Ability Formula, Void Monster (4.2k)

Ability Formula?

Ron had actually wanted to ask about "formulas" for a long time.

When he had dueled Yuan, if Ron's ability had not so thoroughly countered [Gravity Control], and if [Ability Overload] had not helped him cheat...

Once Yuan used the "formula" unique to him, Ron would have been doomed to lose.

Such a powerful ability was also an essential step toward becoming Lv.5—he could hardly wait to construct this so-called formula.

"I should have told you about formulas earlier. It nearly harmed you. Good thing you managed to defeat Yuan—"

Deng Yin sighed and carefully explained what an [Ability Formula] actually was to Ron.

"An [Ability Formula] is a special ability that only Lv.3 ability users can sustain. It is a unique interpretation of one's ability model, based on Personal Reality."

A moment later, after listening to Deng Yin and fully understanding what an [Ability Formula] was, Ron could not help falling into thought.

A small ritual unique to Superpowered people, where recreating the ritual after constructing the formula allowed one to use its power?

Why did that sound so much like "magic"—

Ron was no half-baked novice. He truly possessed the [Potion Sequence] profession, and the [Gravekeeper] had instilled plenty of magical knowledge in him—he knew that power invoked through such rituals was no different from constructing magical rituals and using magic power to cast spells!

The only difference was that the source of energy, "magic power," had been replaced by "Personal Reality."

But when he thought about it that way, wasn't it actually more like "magic tricks"?

Ron felt there had to be some special connection between these things. As he pondered, Deng Yin sighed again and said:

"Unfortunately, [Ability Formulas] are not so easy to construct."

"It is like extracting a portion of your [Ability Model], transforming it into a special state, and interpreting it through a ritual."

"Countless outstanding students from the Three Great Academies rack their brains and exhaust themselves just to construct one simple formula during their four years of university, pass their graduation assessment, and obtain proof of their degree."

"And among them, who knew how many simply copied [Ability Formulas] recorded in the database, imitating them alongside their own [Ability Models] to create incomplete products that were nearly meaningless."

"The computing power, trial and error, and luck required for this..."

As he spoke, Ron saw a nostalgic expression on Deng Yin's face for the first time, one reserved for difficult problems.

"It is enough to eliminate 99.9 percent of all ability users in Ideal City."

That difficult?

Ron immediately thought of Yuan and frowned.

"How did Yuan construct an [Ability Formula]?"

He did not believe Yuan was some top-tier genius. Were there too few geniuses in the Three Great Academies?

Most of those people could only construct a simple formula by graduation to pass their assessments, and most of those were copied, useless incomplete products. Why could Yuan construct such a powerful [Ability Formula] while still in high school?

No matter how talented he was, he should not have displayed something so incomprehensible. He was not a heaven-gifted "Raw Stone"; he had risen bit by bit from Lv.2!

"My old rival, Yuan's father—Scott Hansen—is the vice president of Moen University."

"After I left, the physics department fell completely under his control.

"Although Laboratory Zero is sealed off and he cannot become Prometheus's Authority supervisor, he still obtained departmental Authority through his rank."

At this point, disgust crept into Deng Yin's voice.

"I could guess it without even trying. He must have used every underhanded means possible to take last year's physics department ranking reward.

"Then, using his departmental Authority to pull strings, he applied to use Prometheus to run calculations for Yuan—an outsider who is not even a student there—and helped him construct a formula."

"His promotion to Lv.3 also relied on the power of that [Ability Formula], forcibly elevating his Personal Reality to the Lv.3 level..."

So, if someone could construct an [Ability Formula] at Lv.2, they could directly use it to improve their Personal Reality and reach Lv.3?

Unfortunately, ordinary Superpowered people could not possibly construct an [Ability Formula] at Lv.2.

This method of promotion was probably something only someone like Yuan, who relied on connections, could enjoy.

Thinking of his own Personal Reality, which would likely need more than a year of training before it had a chance to expand to Lv.3, Ron could not help feeling irritated. If I could also use Prometheus to construct a "formula"... But just as the thought surfaced, Deng Yin said:

"Actually, the way he constructed his [Ability Formula] is also the path you need to take."

