A Painful Chance

Before reaching Felix's house they came upon someone standing outside the front gate.

"Uh, is that someone you know?" [Adam]

Felix looked at the stranger and inspected him from a distance. His hair was brown in the shape of a buzz-cut, but that was all he could see from his position.

"I... don't think so?" [Felix]

"Should we go talk to him?" [Adam]

Felix gathered his courage and approached the stranger.

"Hello? Do you need something from this house?" [Felix]

The stranger turned around, looking up and down at Felix. After a moment of silence, a slight grin appeared on his face.

"Yeah, I just need to-" [Stranger]

WHAM!

He suddenly punched Felix in the stomach!

"Guhack!" [Felix]

Felix dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach as he fell.

"Felix!" [Adam]

Adam rushed over, swinging at the stranger.

"Hmph." [Stranger]

The stranger brushed Adams swing to the side, taking the opportunity to grab him by the throat.

"Is that all?" [Stranger]

"Guh..." [Adam]

Adam flailed around hoping to get loose.

"Don't you think that's enough?" [???]

Someone was standing in the doorway of Felix's house.

"Big Bro!" [Felix]

The stranger let go of Adam, allowing him to drop to the floor. Holding onto his neck, Adam coughed multiple times.

"It's been a while, Sebastian. I see that you still keep your eyes closed all the time." [Stranger]

"I didn't call you to bully my little brother and his friend, Roy. [Sebastian]

Roy started to chuckle.

"Hehehe, I was just checking how strong they were since it's YOUR brother and his friend." [Roy]

Sebastian crossed his arms and leaned on the front door.

"I'll let it go this time, just bring the kids in and we'll talk." [Sebastian]

Roy walked straight past Sebastian into the house, while Adam picked up Felix by the shoulder supporting his weight. As Felix and Adam passed by Sebastian, he glanced at Felix's stomach.

"Huh…downed in one blow. Roy, you should've held back some more." [Sebastian]

"I WAS holding back. Well… just enough to not damage his organs." [Roy]

("You call that holding back?!") [Felix] [Adam]

"I told you I was just testing them didn't I?" [Roy]

Sebastian closed the front door behind the two.

"...If so, I guess you weren't lying." [Sebastian]

Everyone moved to the living room and took a seat. Felix and Adam sat as far away as they could from Roy.

"C'mon guys, I won't bite." [Roy]

Felix glared at Roy without saying a word.

"I believe he hates you now." [Sebastian]

"Hahaha! Is that so?" [Roy]

Sebastian put his hands together.

"All right, that's enough fooling around. Let's get down to business." [Sebastian]

He turned his head towards Adam.

"You want to be a hero, correct?" [Sebastian]

"Yeah, I want to be a hero." [Adam]

"...I see. I know that you have the level 1 compression ability, but it's weak." [Sebastian]

Adam's head to hung low.

"But I know a way to make you strong enough to be a hero." [Sebastian]

Adam instantly brightens.

"Though, I'm not sure if you can handle it. Are you sure you want to be a hero?" [Sebastian]

Determination crossed Adam's face.

"I'll take on anything if it means I can be a hero." [Adam]

"It will be painful." [Sebastian]

"...I'll still do it." [Adam]

"Hm... I have seen your conviction, then I will explain what you will have to do." [Sebastian]

Adam nodded.

"Do you know what mana pools are yet?" [Sebastian]

"Not really." [Felix]

"I see, mana pools are where your mana is stored in your body. It's basically right below your belly button. Thank you for your input Felix. I also assume that you two learned how to use your abilities today?" [Sebastian]

"That's right." [Adam]

"Then everything is much easier then. I want you to use your ability to compress your mana pool." [Sebastian]

"WHAT?! Are you insane Sebastian?!" [Roy]

He practically jumped out of his seat, but Sebastian just waved it off.

"Just hear me out. Roy, I called you for your ability." [Sebastian]

"How does that have to do with this?" [Roy]

"You're the only person I know with that ability. You're also the only person I know whose level of ability control is high enough to make your ability 3 levels higher than it actually is." [Sebastian]

("What?!") [Adam]

Hearing this information made Adam believe in Sebastian more.

"Adam, the reason I said it would be painful is because you will be rupturing your organs. The compression on your mana pool will tear your insides, but it will increase the amount of mana you have, and it will make it more potent." [Sebastian]

"Won't Adam die from that?!' [Felix]

Sebastian directed a finger to Roy.

"That's what Roy is here for. His ability is acceleration." [Sebastian]

"Isn't that a level 3 ability that only makes you slightly faster?" [Felix]

"Usually it would be, but Roy's understanding of his own ability and control is far higher than anyone else with that ability. Not only is he able to use it to its maximum potential, he can accelerate other things if he focuses on it. He earned the title Immortal because he used his ability to its limits and accelerated his own healing to the point that his wounds disappear almost instantly." [Sebastian]

"That's… That's unbelievable…" [Felix]

"What I want is for Adam to compress his mana pool while Roy is healing him. That way, eventually Adam's body will grow resistant to tearing his organs so he can train this way on his own." [Sebastian]

"Again with the crazy ideas…" [Roy]

"This is your only chance, will you take it?" [Sebastian]

"How many times are you going to ask me? I said I'll do it." [Adam]

Sebastian gestured to Roy, which made Roy stand behind Adam.

