Chương 3: Recruit

"Worthless."

"Worse than worthless."

"Costly."

"You're a costly child." The words stung, the voice harsher than he had heard it before. Usually the voice was soothing and filled with love. Lately, the voice had been filled with disdain and hate. He wasn't sure what had changed but he could tell he was to blame. Of course it was his fault. Why wouldn't it be? He was barely even a full person. Two halves of two already broken vessels, both failing to find any foundation. Nothing seemed to fit, only because the pieces were identical.

The puzzle wasn't meant to be put together. The pieces started to vanish, one by one. Left alone, an empty box and a lifeless border. The center would never be full. - Ray awoke in a sweat, still reeling from his dreams. Being greeted by multiple System messages quickly managed to wash away the memory of them. [Mana Way alignment complete] [Core has begun regeneration process] [Mana: 100%] [Element: Nul] Ray's body was full of energy and a weak hum could be felt flowing throughout him.

The Mana Ways in his body were mapped out in front of him by the System and he could feel the Mana as it was guided to every inch of his body. A soft white glow radiated from the image of his body and he could see how the Mana in his surroundings would flow into his Soul Core, which in turn would enter his Mana Ways. Ray's mind was crystal clear as he thought to himself.

'I feel…'

'Powerful!' He couldn't contain his excitement and immediately got up before he quickly washed and put on the training gear found in his bag. It was unlike the previous attire, now closer in style to a tracksuit or even high school gym uniforms. The clothes once again fit perfectly and he felt very agile in them. Ray willed the System's map function and managed to make his way towards the training facility Gunther and Clive mentioned the day before. It worked like anything involving the System did.

He simply had to want it to. Ray arrived in the complex designated on his Map, only to find no one was there. It was a humongous room nearly devoid of anything save a few monitors and tanks that resembled the one he had resided in previously. The walls were pristine white and the ceiling was easily over 100 meters high. With Mana flowing through him, Ray had an unprecedented amount of energy. He had to let it out somehow.

Never being one to work out in either of his lives, he wasn't sure where to start, so he just started to run at a light pace around the room. He had always been light on his feet, and simple parkour was easily within the realm of things he could accomplish. Ray noticed how weightless his body felt and how his lungs seemed to have an almost endless reservoir of air. He felt like he could scale a mountain in minutes. Running at his current pace felt as natural as walking, so he decided to sprint full on.

It took only a few seconds for him to reach top speed and the room turned into a blur. The occasional tank or monitor would try and block his way, only to vanish beneath Ray's feet as he hopped over it. Still not feeling the least bit tired, Ray began to make sharp turns and use the walls and tanks to vault and jump his way around the room. Continuing to increase his speed and the intensity in which he made different moves, he turned the room into an obstacle course.

He darted around the room like a toddler hopped up on speed. All his inhibitions and doubt seemed to melt away while a devious grin began to form on his face. He had never felt so alive! Just as Ray felt he was reaching the apex of his speed, his left foot slammed into his right as he tried to make a turn that was far too sharp. His body crashed into one of the humongous tanks. The tank barely moved, sending Ray into the ground with as much force as he ran into it with. Bang!

The sound of the collision echoed throughout the room and Ray let out a pained groan. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"HAHAHAHA!" Ray immediately recognized Gunther's laugh.

"You got going pretty fast there, kid," Gunther praised. He sauntered into the room, his terrifying armor nowhere to be seen, replaced with training gear similar to Ray's. The large man came and unceremoniously lifted Ray off the ground, planting the teen on his feet and once again wiping him down like a dropped tool. This was when Ray noticed the green glow in the large man's eyes, much like his own.

"You won't have enough control over your body without a little training," Gunther explained.

"But you seemed to catch a decent stride at the end. You're still in Stage 0, so the boost you get from the Mana is minimal at best. You can most likely match a middle-aged man who's spent his life doing physical training. That sounds impressive at first, but then you find out that's still going to get you squashed like a bug by a Stage 1 Beast." Gunther began to stretch and wave his arms around; obviously, the topic at hand made him uncomfortable.

He didn't show it on his face, and maybe the constant movement was just a personality trait, but Ray could sense the forlorn feeling brooding in the man's very being. Gunther cleared his throat and continued speaking.

"Beasts start out at Stage 1, so you are at an inherent disadvantage. Not to mention, it's a common consensus that Beasts are usually at least half a Stage stronger than one of us at the same level. Usually it takes at least 2 people of the same Stage to take out a Beast without injury. This means you're always going to be at a disadvantage. Our strongest power is our mind." Gunther's face had taken on a solemn expression during his speech and Ray was also affected by the man's tone.

A moment of silence passed before Gunther walked towards one of the monitors and gestured for Ray to follow. Ray followed, the soreness from hitting the tank suddenly harder to ignore. Running fast inside a training room had felt incredible. Knowing a newborn Beast could still tear him apart made that excitement sit differently. Gunther wasn't teaching him how to show off. He was teaching him how not to die.

