Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The orientation party came to a successful conclusion.

Tan Wenshan and others crawled out of the pool, suffering immense psychological trauma, and were taken away by cleaning robots in a state of collapse.

With their leader gone, the other autumn class students couldn't stay either and slunk away in shame.

For the first time, the orientation party truly became the new students' own event. There were originally all sorts of entertainment and activities here, but previous freshmen couldn't enjoy them; instead, they were merely part of the entertainment themselves.

Even some waitstaff forced to wear tight uniforms abandoned their student council assessments, tossing aside plates and towels to joyfully join the crowd in the fun.

By the next day, the results of the orientation party satisfaction survey came out.

This orientation party received an unprecedented high approval rating!

Because the survey was anonymous, freshmen who had been bullied in past orientation parties would give low scores, with the average being pulled up by upperclassmen and new students who had switched sides. But this time, all freshmen gave high scores. Moreover, as an event organized by the student council, the autumn class members, having reaped what they had sown, couldn't give low scores either—it would reflect poorly on themselves. Thus, this rare spectacle came about.

Even the logistics office of the college sent a congratulatory message to the student council, praising them for a well-organized orientation party and suggesting that future parties follow this year's plan.

Tan Wenshan was so furious he couldn't help himself and smashed the printer that printed out the congratulatory message.

Meanwhile, Wen Jing, the newly minted campus celebrity behind it all, was running across campus.

After running for over ten kilometers, she made her way to the research institute Dean Bai had taken her to before.

She had arranged with Xie Ming yesterday after class to assist with his research—she wasn't about to forget such a good opportunity to earn credits.

Xie Ming took Wen Jing to another huge laboratory. Unlike the material analysis room they'd visited before, this one had no primeval materials; instead, it was filled with large, sophisticated instruments that looked complex.

Wen Jing gawked at the place like a country bumpkin. "Professor, what exactly do you need me to help you research?"

"It's about the relationship between Wild Body species and energy," Xie Ming said, looking at her seriously. "Your Wild Body is very special."

"Oh? Special how?"

Wen Jing perked up, thinking that her infinitely evolving species grade must have some significance.

Xie Ming perked up as well. "Your Wild Body is not only exceptionally small in size, but its energy is also exceptionally low!"

"..." Was this what she had to endure to earn that one credit?

Seeing Wen Jing's expression, Xie Ming chuckled. "You know you were assigned to the small-sized Wild Body specialization, right?"

Wen Jing nodded, though she felt the specialization didn't seem to make much difference in the academy.

As if he had read her thoughts, Xie Ming explained: "You're only freshmen now, with too low a compatibility to use Abilities. At this stage, the specialization is just a rough classification based on Wild Body size. In reality, all required courses for freshmen are the same, taught together in one class."

"The actual specialization won't come until you're sophomores, when you'll be subdivided based on the nature of your Ability, which also relates to differences in Wild Body size."

He returned to the main topic: "In fact, based on statistics of Awakener Wild Bodies, for grades D and below, the size of the Wild Body is basically proportional to its energy intensity. So, most E-grade and F-grade Awakeners have small-sized Wild Bodies, with only a few exceptions."

Wen Jing was curious. "Doesn't this apply to D-grade and above?"

"Yes. Starting from C-grade, Awakeners' Wild Bodies have their own 'characteristics,' and the correlation between size and energy intensity weakens," Xie Ming said.

As they spoke, they arrived beside a cluster of instruments.

"Come, lie down here."

Xie Ming pointed to a transparent chamber connected to many metal tubes and said to Wen Jing.

She did as instructed.

Xie Ming smiled and closed the lid from outside. "Relax, it'll be done in a moment."

Seeing his mad-scientist grin, Wen Jing felt a twinge of unease.

Since this person was introduced by Dean Bai and was her required course professor, he should be reliable, right?

A moment later, a harsh red light swept through the chamber.

With the light, she felt energy fluctuations.

The fluctuations were extremely subtle. The previous Wen Jing wouldn't have noticed them, but now it was different.

After a few days of recovery, she had recovered a small amount of Gravity Silk. Although she couldn't yet manifest it in reality, she already possessed a Gravity Silk Gland. It granted her a Gravitational Sense—a sort of precociously acquired passive ability.

This sense wasn't particularly sensitive yet; it could only detect gravitational fields and Planck-scale gravitational waves within a certain distance.

But combined with her combat skills, it produced a qualitative change.

Yesterday at the pool, when Ji Shuang tried to stop her, that incredible kick she pulled off—she couldn't have done that before. With the assistance of her Gravitational Sense, mass, motion, and energy were unified, granting her perfect control over force.

Wen Jing had expected the process to be complicated, but once the red light passed, the chamber door opened automatically, and Xie Ming's voice came from outside.

"You can come out. Any discomfort?"

"Feeling great," Wen Jing joked as she climbed out. She saw Xie Ming tinkering around with a large instrument nearby.

