An unintentional gamble at the dinner table.

"So, how's it going guys?"

A man with a majestic purple cape sat directly across from Qiang Ru.

Ning Li dropped his fork, and gulped down the rest of his food. "It was you who gave me that pill?"

The man answered, "Yes, I did, and for good reason. You've an extra slot. Perhaps you noticed it when you first unlocked your ability."

Ning Li nodded. "I do find that a little strange now that you mention. I thought 46 was the average?"

"Yes, which means you're very special. The council of Silver Kings has decided to grant you a special chance. Since you have that extra slot we decided to start you off right. It's not every day someone who is born retarded unlocks the gene window. We're very lucky to provide you with your first gene."

Both Qiang Ru and An Chen looked baffled. "You mean you guys knew he activated?"

The man nodded. "Yes, we did. My name is Qingsheng by the way. I will be guiding your son to the first island tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll be able to grow strong there. We have high hopes for him."

"You mean my son has been selected for the trials? I thought only geniuses could be a part of that?"

"Hmph, well your son will soon be one. Don't you notice how different he looks?!"

Both of his parents looked over, and noticed he really didn't look as dumb as he used to. In fact, he seemed to be following the conversation really well.

"What is there something on my face?" Ning Li asked. "I was sure I took a bath a few minutes ago." He had to get the blood off of him.

"Listen, that's great and all, but can you tell us which island first?"

The islands. There were nine of them full of modified beasts, and magical creatures. It was a privilege only genius nobles were allowed to grasp. Even being on one of them was a gift, and the tickets to them were highly sought after. However, Qing sheng threw it on the table.

A golden ticket.

The trip to a whole new world above this one!

"Yes," Ning Li screamed, "I can't wait to go!"

"Absolutely not," An Chen screamed. "Isn't the fatality rate at 25%?" She spent ten years taking care of this dumb boy, and she'd rather he stay dumb then dead.

"Listen take that gene you gave him back, and we'll buy him his own. Right honey."

Qiang Ru sighed. "Honey, listen, I'm sure they'll take care of him. They already gave him a gene! Do you really think they'd let him die so easily?"

Qingshen leaned back. "Uhm, yes we'll try and protect him. However, he will have to face some dangers if he wants rewards. How about I promise you to supply him his second gene if you let him go with me? Since he has an extra slot he can start off with two. Your son is really quite special."

An Chen sighed. Her son had tears on his face, and was staring at her with anticipation. Unless they promised his unending safety, she had no reason to let him go. "I'm sorry, but..."

Ning Li slammed down his hand. "Mom, I've gotten beaten up every day of my life and Abhi always had to protect me. Finally, today I was able to take care of him. I don't want to miss out on this chance!"

For his entire life, Ning Li always wondered how he'd be able to help his parents. He'd try to do chores, but he'd always mess up! He'd put in the detergent in the wrong slot, or he'd break the plates from the dishwasher. Now, if he was able to become a duke, or even a king, he'd be able to help his parents live longer! To him this wasn't only a golden opportunity, it was also the only way forward!

"Hmm, see what I mean. He's already quite compelling," Qiangshen commented, "And with this gene his power will be above everyone else on the islands! He'll be able to get treasures there people usually only dream of! Just give him a chance!"

Qiang Ru leaned in and pat his wife on the back. She was scooping up broken pieces of plate, and not very happy. Actually, even after hearing that, she didn't want to lose her son! He was only ten and their was usually eight more years of her being able to take care of him! And she couldn't even have another kid unless some sort of miracle happened! They tried so much, but it seemed like she was defective.

"Listen, he's my only son, and if he ever dies, or anything seriously bad happens to him I'll find you and drowned you with so much guilt you'll never be able to sleep again."

Qingshen scratched his head. "Uhm, so do you want me to give your son the gene now?"

Qiang Ru and An chen both nodded.

A second pill ended up on the table, and Ning Li picked it up.

"Can you tell me what it does before I swallow it?"

Qingshen really didn't want to tell him. It was a second pill, and usually you'd only take one at base level! However, since he had the extra slot, they'd made a special pill for Qingshen and it was still in its trial phase. They simply called it the pill of infinite possibilities. Really, they had no idea what exactly it would do, but the conjecture was it would boost his abilities greatly.

An average pill at the bronze level would boost you from lets say F- to F; a silver pill would take you from F- to F, but bordering on F+, and the gold pill would boost you all the way to F+. It was equal to two bronze level pills basically! However, there was enough ingredients in that one little pill he gave Ning Li to be graded at the black gold level! It was equal to three of those bronze pills, and its price to make it was perhaps 1000x more.

"Listen, I'll let you guys in on a secret, it has the word infinity in it! It's an extremely powerful pill! If your son takes it something good will happen to him! We're sure of it."

They really had no idea what would happen.

"Gulp"

Ning Li took the pill of infinity, and swallowed it. That feeling he had earlier in the day once more spread into his body.

"Warning! Unusual use of pill taken before level up. Attempting to synchronize!"

The voice that talked was called the guide. It was a small chip but in every persons body, and would only activate if your stats window popped up. It attempted its best to figure out what to do. However, even wit was worried at this moment!"

"Whoosh!"

The table flew away as Ning Li seemed to suffuse with a yellow light. Qingshen held down the table, and grabbed onto the boys two parents before putting them down on the couch. In the next second, he placed his hand on the boys back.

"Hmm, your power level is growing faster then I thought. This is quite the genetic catalyst."

Slowly, Ning Li's face seemed to mature. That dull look of stupidity seemed to fade, and his hair started to crisp a cold tint from the furious fire burning in his body. Even Qingshen was surprised. It seemed the pill was affecting his entire genome! That meant all 45 future paths would be influenced by this very moment.

"Please do something good," he thought to himself, "Please let this do what they thought it would do."

Basically, one expert geneticist projected it would increase his intelligence by a huge margin, and the boys attributes would go up as well.

However, Ning Li fainted before he could see what the gene did.

The last plate on the table fell off, and broke into hundreds of pieces.