Battle mode

22 January 2025, it has been two weeks since Max began training at the facility, his speed, strength, agility, and level have all improved at an astonishing rate. Max was now a level 5, and apart from his muscle growing in size, there wasn't much to show for it.

Max sat on the floor panting heavily after a tough exercise session, he conjured a cooled bottle of water before gulping it down like it was a hot sunny day.

After finishing his cold bottle of water, he lay flat on the floor, feeling better. He then began to think of what to do next, displaying a reluctant demeanor.

'' I lack real combat experience... I don't know how I'd react in a real battle''

Max imagined himself having incredible speed but slowing to catch a break only to be ruthlessly ambushed by a creature and killed miserably without lifting a single finger. The thought of death quickly got him up with a look of determination to practice more than ever.

He equipped the stick of a pretender ready to train with it excitedly. Since he couldn't use any of the current equipment available to help with the type of training he wanted to do, he used the other special feature of the training room.

''Battle mode'' Max was uncertain about what to expect, as the training room offered something unique for everyone.

The training room slightly rumbled before producing a low grunting sound for a brief moment, suddenly to Max's surprise and awe, a few feet away from him, the floor began to bubble like boiling water in a wavy manner before it gently rose like a light fabric in the wind.

It was large and began to shrink, taking a humanoid form before solidifying into a robot with a smooth face, and an unblemished body. The dimensions were nearly the same as Max's, both in height and length. It stood there lifeless, waiting for a command.

Max took a step back in anticipation and felt a wide range of emotions that brought a gleeful smile to his face, he gripped the stick in his hand with all his might making his muscles tense.

''Begin!'' he yelled readying himself for whatever came next with a racing heart.

The lifeless robot came to life in an instant, its body twitched and shook before fully awakening, its fingers began to move humanly before his whole body gradually followed with human-like mannerisms.

Max gaze was frozen on his target with a burning flare to be victorious. The robot began to move, his steps were light and soundless giving Max a sense of amazement. The robot got close to the guarded Max looking innocent and perfect.

In one swift motion, the robot clenched its hand into a fist and swung it at Max with tremendous force. Max immediately bent backward to evade the punch, his brow furrowed in concentration. Before the robot could retract its fist, Max, still in his bent position, raised his arm and brought the stick down hard onto the robot's arm.

The robot arm broke off from its body, flying across the room in wretched condition. Max quickly stood up, ready to attack the robot once more when suddenly,'' danger, danger'' from behind but he was too slow to react.

His ability to sense danger always created more questions than answers had weakened over time leading to his delayed reaction.

"Bang!" He was hit from behind, he lost his balance for a moment, the training room nullified pain to an extent making Max quickly regain his vigor, witnessing the arm fusing back with the robot erasing the previous damage with a mild expression.

Without hesitation, the robot swung at Max again. Max focused on his legs and jumped backward in one smooth motion, dodging the attack. Seizing the opportunity while the robot was still in motion, he quickly closed the distance, showcasing his improved speed.

With the stick tightly gripped in his hand, he struck the robot's arm again, breaking it off from the body once more. The robot instantly swung its remaining arm, twisting its body in an abnormal way to achieve its goal without wasting a moment.

''Danger, danger'' from his right the robot arm almost hit Max, aiming for his face, but with improved speed, he evaded the attack by leaning back before using the stick to strike it down.

''Boom!'' the arm exploded into many pieces before flying across the room with incredible speed.

With the robot disarmed, Max raised his stick with all his might and smashed it against the robot's head in one decisive blow. The robot's head exploded upon impact, sending sparks of light raining down everywhere. Its body fell lifeless to the floor, and Max smiled in satisfaction.

'' Battle mode off''

The robot body let out a bright light before sinking into the floor like water, disappearing back to its source. Max finally exhaled in exhaustion before laying on the floor, his emotion a mixture of joy and amazement, making his thought of challenging the next divinity trials or games less stressful and more survivable.

''ting! Ting! ting!''

Max sighed moving his eyes across his status screen, a level increase was nice but seeing the low digit made him feel feeble.

He was about to get up when the opaque glass door began to shimmer, this meant he had visitors.

'' let them in'' Max ordered, the door to his training room opened permitting James and Alice entry.

< Name: James Godwin>

With his increase in level, Max could see more than just the names of the divinity of others, the thought of seeing more made him ecstatic.

The two of them meeting in Max's training room had become a tradition. After a satisfying training session, they enjoyed a meal together. After conjuring a large pizza with a bottle of drinks they began to chat away with food in hand and mouth.

'' I can now turn invisible for two minutes and my gun can now create multiple bullets, am so excited'' James chatted away with excitement, placing pizza in his mouth once he was done.

James' already large muscles had grown even larger, making me look like their leader, Captain Nixon. This transformation made him appear taller than he really is. While James is humble about it, Max seems jealous regardless; it appears he wasn't genetically blessed in that regard.

'' I can actually make people sit now but…. only for a short period instead of making them feel only the sensation'' A smile crept up on Alice's face as she spoke, she took a large bottle of drink and began to chug down like her life dependent on it.

She looked so funny drinking the bottle with such ferocity, that Max and James couldn't help but giggle at such a scene.

'' Don't laugh…. training every day is like hell'' Embarrassed with a flashed face Alice exclaimed, taking in another drink with the same intensity as before making the guys burst out laughing.

After letting out a calming laugh, James asked Max about his progress, curious to find out. With a faint sigh, Max answered.

'' Good, my stick now pacts more of an impact than before'' he took a slice of pizza into his mouth once he was done, leaving Alice and James to wonder how he uses the stick with a contemplative look.

''Isn't the government going to do anything about our education, trust me I don't want to go back to school any time soon but at the very least there should be some news about it '' The thought of school suddenly appeared in James' mind, and he shared his thoughts without realizing it.

The room fell silent, and a cloud of sorrow, pity, and worry hung over the three, turning their moods gloomy.

''The three of us... we were the only survivors'' Alice informed, she wasn't emotional just a bit perturbed, the same was true for James and Max.

The three, after not hearing from their classmates, assumed the worst; after all, they were the only ones to leave the school that day.

Assuming the worst they didn't want to think about their deaths finding it unnecessary, it may be a cold and heartless thing for them to do but knowing the killers are gods with power beyond the reach of man all they can do is get stronger and find the perfect opportunity to exact revenge.

'' There is no point thinking about this, we promised to get stronger so one day we can make those divinities pay for their crime, it may sound impossible but there is hope, we will give those fuckers a taste of their own medicine''

Max couldn't handle the gloominess; he felt they shouldn't be held back by such a disaster instead they should use it as fuel to grow. Feeling passionate about such a thing he spoke without realizing it.

''wow…. he got sentimental '' Alice laughed with James finding it uncharacteristic for Max to speak that way, although Max was embarrassed, he also joined the laughter, turning the gloominess into a lively one.

'' I have been thinking, since we will be most likely fighting together. Why don't we train together, maybe two days or so out of the week to get a better understanding of how we can better work together''

In a moment of clarity, James uttered with a bright grin. Alice and Max instantly agreed, citing his idea to be genus.

''We can begin now'' Max glared at them in anticipation.