Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ) Chapter 34 - Learning about the Fighter Ranks
🕑 Added 2024-01-05 15:13:19 +0000 UTCDamovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
After a night of restful sleep, Demian woke up feeling very energetic, unlike the previous day. He finally stopped feeling any pain from his injuries. At least as long as he did not use the muscles or stretch the skin in that particular area. 'I wish I had something to detect the improvement in my healing factor. Or even my overall strength. It'd be very helpful for me to plan things out...' His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt the woman lying on the right side of his body twitch slightly, unconsciously rubbing her ‘medium-sized’ assets on his torso which made the blood inside him move toward a part of his body that was previously asleep. 'What a charming temptress! I swear, as soon as I get rid of those injuries I'll make love to her for hours... Or maybe less. I'll see how my body holds up...' He thought with both some frustration and amusement.
While gently stroking her back, the young man closed his eyes and emptied his mind of superfluous thoughts, letting any random inspiration that came to him wash over him without holding onto it. The reason why he picked up meditation was because he noticed a few interesting things a few days ago.
Indeed, unlike in his previous life, not only was emptying his mind easier but also the more he practiced, the easier reaching that particular state became. If it was only that, then he would only do it casually. However, it was the other effect he noted that convinced him to seriously focus on it.
Meditating had a similar effect to working out, without the effect of physical exhaustion. It meant that by simply focusing his mind, he could increase his overall strength quickly. The only downside was that he could not stay in that particular state for too long. It took a toll on his mental strength, as it was apparently similar to a muscle. After all, one always needed to pay some sort of price for strength gain, whatever its origin.
In any case, his mental stamina seemed to increase more and more as he practiced, which would quickly make it easy for him to stay for hours in a meditative state. 'I'd be like those cultivators in Chinese novels, but without the spiritual energy gathering...' A random thought traversed his mind without provoking much ripples inside.
The upside of that particular way of growing stronger was that it could be done in any position and situation as long as Demian was able to keep his mind calm. Fortunately, he had his physiology perk which allowed him to adapt to any situation after some practice, which could have numerous amazing applications that he would certainly explore as he went along with his life.
Two hours later, Demian woke up from his meditation, not because of exhaustion but because he could sense Sera waking up. “Good morning, sunshine.” He whispered tenderly, which brought a happy smile to the sleepy woman. “Good morning, handsome...” She replied languorously while stretching lazily. Chuckling at her words, the young man retorted. “Why don't we go get some breakfast?” Looking at the time, it was only 6 in the morning. 'We've gone to bed quite early yesterday, didn't we?' He thought in amusement. “Mmmhhh, sure...” She responded while moving sleepily out of his embrace, but not before patting around his body to find his face and giving him a peck on his lips.
With a happy smile on his face, the young man stood up quickly from the bed, before moving toward his wardrobe and putting on a random shirt and a pair of sports shorts. 'Being comfortable is the key to happiness!' He thought, delighted at the fact that he hadn’t had to suit up since he awakened his previous life's memories. Shaking his head to remove his random thoughts, he took Sera's hands in his and brought her downstairs where they met the other two women, who were both eating already. After quickly whipping up something for the two of them, Demian joined them around the dining table.
After a few minutes of casual chat, Demian suddenly turned his gaze toward Bryn and asked with some curiosity. “Big Sis, I've got a question.” Cocking her eyebrow, the muscular redhead replied. “Shoot.” After gathering his thoughts for a second, the young man started. “It's about my current physical state. It's... strange...”
“What do you mean?” She retorted with some confusion, prompting him to answer. “Well, I feel much stronger than a few days ago. And before you say anything, I know that I've been constantly growing stronger for the past month. But it's different. It's like...” Demian had some trouble finding his words since it was a sensation that he never felt in his previous or current life. “It's like my body went through a sudden upgrade... I know it sounds weird, but it's the best way to describe it.” A look of realization suddenly appeared on the tall redhead at his words before turning complicated as she asked a question. “Since when do you feel like that?” “Since I got shot the other night.”
Nodding her head, the young woman claimed. “I can guess why you're feeling that way.” Adeliya immediately asked her daughter, looking bewildered “Did he break through the Elite Rank?” To which Bryn replied. “I think he did.” Before her mother remarked. “But didn't you take a year...” Nodding, the muscular woman responded. “Yes. It's probably because of his new powers.” Listening to the back and forth made the young man confused so much that he could not help but cut them off. “Wait! Wait! You've lost me completely. Could you... Just explain, please?” Nodding her head, Bryn said. “Sure. I'll try to be as clear and concise as I can.” She paused for a second before continuing. “You know about Supes, right?” Rolling his eyes, he replied snarkily. “Who doesn't?”
She stared at him with an almost menacing stare until he felt uncomfortable and rephrased his answer. “Sorry. Yeah, I do.” Relaxing her expression, she added. “Well, Supe is a vague term that encompasses a bunch of different powers and strengths. I myself don't know much about them. What I do know about, though, is the ranks below that.”
“Isn't that just normal human?” He asked confused. She shook her head at his words though and retorted. “Not exactly. Below what people call Supes, there are three different 'ranks'...” She paused for a second as something seemed to come to her mind which made her change her words. “Actually there's a fourth one, but it doesn't have a name since it’s made up of those people at the average human standard or below.”
