SLOW BUT STEADY

Following the completion of the Field Assignment, there would be a week of classes before the study break starts. A month of study break was provided to prepare for the Aptitude Test and the Final Battle Simulation. There would be a total of 5 papers in the Aptitude Test each having 50 marks and the Field Assignment marks totaled to 300 marks. The cutoff was set at 40% for this segment. But the main test could be said as the Battle Simulation. It was divided into 2 segments. The first would test your ability and strength whereas the second segment would focus more on your tactical awareness and survival capabilities. Each had 100 marks and the cutoff was quite high at a rate of 60%.

So even if one had a decent score in the Aptitude Test and the Field Assignment, it all depended upon the Battle Simulation score to determine the ranking of each class. Also remember, there would be a promotion battle following the rankings in each class. Thus every student was busy with their upcoming schedule.

Noah was given a room within the academy to stay. The principal had insisted he stay within the academy premises and not venture out until the matters of the Assassins were sorted. He had also informed necessary authorities to safeguard the Academy if needed. But the academy was considered sacred grounds, unlawful trespassing would mean instant death and no organization would be daring enough to do so. So Noah would be safe there for the time being.

Melv was not happy at this though. But hearing the stories of the wilderness, he could not object much to the safety of his best friend. The room arranged for Noah was a small one, used generally for storage. It was cleaned and made habitable within an hour's notice by the Principal. Noah gradually brought his necessary stuff and settled down.

"A week and a month…" sighed Noah as he sat down on his bed. "There is very little time before the exams start. I have to make it to the top fast."

"Is there any information I can use for the exam?" Noah asked ORCO, the AI he built for the Time Journal. ORCO repeated several details that were mentioned there. "These are all of the data I have processed so far. Shall I start processing the rest?"

"No, it's fine. We will do that later..." said a dejected Noah as he did not find any useful data regarding the exam, only some historical records of students and their special achievements.

"The information present here is on a grander scale. Academy level stuff won't be there as I guessed..." sighed Noah as he was about to power down ORCO.

"Wait.." an idea struck Noah.

"Even if it doesn't have data on the academy, it has data pertaining to Corporations and their allied organizations with their timeline. If I can find specific details around the current date, I can use that opportunity to gain some tokens. I badly need them now, building up strength would require tokens as well."

"ORCO, get me the timeline from a week back to a month in the future." ORCO and Noah started analyzing the details.

After a while, "That's it…" shouted Noah.

"On June 27th, 2077, the pharma company mPure Pharma suffered a heavy loss as one of its main factories caught fire due to a gas leak. The main factory had huge storage of raw materials that were destroyed in the fire. This led to the fall of its stock prices. After incurring heavy losses, the company listed for a fire sale." ORCO narrated.

Noah quickly searched for related details regarding stocks, sales and financial processes over the internet.

"A fire sale in the financial markets refers to a situation in which securities are trading at a significant discount to their inherent worth, such as during lengthy bear markets. Okay so it is like that..." he asked ORCO to continue.

"The primary causes of this predicament were excessive manufacturing investment costs, a lack of risk control capability, a lack of incentive in localization, insufficient verification of domestic materials and the inability to build an industrial chain and ecosystem. So on October 28th, 2077, the company was listed for a fire sale but was taken offline in 2 hours. It was acquired by a subsidiary of Primus Corp and the stock prices skyrocketed by almost 180% within a month and kept on increasing. It was later found that the CEO of mPure Pharma committed suicide following the events. People started to question whether Primus Corp had anything to do with it, but subsequently, any and all investigations died down. Later it came to light that Primus Corp had eyed the pharma company for quite some time and might have pressured or acted unethically."

"Damn them.." uttered Noah. "People are not dumb you know. It's only that they are powerless to do anything against the big Corps", as he shook his head in pity.

"But this can make me some money. The date of the fire sale is in 2 days. But I do not have a Trader ID." Noah called Melv who had done some minimal investments in stock earlier on a whim. He did not gain much but didn't lose a lot as well. Overall, he knew the process.

"How much ST do you have in hand?" Noah enquired.

"Around 1k maybe...Why bro?" asked Melv.

"Ahh...we need more. Can you arrange around 5k ST by tomorrow?"

"What? 5k? What do you need that for?" Melv was shocked at this ask.

"Don't tell me you got a girlfriend. Bro, don't waste so much money on a girl. Take my advice.." Melv continued his speech as his imagination went haywire.

"No No...Nothing such. Can you get it or not?"

"I will try. Let me ask some people I know. But what for. Tell me correctly."

"I want to invest in some stocks."

Noah laid the whole plan in front of Melv. The fire sale will mean all stock prices go down to the bare minimum. He has to buy as many stocks as possible at 10 AM in the morning on the 28th of October. The next day he will sell half of it early in the morning. Rest he will sell every month a few at a time.

"Are you sure bro? That company is going to go down even more. All the ST will be gone." Melv was worried about Noah.

"If all is lost, I will pay you every single penny. So don't worry. Borrow as much as you can but at the lowest interest rate..." replied Noah. Melv was somewhat assured now hearing Noah's conviction.

"I will try to gather the funds and meet you tomorrow dude", as Melv hung up the Holo-Phone.

"I need to get some tokens as well." It was still almost sundown, Noah went outside his room to check out the Star-Gym. Principal Beck had already given him a special pass to work out after hours. This time of the day nobody would be around.

