I was disappointed, sad even. Azzurra was justified in rejecting me, but it still hurt. Indifferent to the whispers, I solemnly marched through the corridors to my next target.

  I was supposed to be a wizard, but I have nothing but a pathetic force bullet technique, and it could hardly be called a technique. I had to have a proper spell… I should have learned the Ice Bomb instead of perusing the Fundamental Forms.

  She was right; I tried to reinvent the wheel when I should have been iterating on existing techniques. Shame burned in my heart, and it was so irrational it made me angry.

  With a flare of starpower that made passersby reel back, I strengthened my resolve. Time was running out, and I picked the exact technique that would help me fix that.

  In front of my eyes appeared the first page of the mind acceleration technique. Faster thinking, faster learning. The biocrafting course was at least 5 minutes of walking away from here, enough time to start reading.

  I regretted my decision almost immediately. The book was far too complex, referring to forms I didn’t know existed and recommending me to learn them before trying to grasp this technique. Kory learned two techniques… Was I just incompetent?

  Doubts stifled even my starpower, alas, I reached the biocrafting course location. It was average for this academy. Just like any other door littering the hallways, there were only three students in line, incomparable to the technique design course.

  I continued reading through the mind acceleration technique, waiting for my turn to come.

  “Next~” Finally, a melodic voice broke me out of my contemplation. Within was a laboratory, quite unlike Avennture’s. Capsules of mummified creatures and organs lined the shelves along the walls. In the center of the room, two rows of glowing technological tables projected holograms. The dragons in front of them carefully manipulated the projections, occasionally speaking in biological jargon that my VITA’s translator struggled to understand.

  In front of the biggest table at the head of the room, slithered a giant purple-skinned dragon-woman. Unlike everyone else, she didn’t have legs; half of her body was that of a giant snake. Four muscular hands manipulated a massive projection of herself, as she giggled occasionally. Two of her four eyes flickered to me, and she beckoned me with her hands. Her uncanny presence made my heart flutter, and I couldn’t know whether that was fear for certain.

  Professor Simona

  Species: Dragon-Tiershen (Modified Imperfect Genome)

  Standing Emissions: 204

  Age: 115

  Affinity: Emerald-Sapphire

  Despite the intimidating appearance, she spoke softly, “Hello, little human~” Before I could greet her in kind, she continued, “I knew a human was eventually bound to join my little biocrafting course, it is your kind’s specialty after all. O, but to see you express interest so early, have your parents’ genetic work left you unsatisfied?”

  The barrage of words made it difficult to say a thing. “I want to-”

  Half of her face smiled as she made colorful hand gestures, still staring both at the hologram and at me. “Of course you do, little human. It is the natural desire to wish for change, to direct your nature like its rightful owner. Unlike dragonkind, you humans are so easy to modify, your code so simplistic, yet beautiful. You won’t have to navigate a maze, nor will you have to work on the side of caution, such luck.” She chuckled. “It will be interesting to tutor you, little friend. Let me tell you a story of a human friend I once had-”

  “Please, Professor Simona, let me speak!” I fought against the onslaught of words.

  The purple skin of her cheeks gained a deeper shade of red… With an annoying amount of genuineness, she said quietly, “Oh, I’m so sorry for speaking over.” Her tail curled on the ground as she turned to me.

  Over three meters tall, this behemoth of a woman directed her full attention on me. Her glowing yellow eyes moved asynchronously, looking over every part of me. I felt naked. “So… Why do you want to join the biocrafting course?” Two of her hands made a steeple while the other pair started charting a variation of the detection form.

  I felt like an ant, even more than with any other person or monster. My starpower stirred, growing brighter. “My name is Magnus Glanzvoll, and I want to learn biocrafting to surpass the limits of humanity.”

  Cold silence enveloped the room, interrupted only by an occasional whisper. Her constant stares remained the same. Suddenly, Simona gasped, putting a hand over her mouth, “I’m sorry again, I got distracted. Your genetic code is so amazing, like a blank slate ready to blossom into greatness.” She slithered towards me.

  Naturally, I reeled back, only to trip over her tail. With lightning-fast speed, she caught me, her face filled with worry. “Did I scare you? I’m sorry, little Magnus, I didn’t mean to.” Gently, she set me straight and slithered back. “What did you want to say?”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  I was cursed, wasn’t I? The Betrayer must have cursed me to have deviant teachers. “I want to join the course and learn how to transcend humanity.”

  With quick movements, she nodded like a bobble-head. “Yes, yes, yes. For an onyx-sapphire, that is a noble reason. I applaud you, but I must warn you.” She raised a finger into the air. “The biocrafting course is more of a study group. I let my students use the facilities, ask questions, and I help them when I can, but there will be no formal lessons. If that is okay with you, I’ll be glad to induct you!” She babbled on so eagerly, I almost forgot I spoke to a massive snake-woman.

  I wasn’t sure how exactly to feel about Simona, but my opinion had risen. “Yes, that would be great.” I let a smile fall on my lips.

  “When the little ones yearn for knowledge, even my old heart flutters, let me bring you the literature, Magnus.” She clapped her hands and slithered away towards one of the drawers. “Now where did I put the thingie…” Ruffling through its insides, she quickly took out a data-pad, tapping her fingers on the screen.

