Preparation

In one of the rooms in the male dormitory, a teenager with brown scruffy hair lay on the weight bench in the room, lifting the adjustable weight set up and down.

"176"

"178"

"179"

With his body soaked in sweats, Raphael's soft voice rang out. Throughout last night, Raphael had been working with the training equipment, he only stopped for a few hours, when he took a nap before he then woke and continued.

While it was indeed true that his ability to create gadgets made him a few steps ahead of others, Raphael didn't want the gap to merely be a few steps, instead, he wanted it to be miles away.

"Cock-a-doodle-do" Even as the just risen sun poured through his window, and the rooster gave the wake-up call, Raphael continued to work on the lift.

However, after a few minutes, Raphael placed the weight set, on the bar, and he then stood from the bench.

Raphael heaved a deep breath, he took hold of the bottle of water he had beside him and swallowed greedily until there was nothing left in the bottle any longer. Then, with his hand raised slightly, Raphael threw the bottle at the waste bin in the room.

A smirk appeared on his face as the bottle went into the waste bin.

Raphael then tripled tapped his wristwatch and stared at the numbers which were written on the watch. A not-so-friendly smile, however, appeared on his face. "36,012" Raphael murmured. "It still not enough, I have to attain forty thousand before the mission," Raphael uttered with complete determination.

And without any delay, Raphael moved towards the stationary bike which was in the room. "Here we go!" Raphael said, holding the bike firmly.

Most people would have been delighted with the progress which they made, but Raphael wasn't like most people. While, he was overexerting, and the training marathon was going to take a toll on his body, Raphael wanted to prepare himself for any situation.

There was no denying that the battle which took place in the hellfire domain didn't play a role in how quick his improvement was. Apart from strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and talent, experiences also played a big role in the power rank of a metahuman.

The battle with the golem gave them experiences. Though the flames in the hell fire domain didn't have the slightest effect on Raphael, the flames were still able to pull off some activity in his body.

A few minutes after Raphael started working on the stationary bike, it seemed to be like the sweats all over his body tripled right away.

"Faster!" Whether it was his hands, shoulder, face, or chest, every part of his body was simply soaked in sweats, but even then, Raphael didn't stop. He kept working on the stationary bike, and he even went faster than his usual pace.

Raphael soon found himself in an ecstatic state after a brief moment. One way or the other, battling in the sea of flames, had helped him strengthen the bones in his body. There was also a bit of consolidation in his flesh and skin, which stemmed as a result from the environment in which he put himself in.

And now that Raphael was with the stationary bike, he could feel the bones on his lower body strengthening. Raphael had always been proud of his flexibility and reflexes, and even now he could feel a quantitative difference in those two areas.

PANT!

Raphael's breathing suddenly became rough and in about a few more seconds he stumbled to the ground. "Wheew!" He was experiencing fatigue like no other, as he pushed his body to the breaking limit.

"1"

"2"

"3" Suddenly Raphael's voice sounded, a few moments after he stumbled to the ground.

As Raphael placed both palms on the ground with his feet slightly wider than his shoulder, he lowered his body until his chest was nearly touching the ground, before pushing himself back up. The sequence continued for a few more minutes until, Raphael suddenly placed one of his hands on his back, and he then continued to push himself back and forth.

CRACK!

The sounds of bones cracking resounded from Raphael's body, but he still didn't stop, regardless of the pain or the weakness he was feeling. After all, there's no rest for the wicked.

"25"

Raphael could feel the core muscles in his body engaging, bringing forth stabilization to his body. A smile could as well be seen on his face, which was covered in sweats, as the one hand push-up dealt with three main aspects of the body.

The upper body strength, core strength, and stability.

"Argh… That wasn't so bad!" Raphael didn't spend much time with the one hand push up, as he had done with the stationary bike, and after about thirty to forty-five minutes he stood.

With his legs and hands of course trembling, Raphael glanced at his wristwatch once again, and he couldn't help but heave a deep breath. "37, 890" Raphael mumbled in a seemingly displeased voice.

Raphael wasn't displeased with his strength, but instead, he was disappointed in himself. Because he knew he could do better than this.

He then wiped a bit of the sweat on his forehead, before staring at the equipment which was in the room. "Let's do this next!" Raphael was about to move towards the battle robe when he heard someone knocking at his room door.

"Who is there?" Raphael asked.

There was, however, no response from the door, and instead, the knock sounded once again. Raphael raised an eyebrow, and he couldn't help but be perplexed.

Raphael moved towards the door, opening it, and then seeing who it was, his mouth opened slightly. It wasn't much of a surprise, to see Devon standing in front of the room, instead, it was the person who was beside him.

As Raphael stepped out of his room, he chuckled before shaking his head at Devon and walking toward the person in the room. "Where should I sign?" Raphael asked.

The reason that Devon had remained quiet was that the person who was in the room was a woman. And while she wasn't all that attractive, she sure smelled really nice.

"Here!" The woman passed a book over to Raphael and pointed out the place that he was going to sign.

Raphael could see the woman ogling at his body, but he simply kept a straight face. After all, who could blame her

"I'm done"

The woman's eyes twitched when she heard Raphael, her eyes had been glued to that stronger shoulder, firm chest, abs, the well-toned alluring body, and the sweats which were all over his body made her heart beat faster.

"Ah-Ahem!"

A few seconds later, and Raphael handed the book back to the woman. The woman then handed over the bag which was in her right hand to Raphael, before bowing her head slightly, and walking out of the room.

Raphael opened the bag a second after the woman left the room, and pulled a carton box out of it. The carton box had the word 'VA' written on it, and when Raphael opened it, his mouth opened slightly, and his lips then curved into a smile.

"Have you gotten yours?" Raphael asked Devon, who was staring at the carton in his hand. Devon nodded his head, then pointed at the bags which were on the carton and said, "Yes, it has been delivered."

The content which was inside the bag that Raphael was holding onto was the costumes that he sent to the administrative block.

"Aiden and Bane's costumes were also delivered here?!" Staring at the two other bags that were on the couch, Raphael's voice rang out.

"Yes," Devon responded.

Devon then leaped on the couch, switched the television on with the remote, and began to switch through channels.

A few seconds after Devon lay on the couch, the door was suddenly pushed open, and three figures walked into the room. "Where is it?!" It was none other than Bane and Aiden, and the moment they entered the room, their loud voice rang out.

And once they saw the bags which were on the other couch, the both of them rushed towards it immediately. "This is yours!" Aiden took the bag which was in Bane's hand and gave him his.

Aiden stared at the bag which had his name written on it, and a smile could be seen on his face. This was perhaps the happiest, he had been, in a long time.

"Camille, what are you still doing, find somewhere to seat," Aiden exclaimed.

Devon hadn't glanced at the people who entered into the room because he didn't think anyone apart from Aiden and Bane would enter. So, when he heard, Camille was in the room, his eyes twitched for a moment.

Devon sat upright immediately, with his back resting on the couch. "Hahahahahaha!!!" Devon's action had Aiden and Bane burst into laughter.

As for Camille, her cheeks turned red, and a shiver ran across her spine. She tried not to look, but her eyes just kept moving to that area, and regardless of how many times she stared, the sight still left her amazed.

Raphael, completely oblivious to what was going on, he rubbed his hand across his hair, before then walking into the room.