Maur recomposed himself and sneered. “I don’t know where you got the idea that you could negotiate with me. Do you think you’re special? If you don’t want to sing it, no one’s going to miss you. The standard contract is the same for everyone and non-negotiable.”

“Please, just hear me out!” she begged, with feverish over-bright eyes. “I’m not asking for more benefits. As long as you can help me, I’ll serve the Ross family forever, without expecting anything in return!”

Her plea and the desperation present in her voice surprised Alan.

Maur didn’t miss it either, and after considering her words, he beckoned her to follow him.

When they disappeared around a corner, Jod snorted. “I’m pretty sure she’s going to use some lame excuse to demand everything upfront and run away with it. Her acting was damn near perfect. Kids these days are scary.”

Both Adrianna and Alan glared at him. Jod’s actions were really starting to get on Alan’s nerves.

“Next time, make sure you’re wearing studded gloves when you punch him!” she whispered and glanced in the direction Kora went. “What do you think they’re talking about?”

How should I know when I stood beside you the entire time?

“No idea.”

“Why didn’t she tell us anything?”

Her crestfallen expression made it hard for Alan to tell her the truth. They wouldn’t magically become friends after talking a few times. In a way, they were only acquaintances, and Alan wasn’t in a hurry to consider them friends. After the events of his previous life, he found it hard to get close to and trust people. For him, friendship was something that would take a lot of time to develop.

Considering Kora’s personality, she wouldn’t openly talk about her troubles even if they became friends.

He didn’t have to wait for long before Kora appeared alongside the instructor. Neither of them gave an indication as to what they discussed, but the conversation must have borne fruit as she joined the line instead of leaving. She ignored Adrianna’s not so subtle attempts to grab her attention.

“Since you’ve all decided to serve the Ross family, let me explain what happens next,” Maur said. “The initial training will end in 5 days. Afterwards, you’re free to go about your daily life. There’ll be no more training till you advance to the next class. You can collect your promised resources from any training field. If you don’t advance within a year, you’ll get fewer resources. Any questions?”

“What about the reward for the top five?” Jod asked.

“There’ll be individual and group sparring sessions at the end of every month. The final test will be conducted 11 months from now.”

“Is the reward useful even after advancing?”

“Yes.”

“What happens if I advance before the final test?” Trent asked.

“Your training would’ve begun, and you will have an advantage in the battle.”

After everyone finished clearing their doubts, Maur led them back to the training room and pulled Alan aside. “What is it, sir?”

“Are you interested in knowing the terms Kora discussed with me?"

The instructor’s words took him by surprise. He thought of many reasons as to why Maur brought him aside but didn’t expect that. The confusing part was as to why Maur brought up the topic in front of him. Alan didn’t have the authority to approve the terms they discussed. Frankly speaking, no one would take a five-year-old kid’s words seriously.

Still, it didn’t stop him from nodding as he was truly interested in what they discussed.

“Like you, she is a variant," Maur said.

Alan wasn’t surprised as he guessed it, but he wondered where the instructor was going with the topic. Not knowing how to react, he blankly stared back. The lack of explanation about a variant irritated him. He tried hard to remember if the previous Alan knew something about the topic, but his attempts didn’t yield results.

Would it kill him to explain or elaborate a bit? Alan annoyedly thought. Instead of breaking my head open over it, I should ask him. I’m a kid, so my question won’t be out of place. It’s the one perk of being a child. I can act stupid and get away with it. No one will get suspicious.

Maur either didn’t understand his expression or didn’t care as he continued with his explanation. "She’s not a complete variant making her less valuable, but it’s still rare."

Alan interrupted the instructor before they started talking in circles. “What is a variant?”

“You don’t know?” Maur asked in surprise.

He shook his head.

The instructor opened his mouth about to say something before closing it. He stripped, removing his shirt, and stood bare-chested. The sight of his mangled chest made Alan gasp. The scars on his face paled in comparison to the ones present on the rest of his body.

Three deep parallel scars present on his stomach attracted Alan’s attention. Each one was two fingers width and it passed all the way to his back, as if it bisected him. Not for the first time, he wondered how Maur got so many injuries.

All of a sudden, a change occurred, startling Alan. The instructor’s arms bulged up, making each one thicker than Alan’s entire body. Brown fur sprouted on the surface and covered his hands. By the time the transformation was complete, his hands were long enough to freely reach the ground.

“I got these from the Earthsplitting Ape,” Maur said.

The way he phrased it, people would get the impression that the ape sent it as a birthday gift.

Alan couldn’t make sense of what the instructor tried to explain. How’re gorilla arms related to a variant? Does it mean I have a similar ability? The transformation shouldn’t be limited to an ape as the instructor said he got them, meaning there should be a way to get others. Is that how they coined the term variant?

Alan tried to figure out the rules of being a variant. ‘Getting’ was too vague as he couldn’t remember ‘getting’ anything, especially not from something as bizarre as an ape.

For the first time, he wondered if he reincarnated as a human or some other race that looked like humans. He couldn’t think of anything else that explained the bizarre sight.

In his previous life, he saw many scientists ‘upgrade’ themselves with parts from a superior race. The instructor’s transformation looked positively mild when compared to some things he had seen. The shocking part lay in Maur’s change. No technology could perfectly transform between human and gorilla arms without leaving any sign.

Alan could think of two reasons for the transformation. Maur wasn’t human, or the current world had in some way surpassed the previous world’s technologies. He knew many differences existed between the worlds when people talked about Ki, but he had never seen it in action. He thought its use stopped at strengthening the body. If Ki was the cause of transformation, then it was something he should really start paying attention to.

Maur walked towards a pillar. “When I absorbed its arms, I gained one of its skill.”

A ripple passed through his arms, and when it reached his fingers, he lightly flicked the column.

It erupted into a shower of stone and the shards flew forwards, embedding themselves into the opposite wall.

The sight made his curiosity burn, and he wanted to know more about the skill. Caution warred with curiosity, but curiosity eventually won. Identify

It was his first time using the skill of his initiative and the system immediately responded.

Name: Maur

Class 1: Grand Knight (Knight path) [???]

Attributes:

Strength: ??? Speed: ??? Constitution: ??? Intelligence: ??? Wisdom: ??? ???

Though he expected it, the result disappointed him. He wondered if he should pay more attention to the system. While it wasn’t wise to trust it, the system came with many perks that could be useful. Rather than ignoring it completely, he should strike a balance.

“This is what it means to be a variant.” Maur pointed to his arms. “It’s a difficult concept to explain, but I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. Grand knights can fuse with the shards of the beast race and acquire their abilities. During rare occasions, descendants of grand knights inherit them. These children are called variants. They have a higher affinity towards Ki and train faster.”

It explained one part of the question that plagued Alan’s mind, but many others took its place. “What’s a partial variant?”

“Most of the time, the children inherit only a part of the ability. ”

“That means complete variants are stronger, aren’t they?”

“In general, they are better than those who acquire partial ability, but that’s not a hard truth. Sometimes, partial skills outclass some completed ones, making it difficult to compare.”

It gave him some food for thought. “Which one am I?”

“Partial.”

So he was good, but not too good. “What’s my ability?”

Maur frowned. “Shouldn’t you know that? Variants can naturally use their skills.”

Before Alan could come up with an excuse, the instructor convinced himself. “It may be because the change isn’t visible, and you think it’s normal. I’ll inform the Duke so that he’ll pay more attention to your actions.”

Alan groaned internally. It was exactly what he needed; more attention.