"Control of the Prometheus Intelligent Brain sector belongs to Moen University, and many of its functions are open to students—"

"For example, the calculation Authority Scott applied for on Yuan's behalf. Once you accumulate enough credits, you can apply for it too."

"Constructing an Ability Formula is simply too troublesome. Although formulas constructed personally do have more 'spirit' than those calculated by Prometheus, you truly do not have enough time."

"Completing campus activity tasks, accumulating credits, applying for Authority, and constructing a formula is the best route for you. But that will only happen after enrollment."

"During the summer before enrollment, you need to improve your abilities as much as possible and get as close to Lv.3 as you can before school starts!"

As he spoke, he looked toward Irina beside him.

Irina closed the communications window and said to Ron, "I have already submitted an application to headquarters. Your exclusive investment plan should be issued soon."

"We will formulate the most scientific improvement plan based on your abilities—"

"Although your ability is difficult to control, with our support, it is by no means impossible for your Personal Reality to expand close to Lv.3, or even surpass Lv.3, before enrollment!"

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Ron's exclusive investment plan was approved by [Heavenly Hearing Media] the next day. Tens of millions of Credit Points entered the account for his development program, then flowed out again like water.

Having lived in District D all his life, and having barely entered a superpower laboratory apart from those few ability activation experiments, Ron learned for the first time that money could actually be spent this way.

One Personal Reality expansion experiment cost 700,000 Credit Points.

One side-effect-free neural filler cost 100,000 Credit Points.

Ability Model optimization, reality enhancement, computing power boosts—one project after another was applied to Ron. More than ten million Credit Points were spent in just one week, leaving him somewhat numb to the numbers.

Still, the results were gratifying.

His "Ability Limiter" had lifted the restrictions on his Ability Model to 15%.

Compared to when he had just become Lv.2 before the College Entrance Exam, his model control had increased by a full four percent!

According to the calculations, once the restrictions on his Ability Model were lifted to 35%, he would be able to touch Lv.3—

Four percent in one week, with seven weeks left before school started... Ron did not even dare imagine what level he would reach if everything went smoothly and this lavish ability development plan continued.

But obviously, it could not go so smoothly.

His mood complicated, he looked at the light screen of the Dimensional Update Manual—["Beyonder Loss of Control (35%)"].

As the root of [Vector Manipulation], the [Beyonder Loss of Control] that had once prevented Ron from advancing to Lv.2 had risen again because of his improved ability.

Before long, perhaps within half a month at most, [Beyonder Loss of Control] would reach another critical percentage.

At that point, Ron would probably once again be unable to raise his ability level, with his Personal Reality unable to advance any further.

The person who tied the knot had to untie it.

Ron sighed.

He would probably still have to make a trip to the "Potion Era" and find a fundamental solution to [Beyonder Loss of Control].

He had always felt that he was overlooking something, something that made his [Beyonder Loss of Control] far more dangerous than that of ordinary Beyonders.

Even the slightest increase in ability was enough to make his power break free of its restraints.

In the "Potion Era," there had to be more than just Idrila's Consecrated Dewdrop, a solution that could only be used once, for resolving [Beyonder Loss of Control].

Unfortunately, Ron had no mood to explore the "Potion Era" today.

He stood on a bustling street in District D of Ideal City, outside the gates of a certain high school, waiting for An Hui to arrive.

Today was the seventh day after the College Entrance Exam. Every candidate's report card would be sent to their school by the Ideal City College Entrance Exam Testing Association, and everyone had to come collect it.

After the results were released, many universities would spring into action. Admissions offices would seek out high-scoring students who had yet to decide on a school and offer all sorts of scholarships to recruit them.

But that had nothing to do with Ron. Like An Hui, he had already applied to Moen University early, been enrolled in advance, and become a Moen University student.

This time, he was only here to collect his report card as a formality—

This high school he had attended for so many years... he probably would never come back again.

Looking at the familiar, weathered school gates, Ron could not help feeling sentimental.

But before he could wallow in nostalgia, he caught the familiar scent of shampoo beside him. Someone lightly elbowed him in the arm.

"What are you doing? You've been staring at that broken gate forever—are you planning to compose poetry and get all sentimental?"

