Evolving Infinitely From An E-Class Hero

Chapter 4

I burst awake.

My body jerked up with a yelp, my heart— or whatever was inside my chest now —hammering wildly.

Breathing hard and ruggedly, I clutched at the sheets beneath me, feeling their familiar softness.

Wait. My sheets?

I blinked rapidly, trying to steady my vision.

I looked around me. The ceiling above me was the same one I had stared at for years before drifting into sleep.

The bed I was on was mine. The posters, the shelves, the cracked corner of my desk where I'd once tripped and slammed into it during an overzealous practice session.

I was in my room.

I frowned fearfully. How was I in my room?

Still half hazed, I slowly pushed myself up, the movement oddly fluid, my limbs moving easier than I had expected.

A chill ran down my spine.

Did I not die? I had broken all the bones in my body when I struck that pole.

Did I... dream the whole thing?

Why do I feel strangely complete?

I looked down at my hands, stretching my fingers wide. They looked like my ordinary hands. Normal. Unscarred.

But they felt different.

I couldn't put a finger on it at first, but there was a strange density in my fingers, a weight in my palms that hadn't been there before.

I clenched my fists.

It felt firm. My bones... my muscles... they were stronger. Much stronger.

Throwing off the covers, I rolled off the bed and landed cleanly on the ground, smoother than I usually would.

It was like every movement I made was smoother, controlled. I felt so replenished and fit.

Desperate to understand what was happening, I walked to the mirror and my breath instantly trapped in my throat.

My eyes widened.

Was that me in the mirror?

This muscular, toned and chiseled person. Me?

My body had changed.

I wasn't the slender boy with no definite muscles, and I wasn't the battered, half-broken frame left behind by the Snake King's brutal assault either.

Instead, my form looked like something sculpted from marble; lean, athletic, but packed with strength.

A superstar model's physique, built for both speed and power. I ran my fingers down my torso, expecting pain, scars — something — but my skin was flawless, unmarred.

I had died? And now I wake up like this?

My heart pounded. How?

Of course this wasn't normal, so when I forced myself to remember what could've happened, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

The spaceship. The alien woman named Q'urtona.

She had spoken about the Forever Core. About my injuries. About my heart—

My fingers trembled as I pressed a hand against my chest.

Brmmmm. Brmmmm.

The rhythm was steady, but not natural. Not like before. It didn't feel at all like a heartbeat. It felt like a pulse.

Like a living energy.

Deep and resonant, thrumming beneath my ribs.

No.

'No, no, no.'

The words came back to me, crystal clear.

"You lost your heart in battle. The Forever Core — a fragment of a special asteroid we found — has taken its place,"

My stomach twisted. That alien was the one who did this to me. That core she had spoken about, it was inside me now.

What did this mean?

Was I even still human?

Ding!

A sharp chime rang in my ears, and suddenly, a golden interface flickered into existence before me. Sleek, futuristic, alive with energy.

> [Host synchronization complete.

[Forever Core: 100% match.]

[Please declare the command word to activate the Forever Armor.]

I frowned.

The Forever Armor?

What the hell was that? And what's a command word?

Then, a single word materialized on the glowing display.

[INITIATE].

I raised a brow at the word, then read with no expectation. "Initiate?"

Suddenly, the pulse in my chest became stronger, and before I could even react to it, something jagged shot out from my sternum.

My breath hitched.

It was the Forever Core, and it protruded out of my chest: a small, glowing sphere, crackling with golden light.

Then it started to extend outward, releasing thin, shifting strands of some metallic substance.

I watched, frozen and terrified, as those strands spread rapidly, crawling over my body, wrapping around my arms, my torso, my legs.

My limbs burned. My skin tingled.

Out of nowhere, lines appeared on my arms and legs, and they began to glow, forming intricate pathways of energy that pulsed in rhythm with the Core.

"What the hell is happening?!" I groaned out loud.

The strands became metal, and they stretched and solidified, morphing into plates of golden and black armor.

The metal didn't cover the lines that had appeared in my arms, but they continued to cover the rest of my body.

I tried to step back, but the transformation moved too quickly.

The armor climbed higher, encasing my shoulders in large, angular plating. I felt it tighten around my arms, my chest.

When it had formed a full armor, it reached for my neck, creeping toward my face. Panic flared in my chest.

I lifted my head up, stretching away from the encroaching armor. "Noooooo..."

But then, it stopped.

I swallowed hard, breathing heavily.

Stumbling back toward the mirror, I looked at my reflection and what I saw made my blood run cold.

My body was completely covered by a suit of futuristic battle armor, fitted perfectly to my form.

The helmet covered my neck but stopped just above my jaw leaving my face exposed.

My shoulders were covered in segmented plating, while the chest piece was form-fitting, layered with overlapping plates that gave it both structure and mobility.

In the center of the chest piece was a round glowing energy source which I knew was the Forever Core.

Glowing conduits ran through the suit, the lines on my arms pulsed between the plates.

The entire armor looked both solid and ethereal at once, like something forged not just from metal but from energy itself.

I flexed my fingers.

The metal gauntlets responded.

I could feel power surging through me, a great deal of it. I had no idea what to think, how to react.

And even as I was still trying to make sense of it all—

Ding!

The interface flickered again.

> [Forever Armor has been initiated.]

[Armor must be tested to determine host compatibility and allow the host to gain a proper understanding of the power bestowed on him].

I stared at the words, my breathing still uneven.

Power bestowed on me?

What the hell was going on?

I clenched my fists, my mind racing.

Are you telling me... I just had a real Enlightenment Event?