“Heroes have many Powers, whether they are based on Physicality or Magicality.”

“They define a Hero’s actions, as every power has unique engagements towards certain problems that need to be fixed.”

“Heros who rely on Physical prowess, bash, slash, smash, cut, slice, dice their opponents.”

“Heroes who rely on Magical prowess, burn, bury, freeze, drown, implode, explode, disintegrate, mutate, strip, drain, etc, etc. Truly, it's like cheating by the number of ways one can destroy one's problems.”

“Either way, despite the vast Magical repertoire, my experience has been that Physical prowess works better. Not only is there much less collateral damage, but usually a good beatdown is much more effective than straight out removing a problematic Individual. And if it does not work, a bigger fist always fixes the problem.”

“However, that is my opinion. Other Heroes will have opinions differing from mine.”

#11 Quote - Book of Life and Death - Chapter - Heroes and Villains.

*

Central Continent - Southern Forest - Survival Tribe - Alexander

On the western side of the Tribal Clearing of the Survival Tribe, existed a peculiar tree.

There was nothing that special about it or the place where it grew up. But this tree possessed a tiny redeeming quality.

It had grown one branch very close to the ground from the tree trunk. It was neither too thick nor too thin. In fact, it was just perfect for a Humanoid Honey Badger to grab and lift himself up with his arm, shoulder, and chest muscles.

Only after his head passed that branch and his chin touched it on the upper side, did this individual lower himself down. Then he repeated the same movement. Then he repeated it again and again, for as long as his muscles allowed him to do so.

When that was no longer the case, Alexander let go of the branch and fell down slightly making a Thud on the ground. When he moved away from the spot all that was left were two indented footprints marking and displaying the frequency of Alexander's Pull-Up activity that occurs every day for the last month and a half.

Normally, Alexander would have just continued with his Morning Routine, as he still had a lot to finish, but today proved to be a different kind of day.

Today was the day that something initiated a month and a half ago would complete itself.

Today was the day that the Capacity, in what his Friend taught him was called Status, would reach full capacity.

It's not just the Status that showed it, he felt it too.

The feeling reminded Alexander of the times when his belly was full, but this sensation was different, strictly speaking. The sensation of Capacity reaching its limits was bloating and yet it was not.

It was there, and then it was gone for the next few seconds.

It all depended if Alexander paid attention to it or not.

Still, Alexander had grown somewhat used to it. The closer it reached its limits the clearer its sensations became, but that was not all.

Throughout this month's exercises, Alexander noticed that the sensation of Capacity filling itself kept being delayed. That was when he realized Capacity somehow allowed him to recover faster. Much faster than he should have recovered from the aches that have become a normal facet of his current Life.

Whenever his recovery increased the Capacity would dwindle slightly before recovering its pace later. Usually, it happened when he slept.

It's for that reason that Alexander kept himself from going all in on today's Morning Routine.

The Capacity should be filled any moment now. For that reason, Alexander laid both his feet and hands on the ground. This way the pads on both hands and feet would draw in this energy.

As such, Alexander waited as a tiny bit was diverting into recovering from his exercise, but it was minute at this point.

All it would do was delay everything by a few moments.

Therefore, moments passed.

When the moment of full Capacity came, it rang like a bell, not that Alexander knew what a bell was. He'd heard his Friend say it, that was all.

Either way, when it came, the sensation of being full, and utterly full in this case, without any way to take even a tiny bit more, emerged from every single tiny part of him.

From head to toe, it was there. At the same time, Alexander's awareness of his physical body reached a different realm altogether.

It overwhelmed him the same way, he'd been overwhelmed those two times in the Dream.

Now he knew what it was and what it meant. His brain was processing everything felt and his Consciousness was internalizing everything. Only after this new sensation was understood on a deeper level did it begin to diminish, and with its diminishing nature, clarity of mind came back.

With it, Alexander truly understood what Capacity actually is, a Lie.

Not a complete lie, but one based on Truth. There was indeed something that was drawn from the ground.

Whatever that was, it benefited him greatly.

The true function of Capacity, however, was a reminder of his Body generating a different type of Energy.

This Energy reminded him of the White Flame. However, it never stayed for that long in his body as it fused with the energy entering him from the ground.

Once they fused they produced something else entirely.

It was that new type that defined Capacity.