An Hui had put on the uniform of that high school again after a long time, her tone filled with nostalgia.

"I do kind of miss it. The cafeteria's bargain meal—20 off 15 with shopping vouchers, plus a 10% student card discount. I feel like we ate that every day during our first year."

Remembering plate after plate of bargain meals made from expired prepackaged food mixed with cheap energy bars, Ron's face turned green.

The fear buried deep in his memories made him instinctively want to vomit.

At the very least, he never wanted to eat that stuff again for the rest of his life.

There was absolutely nothing to miss!

He shook his head, flinging away the endless horror in his mind, and entered the school gates with An Hui.

Because it was the day to collect exam results, the high school remained quite lively despite it already being summer vacation.

The two wandered leisurely through the school toward their classroom, and familiar faces soon recognized them along the way.

"Yo, Old Ron? Oh, and Goddess An Hui, you came back together?"

The chubby Lin De jogged over, surprise in his eyes as he looked at An Hui.

"I thought that after you left our school, you wouldn't come back even once." As he spoke, he suddenly wore an enlightened expression.

"Oh, I get it. You came back to collect your exam report cards, right?"

"These College Entrance Exam Association rules are ridiculous. You've already been recommended to Moen University, but you still have to come all the way back for a useless report card. Isn't that just a wasted trip?"

He chattered on enthusiastically as he walked ahead of Ron and An Hui.

"Come on. You probably don't remember the way after being gone for so long, right? I'll take you to find our homeroom teacher. I think the report cards were just delivered to him—"

As he led the way, he very obviously tried to ingratiate himself with An Hui. Everything he said amounted to, "A big shot from the Three Great Academies should give me a hand if there's a chance."

It made An Hui rather awkward. Not knowing how to respond, she could only remain silent.

Seeing that An Hui did not answer, Lin De did not mind. He naturally shifted the topic back to Ron and started chatting with him about everything under the sun.

"Old Ron, you came back for your report card too? How do you think you did?"

Clearly, he had already forgotten Ron's earlier bold declaration that he would take first place.

Or perhaps he had never considered the possibility that Ron could take first place at all.

Looking at Lin De's cheerful expression, Ron felt somewhat helpless.

If I say I took first place in all of Ideal City, can we still have a conversation?

He felt he would receive an even more awkward reaction than An Hui. Not wanting to ruin the atmosphere, Ron thought for a moment and said:

"Probably very well."

"Oh, then you did pretty well. You should be able to get into a first-tier university—"

Lin De muttered, then asked:

"But have you figured out how you're going to repay your student loans?

"If you get into a first-tier university, you probably won't be able to make quick money like vocational college students do. How about it? Want me to ask my dad for a favor?"

"I could get you a part-time position. It should be enough to cover those student loans."

Ron helplessly declined once again. "That won't be necessary—"

After only a few awkward exchanges, they arrived outside the teachers' office.

Students who had come to collect their report cards had already formed a long line stretching down the corridor and beneath the stairwell.

Standing outside, Ron could even hear the old teacher inside advising, criticizing, and encouraging different students, along with a news broadcast coming from the line—[Major breakthrough! Noah Pharmaceuticals' Alpha-003 Laboratory has once again optimized gene editing technology. The future of evolution rests in humanity's own hands...]

Who watched livestreams in public without even wearing earphones? Such poor manners. Ron lazily leaned against the wall, so bored that he had started finger fighting with An Hui. They used their fingers to play enemy Soldiers locked in a fight to the death—but the next moment, a thunderous crash jolted him awake from his boredom.

The wall of the teachers' office suddenly exploded, and a figure flew out, hurtling directly toward Ron and the others!

Ron instinctively used [Vector Manipulation], canceling the figure's momentum and catching him. Only then did he realize it was the old teacher who had treated him well before. The next moment, a strange man over twice the height of an ordinary person emerged from the shattered teachers' office, his lower body translucent and bizarre biological features growing across his body. Without hesitation, he lunged toward the old teacher!

The old teacher's face was pale as wax, his chest slightly caved in, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

He opened his eyes, saw the monster lunging at him, then saw Ron supporting him. He broke free from Ron's hands and threw himself forward.

He forced out the words with all his strength:

"Students—run!!"