Chapter 10 - The first step

Shin's head was exploding with information that he had just listened to, it as almost as if he had just heard of a long-lost story.

Hendrick noticed the dazed gaze of the boy before chuckling.

"Don't worry about all that yet, it's always important to take one step at a time. Here, come stand by this machine." Hendrick gestured at the small machine that stood besides him.

Shin had almost forgotten about the strange machine as he listened to the explanation Hendrick had given him. Much of which he was still trying to organiaze and understand.

Shin walked up to the machine as Hendrick grabbed and lifted one of his arms onto a small section of the machine.

He then pressed a button which soon followed a slight prick at the back of his hands.

Shin gazed at the strange mechanism strangely as a strange needle started to gather some blood from him. It was a sensation that Shin had long been accustomed to from the various tests he had gone through in the lab.

"Hmm...?" At that moment Hendrick noticed something strange.

"...I explained to you about how the Initiate's power level is divided right?" Hendrick asked.

"Y-Yes, uhhh... 3 levels of Bone, Blood and Muscle!" Shin, after a short moment of thought, shouted out. Excited as he managed to remember this information.

"Well, this machine here is called the Blood Tester. Its used to test the purity of a Initiate's blood and determine the current level you are at but... Look here." Henrick pointed to a section where there were a few guages which were completly lit up.

"Each light represents a level in your blood, one for lower tier blood, two for mid and three for higher. But..."

"It's all lit up?" Shin, also confused, stared at the pieces of light.

At that moment Hendrick remembered the moment he had first met Shin.

A small boy who was wearing thin clothes and sitting under the snow without feeling cold at all.

He had thought that it had been a bluff made by Shin but...

"Strange..." Hendrick thought.

The blood was actually the hardest of the three areas to strengthen. Muscle being the easiest due to one simply needing to put in time and effort followed by the bones which needed lots of time, a well balanced nutrition or a special 'medication'.

Blood required, however, a tremendous amount of effort and tenacity would be needed as one would need to go through painstreaking amounts of training in a low-oxygen environment. The most common method being training under water for long periods of time.

"...Alright then you can take your arm down for now." Hendrick spoke. "Follow me over here."

Hendrick led Shin over to an area with long rods of varying sizes.

"From the left to right, these are weights ranging from 25 kgs to 200 kgs in order. We're going to figure out two different things. First, the maximum weight which you can lift and move around with and the maximum weight which you can lift up." Hendrick instructed.

Shin nodded as he walked up to the 50 kg rod, the seond one from the left and tried to lift it up with a slight groan and then started to walk around with it.

He then put it down before proceeding to the 75 kg one.

And then 100 kg.

At 125 kgs, he couldn't quite walk easily as his legs and arms started to tremble. Hendrick quickly approached Shin and lifted the rod away from his hands as Shin fell onto the ground gasping for breath.

"Moving around with 100 kg... Alright try and see if you can lift the 150 kg rod." Hendrick instructed.

Shin gasped for breath for a moment and then walked up to the large rod which was located third from the right.

"Hnnnng!" With a large groan Shin managed to lift the large rod with trembling arms.

But he couldn't quite lift it up all the way as he dropped it back onto the ground.

"...Your current muscle level is a bit above the lower level. 200 kg for mid and 300kg for higher muscle tier. You... Nevermind." Hendrick wanted to continue but he soon stopped before pulling out a small sack of marbles from this pockets.

"We used to test bone density by submerging you to varying degrees of pressure but... An engineer form the mage tower had manged to create this upon the request of the Emperor." Hendrick then pulled out a piece of marble before placing it in Shin's hads.

"Try to squeeze it with your fingers as hard as possible and break it." Hendrick instructed.

Shin gazed at the strange marble for a moment, which seemed to have varying colored pieces of sand flowing in a weird flow within it, before squeezing it as hard as he could.

The marble soon cracked and then broke apart under the force before turning into a fine powder that surrounded Shin for a moment before letting out a reddish-orange glow before disappearing.

"Hmmm..." Hendrick frowned again. "This makes no sense."

Shin looked around the strange lights that had appeared around him before looking back at Hendrick.

He had already assumed a bit regarding this current status but wanted to hear it directly from Hendrick.

"I...I'm not a normal boy am I?" Shin asked with a worried expression.

"..." Hendrick was at a loss of words.

"I-I know... I didn't feel hungry for days. It made me sleepier but once I even surivved for 2 weeks without any food... I also never felt cold either." Shin told Hendrick about the various experiences he had in the past. "The doctor... The doctor probably did this to me..."

"Doctor?" Hendrick's eyes lit up. He had never heard this from Shin.

"I...I was kidnapped? I'm not exactly sure but I woke up in a strange lab. They did things to me... He promised that I would be able to see my parents if the 'experiments' are succesful but I didn't beleive him. I knew they were dead... From my dreams." Shin started to sniffle as he remembered the pain he had gone through.

Hendrick's eyes softened up before realizing something. It was likely that Shin had been abducted by a dark mage who had conducted various experiements and tests upon the boy. This was a common case within the lands as the dark mages always seeked knowledge and power over anything else.

Hendrick walked up to Shin and patted his head. "Don't worry Shin. I don't know what you have gone through to achieve all this but... At least you gained something out of it. Everything will be different from now on..."

The first level of muscle and bone and the third level of blood... Or even higher.

While everyone started before the starting line and had to take one step at a time... Shin's first step was a giant leap instead.