"Are you two ready?" [Sebastian]

Roy placed his hands on Adams' back.

"Yeah." [Adam]

"Don't stop until I say so, Begin!" [Sebastian]

Adam started circulating his mana and began compressing his mana pool.

"Urk!" [Adam]

It felt as if a blender was put inside his stomach.

"Hrmph!" [Roy]

Roy was putting his all into accelerating Adam's healing. The two kept going to what felt like hours, but have only been a few minutes. Adam constantly felt drained and empowered at the same time as the accelerated healing also made his body regenerate mana so he could keep going.

"Stop!" [Sebastian]

Shutting off their cycle, the two inhaled sharply, gasping for breath.

"How was it?" [Sebastian]

The two were sweating profusely.

"It was so intense... I felt like I couldn't breathe…" [Adam]

"This is the last time I'm doing you a favor…" [Roy]

Sebastian stood up, bringing over two glasses of water from the kitchen.

"Here, take a breather and we can continue after a quick rest." [Sebastian]

The two emptied their glass in a single gulp.

"Puhaa~. There's still more?!" [Roy]

He raised an arm, wiping water off his chin.

"Well… five minutes of that wasn't enough to make Adam fully resistant. He should be fine after doing this 12 more times." [Sebastian]

"Are you serious?" [Adam]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The two repeated the training until they finally reached 12 times.

"Haah… Haah…" [Adam] [Roy]

The two were sprawled out on the floor unable to muster up any strength to move.

"Congratulations, now all you have to do is keep training this way without Roy." [Sebastian]

"Great…" [Adam]

After finishing his sentence, Adam passed out from exhaustion. The next morning he woke up in his bed.

("Huh? I was certain that I was at Felix's house…") [Adam]

Knock Knock.

"Are you awake yet? Schools starting in 30." [Vivian]

Adam got out of bed, changing before opening the door.

"Bis sis, how am I home right now?" [Adam]

Vivian blushed a bit and twirled her finger around the end of her hair.

"Oh... That. A really hot guy came by while carrying you. He said he was your friend, can you introduce me sometime?" [Vivian]

"...What did he look like?" [Adam]

Vivian paused for a moment before describing his looks.

"He… had green hair, but for some reason he always had his eyes closed. I don't really know how he could see me like that. Now that I think about it, how did he make his way to our house?" [Vivian]

("It was Sebastian…") [Adam]

"Alright, I'll introduce you sometime. Just let me eat breakfast first." [Adam]

He sauntered downstairs, finishing his breakfast before heading to school.

On his way out, he met Felix at the front, already waiting for him.

"Yo." [Felix]

"Yo." [Adam]

The two started walking to school.

"How are you feeling?" [Felix]

Adam tried checking if he felt any different from normal, but didn't notice any changes.

"I feel normal." [Adam]

"Normal? No way, I saw how you were during that intense training yesterday." [Felix]

"I'm serious, I don't feel any different." [Adam]

"..." [Felix]

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask something." [Adam]

"What is it?" [Felix]

"Why does your big bro always have his eyes closed?" [Adam]

"Well… He says he stays up too late watching anime every night." [Felix]

"...Is that so?" [Adam]

A few minutes later, the two arrived at school and class had started.

"Okay, listen up everyone! For the next week, we will only be doing practical training outside." [Mr. Frank]

Whispering could be heard around the classroom.

"You must be wondering why we're doing practical training for a week. Long story short, the teachers were making bets on whose class was better and we decided to set up class battles. The reward is a bonus worth 3 months of pay for me. For you guys, WE'RE GOING TO A STEAKHOUSE ON ME!" [Mr. Frank]

"Ohh...!" [Students]

The class erupted with excitement.

"ARE YOU ALL READY?!!!" [Mr. Frank]

"YEAH!" [Students]

"DO YOU WANT TO WIN?!!" [Mr. Frank]

"YEAH!!" [Students]

"DO YOU WANT THAT STEAKHOUSE?!!" [Mr. Frank]

"YEAH!!!" [Students]

"THEN LET'S GO OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW!!!" [Mr. Frank]

The class swarmed their way out the classroom door to reach the courtyard.

("This is the first time I've seen Mr. Frank so motivated.") [Adam]

"The first training, you must not use your abilities." [Mr. Frank]

The students seemed confused so Mr. Frank decided to go more in depth with his explanations this time.

"Fighting with only your abilities will make you overly reliant on them, you at least need to know how your body moves first." [Mr. Frank]

Mr. Frank scanned the class, checking if anyone needed to ask a question.

"Is that all? If so, then… Everyone, Come at me." [Mr. Frank]