Chapter 7: Breakthrough!

"For that purpose, I created these for you." Old Miller handed out ankle and wrist weights to Vincent, and he then said, "These are training weights used in the military. They can go anywhere between 1 and 10 times Earth's gravity. From now on, train while wearing these weights. They will push you to the utmost limits when you're training which in turn will help expand your vessels, but it will be quite painful. And I mean your body will be aching all over in pain."

"I am not scared of being hurt," Vincent replied before wearing the weights. "Thank you. I am sincerely grateful for the help you have provided me over the past four months."

"That's the least I could do for my friends' only son." Old Miller replied.

After a while, Vincent could be seen running with the other teenagers. However, he was seemingly out of breath, and that astonished a lot of students. Vincent was undoubtedly the strongest among them all, but he has never be seen breathing raggedly while running around the track.

'This is really hard.' Vincent thought while running with all the strength in his body. Five-time Earth gravity was acting on his body. He felt like a chained beast. He has never felt like this before, but it was a challenge he willing faced.

After the students completed the rounds, Old Miller announced, "All right, we will stop here for today. The military academy examination test will begin on Sunday. Vincent, Leila, and Peter, you three are of age and can participate in the examinations. I hope you all the best in the upcoming examination."

The three mentioned by him were already 16 years old. This means that they can participate in the military academy entrance examination that will be held after a few days.

"Good luck guys!"

"I wish you the best!"

"Show them how amazing you are!"

The young ones wished them well as the members of the orphanage were like one big family. Moreover, a lot of them liked Vincent, who was not only better looking than most of the people in the orphanage but also the strongest.

"I won't disappoint you guys. And thanks for everything till now," Vincent expressed his gratitude to them before busying himself with filling himself, eating one piece of slightly cold meat after another with some rice from his lunch box. 

After living here for four months, Vincent has come to like these kids, and although he was distant like a dream, that just added to his charms. Thus, a lot of them idolized him, and some even wanted to become like him.

"Let's go back and have lunch!" Old Miller said after he looked at the time.

The tummy of the orphans grumbled at the mere mention of food. They were famished and tired to their bones, after all.

"Let's go!"

"I wonder what's for lunch today."

Everyone left the training ground except for Vincent and Peter.

"We are finished with our training. Brother, let's go back and play a game of chess. I have learned new tactics, I am sure to beat you this time!" Peter said excitedly as he expected to win a game of chess for sure against Vincent. 

Peter was Leila's twin brother.

However, his personality was the total opposite of his sister.

He was playful and lived a carefree life while she was reserved and quiet but helpful.

"How about asking Uncle Miller or Leila to play with you?" Vincent said indicating he wasn't interested in playing a game of chess.

"Why?" Peter asked with a slightly disappointed expression on his face.

"I will train here till late night," Vincent replied calmly.

"You are always training till late at night. Aren't you bored?"

Peter said with a look that asked, why do you train so much?!

Vincent revealed a smile but didn't say a word.

How could Peter know about his personal problems and agenda?

There were so many fun things to do, but he invested all his time in training. All so that he will pass the military academy examination with high scores and gain the status of a king as fast as he can. Only then will he be able to avenge his parents.

"Take your time then. I'm going to play with my sister!" Peter cheekily said after a moment, and he then walking his way to the orphanage living quarters.

After watching him go away, Vincent took a deep breath and exhaled it, and started to train. He has been training very severely for the past four months in preparation for the military academy entrance examination.

He didn't spend all his time on physical workouts as he gave a few hours to books pertaining to the new world's knowledge every day.

That's how he managed to memorize everything Old Miller has taught him about inscriptions and inscriptionists within four months.

Furthermore, through intensive training, he has increased his strength by a lot and mastered two new transcendental-grade combat techniques recorded in his family's training manual.

The two techniques were Charged Fist and Blinking Step. Charged Fist was a transcendental-grade combat technique that gathers battle energy within Vincent's fist and unleashes a powerful punch that deals immense damage. Similarly, Blinking Step utilizes battle energy to hastens his speed and eliminates the sound produced by footsteps.

However, both of these skills were very taxing on his body. Especially blinking step as it required a lot of stamina and battle energy for continuous use. This means that he must be mindful while using them in a fight as to not overexert himself.

'According to the battle technique manual, the blinking step can be evolved into the ghost step. While charged fist next stage is star fist. But I need to increase my physical strength and improve my bodily conditions as otherwise my bones will shatter while using them,' Vincent thought with narrowed eyes, as he utilized Blinking Step to move around the training ground.

Then, he punched the wooden dummies using his transcendental-grade combat technique [Charged Fists]. The wooden dummies were made from a rare material that absorbs a large part of the damage. But still, the dummies cracked and shattered as his punches were just that powerful.

Vincent didn't control his powers at all due to multiple reasons. First off, Old Miller wasn't poor and he could purchase a lot of common training equipments. Secondly, these wooden puppets are automatically restored free of cost because of the magical inscription imbued in them. Lastly, he was permitted to use the training facility of the orphanage as he like by the owner, Old Miller.

As he was training, goose feathers-like large snowflakes began to fall.

Sometime later, Vincent's lips thinned into a smile once he shattered the 15th puppet as the Blood Evolution System message popped up in his vision.

‹Constitution increased to 31 points›

‹Battle energy increased to 31 units›

"My battle energy has increased by a unit!"

He was looking at the flakes dancing through the sky in glee. He was feeling happy as his vessel has expanded enough to contain 31 units of battle energy.

'Training while wearing these specialized weights is indeed effective. If I continue to train like this, I would be able to store a very large quantity of battle energy,' Vincent thought to himself as he continued training after a momentary pause.

After training for a few hours, Vincent sat down on the bench to rest as he was feeling tired and loosen up his stiff muscles.

"Only a few days are left before the entrance examination. Now is the best time to complete the heritage missions and unlock Life Spell Matrix and assimilate with the Blood Evolution system." Vincent sighed, "I am now confident that I can kill beasts and monsters roaming in the Silver Moon Forest, but before that, I need to register in the adventure association."

Only mercenaries and adventures were allowed to hunt in the Silver Moon island. He needs to become one of the two, himself, through a registration examination. Otherwise, even if he takes a ferry, he will be stopped from entering the Silver Moon island by the guards. So, he decided to head to the adventure association after notifying Old Miller.

While he was finalizing his next steps, Peter came running to the training ground. As he noticed Vincent sitting on the bench, he broke down in crying.

"Brother, something bad happened to Leila...," Peter said between sobs as he shivered due to the cold weather.

"First of all, calm down. I won't understand what you're saying while choking on tears. Second, what happened to her? She was just fine a moment ago. Could it be that you are pulling a prank on me?" Vincent said while suspiciously staring Peter in the eyes.

"Why would I make a joke about my sister's life?! We were just playing when she suddenly fell to the ground. Her temperature soared then dropped low... All of a sudden, she lost consciousness" Peter said, his words unable to make sense of the situation. "I came here because Uncle Miller told me to urgently bring you back."

Vincent's stoic expression changed to that of seriousness as he realized the seriousness of the situation.

"You should have said that sooner. Let's go!"