Professor McAllister stood near the board with the school's top students. He was surrounded by many people and looked earnest but wasn't saying anything.

As soon as Erik arrived, professor McAllister glared at him, something the other students noticed. They started giggling as soon as they saw the scene since they still disliked the young man.

Erik looked to Professor McAllister's right and saw Amber beckoning him to get in line as the other students did. He placed himself on Amber's left, and as soon as he did, Erik looked at the people in front of him.

The presents were all students who usually remained at school to train after the lessons ended and that he frequently saw while heading to the gym, where only the top students were admitted. They were the best students in the whole institution, albeit not the top ones.

Among them, he could see people with extraordinary powers, fantastic builds, and excellent grades. They were all waiting for Professor McAllister's announcement. Still, they had to wait because not every top student was there.

The teacher started speaking as soon as Erik went beside Amber and then started his speech.

"As you know, every year, the school's top students get sent to the Red Palace before their military enrolling to hone their skills before joining the adult world. This is something that only people from New Alexandria can do since it doesn't exist a better institution than the Red Palace in the whole nation. It is easy to imagine the honor of being a member of that prestigious place," the teacher said while standing in front of the crowd with a serious face.

"Usually, the top students get directly selected by the school, making it so that many gifted but unlucky people get left out," he added.

"This time, however, we have some special news..."

There was a murmur among those present, but professor McAllister continued talking, keeping his serious expression.

"From this year on, we have decided to give all the school's students an opportunity by preparing a small tournament for the end of the school year. It will start on the first of July at the school's gym. Every student is invited to join," Professor McAllister nodded to confirm what he'd just told everyone.

Everyone began whispering amongst themselves, trying to guess the reason behind such a decision. Some thought it might be just a new way to select the most talented kids for the Red Palace or maybe even a new test to evaluate their abilities.

Others, however, felt it must be connected with some kind of favoritism around some students. It wasn't something new, in fact, that Erik joined the top students in their daily training.

Many people knew that the young man had improved a lot since before his awakening. Still, it was clear to everyone that he was not strong enough to be directly selected by the school to be part of the Red palace. That had to be a way to allow him to join the others.

At the same time, though, this was an invaluable opportunity to every other student to join the prestigious dojo, and they didn't intend to let this opportunity pass.