  “These are your books; you can ask me questions anytime!” With burning eagerness, she put the data-pad into my hands. “You can use anything in this lab.”

  I gulped; the friendliness was getting too much. “T-thank you, Professor Simona. I’ll be sure to read them…”

  The snake-woman smiled brightly. “No need to call me Professor, all of us are family here… even if you’re not a dragon by blood.” She opened her mouth, thinking about something, and then quickly slithered away, returning after a second. “I know I can be too much, so here, have a plum!”

  I stared at the familiar purple fruit. My hands shook as I grabbed the plum. Here, of all places, was a piece of Earth. One lonely plum. “Where did you get it from?” I surrendered to the hunger and took a bite. It was sweet, familiar. I almost cried.

  “It’s quite a delicacy. I grew them in the garden.” Simona puffed out her chest with pride. “I heard it’s the oldest fruit of humanity. Just a little tidbit, I picked up.”

  It was an obvious conclusion, but Earth existed out there somewhere. Where else would humanity come from? Where else would a plum appear from? I exhaled, letting the knowledge settle into my head.

  “Thank you!” It was relieving to hear that Earth was preserved, that maybe its culture still lived on.

  “No need to thank me!” She leaned down and grabbed my cheeks while simultaneously petting my head. “What a cute specimen.” She chuckled again.

  “Please, don’t do this.”

  She reeled back with an awkward smile. “Right, I have to adjust some designs! If you need me, I’ll be here. Welcome to the biocrafting course.” Just as quickly, she returned to the massive hologram of herself, one of her eyes still occasionally glanced at me.

  This was a good place to be. With such a friendly professor, my goal would surely be easier. I sat down on one of the vacant chairs and started scrolling through the data-pad.

  Available Books

  - Introductory Biocrafting Forms

  - Designing your first Modification

  - Modification Safety for Beginners

  - Basics of Trait Crafting

  Would you like to download to VITA?

  I selected yes, and the metal around my hand stretched towards the data-pad, covering it whole. My mind prickled as I felt a trickle of information pierce into my thoughts. As if I just saw the pages, the books slowly appeared within, just like those downloaded from the archive.

  In a few minutes, the metal retracted back, and I felt the knowledge in my head, ready to be recalled and studied. This trait was beyond amazing… but it wasn’t unique; everyone else had it too.

  I sighed and placed the data-cell on the table. Waving goodbye to the professor, I left the laboratory. Thoughts of meeting Kory or Steel crossed my mind, but I had already spent far too much time talking with them.

  If I couldn’t learn my forms fast enough, I would be doomed. The Mind Acceleration Technique opened in front of me as I headed towards the private training rooms. The invasion wouldn’t wait.

  A headache pulsed relentlessly in my brain. My muscles burned and shook. Cold sweat fell down the metal surface of my suit. It’s been four hours since I started, and it couldn’t have been going worse.

  Catalytic Acceleration

  Type: Catalytics

  Mastery: Initiate

  Progress to Adept: 8/100

  Form Affinity Compatibility: Null (90%), Sapphire (10%)

  Description: Increases the speed of chemical reactions.

  Note: Move those facial muscles, I know we’re not the most emotive, but it’s for knowledge.

  I twisted my face and eyebrows, trying to shape the pattern into the necessary structure. As starpower coursed through my brain, I could taste colors. The irregularities when performing it kept making me feel like I was drunk, but I had to do it.

  I had to think about the chemistry, too - the way neurotransmitters worked. Even the idea altered the motion of starpower. Once I made the sequence of facial twitches, the flow settled comfortably across my frontal lobe. The next part was much harder. While keeping my focus on sustaining the catalytic acceleration, I also had to apply strengthening in a very precise way.

  The flows intertwined as I breathed carefully and slowly. Acceleration, thoughts, neural patterns, with each idea reverberating through my mind, I felt everything warping around me. The world slowed down, as each breath lasted more than a minute. Spiral after spiral, I ordered the starpower to comply, hoping I’d break the equilibrium.

  With each second, I covered more and more of the catalytic acceleration’s tendrils, combining the individual forms into something more. I had to create artificial associations between these spirals and neural maps, as if they were a part of my mind too. When I was done, I lost count of their number,

  The world became still. Each breath lasted an eternity. My heart beat so slowly, each sensation was intensified monumentally, yet I could perceive it all.

  Mind Acceleration Technique learned at Initiate Level

  Your SE has increased to 14

  Even the notification crawled in my vision painfully slowly. I was omniscient, aware of everything all at once. I couldn’t get enough air; it was beyond amazing. True magic.

  But then the world resumed its path. It went faster and faster before returning to its mundane speed. Despite the migraine, I couldn’t restrain a smile.

  My laughter rang out through the room. “Soon my power will eclipse the stars themselves!” I felt like jumping, like running a marathon. My first technique… It was beyond amazing.

  The night was coming close, and tomorrow I had to go to ELEVATE, but still I wanted to practice for just an hour more… Magic was as intoxicating as I imagined it.