Improvement

Since Shadow Servant could display these orbs of light in a way David could understand, could it also display the abilities David himself had mastered? After all, he was a high school senior, and at the very least he had some knowledge of Literature, Mathematics, and General Studies.

"Shadow Servant, can you display my own information in this same way?" David asked, acting as soon as the thought occurred to him.

Shadow Servant's eyes flashed several times. Then a set of data appeared before David. The technology was somewhat like the holographic imaging used by the Interstellar Federation, but when he looked through Shadow Servant's eyes, he saw no data displayed in front of his body.

David wasn't a scientist, and even after thinking it over, he couldn't understand how this display worked. He focused his attention on the data before him.

Name: David Kerr

Strength: 2.5 (1)

Agility: 1.7 (1)

Constitution: 2 (1)

Spirit: 2.8 (1)

Literature (Uninitiated), Mathematics (Uninitiated), History (Uninitiated), Body Technique (10% Initiated), Long Sword Mastery (5% Initiated)

David's Strength was 2.5. The reference standard was an ordinary person's strength of 200 kilograms, represented by a score of 1. Every additional point of Strength doubled the previous amount.

David's body had never suffered much hardship growing up. In particular, he'd never gone without Fortified Meat, which was good for the body.

As a result, his strength was equivalent to three times that of an ordinary person. With a strength of 600 kilograms, he would have been the undisputed strongest person in the world in his previous life.

To put that in perspective, even the professional weightlifters of his previous life could lift only 250 kilograms at most, nowhere near his 600.

His Agility was 1.7. If David remembered correctly, his most recent test had clocked him at 9.2 seconds for the hundred-meter dash.

In his previous life, the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt had run the distance in 9.58 seconds. That was the best result achieved after countless generations of effort.

Yet in this life, even an ordinary high school senior like him was faster than the world's greatest sprinter in his previous life.

Of course, both Strength and Agility relied on a robust Constitution. Having twice the Constitution of an ordinary person was only natural.

But he didn't really understand the concept of Spirit. Among his four basic attributes, his Spirit, which exceeded that of an ordinary person, was the highest.

Spirit was intangible, but thinking it over, after waking from sleep, he'd found the world clearer than before. That was probably the result of his Spirit increasing.

What David didn't know was that Shadow Servant hadn't been able to reveal so many abilities before because his Spirit had been too weak.

When David's predecessor performed the sacrifice, he used up most of the energy in his soul. The summoned Shadow Servant absorbed what remained of his faint soul, along with his memories.

This Shadow Servant was also unusual. The sacrifice had to be made to a designated god, but David's predecessor knew very little about the gods of God's Great World. Trainer Jeremy, who had given him the Sacrificial Manual, certainly wouldn't have told him about them. As a result, the god invoked in this sacrifice was an unknown entity.

The method described in that book from God's Great World wasn't a simple way to improve one's strength. Even there, few people would attempt such a sacrifice.

Anyone who performed a sacrifice had undergone a long period of specialized training and received large amounts of precious soul-nourishing medicines. They also needed the right talent. Only with all these things could they perform such a sacrifice in a temple.

And even with all that, the odds of success were extremely low.

But David's predecessor knew nothing. He performed this dangerous sacrifice outside God's Great World, without the protection of a temple, exceptional soul talent, the necessary resources, or any training. The consequences were easy to imagine.

During the sacrifice, under the influence of an unknown force, David's soul crossed over into this body and fused with it perfectly.

But the crossing, combined with the toll of the sacrifice, had left David's soul extremely weak.

His Spirit had fallen below the level of an ordinary person, let alone reaching the strength needed to activate Shadow Servant's special abilities.

After the explosion in the bookstore, nearly a hundred people had died, leaving behind nearly a hundred souls. Some were weak, others strong. Shadow Servant had absorbed some of their souls to strengthen itself, but it had also transferred much of the converted soul energy to David.

With enough soul energy to sustain him, David was able to quickly recover all his memories. Shadow Servant had also activated the corresponding abilities, which were tied to the strength of his Spirit.

When David saw the abilities he had mastered listed beneath the data, his face flushed. He felt ashamed on behalf of his predecessor—and, having inherited his memories, ashamed of himself as well.

Just look at those results. His three main academic subjects, Literature, Mathematics, and General Studies, were all listed as Uninitiated.

Even the Body Technique he'd been rather proud of had only reached 10% of the way to initiation, while his Long Sword Mastery had barely reached 5%.

These results reflected his true ability. He was a complete academic failure, and yet he'd hoped to get into Na'an University. He'd been dreaming.

Of course, David was being too hard on himself. The Initiated level was already above average. Most students were rated Uninitiated by Shadow Servant's standards.

Shadow Servant had absorbed fourteen red orbs of light, taken from the souls of nearly a hundred people. Even the most ordinary person had their own strengths.

David ordered Shadow Servant to send one of the red orbs inside it into his body: Literature (19% Initiated). This was the only way he could think of to use the red orbs.

He'd found that the orbs inside Shadow Servant could move at his command.

He chose this red orb because it was the most common kind. Even if the experiment failed, losing this Literature (19% Initiated) orb wouldn't be much of a setback.

If it succeeded, he might have a chance of getting into Na'an University, something his predecessor had always wanted.

If he could get into Na'an University, Trainer Jeremy and any other potential enemies would no longer be able to threaten him.

Na'an City was nothing like the Peilan City where he lived, and Na'an University wasn't a place just anyone could get into. It would be even harder for anyone to approach him there.

As for the six months he had left to stay safe, as long as he was careful and didn't give Trainer Jeremy a chance, he thought he could make it through.

For now, all David could do about the danger was guard against it. He couldn't strike back.

Perhaps Shadow Servant was his only chance to fight back. David looked at Shadow Servant and made up his mind. Shadow Servant moved the Literature (19% Initiated) red orb inside it into his body.

The moment the Literature (19% Initiated) red orb entered his body, the Data Panel before him changed.

Literature (Uninitiated) changed to Literature (19% Initiated), and a stream of memories surfaced in his mind.

They were scenes of studying: reading aloud, reciting softly, silently absorbing the material, and listening to a teacher explain the lessons.

None of these memories showed the owner's face. Even the faces of the teachers were blurry.

After an unknown amount of time, David emerged from the memories. His understanding of Literature had deepened greatly. He remembered every sentence and every point of knowledge from those memories.

He glanced at his Identity Bracelet. Only a minute had passed, though to him it had felt like hundreds of days of study.

The knowledge the red orb had given him felt engraved in his mind, leaving a stronger impression than anything he'd learned himself.

Knowledge he'd acquired through his own studies would slowly fade with time, but the knowledge he'd gained from the red orb wouldn't disappear.