Chapter 18: Pulse Refinement

"The techniques we use to increase our Plasma reserves and strengthen our body are known as Refinement Techniques." The professor said, "The concept is simple. It's similar to accumulating fat in our bodies by overeating. But in this process, what we are accumulating is Plasma instead."

"And, the strengthening of our body is even simpler to understand." He smiled casually, continuing, "If your Plasma increases or decreases in temperature, your body is unable to endure beyond a certain point. But, as long as you don't go overboard and continue to supply enough nutrients to your body, it would gradually adapt to the Plasma's temperature extremities."

"Your body cells would evolve to withstand that temperature, automatically strengthening your body." He said, "And, based on the type of Refinement Technique you practice, the stats growth of your body varies."

"Sir, I've heard many students mention stats all the time. What do they actually mean?" A student asked. It was obvious that he had interacted with a lot of people recently and had grasped quite a few new terms.

"If you were to talk about the specifications of a block of steel, what would you consider?" The professor smiled, looking around as he prompted the students to answer.

"It's the iron-carbon ratio." A student answered.

"Good, but unless you have knowledge of the subject, you won't understand its properties just based on its iron-carbon ratio." The professor nodded, asking, "So, what else would you look for?"

"It's strength?" Rael said.

"And?" The professor asked.

"Toughness."

"Malleability."

"Melting Point."

"Young's Modulus."

The students named the parameters one after another as the professor nodded in response each time. Finally, when they were unable to think up anymore, he smiled, "See, depending on the specifics of the task you want it for, you'll look at various parameters, even for a block of steel. And, since soldiers are capable of growing stronger, we do need something similar, right?"

Upon seeing the students nod in realisation, the professor said, "Might, Toughness, Mobility, Endurance, Plasma, Body Tempering, Temperature Index, these are the seven parameters that a soldier is compared upon and presented in what is termed the Stats."

"We determined a fixed value for every stat, just like how we define a kilogram, metre, litre, etc." The professor said, "And, every student is required to measure their Stats once every month that would be updated in their ID card. This way, you can apply to join for any mission without any hassle based on the requirements."

"Might is the explosive power you can unleash instantaneously. Toughness is your ability to withstand attacks without fatal injury. Mobility is your capability to move your body and finally, Endurance is your ability to persist in something, whether it's motion, remaining consciousness under oppressive killing intent, resistance to various radiations, etc. Altogether, they are called the four primary stats." He spoke.

"You already know about Plasma and Temperature Index." The professor smiled upon seeing the students nod, "That finally brings us to Body Tempering. It's a pretty tricky field."

The professor took in a deep breath before beginning to speak, "Body Tempering indicates the extent of force your body is capable of producing, whether externally or internally. It shows the power your body contains, and is expressed in terms of capable force, or in this case, Newton."

"A simple correlation would be that…" The professor trailed off for a couple of seconds, saying, "If your Body Tempering is around 3000 Newton, then the stats of your Might, Toughness, Mobility, and Endurance would range around 30. That's as simple as it can be expressed as."

Rael immediately gained clarity, having already seen the Stats of quite a few people recently. He didn't know of the professor's Stats though, refraining from finding out.

After all, when the System increased his Stats, he noticed that it was done using his Flux. So, he feared the professor would be able to grasp his actions—of using Appraise—through the changes in his Flux. He hadn't yet managed to get the time to properly observe if there was any change in his Flux when using his appraisal.

Still, since he had observed enough people's Stats, he understood the relation of Body Tempering and how the Stats were more or less similar to it. If someone's Body Tempering was around 3000 Newton, then their four primary stats would range anywhere from 28-32 approximately. The actual stats would vary based on the Refinement Technique they practiced."

"That brings us to the Refinement Technique that I'm about to teach you now." The professor interrupted his thoughts, saying, "It's known as the Pulse Refinement, and is one of the oldest Refinement Techniques. It's a D-Rank Refinement Technique and has a maximum limit of 7800 Newton."

"Does that mean we won't be able to increase our stats to more than 78-80?" Rael asked immediately, watching the professor nod in response.

"But, you don't have to worry." The professor smiled, "You can simply learn a new Refinement Technique by then. But, each Refinement Technique is expensive, so you'll have to amass a lot of Credits for each."

He then began to teach them the basics of Pulse Refinement by directing their Flux accordingly, "The essence of this technique is to increase the Plasma's temperature while compressing it in your body to the limit. After that, you'll have to cool it while expanding and dispersing the Plasma throughout the body."

"And, you'll have to perform the two in a loop and increase the frequency of the loops. The greater the frequency, the faster your growth. Though, if your body is unable to handle the changes, you'll have to slow down and wait for it to adapt." The professor spoke.

He then sighed, "When the Plasma in your body reaches a certain level, dispersing it won't work since there's Plasma everywhere in your body. That's why this is just a D-Rank Refinement Technique and has a ceiling Body Tempering of 7800 Newton."

Under the professor's instructions, Rael began to train the Pulse Refinement Technique, gradually grasping it. It wasn't all that difficult, since it was just taking everything he was already capable of to the next level.

