the teacher sighs. "the way muscle grows stronger is by breaking down and regrowing." Eric looks towards d. d is covered in muscles that far surpass Eric's.

"I'm going to break you down and heal you with my power so many times you might go mad. You up for the most intense training you've had in your life?"

Eric nods. "good, drop by next week. I'll have everything ready by then." Eric and the teacher leave.

The teacher drops Eric off at his apartment. "don't worry about going to fights. I'll cover your rent while you train."

Eric tries to protest. "before you fight me on this, keep in mind that I'm 500 years old and have more money than you could spend in your life." The teacher drives away, and Eric goes to bed.

Eric shows up at D's house a week later. "come on in, kid."

Eric walks in and sees numerous weapons. "don't worry about those yet, kid. First, we need to build up muscle."

D guides Eric to a room with a giant pool filled with clear liquid. "ill show you what you'll be going through every day for the next year. Stand back."

Eric stands back from the pool. D leaps in and instantly begins melting, releasing no scream as his flesh and bone melt. After about a minute, he exits the pool, his bones reknit themselves, and his flesh regrows in moments. He stands up.

Eric has a horrified look on his face.

D grins madly. "there's no method for muscle growth faster than this."

Eric gulps. "Uhm, D, I don't have regeneration powers."

D nods. "I know. We will use my blood. Don't worry; I can bring you back even if you die." Eric is shocked by this revelation.

"so long as less than 3 minutes pass, I can bring somebody back to life with my power."

Eric relents. "okay."

D Chuckles. "be glad I'm using acid. When I first learned this trick, I used lava, way worse."

"Can't I get like a painkiller or something?" eric asks hopefully.

D shakes his head. "my power considers painkillers poisons and neutralizes them. Besides, this will increase your pain tolerance."

Eric braces himself mentally. He runs and dives into the pool. For a moment, there is nothing. Then suddenly, it was as if a fire had consumed his entire being. He screamed for a moment, but soon his throat melted. He felt only pain. Then just as suddenly, the pain stopped. He could feel pieces of himself disappearing, yet he felt no pain.

"my nerves have melted." he couldn't see, hear, feel or taste. He felt darkness encroaching on his consciousness. he struggled against it, but it quickly overpowered him. He woke up facing the ceiling of the abandoned building.

"Welcome back, my friend." d's voice snapped him out of his trance.

Eric stands up. "what happened?"

"you died after 90% of your body dissolved."

Eric looks at his body. D's blood had completely healed it and was even more robust than before.

"glad to see you like the improvements." d picked him up and threw him back into the pool.

Just before his consciousness faded, he heard d speak.

"Don't worry, kid. in my dojo, nobody's allowed to die unless they have my permission."

Time became illusory and hard to grasp. He would feel immense pain followed by nothingness, followed by a brief moment of consciousness before being thrown once again into the pool. This sequence happened an uncountable number of times.

He woke up again, expecting to be thrown into the acid again, but it didn't happen. he opened his eyes and saw d standing over him. "welcome back, boy." Eric looked around him. the room hadn't changed much.

"how long has it been?" Eric asked concernedly.

"It's been about six months. Don't worry about your cat; Nathen is taking care of it."

Eric tried to walk, but his body felt different.

He looked at d. "did you get shorter?"

D cackled. "I suppose that makes sense as your first thought."

d points to a mirror. Eric looked at it and saw a massive man whose very existence radiated power. He stood at 6 foot 8. he stepped on the scale and saw he now weighed 475 pounds.

"This is me?"

d laughs loudly. "I told you id make you strong."

Eric smiles. "you didn't lie."

d laughs again; however, this time, it feels more sinister. "who said it was over? We still have six months."

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before Eric could respond, d was lunging at him with a sword.

In a single strike, Eric was beheaded, only to be brought back.

He gets up. "what was-" he is beheaded again.

Eric immediately jumps up and dodges a blow from d.

"Why are you-" he is killed yet again.

This cycle repeats for weeks. Each time Eric gets a little better at dodging and attacking. After around four weeks of fighting, Eric manages to disarm d and break the sword.

d laughs. "excellent." Eric had long since realized this was a form of training.

