Chapter 152: Hiding Strength
Being naturally cautious, Rocky took his time thoroughly inspecting the room for any suspicious elements or hidden threats that Sophia might have planted.
He thoroughly checked the room and the mattresses of their beds to inspect for poison darts or some other ploy, however, thankfully it seemed like Sophia had not completely lost her mind and was at least not trying to assassinate them.
Only after Rocky felt assured that there was nothing wrong with the room itself, did he let the matter go and started to focus on his new improved physical body, as he spent almost an hour trying to figure out the changes that he had undergone.
He wasn't fully comfortable with expressing his full strength yet, as his body moved faster than his brain could anticipate it to.
The speed of his own reflexes shocked him, as he could now jump further and move faster than his own brain could anticipate, putting him in a weird spot where he could not completely control his power.
Metaphorically, it was like standing across a puddle, however, feeling unsure if you could easily jump across it or not?
While Rocky thought he could jump 2 meters using full strength, his body could actually jump 6 meters now, leading to awkward situations where he did not know exactly what to expect from his increased strength, or just how much he was capable of.
It wasn't like he could not control his strength, because his brain did have full control over his body and it's movements, however, it was just a matter of understanding this body's limits and it's response speed, as his brain was still not sure of just how much the body was capable of.
"I need to keep this improvement hidden, the difference between the current me and the previous me is like heaven and Earth and I was already a class apart from the rest of the batch.
If I suddenly start taking down Professor Mae in combat now, that would surely brand me as a crazy maniac and flag me as an abnormal threat.
With Sophia watching closely, I should not reveal any more of my strength before the showdown on floor21" Rocky murmured to himself as he decided to keep his current increase in strength a secret from the rest of the batch.
As much as he liked flexing his powers, he knew when to draw a line and this was the point where he decided to not show off what he was really capable of, because the previous him was already too strong for people to fathom.
"I'll slowly focus on acclimatizing to this body, trying to understand its limits and what I'm capable of for now.
If what the demoness said about me having reached my peak physical potential is true, then the only natural course of action for me to follow now, is to fine tune combat skills and the special moves under my belt, to become an even stronger warrior than I already am….." Rocky said to himself as he prepared a clear course of action in his mind.
*Unlock*
Unlocking his door, as Rocky took a step outside his room, he found Sophia waiting outside his room still, as she looked at him with her sea green eyes and a shy smile.
"Hey- I just wanted to apologize, you seemed mad that I was waiting for you in your room-" Sophia said, lying through her teeth as she had thought of a nice excuse to say in the few hours that she was thrown out of Rocky's room.
"It's okay. I was just surprised more than anything, it's not like you're unwelcome in our room, but just that I needed privacy to change and all-" Rocky said, also lying through his teeth, as he smiled kindly, prompting Sophia to sigh in relief.
Rocky was playing a dangerous game. He knew that Sophia thought that his acting was genuine, which meant that she trusted his words and actions, however, despite his best efforts to make her fall in love with him silly, it did not seem like the Champion Of Poseidon had any real interest in dating Rocky romantically.
She was wisely always on her guard when Rocky asked her something sensitive, giving him vague replies instead of firm answers, which meant that Rocky could not extract the full value of her knowledge out of her.
Under such circumstances, keeping her close to him, when he knew she was planning to screw him over was a dangerous gamble, however, Rocky decided to play it regardless as he continued with the facade of being a sweet and innocent friend.
"Thank you so much for forgiving me! I was very embarrassed to be caught in your room like that, haha.
Also, if you don't mind, can you not tell this to Erin and Buhara? I don't want them to think I'm a creep" Sophia requested, as Rocky closed his eyes and then rolled his eyeballs in a way that Sophia could not see.
"Sure…" he replied, showing no cracks in his expression as he continued with his flawless acting.
"Thanks once again- you're the sweetest Rocky! Really-" Sophia said, biting her lips as she checked out Rocky's new physique.
"By the way, what happened in your promotion test…. You look different and stronger….. mind telling me how it went? Cause I'm planning to attempt mine tomorrow" Sophia said, as she spoke the lines she had rehearsed several times.
Trying to sound curious without sounding overly curious, Sophia hoped that Rocky would tell her about his promotion test in detail, so that Sophia could write about it in her report to her brother tonight.
She especially wanted to figure out what tier pool did he choose to appear for the test in, however, admitting that she knew about the pools and 'Vorithra Sylithen' would be akin to admitting that she knew about the Origin Realm but she still deliberately hid information from Rocky.
Under such circumstances, she could only play dumb and hope Rocky came clean about everything.
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