Pondering for a brief moment, Demian responded. “So, like me from a month ago?” With a nod of her head, she answered. “Exactly. Above that unnamed rank is what fighters like me call the Athlete Rank. It's something that most humans can achieve as long as they train slightly. That's the rank you were at before the attack two days ago.” A few thoughts appeared in his mind at her explanation, making his current situation clearer. “Does that mean I ranked up?” “From what you just explained, it would be the most likely reason. You were probably at the Peak of the Athlete Level and because of both the stressful situation and your physiology perk, you broke through to the next rank which we call the Elite Level.”
Rubbing his chin, something suddenly came to his mind. 'All that talk about ranks coupled with what happened during the last month reminds me of those cultivation novels. Could it be that in this universe, something like that exists?' Out loud he simply asked. “So what does that do? I mean ranking up?”
Tapping the table rhythmically with her left-hand fingers, the woman answered. “Everything about your body improves. Your healing, metabolism, thinking speed, etc. Even your life expectancy increases. Although not by much. It's not at the level of a physical Supe, but it's better than a normal human. I guess you could call it half-Supe.”
All those benefits brought a smile to his face, as he could not help but demand the rest of the explanation. “You said there were three ranks?...” With a nod, she said. “Yes. The last one is the Master Rank. That's the Rank I'm currently at.” Pausing for a second, she added. “The improvement in strength is good when you reach each rank, but you should still be careful. Even if I'm at the Peak of the Master Level, I'm not invincible by any means. Also, you need to distinguish your basic strength and your combat proficiency.”
Nodding thoughtfully, he replied. “I get it. Is there a way to distinguish if someone is from a specific Rank? Or even where in the Rank that person is?” Shaking her head, the woman responded. “Not that I know of. Besides being more muscular, there's nothing too obvious. And it even differs from person to person.”
“So, I can't blindly guess someone's Rank. Got it.” To his words, she replied. “Exactly. But Ranks can be overcome with training, which is why you'll need to amp up your training regimen if you want to be able to face experienced opponents. Keep in mind that an Athlete Rank with my fighting experience could destroy you easily.”
Scratching his chin in embarrassment, he retorted. “You don't have to rub salt on the wound, Big Sis.” With an almost imperceptible smile, the woman responded. “It's for your own good. How else are you gonna improve?” Letting out a sigh of defeat, the young man replied. “Alright, you win!” His antics made the other two women giggle for a moment before Demian shared what he noticed about the effect of his meditation with them, drawing an intrigued look on the only fighter in the family. “It's strange. My old coach forced me to meditate in the past. And I still do it. But the only result I get is a calmer mind. There's no strength improvement...” She finished in almost a whisper, her face the image of perplexity.
Shaking his head, the young man explained. “I think it has to do with my perk. Actually, I'm certain that's the case. That's the only reason I can come up with, at least. Speaking of which: You talked about a Master Rank. Is there a Grandmaster Rank after that?” His curiosity came from his previous thought that this universe might have cultivation.
Although the Rank names were more akin to the ones in the martial arts novels than cultivation, there might be reasons for that. Gazing at Bryn inquisitively, he noticed the hesitation painted on her face as she answered. “I... I'm not sure. There should be, but I don't have the method to reach that rank. To be honest I've been stuck at the peak of the Master Rank for years and I haven't found any way to break through to a higher Rank. This is also why I kept fighting at the World Level. I was looking for a method to break through.”
Letting out a sigh of helplessness, she added. “But there was nothing. So I decided to look somewhere else.” Tapping his chin in thought, the young man replied. “The Grandmaster Rank should correspond to the Supe Level... Do you think those people in the capital might have a way to reach it?”
Nodding her head, the muscular redhead responded. “I'm sure they do. But I don't want to sell myself to them to get it.” “Well, it just so happens that there's a rat around us with links to some powerful people in the capital. So, we may be able to learn more about it.” He declared with a dangerous smile on his face.
“Your smile is creepy, sweetie.” Bryn nodded to her mother's words and Sera even commented. “Also, don't use the word rat, Babe. It makes you sound like a third-rate villain.” Freezing for a second at their words, Demian then turned his face away while grumbling. “Can't even have fun in this house...”
His words made the three chuckle for a while before Adeliya declared. “We'll receive the furniture we ordered today, so Bryn and I will deal with it. Demian you're not allowed to participate.” She said the last sentence with a strict look on her face, stopping any protest even before they could leave his lips. Slumping down on his chair, he said in a helpless tone.
“Fine! I'll be meditating in the Gym.” “I'll go train since I can't help you guys.” Sera declared. “You know that Demian won't disappear if you're not around him every minute of the day.” Adeliya commented in a half-amused and half-frustrated tone. Her words drew a blush on her daughter's face before she retorted with a bashful face. “I know, but it feels comfortable...”
Nodding his head, Demian explained. “It's because of the Soul Link, Aunty. The closer we are to each other the clearer we can feel the other and the warmer it feels. You could say it's similar to a chimney fire. Cozy and safe.” Gazing at the two, the older woman commented absentmindedly. “How envious...” Shaking her head, she waved them away and said. “You should go train now...”
The two thus went toward their personal gym without another word.
