Chapter 23: You've Unlocked A New Page

Max was really having a hard time deciding what to do, and at the same time, he was trying really hard to avoid any balls from hitting him.

A particular thought struck Max at once, and he decided to trade his 50 Exp for an upgrade of agility. Max quickly realized that level 9 was twice the speed of level eight. He could barely beat the speed of the shooting balls in level eight. This meant that without any upgrade, he wouldn't make it anywhere when he got to level 9.

With a determined mindset, Max confirmed the agility upgrade, using his hard-earned Exp points to improve his chances.

< Congratulations, Wielder. Agility upgrade successful. >

< Agility: 6 >

"Huh!" Max muttered in frustration.

If he recalled, his agility level was 5, and after sacrificing his hard-earned Exp, he only got an additional one point.

Max regretted trading his 50 Exp. And to make matters worse, Max didn't feel any different after the additional agility stat.

Few seconds later, level eight ended, and level 9 began. Max prepared himself to face whatever speed the balls would come flying at him, but to his surprise, the speed wasn't as fast as he predicted.

"Huh! Am I still in level 8, or is the machine faulty?" Max asked himself. Unbeknownst to Max, he was the one moving at a faster rate due to the upgrade, which made the speed of the machine seem slower than he predicted. To Max, he was just moving at his normal speed.

"How is a plain user that fast?" Few students from other sessions were baffled, not understanding how Max could perform so well.

At this point, Max still couldn't tell that he was moving faster than usual. Max continued the test since the instructor wasn't stopping him.

Mr. Lazlo, on the other hand, looked at his tablet. According to the school record, it stated that Max was a plain user. So how was he moving so fast? The instructor questioned himself and watched in amazement as Max skillfully evaded the balls at this heightened level of speed.

Few seconds later, the countdown for level 9 ended, and the machine stopped shooting, just like in James's case. Max was well aware that once level 10 began, it wouldn't be just one machine shooting, but two, and the speed would be even more challenging to handle.

Before level 10 started, Max received another message from the system.

< Unlock a stunt with 20 Exp? >

Max didn't even bother to read it twice before he dismissed the message. He was still annoyed by the lackluster results of his agility upgrade and questioned the usefulness of a stunt in a test like this. He didn't realized that just moving left and right, jumping, and rolling on the floor might not be enough to succeed much longer.

[The test will begin in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...]

As the countdown reached one, the machines started shooting out balls for level 10. Max's instincts kicked in, and he realized once again that the speed of the balls was slower than expected.

He kept moving left and right, jumping and rolling as usual, but two machines meant more balls. Even though the balls seemed slow to Max, he began to find them difficult to avoid because of their numbers.

A particular ball was determined to hit Max, and he tried to jump up to avoid it. However, doing that would only make another ball hit him from behind if he didn't twist himself in midair. Twisting in midair meant that Max had to perform a quick stunt, and he didn't know how to do one. He was taken aback by the message he received. Indeed, a stunt was needed in this agility test.

Max quickly agreed to trade 20 Exps for a stunt, but before the trade could take effect, trying to dodge one ball only made three more hit Max from behind. And immediately, the agility test ended.

< Congratulations wielder. You've unlocked a simple stunt. >

"No! No! No!" Max shouted. To Max, the stunt was useless now that the agility test was over, however, the trade already took effect.

"Damnit!" Max muttered loudly after losing another 20 Exps without seeing the use of it. He looked pretty frustrated after losing 70 Exps in total, but to others, they thought it was because he got hit when he was almost completing level 10.

He walked towards the dumbbell and saw that 150 pounds was too heavy for him to lift above his head. He decided to wait for the countdown to drop to 50 or below, but the notification he had ignored earlier popped up again.

< Surpass your limit to unlock a new page >

< Complete task before countdown fall below 100 pounds. >

Max stepped up to the dumbbell, determination in his eyes. As the countdown started, he took a deep breath and placed his hands on the heavy weight. The seconds were ticking away, and the dumbbell slowly descended from 150 pounds.

He tried to lift it but felt the immense weight pushing him down. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and struggled. The countdown continued, and the dumbbell dropped to 120 pounds.

Max's face turned red as he exerted all his strength, muscles bulging. "Come on, Max," he muttered through clenched teeth, beads of sweat trickling down his face. The weight felt unbearable, and he could feel his body trembling.

With sheer determination, he pushed himself harder as the countdown hit 110 pounds. Max let out a strained grunt, his face contorted with effort. The dumbbell slowly began to rise as he lifted it from the ground.

"Almost there," Max whispered to himself as he fought to lift the weight further. With each passing second, the countdown dropped lower, and Max struggled with all his might. At 105 pounds, he felt a surge of adrenaline, and the dumbbell rose a bit more.

Finally, at 100 pounds, Max managed to lift the dumbbell above his head. He let out a triumphant roar and held it there for a moment, feeling the weight in his arms. He had surpassed his limit and unlocked a new page.

< Congratulations Wielder, you've unlocked a new page >