The moment he began to use Pulse Refinement, his abdomen heated up during the compression and during the cooling, his entire body shivered. Even though it was only increasing and reducing to 38 and 36 degrees Celsius respectively, it was enough to affect his body.

Moreover, when Rael focused, he observed that the walls of the training room were emitting a Flux of their own, one that stimulated his Plasma. Adding onto the exercise he did, his stomach rumbled in hunger soon after.

"If you're hungry, you can consume the food." The professor said as he snapped his finger. A staff immediately brought in a trolley of food, enough for the students to have a full meal. But, upon seeing their hesitation, he smiled, "It's free."

Rael's eyes immediately lit up as he was the first to arrive before the trolley, noticing that the food seemed to be a nutrition solution of sorts that was packaged in a ketchup bottle. He casually grabbed one bottle and began to drink it, frowning immediately.

It was bland!

He then observed a sugar packet placed nearby, pouring its contents into the bottle before shaking it a little to mix the contents. After that, he drank it, noticing that it was easy to down now.

"They have a good nutritional value and take the least time to consume." The professor said, "After all, you'll only have a limited duration to use the training room since it has to be rented and cost a lot of Credits for every hour of usage."

"Then…now…" A student that had been silent all along hesitated to ask.

Though, the professor understood what she wanted to ask, smiling as he replied, "You'll have full access to this facility for the duration of this basic course, for free. If you want to make full use of it, don't waste any time."

"Sir, can we camp here?" Rael asked shamelessly.

"If you are able to handle it, sure." The professor smiled mysteriously. Rael didn't understand it at first, but as he began to practice, he gradually realised the reason for that smile.

After all, here he was…writhing on the ground, clutching his stomach like he had a severe case of periods. He had only been able to persist with the training for five minutes before this happened.

"There won't be any help from my side. You'll have to either adapt to it or retire for the day and waste your precious time." The professor smiled in contentment, watching the students writhe on the floor as he thought, 'This always makes me recall my past. How embarrassing!'

The reason for his intense stomach ache was due to his stomach turning hot while the rest of his body had become colder than usual. That resulted in such a condition.

'Wait, Plasma can vary temperatures!' His eyes suddenly lit up as his Flux churned in him, forming concentric circles around his abdomen as they began to spin, slowly beginning to cool his Plasma.

As his Plasma was only in his abdomen, when it turned colder, the heat in his stomach gradually cooled down. And since it was internal, it was pretty dispersed as Rael controlled the region of its dispersion, only making it take effect in the places that had turned hot.

After that, he morphed the Flux, making it vibrate as he turned it hotter, dispersing it throughout the body, slowly raising his body temperature.

It allowed him to get up, noticing that the pain in his stomach had mostly dissipated. He was still reeling a bit from the after-effects, but it was bearable now.

Seating himself cross-legged, Rael focused on his training, watching the food in his stomach digest as the quantity of his Plasma seemed like it was slowly improving. By the end of the day, he actually noticed a substantial increase in his Plasma reserves, surprised as he asked the professor, "Is this normal?"

"Pretty much." The professor nodded, "If you were to train outside, the effect wouldn't be this high. But, since you've managed to take care of the problems with practicing Pulse Refinement, you're able to train for longer durations within this training room. So, the effects are indeed spectacular."

"If you keep this up, you'll reach E-Rank by the end of this basic course." The professor said, patting him in praise. After all, through his Flux, he sensed that Rael's Plasma had already reached 15 units. It was a staggering growth.

There wasn't much of a difference in his physique, since, at the start, the bodies of everyone was strong enough to handle their Plasma reserves, at least until they reached the peak of F-Rank. Some had even stronger bodies than F-Rank soldiers before they even became a soldier.

Rael predicted that since he had horrible stats, he should see some difference in his physique when he reached the peak of F-Rank. There weren't any solid boundaries between the various ranks. It was just a measurement done based on the subtle changes in the Plasma within the body.

And, the peak of F-Rank was as follows: 100 Plasma, Body Tempering of 1080 Newton, and a Temperature Index of 108. In relation to that, the stats of the four primary attributes would reach 11.

Once they crossed that, they would be termed an E-Rank soldier. Generally, once their Plasma crosses 100 units, they would attain this status.

By the end of the first day, Rael attained 15 Plasma, surprising his peers that barely managed to touch the double digits after imitating his actions through the Flux he emitted.

As the first day was more experimental, Rael achieved better results on the second day, attaining a Plasma of 33. Upon asking the professor, he noticed that such an increase wasn't anything unusual. The growth of Plasma was fast because of a couple of reasons.

First, he was practicing a D-Rank technique with a limit of 7800 Newton. So, the efficiency was great. It'll only start to drop alarmingly once he became a D-Rank soldier. Second, he was training within an F-Rank training facility, also downing nutritional solutions like there was no tomorrow.

In a mere seven days, Rael was surprised upon gazing at the mirror, 'Appraise!'

[Name: Rael Rukh]

[Origin: Wrister City (Planet: Strombus Nebula)]

[Age: 15 Union Years]

[Race: Human]

[Might: 9]

[Toughness: 8]

[Mobility: 10]

[Endurance: 9]

[Plasma: 102]

[Body Tempering: 940 Newton]

[Temperature Index: 48]

[Rank: E]