The greater the Capacity, the greater his awareness of something happening in his body. Therefore, the more he was aware of something happening, the more energy would be generated. The more energy is generated the more of it could be fused with the incoming one. Only for the resulting one to fill Capacity.

Now that full Capacity was reached, the sensation of this energy overloaded his perception of things so he could finally understand what was happening without any of his input.

It was also in this epiphany that Alexander understood the Truth. There was no actual limit to the Capacity being stored in his body. However, there was a limit to how much he could actively use in one moment.

Therefore, Capacity also represented his maximum, not that he'd ever used this new type of Energy before, at least consciously.

With far greater awareness of himself and everything going on, Alexander got reminded of something in his body. He always knew it was there, but never before was it this clear aside from the first time they appeared and grew inside him.

A network of roots existed in his Body. From his head to his chest and stomach, to his hands and his feet. It encompassed his everything, and when Alexander realized that part, something else came to his attention.

In fact, there were nine such things. One of them was extremely familiar, as that Shining Light was split into four parts. Two on his feet and two on his hands.

It was through those that he absorbed something from the Earth enabling everything leading to this very moment. The other eight were different from the Shining Lights in his hands and feet.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

These Eight Shining Lights generated a sensation that they desired to be filled with the new type of Energy, he just realized existed.

However, before he could even attempt anything with the Eight Shining lights, something else attracted his attention. It wasn't a Shining Light, but it did permeate his body, or at least it felt as if it should.

Alexander knew he could ignore it, in favor of filling one of those Shining Lights. Nevertheless, unlike the Shining Lights that were in the distance, to his current perception, this one felt closer.

At the same time, it felt like it would be easier to fill as if it required much less of the new Energy that was his Capacity.

After pondering for a moment, a decision was made. Alexander went for the touch.

Immediately a suction effect ensued.

It began to suck on his Capacity at full speed.

In fact, Alexander's Capacity drained with such speed, that with every moment that went by, the clarity of perception he gained of himself and his body diminished with the moment.

Nevertheless, in exchange, however, something else began to build up. It built and built, and the moment all his Capacity was drained, it exploded into existence as it infused itself into his Bones, Muscles, and Skin.

Once it was done infusing, it gained a Clarity of Intent and Emotions.

Intent gave it a form, like a support structure telling it what to do, while Emotion gave it depth.

Alexander knew not what it meant, but he was sure that Toughness was inherent in whatever had just manifested inside him. The other thing he had no idea about, not that he had time to ponder on it, as a weakness emerged inside him.

Like a rotting tree trunk eaten from the inside, Alexander instantly fell to the ground. Luckily for Alexander, he was on soft ground so nothing happened to him.

It took, moments after moments, for him to steady his breath enough and lift himself into a sitting position with his butt on the ground.

Once he was done with that, an unmistakable certainty came to him. Actually, it had been there for a while but only now did he realize its existence.

DING!!!

----------------------------------------

System Alert;

Ascension Perk Actualization - First Star

Elemental Alignment - Earth [Kinetic Force Absorption] +1

Elemental Perk - Physical Toughness [Skin/Muscle/Bone]+1

----------------------------------------

Alexander looked at the System Alert, as his Friend called it.

He wasn't sure of what everything meant, but one thing he was sure of immediately. From this point on enemies would have a much tougher time hurting him.

Still, Alexander set aside the System Alert and focused on the phantom sensations inside him. One was easy to notice and understand, although not really.

Alexander still felt his physical body in the same manner, as it was before all this occurred. However, his bones, his muscles, and his skin gained something.

Examining as much as he could right this moment, Alexander realized that it existed throughout his body. It was as if his bones, muscles, and skin gained one more layer to themselves, aside from the physical one.

At least it felt like that, not that Alexander could conceptualize too much in his current state.

While Alexander sensed what it did, he had no idea how it did it. All that mattered was that he got tougher.

However, the second one was far harder to sense and even harder to understand. It too was layered on top of his bones, muscles, and skin, but it was distinctly different.

Alexander wasn't sure how different, but it was.

Pondering on the difference for a moment, Alexander waited until he recovered from this weakness enough to stand on two legs.

Once he stood up, he walked around and bent his spine, this way and that way. Then he flexed his arms and legs. With every exercise that he executed, the weakness retreated. After enough of them got completed, most of his body familiarity returned.

