Cedric swears that he wasn't a narcissistic guy...
He has never been one to pay close attention to what he looks like on a daily basis, that has never been one of his hobbies. He tries to look at least presentable enough whenever he goes out, but beyond that, he doesn't care about how others perceive him.
If anything, this just got worse when he got admitted to this place...
With how difficult life was here, how could he have any ti to take care of his personal appearance? He had no space nor ti for vanity, he's focused on survival, just that.
Believe him, he's really not that narcissistic. He's rely admiring his reflection in the mirror now since it has truly been a while since he had taken a good look at himself.
His reflection displayed a six-foot-tall man with healthy and glossy blonde hair long enough to tie up in a bun. A pair of golden-colored pupils stared back at him, seemingly seeing right through his soul, exposing even the deepest and darkest secrets he kept.
With a bronzed skin complexion and rippling muscles hiding underneath a very loose shirt and baggy pants, the man was certified to be a head-turner. His face was angular; sharp jawline, high-bridged nose, freckled cheeks, sculpted physique, thin lips, perfect set of teeth...
Tall, lean, mysterious, and extrely handso. That's the summary of what he saw from his reflection. A guy with a face like this would never have any difficulties scoring a girl or two on a bar. Add the fact that he's far from lacking down south...there's no doubt that he could make any woman happy and satisfied.
Cedric smiled wryly at himself. He could've passed as a perfect young master if it weren't for his status here. It's just a sha that his looks don't help with his Mandatory Service. If it does, then he would've certainly had an easy life with a face card like this.
Shaking off the weird thoughts swirling in his mind, Cedric wiped his face and stepped out of the bathroom.
He sat on the edge of his bed and looked at the Restriction Seal placed on the back of his left hand. Summoning the seal, he saw its display; Lv.9 restriction.
A Lv.9 restriction was enough to completely paralyze a Tier 1 Lv.9 Superhuman from head to toe completely. Of course, that's assuming that they don't possess any thod of escaping the restriction itself. Yet, here Cedric was, shrugging it off like it was nothing but a minor inconvenience.
If he were to get rid of this seal, Cedric bets that his speed and explosive strength would reach a mind-boggling degree. Truly absurd considering that he's only still Lv.2.
Of course, this was thanks to his most recent breakthrough in his cultivation. Reaching the Hollow Core Stage of the [White Lotus Core Technique] already gave him this much power. What more on its later stages?
If he wanted to, he could do so serious damage to his room. Give him five minutes and he would be able to completely pulverize it just with his bare fists alone. If his enemies' bones weren't as tough as concrete, there's no way they'd survive a full-powered punch from him.
That's how absurd Cedric has gotten after his breakthrough...
Sadly though, his recent breakthrough made the Resistance Stamp almost useless. The highest level of restriction it could go was Tier 2 Lv.5, and due to Cedric's growth, he had no doubts that he would surpass that very soon. In his generous estimates, it would only take him a month and a half before the stamp loses out all of its worth for him.
He didn't sweat much over it though. That's gonna happen sooner or later anyway. The breakthrough just expedited the process.
Cranked up the restriction level to Tier 2 Lv.1, Cedric felt the familiar strain on his movents. He started wriggling his fingers, then his arms. He did the sa with his toes and legs. After that, he stood up slowly.
He wasn't in a rush. He sank his perception into his body and felt his muscles pulsing to adjust to the restriction. Once he was able to walk around freely, he did so stretches which caused more strain on his body.
Cedric took this in stride, however. Not really minding the pain and just working out his way through it, allowing his body to get used to the restriction.
Once he was done with that, he walked out of his room, striding as if he didn't have the seal on himself at all. His expression was placid as he made out of his way to his training grounds.
He was aware that he was receiving looks from his peers but he paid no mind to them. As far as he knew, he didn't know them and they don't know him, he didn't mind it staying that way.
The wardens were also observing his movents but they didn't stop him. From what his senses picked up, the wardens just took note of his presence and went back to their respective duties.
Cedric felt the rowdiness of the crowd. Nothing has changed in this place. It still reeks of desperation and insanity. He's used to it at his point.
Upon arriving at his training spot, he took out his sword and started swinging. Today, just like any other day previously, he planned on following his set routine.
While it is true that the growth of his skills slowed down at his point, even with his titles applied, he still stuck to it faithfully since this was the best he could do.
This place had no access to high-end facilities that offered a boost in his training speed. Such luxury isn't available to people of his status. He also couldn't ask anybody here to be his sparring partner since he doubted that they'd be able to keep up with him. Plus, he didn't want them bothering him at all so really, this was the best he could make of his situation.
Cedric could feel soone staring at him. Focusing slightly, he discovered that a group of wardens, who were on their break, were watching him from the upper floors of the RMC as he trained. He could even hear them talking about him...
"He's at it again...is that what he always does every single day? Doesn't he get bored?"
"Well, considering that that's his routine for months now at this point, I'd say no. And hey, I actually would much prefer if every single convict here were like him. Maybe the atmosphere of this place wouldn't be as horrible as it is now."
"True, true."
"His chip is yellow. A few months ago, that was red. It seems that whatever he's doing was working."
"Good for him then. To though, I'm just glad that he's not crazy like the others were. I'm relieved to see that he hasn't lost hope yet."
"You know, it really makes curious, what changed? I an, I'm fairly certain he wasn't like that before."
"By 'that' you an?"
"I ant hard working. I've seen his records before, a few months ago, he's one of the worst cases we have here. He looked malnourished like he was one gust of wind away from toppling over and dying. He also used to be an emo, yet look at him now."
"If it weren't for the fact that I saw the sa reports as you did, I could swear that you're talking about soone else. But yeah...his progress really makes one curious. That being said though, you know our rule about curiosities and all that."
"I know, I know. I never said I'd investigate. I'm just wondering, that's all. Besides, the guy's different in a positive way so I have no complaints."
Cedric subtly shook his head. He didn't overreact because he didn't want to know that he could hear them. Besides, they're just gossiping anyway. It's not like they're harming him through that, so he also has no complaints.
Doing his best to ignore their conversation, Cedric returned his focus to his warm-up. He brandished his sword slowly, allowing his body to adjust to the resistance while maintaining the perfect execution of each strike.
His body acquiesced to his will like a machine, slowly but surely, he could feel his body getting used to the new level of restriction when all of a sudden, dread washed throughout his entire body.
He froze in place. His ntal alarms blared dangerously at him as his head sharply shifted through the direction of the center.
It was then followed by the sharp screech of the alarms echoing across the facility.
Cedric almost couldn't believe it. His hands shook as he hurriedly manipulated his field of senses to focus on the interior of the center. He then felt the wave of panic, heard the alard cries of his fellow convicts, slled fear and corruption, and saw several silhouettes jumping out of a newly ford spatial crevice in the middle of the reception area of the center.
It was then that reality truly sunk in for Cedric. Paling ever so slightly, he whispered:
"Sobody just turned into a 'Node'!"
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