Before he finished speaking, red light flared in Scott's eyes again, and a beam shot out, its power clearly restrained.
The beam expanded the moment it left his eyes. By the time it crossed the twenty-odd meters to Chen Xiao, it had swollen to the width of a bowl, bearing down on him with scorching pressure.
This time, Chen Xiao did not dodge. He crossed his arms before his chest, and the transparent energy surging around him instantly formed a thick shield, covering his front without a gap.
Boom!
The instant the beam struck the shield, the half-meter-thick energy layer compressed violently, shrinking to twenty centimeters in a blink, yet stubbornly held without breaking.
The beam did not stop, continuing to push slowly forward. The two forces clashed fiercely, annihilating each other and bursting into dazzling white light as rings of curved halos rippled outward.
Powerful impacts also passed through the shield, slamming into his torso, seeking to topple him and send him flying.
But that force was not enough to budge his feet.
For a time, neither side gave ground.
Then Scott, controlling the beam from a distance, spoke. "Vitas, I'm going to increase the power. Tell me to stop if you can't hold on."
"Go ahead, sir."
Boom!
The moment he finished speaking, the beam abruptly doubled in size, its searing energy and impact strength soaring together.
The pressure surged. The energy layer before Chen Xiao instantly collapsed to five centimeters, while the energy spilling from the rest of his body also weakened noticeably.
The two forces continued colliding with an earsplitting hum. The light intensified, illuminating the entire training room.
The students below the platform looked up, their faces filled with surprise. It turned out this newcomer was not merely physically tough; his X-Gene ability was this solid, too.
Mutant abilities came from the X-Gene. Every use consumed stamina, and stamina was essentially another form of stored energy.
At that moment, Chen Xiao could clearly sense his stamina dropping at a visibly rapid rate.
But with his constitution stat already past four hundred, he possessed not only astonishing strength but equally formidable recovery. His current expenditure could not even keep up with his regeneration.
His stamina was not an issue, but he had reached his limit.
By comparison, Scott's laser energy had greater penetrating and annihilating power: a sliver of his beam could vaporize ten times its volume in rampaging energy.
If the beam grew even slightly stronger and continued for a few more seconds, the energy barrier around his body would collapse completely.
He immediately called out, "That's enough, sir."
The red light in Scott's eyes flickered out, and the beam vanished at his words.
Chen Xiao immediately dispersed the energy around him and panted heavily, cold sweat beading at his temples and his face paling, looking utterly exhausted.
"Hah... hah... you're still stronger, sir. I only held out for that little while, and I was already about to give out," he said weakly between ragged breaths.
Scott waved a hand. "No, Vitas. You performed exceptionally well today."
"All right, that concludes today's practical combat class." Storm spoke at just the right moment, stopping Scott before he could say more.
"You all used considerable stamina going all out just now. You're dismissed. Go back and get some rest."
"Vitas, my name's Max."
"Hello."
"Vitas, I'm Sid. Just wanted to introduce myself. That explosive power you showed while sparring with the teacher was insanely cool!"
"Thanks. Your control over energy is really steady, too."
As they left the underground training room, those mutants took the initiative to gather around Chen Xiao and greet him.
That was the weight strength carried.
Although Chen Xiao's ability looked unremarkable on the surface, far less dazzling or extraordinary than theirs, paired with his body of steel and iron, most of those present could not withstand him head-on.
Their attitudes quietly changed, becoming much warmer than when they first met him.
Still, these people were quite strong themselves and carried an innate pride. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they went their separate ways.
Only Kitty Pryde stayed. She stepped closer, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. "Vitas, want to grab a coffee together?"
A faint fragrance drifted from the girl. Chen Xiao did not refuse. "Sure."
After Chen Xiao and the others left the underground training room, a middle-aged white man walked in. Scott hurried over to greet him. "Mr. Jacked, thank you for coming all this way."
The middle-aged man waved a hand. "No need to be so polite."
Before he finished speaking, he had crouched down and pressed both palms against the floor. In an instant, ripples spread like water across the hundreds of square meters of concrete, shattered and sunken after the successive fierce battles.
Under the three onlookers' gazes, the floor rose and writhed, healing and restoring itself at a visible rate. Cracks closed and depressions filled, as though time were reversing.
Iceman Bobby could not help blurting out, "Mr. Jacked, that trick of yours impresses me every time!"
The middle-aged man smiled helplessly. "Stop flattering me. It's not as if you don't know. All this ability of mine can do is fix floors."
The three exchanged knowing smiles, and none of them brought it up again.
Mutant abilities had always varied wildly, with no regard for common sense.
Whether it was the high-energy beams shooting from Cyclops's eyes, the freezing air that formed frost at Iceman's fingertips and instantly froze water vapor, or Colossus's hardened transformation that turned his whole body to metal and completely restructured it;
Even the middle-aged man before them could make concrete flooring within a certain range automatically fill itself in and repair itself.
