Part-30

  With a grimace, James focused on the blue window, searg for any information about Stamina. There, tucked away in a er, he saw the dreaded stat – Stamina (5/130). Arm bells ged in his head. He barely had any Stami! Panic surged through him.

  What would happen if he depleted it pletely? Would he lose sciousness? Would his body shut down? The blue window seemed to offer no answers, but the foreboding silence was deafening. Despite the growing fear, a stubborermination flickered within him. He was so close to upgrading his skill, so close to gaining more power. Just a few more thundercps, he thought, willing his trembling arms to obey.

  Ign the dull ache in his chest, James raised his hand for ahunderbsp; His vision swam, the edges of the room seeming to distort and waver. Fueled by a desperate o reach the upgrade point, he eled the st vestiges of his strength into his arm.

  As his palm ected with the pillow, a searing pain shot up his arm, momentarily eclipsing the fatigue. The world spun wildly, the blue window dissolving into a meaningless cascade of colors. His muscles, finally depleted of all pave way beh him. With a heavy thud that echoed through the silent room, James colpsed onto the floor, the taste of bile rising in his throat.

  The harsh digital voice of the Bully System seemed to emanate from within his own skull: "Warning: Your body is out of Stamina. Your body will be senseless until you restore your Stamina up to 10." Darkness crept at the edges of his vision, swallowing the world whole.

  A harsh digital voice echoed in the sudden silence of the room. "Warning: Your body is out of Stamina. Your body will be senseless until you restore your Stamina up to 10."

  James y sprawled on the floor, his vision fading to bbsp; The taste of defeat was bitter on his tongue. He'd pushed himself too hard, blinded by the desire for a quick upgrade. Now, he was left utterly helpless, his training inplete.

  A wave of nausea washed over James as he slowly regained sciousness. His head throbbed like a drum solo, and his body felt as heavy as lead. He blirying to focus his blurry vision. The first thing that registered was the worried frowched on his mother's face. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her eyes were filled with .

  "James? Honey, you hear me?" Her voice was a soothing balm against the chaos in his head.

  He tried to mumble a response, but his throat felt like sandpaper. He managed a weak croak, which seemed to satisfy his mother momentarily.

  "There you are," his mhed in relief. "Lily ran in saying she found you unscious on the floor. What happened?"

  A wave of dizziness hit him as he tried to recall the events leading up to his bckout. He remembered training… the thundercps… the overwhelming exhaustion… then nothing.

  "I… I don't know," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. Shame burned in his chest. How could he expin his bizarre trainihod, or the strange power c through him?