"Big sister, why is my daddy bullying big brother?" Tula asked with a worried frown.

"Don't worry. Your father is teaching Vincent about his weakness." Ester replied. She hoped her words were real.

Kazumi was also getting annoyed. She ended up pulling Vincent into his Soul Domain and started shouting at him.

[What are you doing?]

[How can this old man give you such a hard time?]

[You're making him look stronger than his twin brother when he used the double-edged ability Upper Zerk Mode!]

"I understand..." Vincent said with a defeated expression.

[Why were you moving so slow? I saw you grit your teeth and slam your foot multiple times as if you were about to fall.]

[Did you train too hard and have muscle pains all over your body? Is that why you are losing your balance like a drunkard?]

"My body strangely feels heavy in the living world. It felt similar to the fear I felt when fighting the Demonic Beast but different at the same time. It feels like some kind of pressure is forcing me to slam on the ground."

"I don't feel afraid of Koss, yet I can't move my body as I wanted to. It seemed similar to when we saw him walking yesterday, and his body's mass increased. The weight his body carried is now on me."

Vincent scratched his head while brainstorming what Koss made him feel. To become slower and heavier, but not afraid of Koss.

[Why don't you take advantage of the time slow when exiting this place? You might land a lucky hit if it's that hard for you. Koss might decide to teach you this strange power if you show him your spunk.]

"You are right. I don't need to win. I just need to land a hit." Vincent said with a pair of green eyes burning with the desire to land a hit against the impossible to beat Koss.

Vincent stretched his arms and his neck from side to side. He prepared to move within the millisecond the brain sent a signal to his limbs for action.

"I'm prepared to fight. " Vincent said with an unwavering gaze. His body and soul were ready to continue the fight.

[I'm rooting for you.]

The darkness surrounding Vincent started to fade, and Koss appeared before him, moving so slow it could be considered frozen in time. The two seconds of time slow started now.

The stance Koss displayed indicated he was ready to parry using his swords, a move he made almost a hundred times, denying the chance for a hit to land on his body.

Vincent's brain sent commands for his body and limbs to follow in the two-second advantage. The extra processed information could allow Vincent to compete against the strange heavy weight.

Time flow resumed, and Vincent abruptly shot a quick jab when he regained full control of his limbs. It was so sudden that Koss mistimed the parry and forced to block instead.

However, this was expected to happen. Koss had a split second to react against Vincent's moves while Vincent had two seconds to react against Koss's moves.

Koss tried his best to block against the sudden jab, but it wasn't an ordinary move. Koss stared at Vincent with a conflicted gaze. It felt as if Vincent knew about the future and knew it would get blocked with two swords in a specific pose.

The jab arced around the blades raised to guard against the incoming strike.

*Thud*

The strange moving strike landed on the army instructor's chest like a snake evading any obstacle to reach its wanted destination.

Koss took a few steps back from the impact. He didn't seem to get hurt that much. The technique he used on Vincent greatly reduced his power, dampening the blow.

Koss relaxed his combat stance and touched his chest in disbelieve. But he wasn't the only one with his puzzled brows raised in surprise.

The new recruits displayed a similar expression on their faces. It was as if Vincent performed a miracle. Something no new recruit achieved when having a proper spar.

Tula raised her hand and looked at Ester with an excited smile. Ester noticed the hand waiting in the air and shortly slapped a hi-five. They were happy Vincent performed what appeared to be impossible.

"That's my mate, hehe." Lupa giggled in a happy mood while her tail swung along with her exciting emotions.

Tulip was the only one looking at everyone with a puzzled frown. She didn't understand why the soldiers seemed very surprised and the girls happy for hitting Koss. She couldn't figure out what was happening.

"Did I hit too hard?" Vincent asked with a hoarse voice. He became a bit worried about the expression Koss showed.

"This is but a scratch, haha." Koss seemed delighted by this sudden turn of events. He then continued after a long laugh. "You surprised me, my boy."

"What do you say about learning CQC from me, my boy?" Koss quickly asked. Vincent changed from boy to my boy.

[Something feels strange. Why is he suddenly calling you my boy?]

-Maybe because he would become my teacher? But it feels a bit too friendly. He reminds me of Kevin. But don't worry, I don't miss him because of your ability to show me images of my memories.-

[I glad I can help you.]

[Now, let's stop getting sidetracked and focus on the matter at hand. Does that mean he might want you to marry Tula?... pff haha. A father in law with a pair of fists of discipline at every corner is quite scary.]