As he entered the gym, he saw an old guy repairing a broken treadmill. The old man was not feeling well. Noah offered him some water seeing his predicament.

"Are you alright?" asked Noah.

"Yes...No actually. Suddenly it turned all black..." replied the old man. From his clothes, he seemed like a repairman. "Go home and rest then." Noah told the old man.

"I can't. I have to fix this machine by tomorrow morning. If the students come and find it's broken, I will lose my job."

"What is it you are fixing?" Noah looked at the treadmill.

"I can fix it for you." Seeing the old man wonder he said, "I know a thing or two when it comes to machines. Don't worry. You rest on the side. I will fix it. Can I use your toolbox?" The old man nodded as Noah gave him an assuring smile.

It took less than half an hour to fix the treadmill. "All done.." he remarked.

The old man was amazed at the proficiency of this young kid. "Here, have this.." The old man handed over 100ST to Noah and smiled, "This is your cut." Noah would have refused but he needed the ST. So he did not proceed with any formality and cordially accepted it.

"Call me if you need any help in the future", as Noah shared his Holo ID, the old man left.

An idea struck Noah. The academy had many units including the gym, canteen, kitchen, playgrounds, battle arenas and every now and then a repair was needed for the equipment and machines being used. So he wandered all the places and found the things that needed repair.

Each department had dedicated repairing staff but availing their services meant scheduling a slot and waiting for them to come. Noah appeared in such places and offered a quick repair. Conducting repair was the job of the supervisor of each department. They had absolute control over whom to let it handle, the notion being to get the job done appropriately.

At first, they didn't want Noah to even touch the machines and some even rudely told him to leave. But some of the supervisors who were really in a tight spot regarding the repairs let him work on the smaller machines first. Once they were assured of his proficiency, they immediately let him take care of all of it. His reputation grew and he even got recommendations. In one night he had worked on several machines and gathered a total of 670ST.

Though it was a lackluster job, it was something Noah was good at. Also, it helped him with quick ST. They even gave him some parts which were not needed. Overall it was a good experience and the name Noah found a bigger audience in one night.

Noah told them to call him whenever needed. He would be happy to help. It was late at night when he returned to his new room. He ate dinner at the canteen already. So being all tired and exhausted, he slept.

His sleep broke early in the morning. The sun was about to rise. He yawned and thought, the mornings in the wilderness were a lot different.

With a sigh, he left the bed and freshened up. "Time to resume my training from where I left it.."

Noah put on the G-Tek device he got from Kane. He was using 2x in the forest and got accustomed to it. "Let's increase it a bit", he thought as he set it for 3.5x. "Kane told me not to go beyond 4x, so this will be fine I guess", he told himself.

As soon as the G-Tek device was set to 3.5x. Noah could not stand on his feet anymore. It was as if some invisible hands were pulling him towards the depth of hell. Noah couldn't even breathe properly. He sat down and took some deep breaths.

From the Time Journal, he had got details regarding several training techniques that include body techniques, weapon techniques, attack skills, defensive skills, escape skills and even circulating one's life force. These were created in ancient times and are still followed by some families with deep roots of lineage.

One such was an art of Yoga called Pranayama.

It meant to gain control of vital life force. Every cell in our body needs oxygen to function properly. This controlled breathing technique decreases the effects of stress on the body and increases overall physical and mental health.

With a proper supply of oxygen to each and every cell in the body, the blood circulation was restored and Noah could feel the immense pressure easing out a bit. Though it did not mean he can jump and run straight away. It was 3.5x Gravity after all.

Noah slowly stood up and went outside. "I have to get used to it", he thought as he started to walk. The pressure was easing as his muscles and bones were adapting to it. Noah found it convincing and said, "This has to do with my ability."

It has to be noted that Noah is now EQ-15 and should possess an ability power. However, he was yet to identify his exact ability. He could only guess that it had possibilities of being related to muscle memory or adaptation or maybe even bone strengthening. But he was not sure. The things that happened in the forest, his quick adaptation to Kane's basic training methods made him come to this conclusion.

"But I need to test it more to confirm." As he was walking fairly though not comfortably he wanted to run. The first leap he took made him tumble down.

All other students, who were using the academy grounds for training, saw him tumble and started laughing. "Who falls down even before running? What a weak fellow." They passed a lot of comments. But Noah did not care to even hear them. He picked himself up slowly.

He started jogging slowly, adjusting to the gravitational force. Once he felt the uneasiness was gone, he started running. It was a tough half an hour for Noah under 3.5x gravity. But his muscles had adapted very quickly, faster than even a top sprinter.

"Take it slow Noah", he told himself. "Someday you will run faster than a cheetah. For now, keep it steady..." he said, boosting his own confidence. He could run only 2 miles before his body gave out. He was totally exhausted. Eventually, he sat down quietly and meditated the pranayama. His energy was gradually being restored. He drank some water and started to run again. This time he could push another mile before resting.

Thus on the first day of resuming training he had started with a 5-mile sprint. Not bad for someone of Noah's level. But not enough to be No.1 in Delta class, he thought. Well, that was the immediate goal he set. "I have to climb up the ladder to Gamma and maybe further up as fast as I can." There was a firm resolve in the eyes of Noah as he uttered those words.

Noah was yet to realize the full potential of his abilities.

The cub has only taken the first leap. He may soar upon the sky as a Mighty Dragon.

Only the future will tell. Oh, wait… the future is changing!!

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