On the central holographic projection, a 2D silhouette appeared.

The silhouette was very blurry; she could barely make out it was an insect. Wen Jing had to study it for a while to identify a few details, such as the slightly bulging hind abdomen.

"This is a projection made from a primeval material using particle scattering—the same technology as the detection instruments used when you awoke."

"Now that your compatibility is higher than before, the projection is more accurate. Once your compatibility reaches over 60%, you'll be able to convert directly into your Wild Body form, and we won't need to go through all this trouble."

As he spoke, Xie Ming asked, "Do you know exactly how big your Wild Body is?"

"About..." Wen Jing started saying, then quickly corrected herself: "A bit larger than the stone I sold you."

Awakeners can only bring matter from the Primeval Wilds up to their own mass. If she disclosed her true size, it would risk exposing the Gravity Silk Gland.

The ability of the Gravity Silk Gland subverted the supposed 'common knowledge' of Awakener travel through the Primeval Wilds. She had no intention of revealing it.

For future attention from growth and evolution, Wen Jing planned to explain it with her digestive ability, which hadn't started evolving yet.

Xie Ming didn't notice anything unusual; he was excited by the new discovery. "So small! No wonder your potential tested so low. Perhaps because your Wild Body's mass is so small, the detected energy set a historical low. The only reason you have an F rating is that F is the lowest grade, but you actually belong to an even lower domain!"

Wen Jing said flatly, "My Wild Body is an insect—being small is normal, right?"

To her surprise, Xie Ming praised her with an impressed expression. "You're quite knowledgeable."

"Huh?" Wen Jing's senses sharpened. "Insects... are they rare?"

"Of course, this kind of niche creature only seems to be exhibited in one zoo on our planet Ochre."

As Xie Ming blurted out this answer, Wen Jing finally realized her previous misunderstandings about this world.

Indeed, this world has no agriculture. People have taken land use to the extreme, so naturally there were no wild ecosystems like back on Blue Star.

However, with ridiculously advanced genetic tech, no species has gone extinct.

Except humans... well, actually humans are no different. As long as the genes of any organism within civilization are stored in the central brain's gene bank, they can be mass-produced at any time.

The natural ethics of life are pretty much shattered in this world.

Wen Jing used to think the interstellar school was clean because there were no bugs. Actually, bugs in this world were niche creatures that could only be seen in zoos. A lot of people probably don't even know what bugs look like.

The roles ecosystems normally play are all handled by ultra-advanced tech.

This interstellar world always comes up with situations that seem ridiculous but, on second thought, kind of make sense...

Wen Jing thought to herself.

But Xie Ming's next sentence brought all her thoughts to a screeching halt.

He said: "Also, out of all the Awakeners ever, you are the only one whose Wild Body is an Insectoid. We used to think that type didn't exist."

*

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Time for another elective class.

Under the stares of her classmates, all wearing 'Not again' faces, Wen Jing walked over to the familiar testing machine in the middle.

Her classmates, who had taken four full sessions of Energy Amplification courses with her over these days, had gone from being envious and jealous to now... being pretty numb to it.

Next to the machine, the instructor Louisa, who they always remembered as either stone-faced or ready to throw a punch, was smiling at Wen Jing with a gentleness they'd never seen in her eyes.

All the college students present realized for the first time that instructors who charge credits for their courses also give special treatment to top students.

They hadn't seen it before, simply because their grades weren't good enough.

Wen Jing nodded to the instructor, skillfully reached out to the machine, and pressed down with one palm.

Green light flashed, and the machine displayed her current energy amplification value: 210

Seeing this result, everyone still couldn't control themselves, and a collective gasp filled the room.

A two-times amplification value was what you needed to pass the final exam of this course.

An elective course with a total of twenty sessions, Wen Jing had taken just five and already hit a level others hadn't reached even after retaking the course multiple times.

"For the remaining fifteen sessions, I'll teach you at your own pace." Instructor Louisa said meaningfully, a relieved look in her eyes. "It's up to you how far you can go."

"Yes!" Wen Jing's eyes lit up, and she happily agreed.

Now she knew that Louisa not only taught the beginner level of Energy Amplification but also offered an advanced level, which you could only buy after finishing the beginner course.

Now, what she meant was Wen Jing could use her remaining fifteen sessions to learn the advanced course for free.

Although after the course ended, Wen Jing would only receive credits for the beginner level, her actual power would get a huge boost!

"Mastered 'Secret Technique: Energy Amplification Technique,' skill points +5"

Last night, when Wen Jing practiced the Secret Technique, the proficiency bar for the Mastered level was filled, replaced by the progress bar for the Proficient level.

As for this Proficient progress bar, if Louisa dared to teach it, Wen Jing dared to level up.

However, she had something more important to do now.

The Gravity Silk had fully recovered. Combined with the two skill points earned from her part-time chef job, Wen Jing now had a total of seven skill points.

It was time to do a daytime Wildland exploration and grow some organs.