"Let's get your Training Missions Assigned," Gunther said.

"This is a whole new thing, and I can't wait to see how you handle it." Gunther instructed Ray on how to use the System to access the monitor, and once he did, multiple messages popped up. [Mission Assigned: Commence training with User: Gunther Wylheart] [Reward: Knowledge of the Strength Attribute] Ray was shocked that the System even assigned a mission for his training. He also noticed how the System seemed to know who Gunther was, even showing his title along with his stage whenever he looked at him.

[Soldier, Stage: 5] The words weren't light green like the usual System message. They were in fact red and pulsating. The System even gave him a warning, stating that Gunther was far more powerful than him. The sight sent a shiver running down his spine. As if reading his mind, Gunther began to speak.

"The System will automatically identify people and Beasts for you but usually it won't give a visual message," he said, waving his arm above his head to indicate he knew the message was there.

"The Training Mission is what initiated it and if you want to identify anything else you'll have to focus on it, just like when you use the System to pull up your own status page. You'll also be given more info on targets you identify on your own. Those will show Stage, Phase and even the element that the Mana in them currently is. For now, we can ignore all that number stuff and I'll teach you about Strength." Gunther went on to explain what the Strength attribute was and how it actually worked.

It was more than just the amount one could push or pull. Strength was the System's way of identifying the amount of force one could create or stop. Meaning, even the amount of speed one could execute came from the Strength attribute. This aligned more with how Ray imagined Agility worked but in fact, Agility was simply the act of controlling said force. Agility was more about fine control and using one's body in specific ways. Another way one could view Strength was as raw power.

An engine could be capable of pushing 1 million horsepower but if the vehicle couldn't handle it, no one was getting anywhere. Strength was the engine while Agility was the vehicle's body. Some people would put all the money into the engine, while the body would look cheap and run down. Others would have the vehicle be aerodynamically designed and light, making the engine less important, allowing them to focus more on things like wind resistance and handling.

Gunther made it clear that specializing in one or the other wasn't mandatory but the most common path people took. He himself was a Strength specialist, which was why he was in charge of training him in it. Ray would have to decide for himself what he wanted to focus on but that would be after he saw all that the System had to offer. The pair then began to run through numerous exercises led by Gunther. Ray was surprised by the lack of weight training and the amount of calisthenics in everything they did.

Gunther explained increasing muscle density doesn't increase Strength. In fact, it's better to have more mobility, as to allow every muscle fiber to apply force. Mana allowed one's muscles to become much more durable, meaning the amount of force they could exert was much higher. Pushups. Sit-ups. Dips. Pullups. It seemed like they were doing all the basic workouts Ray had learned in school. He completed them with ease, not so much as even breaking a sweat.

After an hour, Gunther said it was time to up the intensity. The lights in the room switched to a fluorescent blue and a System message filled Ray's view. [System has detected a fluctuation in the surrounding Mana] [Large amounts of Earth Mana, Rank 4 (Gravity) have been detected] [Mission Info: Intense Strength training initialized] Ray suddenly felt like he was 3 times his weight, and he found it almost twice as hard to breathe. Even Gunther seemed visibly affected before he began to speak.

"The System has used Rank 4 Earth Mana to forcibly increase the gravity in the room," he said through gritted teeth.

"The effect is specific to each person and based on Stage. The System will automate the amount of gravity and always make sure it is barely too much for you. Now, we run the whole exercise over again. As many times as it takes." - Minutes turned into hours, and after nearly 5 hours, Ray found himself the most worn out he had ever been. His arms and legs felt like noodles, while his lungs screamed for more air. He was currently sprawled out on the floor and panting heavily.

The training had definitely been harder than he expected but he was even more surprised by how insane Gunther was. The guy was like a machine. A machine that had the sense of humor of a step-dad and constantly hit him way too hard as a sign of endearment.

"Good job, Ray," Gunther's voice echoed across the room.

"You're the first kid they had me train and I was skeptical about it in the first place. Most people are nearly in their mid-20s before being given access to the System. This program is to see if we can get better results from teenagers like you. To put it bluntly, most of the adults can barely keep up with me on their first day. You managed to do just that and even impress me a little. You even took to the System in like 3 days.

Only one other person has managed to do that and they are already in the same Stage as me and arguably stronger. T hey even get an audience with the Emperor from time to time. The media is calling them 'our generation's next hero'. Really makes those of us that have been doing it for so long upset." His face twisted in to a grimace.

"It took me 10 years to get as far as I have and that brat outdid me in 3." Gunther let out a long sigh and seemed to stare at nothing.

"Being strong is all I have, so if I can't get any stronger I won't be worth anything. The Beasts have to die, or I'll die trying to make it happen."