Only after he was sure he could run if something suddenly appeared, did he flex another part of his mind.

When he did his Status appeared in full. Not exactly reading, but reading it, Alexander's awareness brushed over everything it said.

Only then did he focus on the specifics that had changed.

----------------------------------------

Resource Status;

Type - Aural

Capacity - 0%

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basic Status;

Body - 6 [ Base - 5 +1]

Instinct - 7

Mind - 5

Will - 9

Insight - 6

Charisma - 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ascension Perks; First Star

Elemental Alignment - Earth [Kinetic Force Absorption] +1

Elemental Perk - Physical Toughness [Skin/Muscle/Bone] +1

----------------------------------------

Alexander's Capacity was nonexistent, but right at this moment, through his feet, he once more felt the warmth of the Earth flooding him.

There was no difference between before and now, at least, in the speed of the draw. However, now Alexander was far more sensitive to it. Due to that sensitivity and finally understanding what was happening, for the most part.

While the speed of the drawing effect remained the same, the way the drawn energy interacted with his body generated far more Capacity.

Thus, Alexander was sure that it would take much less time to reach full capacity. Either way, the most curious thing was the Body Stat. not only did it now display a different number but something else appeared beside it.

The numbers he knew. After his Friend explained what each Stat did, he also began teaching Alexander numbers so that he could better understand what his Status said.

“Base? Five… My, Strength… Plus, One… Toughness, Gain, Today… Equals… Six.”

With that said, Alexander paused for a moment and nodded to himself.

“Make, Sense, Me Stronger.” Done with understanding the changes in his Status, Alexander dismissed everything.

That done, he looked at the perfect branch for a moment before shaking his head and moving on.

In this case, moving on meant continuing his Cardio.

As such, Alexander began running a familiar route.

Yet, it took maybe ten steps for Alexander to realize that something was different. Slightly, but it was different. He stopped for a moment, examined his surroundings, and saw nothing else.

Then his thoughts return to everything that occurred to him today. One of them he understood, but the other was a mystery.

Or at least, he thought it was. Now, though?

Not understanding even when he pondered once more, Alexander shrugged his shoulders. He snorted once just as an add-on and moved on. Once more he ran, only this time he did not stop no matter what he felt.

However, he did pay more attention to his steps, thinking he'd figure it out.

One big step, one small. One small jump, one long. Skipping here and there and then it dawned on Alexander what it was.

His steps were far more energetic. They were more powerful. The rebound he felt was lesser. At the same time, Alexander noticed that somehow, he was far more confident in every step, every skip, and every jump that he did.

It was as if he felt more intimate with himself and the ground underneath him.

Once that downed, Alexander sensed a surety emerged from deep within him. A surety that he would be fine even if he went faster, and that was what he did.

Alexander increased his pace through the thick Forest. He still followed the Tribal Territory Marker, as he was extremely familiar with the route only today it somehow felt even closer to him.

It was as if he'd walked this route his whole life.

Left leg on that stone. Right leg on that branch. Left leg over that, right leg down to keep the momentum.

“Yaaaa” Alexander shouted in the euphoria of his increased pace.

Jumping, hopping, skipping, as if there was no obstruction in his path, Alexander noticed he'd reached the starting point of his Morning Routine.

He ignored it in favor of feeling this grounded sensation. A sensation where he felt that even if he made a mistake, it would be fine. He'd get through it, just like he got through everything before in this new life.

Like that, Alexander soon passed the perfect branch and just continued on and on.

Even when a DING!!! reached him, he just acknowledged it and continued.

It was only after his very breath failed to fuel the euphoria that Alexander stopped his mad rush through the Forest.

When he did, and all that euphoria no longer interfered with the sensations reaching his mind, Alexander truly realized that he'd overdone it.

His body huffed and puffed for breath. His chest felt painful just breathing. His heart pumped like it never had before, or at least it felt that way.

One thing, Alexander was sure. While his Base Body Stat did not increase, his actual body did improve, and not just in Toughness, only this improvement did not stem from the Stat, but from other factors.

Still, whatever it was, he was glad he picked it over that distant Shining Light.

Nevertheless, Alexander was sure that soon, he would repeat the same experience. And when he did, he wondered if he could choose the same again, or if he would have to move on from it.