Chapter 2: Innate Ability

"By consuming a substantial amount of nourishment, your salamander avatar has gained evolution points."

"Attributes page generation in progress... Page generation completed."

As two lines of transparent text appeared, a similarly transparent page frame materialized in front of Chen Chu, leaving him stunned.

Physique: 7 (Average 10)

Strength: 7

Agility: 6

Spirit: 10

Ability: Soul Splitting

Avatar: Six-horned Salamander (Ordinary amphibian, adult body length 30 centimeters, battle power 0)

Level: None

Innate Ability: None

Evolution points: 1/10 (When evolution points are full, evolution will be available)

"Attributes page..." Chen Chu slowly exhaled, suppressing his excitement. This was like the novels, anime, and gaming that he used to enjoy, which made it easier to accept this unexpected turn of events. Now he understood why the six-horned salamander had become his avatar. It was probably related to his innate ability, Soul Splitting.

Glancing over the data showed that, other than his Spirit, all of his attributes were lower than those of the average person. This didn't surprise Chen Chu; his body was genuinely weak.

His gaze then fell on the data of his avatar below, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. A fantasy-esque attributes page, and an avatar that could evolve by eating—with these conditions, he could get by in life comfortably with little to no effort.

"Ahem... calm down, calm down." Chen Chu regained his composure, then continued to study the attributes page, only to find little else.

***

At eight in the morning, Chen Chu walked to school under the morning sun, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, black slacks, and leather shoes. He had to admit that the school uniforms here were quite fashionable, making him look much livelier.

From beside him, Chen Hu exclaimed, "Bro! Looking fresh in the uniform!"

Due to his frail body, Chen Chu had been pale ever since he was young. Standing at 1.7 meters with a thin body, he was neither tall nor well-built, especially in contrast to his brother, who towered at 1.75 meters at only 13 years of age and sported a robust physique. Nonetheless, he walked in such an upright manner that, along with his fair and delicate facial features, he gave off the impression of an elegant, handsome young man, more attractive than even most girls.

"Thanks, it's not too shabby." Chen Chu was thankful that he hadn't been born ugly, dull, or short in this world.

Today was the first day of school for both brothers. One was in the first year of high school, while the other was in the first year of middle school. Both of their schools were in the same direction, but Chen Hu's school was closer. Walking there took about twenty minutes, whereas Chen Chu had to walk for another ten minutes to reach his school in another district.

"Brother, I heard that once you get into high school, you get to learn real martial arts. If you're good at it, you can even get to the national level."

Chen Chu shook his head. "Reaching the national level is no easy feat."

Chen Hu clenched his fist. "I believe in you, brother. You can do it."

"...Do you really think I have the potential to do it with this frail body of mine?" Unlike his brother, Chen Chu did not have much confidence.

After the start of the new era, chaos had ensued for more than a decade. All of the governments had banded together to form the United Federation, successfully maintaining stability for a few decades. The Chen brothers resided in Mist River City. Most of its inhabitants were the Han people, who implemented twelve-year compulsory education.

Upon entering high school, as most adolescents reach physical maturity, everyone would start learning true martial arts from the United Federation. At this point, most people's lives would start to diverge.

Those with the necessary talents would enter martial classes in their next term if they were willing to pursue such, focusing on this training while learning liberal arts. Others who weren't as talented in martial arts would focus on liberal arts or the sciences, getting into universities with excellent grades.

Of course, those with talents in either martial arts or liberal arts were a minority. Most people would simply get a job after graduating from highschool.

To follow the martial path, a good physique was the bare minimum requirement.

Chen Chu was not hopeful about his potential in martial arts, but he was also not discouraged by the hand he was dealt. With the attribute page and an avatar that evolved, he still stood a chance of reaching the top.

Soon, Chen Chu parted ways with his brother, and continued walking for about ten minutes before reaching the entrance of a school called Nantian Martial Arts High School, passing streets filled with cars that were dropping off school kids.

Due to the resurgence of spiritual energy, this world's technological development was slowed, much slower than Earth in general. These luxury cars, while looking sleek and modern, were fueled by oil or electricity, and levitation technology hadn't been created yet.

Following the crowd, Chen Chu calmly walked into the school. With the guidance of the bulletin board, he made his way to class 1C on the second floor of the building. There were already several students present, making the room noisy. Glancing around, Chen Chu randomly picked a seat at the back near the windows.

Never thought I would be going through high school again after being transmigrated

.

Soon, the classroom was full of students, around forty of them with an almost equal ratio of males to females. At 9 A.M., a woman in her thirties walked into the classroom, dressed formally and with a serious expression on her face. The first thing she did upon entering the classroom was write down the words "Chen Qi" on the blackboard. She then stood on the lecturing stand, looking at the students below, and said sternly, "My name is Chen Qi. From today onwards, I am your class teacher."

She then pointed at two students in the front row. "You can be the temporary class representative. And you, the martial arts representative. Any objections?"

The two students she appointed were a male and a female. The male student, who seemed excited, stood up and exclaimed, "No objections, Madam!"

The female student nodded. "I have no objections either."

"Very well. Later, the two of you should find a few people and collect the study material in the textbook room."

"Yes, Madam."

She then looked at all the students and said, "Today is the first day of school, so not much is happening. The main goal for you is to get to know everyone else in the classroom. After collecting your study material, you are free to go anywhere. You can go home or explore the school. Classes will officially start tomorrow.

"Also, you'll be sitting at your current seats from now on unless there are special circumstances. There are keys to the drawers under your desk. You can lock your study material in there so that you don't have to carry it around everyday. Alright, that's it."

With that, Chen Qi turned and left decisively and swiftly, leaving the students stunned. Even Chen Chu had never expected to meet such an awesome class teacher on the first day of high school. Or perhaps, was this the teaching style of this world?

Appointing two students as class representatives at random and giving such brief instructions before turning around and leaving... it was as if staying a second longer would waste her life. Weren't students supposed to introduce themselves and get to know each other to break the ice in this new environment?