The first rays of sunlight stream through the window and illuminate the small room.
Ethan is sitting upright with his eyes closed, in the same position he was in when he started practicing the night before.
He slowly opens his eyes and feels the warmth of the light.
He takes a deep breath, exhales all the air from his lungs, and a white mist escapes his mouth.
This is a phenomenon that occurs after someone has spent many hours cultivating.
Ethan raises his right fist to eye level and clenches it tightly. His muscles bulge, revealing a strength he didn't have before.
His bones crack and his muscles expand.
The night before, he had advanced straight from the Second Stage to the Third Stage of the Core Forging Realm.
No one knows his level better than he does, so he was quite surprised by the breakthrough.
Even with the help of Idle Cultivation, he would have only performed at twice his normal level that night.
Yet he had managed such a rapid breakthrough.
After sensing his body for a few minutes, he finally understood what had happened.
Not only had he activated Idle Cultivation for practice, but he had also activated Idle Training, the Basic Body Forging Technique, and an additional martial arts training session.
While training his physical foundation, he simultaneously practiced a martial art that put pressure on his body, thereby slightly strengthening it. He also practiced a cultivation technique.
The sum of all this not only added up, but also multiplied the effects of each other, greatly improving the performance of the entire training regimen.
The result was very good. A stage that should have taken nearly half a year to complete was surpassed in a single night.
Initially, he thought that even with the game, it would take a long time to become useful.
However, thanks to the synergy between the various training sessions, the Idle game is much more appealing than he thought.
Looking out the window, he sees that it's dawn.
He grabs his cell phone and sees that it's half past five in the morning.
He gets up, feeling sweaty and sticky, and decides to shower before anyone else wakes up.
By the time the other two young people wake up, Ethan is already cooking a simple breakfast.
After eating, they go to school together.
The journey is calm. They walk a few blocks, meet Dalia shortly before reaching the subway, and continue for another half hour to school.
The school is huge and occupies a large plot of land.
It has to be, since it serves students from 13 to 18 years old.
There are two main buildings. One is for junior students, ages 13 to 15, and the other is for senior students, ages 16 to 18.
Each building has four floors and a large gymnasium.
The large gymnasium is divided into smaller ones.
There are over fifty thousand students in this large school.
The four of them are tiny ants in a sea of students.
Ethan and Sam say goodbye to the younger students and head to their classroom.
Their first classes are ordinary, not very different from those of a student in a school on Earth.
Well, except for the fact that the biology, geography, and history of this world are quite different.
"In the year 500 after the Great Flood, the Iron Confederacy was founded. Seven countries that still resisted the waves of ferocious beasts united to clear what we now call the Verdant Lands and create a refuge for the human race. This year marks the 600th year of the Iron Confederacy."
"It's very different from Earth. The history of humanity in this world seems much more extensive than on Earth. Yet, the events surrounding me are quite similar."
Not only history, but also geography and biology.
Alva is at least three times the size of Earth and has much more land than sea.
Animal biology is also very similar yet has very different aspects, such as mana stones.
Mana stones are simply clusters of mana.
Animals that reach a certain level of strength naturally create a mana stone within their bodies.
At the beginning of human history, humans had them too, but they ceased to exist with the development of cultivation techniques.
Additionally, every city is surrounded by large walls.
Even in the Verdant Lands, which are considered very safe, this is the case.
This is because the animals and beasts outside the walls, though not as strong as those in the wastelands, can still pose a great threat to ordinary humans.
After lunch, the classes focus on cultivation, training, and anything related to fighting beasts from outside the cities.
After some theoretical classes, a teacher takes everyone from the classroom to a gymnasium for a friendly sparring session.
"Attention, everyone! Today, we are going to test your fighting abilities."
"Choose someone to fight. You can pick any training weapon and start."
The teacher points to some shelves displaying wooden swords, round-tipped spears, and other training weapons.
"Don't worry. It's not an official evaluation. I just want to see how much you've improved."
Ethan and Sam pair up, each holding a spear, and begin to exchange blows.
Neither of them advances with the intention of hurting the other, but neither holds back, either.
Sam is surprised by the strength of Ethan's strikes after a few blows.
"Ethan, have you made progress? When?"
"Just this morning. Surprised? Your slight advantage over me is now gone! I'm going to reclaim the title of strongest in the family."
Ethan grinned broadly.
He had always been slightly taller, which is why he was always the strongest.
But after entering school, his lack of talent left him behind.
Of course, this was just a joke between the two of them.
After a few minutes of sparring, they hear a cry of pain not far away.
"Haaa! My wrist!"
A short boy wearing glasses and holding a shield strapped to his arm was thrown back and was clutching his wrist in pain.
The boy responsible for this stands in front of him with a neutral face, holding a wooden sword, as if his classmate's pain doesn't bother him at all.
The teacher approaches and examines the boy.
After confirming that his wrist isn't broken, the teacher asks someone to take the boy to the infirmary and turns to the other boy.
"Cassian, did you need to do that? It was just a sparring session to gauge the overall level."
Cassian replies.
"Professor, don't blame me if everyone here is too weak to compete with me. If my father hadn't insisted that I study at a public school, I wouldn't have this problem. There's simply no one here to challenge me, so don't blame me for trying harder."
The professor sighed and, since it wasn't anything serious, decided not to interfere any further.
Cassian was the son of a small business magnate.
His father was a hunter who made a fortune selling products he had hunted outside the walls until he started his own business.
But he is much more than a merchant; he is a warrior.
As someone who came from humble beginnings, he wants his son to be educated in public schools, fearing that he will become like the spoiled children of other wealthy families.
However, it doesn't seem to have worked very well since he has become arrogant nonetheless, given the significant difference in strength levels.
He's not quite like spoiled rich kids, but he still has an air of superiority.
Noticing the students' gaze, he gives an arrogant smile and announces,
"No one here can face me. But I still need someone for a sparring session."
"It'll be like this: Whoever can withstand ten of my attacks will receive one hundred minor mana stones."
The teacher looks at the boy, sighs, and walks away from this student he cannot teach.
The other students are tempted, but they all know it's impossible.
The student who was just sent to the infirmary specialized in shield defense and still barely withstood five hits.
At that moment, Ethan feels something stir inside him.
He had been wondering how to get mana stones to level up his Idle Game, and now the opportunity has presented itself.
It must be destiny.
But only 100? To add another silhouette to each idle, he needs at least 300 stones.
He observes Cassian to judge whether he would be capable.
Cassian is already at the peak of the Core Forge Realm.
The difference isn't just a stage. He comes from a wealthy family and must have trained in a stronger technique than the basic mana technique.
Therefore, the quality of his strength is greater.
However, there's one thing Ethan has that he doesn't.
Experience.
Ethan approaches the arrogant Cassian and asks.
"What if I beat you? How much will you pay?"