Vincent averted his gaze and displayed a sour yet frightened expression. The idea sent a shiver down his spine.

"No, f~way!" Tame exclaimed.

"That~f can'f be~ff possible~f..." Hara rubbed his head as he couldn't believe Vincent was asked to be personally taught by Koss.

"Teacher... never... had... a... disciple before~eff." Culo added while trying his best not to talk with a bad lisp from the pained cracked puffed lips.

Vincent could now start to understand the true value of what Koss offered to teach. Koss was an army instructor to the soldiers in his division, but it seems he never personally taught anyone. His daughter Tula might be the only person he taught, but she lost her memories and didn't have a class.

.

[Overheat deactivated.]

[Host Race returning to human.]

.

Vincent stopped using Overheat and turned his gaze at his girls. Ester nodded with a smile, and Lupa wagged her tail as if she wanted to celebrate with a hug.

Vincent then returned his gaze at Koss, lowered into a respectful bow, and said, "I accept. Thank you for wanting to teach me."

"This is the first time I've seen a person respect their teacher this much. Well, now that's settled, HAHAHA. " Koss smacked Vincent's shoulder quite a few times while laughing out loud. He seemed to be in a happy mood.

After the loud, raucous laughter and shoulder smacking, Koss started to explain what Vincent suffered from. The explanation took more time than they thought it would, but Vincent, Ester, and Lupa listened to his every word with interest.

Tula tagged along to stay with her father, Vincent, Ester, and Lupa. Everyone else didn't seem interested to join them.

The new recruits quickly left and stayed alone with a deep frown. They recalled memories about harsh training suffered under Koss's hands.

Tulip stayed alone but remained far from the three young soldiers sending them a few occasional glares.

It seemed Vincent suffered from what Koss called, Intimidation intent. That's why his body felt heavy under pressure.

Koss explained how Vincent didn't notice what was happening to him because it must have been the first time suffering from it.

Koss mentioned how he could feel a strange yet powerful Murderous intent emanating from Vincent when he donned a new form. He believed it was strong enough to make his soul unaffected by intimidation.

However, the body was a different story. It needed to be protected in order to move without being suppressed by the pressure.

"The body and the soul need to be at the same wavelength went fighting against a powerful intent. You have a very strong soul, but your body is weak, unlike the appearance of your body." Koss hit right on the mark. Vincent was a Soul Hero, and his strength started increasing a few weeks ago.

"I wonder what will happen when your body and soul reaches the same wavelength, haha... *cough*" Koss excitedly laughed. Then he cleared coughed a few times and continued, "Ahem... now, let me start from the beginning. Let's start from what intent is."

Koss mentioned how the air has traces of mana in this world. It seems people can manipulate the faint traces of mana to a certain degree without being a spell caster by using their intent.

The mana in the air can change in three ways. First are spells from spellcasters. Second is the emotional influence caused by the user's intent. Third is the power to control the faint mana surrounding one's body through Traits, bending it to their will.

"I don't have any information about magic users, so I will skip that and continue with the second method." Koss quickly skipped the magic part as if he hated spellcasters or had a bad experience with them.

Koss continued how emotional influence is caused by the user's intent, tainting, or infecting the mana in the air surrounding them. Bloodlust, deep anger, or the intent to suppress the enemy are the basic principles to taint the mana with intent.

Koss explained how Vincent must have experienced many life-threatening events to produce a killing intent similar to a veteran soldier. Instead of having his body fall down on his knees from intimidation, his body tried to fight for survival instead.

Vincent nodded as Koss was right on the mark yet again. They fought for their lives multiple times against powerful opponents, and all their opponents showered them with the tainted mana of death.

The will to survive was ingrained in Vincent's, Ester's, and Lupa's bodies.

Koss then mentioned emotional influence intent is categorized in two sections. Murderous intent by using gaze or aura and Intimidation intent by also using gaze or aura.

Both harness specific emotions to taint the mana in the air. They also have their own specific uses in or outside combat.

Murderous gaze or aura focuses on the use of killing intent, hatred, anger, and the feeling of bloodlust. The main uses are to place fear into their opponent's soul. Freezing their bodies like a statue, forcing them to cower in fear, or do their best to escape are the most common effects.

The Intimidation gaze or aura works differently. The influenced mana suppresses the opponent. The bodies become pressured by the intent, and the difference of the pressure would scale depending on their will.