'Status Page!' Oliver thought.
In front of Oliver, a small screen slid out and stretched. Completely translucent, the boy could see what was behind it while still being able to read it. As he moved his head, the floating screen began to follow him.
With a childlike grin, he tried pushing the Status Page's limits even further. Using his hands, he tried pinching the edges of the screen, performing a zoom-in and zoom-out motion.
"Welcome back, Oliver!" The same voice he'd heard before echoed again.
"What!?" The boy was startled, assuming it was some kind of AI embedded in the Ranger Armor.
'Hello?' he thought, waiting for a response. Yet none came. Moments later, words began to form on the screen.
Some of the information was new, his level and experience appeared for the first time. Although Caine had mentioned training to increase Stats and Boons, Oliver hadn't realized that the system could display his information in such detail.
Additionally, he had already earned 20 Experience Points in such a short time, and he started wondering how these points were earned.
He wondered whether experience came only from training or if combat counted too.
The first part of the Status Page was easy for Oliver to understand. But as he read more about his Boons, Glitches, and Skills, his brow furrowed. The boy couldn't make sense of what was being shown.
'Pawn. Is that the level of the Boon? But what does it mean by Growth?' After a few moments of pondering the meanings, he accidentally touched the word "Insight."
The screen expanded as he touched the word, and a second section appeared.
'Hmm… seems straightforward,' Oliver thought. He remembered quickly learning how to use his Ranger Weapon, but didn't recall applying Energy. However, during the fight with the Ork, he was too focused on survival to remember much about what he had done.
The boy decided to apply Energy while looking at the room's hologram projector.
Similar to when he summoned his Energy Pistol, he felt as if a flow of Energy coursed through his body, moving from the center of his chest to his eyes and head.
Activating the ability was as simple as thinking about pressing a button. However, the result was the exact opposite of what he expected. The moment Oliver activated the ability, a deep and agonizing pain struck his head.
Oliver fell to his knees. His whole body went cold. His only reaction was to close his eyes and grab his head. His throat begged to scream, but he clenched his teeth until his jaw ached.
An overwhelming amount of information seemed to rush through his brain, details he had never noticed or known about the holographic system. Everything from its maintenance to the fact that one side of the room was seeing the hologram with slightly off colors.
When he finally lifted his head, something warm dripped onto his lips. Wiping his face, he noticed some blood had dripped from his nose. He was astonished by how intricate the Boon was.
The boy could imagine a few different ways to use his Boon.
'I could've died.' The thought hit him like ice.
Without any warning, he had risked his health simply to understand the holography system. If he had tested it on something even more complex, he might have passed out or, worse, died.
Using his military jacket sleeve to wipe his face, he decided to look back at the Status Page. This time, he clicked on [Too Much Information].
'I should've definitely read this first,' Oliver cursed himself.
Until that moment, Oliver didn't fully understand the concept of Glitches or how dangerous they could be, which is why he hadn't feared using his Boon. However, now it was clear that these powers came with a heavy cost.
Finally, there were only two more options left to click.
The final clickable option read [Exchange 200 Experience Points to Unlock]. Oliver didn't hesitate; he wanted to understand as much as he could about how the system worked. But then he heard the same system's voice.
'You don't have enough Experience Points to add another Boon.'
He expected it wouldn't work, but needed to try anyway.
Finally, Oliver stood up from the bleachers and began walking out of the room.
'Am I strong or weak? Clearly, I'm not combat-focused.' The boy didn't know what to think. His Boon didn't seem helpful in combat or have a clear purpose, but it appeared powerful enough to cost him his life.
Finally, when Oliver lifted his eyes, he noticed that Alan was nowhere to be found. "Where the hell did he go? Damn it, I'm going to be late."
Oliver started running, trying to find the entrance to the second training area. Luckily for him, there were still a few recruits heading the same way.
After a short sprint, he arrived in front of a large training field, already out of breath. Around him stretched a vast forest, but the center looked like a standard track-and-field ground.
He spotted Alan leaning against one of the walls near the entrance of the Training Center.
"Where were you?" Alan asked, curious about Oliver's delay.
"I was exploring the Status Page; I finally discovered my Boon and Glitch," Oliver said, lowering his voice on the second part.
"About time. Will it help you decide on your specialization?" Alan questioned.
"I'm not sure, probably not." Oliver weighed how much he should reveal about his Boon. Alan had helped him many times, but his own advice was to avoid exposing too much about his abilities or weaknesses.
"My Boon isn't combat-focused, so I don't have many options," Oliver explained.
"I see," Alan spoke.
Both boys stood at the entrance, watching as only a few recruits had managed to find the area so far.
Oliver finally recovered his breath and had time to look around. The path hadn't been easy to find; he had to check several times between various buildings before locating the way to the N2 training area.
The road to the building's entrance was broad, with marked spaces for recruits to run and exercise. However, the most surprising aspect was the surrounding trees.
The vegetation felt equatorial at first, the air warm and mild. But the farther north they went, the trees shifted into towering pines and the temperature plunged.
'How on earth did they find this island?' Oliver thought. 'Was it discovered? It can't be artificial, right?' Feeling a bit like a conspiracy theorist, he tried to ground himself back in reality.
"And you, have you thought about what you're going to specialize in?" Oliver asked, turning to his friend.
"I don't have many options either," Alan replied as he glanced at the entrance of the training area.
"You saw my fight, and my Boon is closely tied to my combat style. Plus, my best stat is Energy. It's pretty obvious I need to focus on Energy Combat," Alan added.
However, Alan felt this decision would cause issues within his family. But he planned to face those problems when the time came.
Both stood for a few more minutes, observing their surroundings, until finally, larger groups of boys and girls began to approach. In the distance, an officer was accompanying one of the groups.
The next training session was finally about to begin.
Oliver clapped the dust from his hands. "I think my best option would be…" he began, the words trailing into thought.