Asfa looked at his watch, and it was already 10 pm. With his current walking speed, he realised that he would only leave the forest in the middle of the night.

After walking for an hour, Asfa took a few minutes to rest and scanned his wounds. He continued his journey, and suddenly..

"Dummmm dummm booomm"

It is raining heavily.

Asfa remembered a small hut marked on the map he got from the bandit, and it was only hundreds from his location. He had to go there as soon as possible or else he could get sick from the cold weather.

He made it to the small wooden hut, but it was locked. Asfa uses his ability to scan inside the hut to see if there are people inside, and it is empty. He went inside immediately after unlocking the door with his ability.

He laid down on the ground for an hour, and suddenly he sensed something moving outside the hut. The hut windows were covered by the wooden planks, so Asfa had to open the door to see what he sensed.

"ITS THE MAGIC BALL"

Asfa ignored the rain and walked himself toward it. He looked at the ball to see that it was so much bigger and denser than what he had absorbed yesterday. He absorbed it and went back inside since it was still raining heavily.

After a few minutes, he had recovered his mental energy, and surprisingly, his wounds started closing. It was almost midnight, and he decided to move since the rain had just stopped.

He started running toward the entrance and reached there in less than 15 minutes. Before leaving the forest, he changed into his spare clothes since the old clothes were stained by blood. He wore his facemask and left to forest toward his apartment.

"Home at last!", Asfa went to his bed and started sleeping without even cleaning himself.

Asfa stopped the alarm and looked at the clock to see it was already 6.30 in the morning. Asfa quickly goes to the bathroom to clean himself. He discovered that the wounds on his body got healed, but the one on his right hand was still healing.

He wore his college attire and left the apartment to get to college by train. Luckily he made it in time. It was only a minute left before 7.30 am.

The cafeteria was empty, and Asfa walked around the counter to see the price of the food sold there. He frowned immediately because he had to spend 20 credits just to get the cheapest breakfast, an egg sandwich. He took the sandwich and left the cafeteria to eat it somewhere else.

Asfa walks to a park just next to the cafeteria to eat there. There was a man-made pond in the middle of the park, and there were colourful lotuses and some water plants on it. Surprisingly, the pond looks clean.

Asfa sits on the wooden bench facing the pond to eat his breakfast. He unwraps the sandwich and senses someone is watching him from behind. He looked behind to see an old guy starting at his sandwich.

He cut the sandwich in half and passed it to the old man.

"Here, take it. But it is just an egg sandwich"

Old man : There is only a single cup now. How are you going to drink now, young man?

Asfa drinks the warm water directly from the thermos. He can even drink boiling water with his physique if he wants to.

Old man : Ay ay glad that you are okay young man. Thank you for the food. I thought you got more, but I guess it will be fine for now.

Asfa : Sorry, old man. I am just out of budget for more and better food. Anyway, your welcome. I should start going now.

Old man: Ay ay young man, you can call me Uncle Steve. I wanted to pay you, but I didn't bring anything right now. Come and follow me to my place.

Asfa follows Steve to the laboratory building and wonders about the old guy's identity. When they arrived at the inquiry counter, Felicia greeted them.

"Good morning Profesor Steven and Mr Hunt. Is there anything I can do to help both of you?"

Steve : Girl, can you remove the request I put on the board before since I will be taking this lad as my assistant.

Asfa : "Wait a second. What assistant?? Since, when I ..."

Felicia intercepted.

"Don't worry, Profesor. I will remove your request now. Congratulation Mr Hunt on being chosen by Prof Steve. Hundreds have been rejected by him just to be his assistant. Well, anyone would be tempted by 10 000 credit weekly offer tho"

Asfa's expression changed. He had to work for a few months just to get that amount of money!

Asfa : Err, thanks Felicia.

He is indeed in need of money, but this is too sudden. Asfa stood for a while to think, but then Steve said, "Ay ay young man, just come to my lab first."

Steve immediately leaves the area and starts walking toward a giant golden coloured door behind the counter. Asfa has been following him from the moment Steve left the counter. He decided to follow Steve to learn more about him.

Steve used his access card to open the giant door and made a gesture with his hand telling Asfa to stay close.

Steve used his access card to open the giant door and made a gesture with his hand telling Asfa to stay close. The gate closed immediately when Asfa passed through it.

Despite being in the same building, the hallway beyond the golden gate is much different from the standard. It looks extravagant and cosy. But it feels isolated because the size of the hallway here is smaller than outside.

They walked for a while and reached the end of the hallway. Steve used his card to open the lab door and waited for Asfa to follow.

Asfa enters the laboratory to see how huge the place is, and he can't even recognise any of the equipment there. The interior of the laboratory looks modern and advanced.

He looked at Steve and asked, "Why would you pick me as your assistant? I mean, I don't even know any of the equipment here.."

Steve : Aha, stops overthinking young man. I just need an extra hand for some of my research, and that's all. So, chill. Anyway, have you ever heard about the enhanced human?

Asfa : Err, I read something about it from the book I found at the library. It was about humans with superhuman strength and unique abilities. But, there was no explanation since the author only mentioned it once.

Asfa controlled himself from saying something he shouldn't.

"Ay ay, kid. You are such a lousy liar. Just think for a bit, did I open my mouth when I talked to you just now? Or even right now."

Asfa realised that the old man had never opened his mouth when they communicated the moment they entered the laboratory.

(Crap, the old guy must be a telepath. He must be reading my mind right now. I have to stop thinking .. Stop.. Must not.. Wait.. How to do this)

"HAHAHA what the heck are you doing, kid?? That's not how you stop a telepath from reading your mind."