At first glance, it looked like time rewinding, utterly breathtaking, but in practice its targets were extremely limited. It worked only on concrete and had no effect on any other material.
And it had to be concrete... that detail really did leave one unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"His energy output at full power has reached three times what it was when he enrolled. Its release is stable, not only greatly strengthening his limbs but also providing an energy shield."
"By comparison, the improvement in his physical durability is even more astonishing. A conservative estimate puts it at twenty times what it was when he enrolled, and he has yet to reach a bottleneck."
"I'm inclined to believe that the true core ability he awakened is physical enhancement, while his energy burst is more of an accompanying side effect."
In the headmaster's office, Scott was reporting on Chen Xiao's condition to Professor X.
After hearing the detailed analysis, Professor X nodded gently, a smile appearing on his face. "Your assessment is very accurate. We did misjudge him at first."
"Based on the current data, his physical capabilities are still increasing rapidly. His potential clearly reaches alpha-level, placing him among top-tier close-combat mutants."
"He has very few weaknesses. With a little polishing, he could readily become the backbone of an X-Men squad."
In this world, mutants were divided into five levels, from highest to lowest: alpha-level, beta-level, gamma level, delta-level, and epsilon-level.
But this rating measured the upper limit of their talent and room for growth, not their current combat strength.
As for omega-level, it was a concept Professor X had proposed in his early years, representing ultimate, limitless possibilities.
To date, only Jean Grey had ever been judged to possess omega-level potential. Unfortunately, she had already "passed away" without truly reaching that level.
As for the widespread rumors that Professor X and Magneto were already omega-level, he knew perfectly well that both remained alpha-level.
It was only their decades of dedication, honing their abilities to the utmost, that made them seem unfathomable.
Still, Professor X privately felt that Storm and Iceman might also harbor omega-level potential.
But potential was only potential. Whether they could realize it ultimately depended on their own efforts, one step at a time.
Now that the school had gained another alpha-level newcomer with solid capabilities and outstanding combat strength, even Professor X could not help showing a faint, gratified smile.
"From now on, Vitas should be a priority for observation."
"Understood, Professor."
Early the next morning, Chen Xiao had barely entered the classroom and sat down when the curly-haired boy behind him leaned over, looking curious. "Vitas, I heard you traded a few moves with Mr. Scott yesterday and fought him to a draw?"
Before he finished, the freckled girl on the right had already turned around, her eyes sparkling. "No! I heard from an older girl that you knocked Mr. Scott down!"
"What? Vitas is that strong? He really took Mr. Scott down?"
The surrounding middle school students erupted into an uproar.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard that too!"
"They say he put up a shield and tanked Cyclops's beam, charged straight through it, and knocked the teacher flat with one punch!"
"Seriously? That's so cool!"
Chen Xiao stared at his excitedly chattering classmates, his mouth slightly open, momentarily at a loss for words.
He had clearly only sparred with Scott for a round yesterday. Although his opening punch had sent Scott staggering back, he had been suppressed for almost the entire rest of the fight and had gained no advantage at all.
How had it turned into this?
He did not know that the news had come from an older male student yesterday, who had embellished it a little in passing,
For instance, by singling out the part where he knocked Scott back with one punch to describe in detail.
Then, as it passed from person to person, the story grew increasingly outlandish,
Just like how, back in the day, someone in a village might trip, and by the time word reached the far end of the village, they had died on the spot, with everyone already setting out bowls and chopsticks for the funeral feast...
Noon, in the cafeteria.
Carrying his tray, Chen Xiao had just sat down in a corner.
Across from him, the black-haired girl wearing headphones, who had been waiting to eat with him, raised her face.
Before she could speak, Chen Xiao said bluntly, "I didn't beat Mr. Scott. He had me pinned down the entire fight. He's far stronger than I am."
The girl blinked her emerald-green eyes, her voice as soft as a feather landing. "I just wanted to ask... Vitas, do you like crispy baked crackers?"
"...Yes."
"Oh."
She nodded meekly, lowered her head, and began eating quietly. Chen Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Someone had spread word of yesterday's practical combat class. That alone would have been fine, but the story had grown increasingly absurd, finally turning into "Vitas punched Scott to the ground with serious injuries."
Who was Scott?
The leader of the X-Men, whose eyes could fire destructive laser beams capable of melting through any obstacle.
And Vitas, only fifteen years old and barely a dozen days into his enrollment, had actually taken him down?
Too absurd. Too astonishing.
So, all morning, wherever Chen Xiao went, people surrounded him. They kept coming up to ask, "Did you really win?" and "What actually happened?" He explained over and over, his ears practically callused from hearing it.
That afternoon, he simply skipped class, found a secluded stretch of lawn, and lay on his back, letting the sunshine wash over his whole body.
Warmth spread across his skin, leaving him languid and almost drifting into dreams.