"I won. is it over?"

d smiles devilishly as he walks over to the wall covered in weapons. He grabs a mace. "not even close."

It took Eric 4 weeks to defeat the sword, 3 for the mace, 2 for the bow, and 1 for the spear. For the next weapon, it only took three days, then 2, then 1. after that, Eric began beating multiple weapons in a single day. Then he could beat them without dying. Every time he defeated a weapon, D threw it away. Eventually, after two months of fighting with no rest, the wall was empty.

Eric smiled; he had won. Or so he thought. as he was about to celebrate, d ran towards him with his bare hands. "this should be easy." he thought. But before he could even recognize what had happened, he was dead.

He woke up confused, but that didn't last long, as he was killed in less than a second after. This is how it went for several days, and Eric could not even understand how he was dying. Eventually, he managed to dodge the first attack out of sheer luck. Only to see d running at him at speeds that Eric thought only people with superspeed powers could reach. That was when Eric realized something.

All the other styles d showcased were hobbies. D's true mastery was hand-to-hand. Eric was quickly killed again, but he knew what he was in for this time. It took him four weeks to learn how to dodge the first strike consistently. Three weeks for the second. 2 weeks for the third. One week for the fifth.

As he got better at fighting, the time it took for him to adapt decreased. After three months of a two-person war, Eric began to stand on equal ground with d. eventually, Eric started to land more and more hits. However, d's fighting style was unorthodox. He didn't even attempt even the slightest defensive maneuver. he went for absoulte raw agression. Eric could see why. Every blow that Eric landed on him healed nearly instantly healed. Over the days, Eric got better and better at dodging d's punches until d couldn't even land a hit on him. Eventually, Eric finds the perfect opening.

Just as d is striking, Eric throws a punch with all his might toward d's chest. His hand pierces clear through d's body. In eric’s hand is d's heart. d smiles and pulls erics arm out of his chest. instantly d's body heals. "great job, kid." Eric collapses on the couch. "I think I'm ready to fight a god. Only after I take a nap first, tho."

d sits next to Eric. "you notice anything different now?" Eric looks confused for a moment before his eyes widen. "I can sense so much!"

d nods. "you should be pretty much immune to pain now as well." Eric felt more potent than ever. "how long have we been fighting?"

"It's been about five months. You still have a month left to rest and prepare."

Nathan walks into the room. "by the time this month is up, you will know everything there is to know about superhuman physiology." Nathan sits down and starts the lecture.

"as you know, superhumans live for an incredibly long time. Some people say they are immortal, but that isn't the case. Superhumans age normally until they turn 30, and after that point, they age at 1/100th of the standard rate. So a superhuman born in the golden age would be around 35 years old biologically.

Next are power levels. Many superhumans have super strength, but not all superhumans have the same level of super strength, so they created the power tier system. Low-level super strength means they are strong enough to lift a car, and mid-level super strength means they can lift a medium-sized building. High-level super strength means they can lift a skyscraper with one hand. Apex-level is the highest, and people with apex-level super strength can lift cities with one hand. This level system applies to other powers such as super strength and speed.

However, not all powers have this system. Some are too rare or esoteric to have a standard system. for example, d is the only superhuman with super regeneration powers. This makes it difficult to tell where his power would lie on a scale." over the next few weeks, Eric was taught all there is to know about superhumans.

Eric arrived at the Colosseum, and it was truly massive. Before they entered, Nathan turned to Eric.

"While competing, you must stay in the Colosseum and live there. Also, there is no outside food allowed; the Colosseum will provide all food. This rule prevents potential assassinations.

Eric enters with Nathan and approaches the front desk. "hello, we're here for the rookie tournament." the rookie tournament was held once a year. Sixteen fighters from the underground circuit would compete in a series of one-on-one fights until only one man was left standing. The man left standing would become an official gladiator.

Becoming a gladiator was the dream of many superhumans, not only because of the immense wealth and fame but also because gladiators were seen as honorable warriors and were greatly respected.

The receptionist was a short older man. He looked at Eric.

"this the challenger?" Nathan nods.

"name and powers, please."

"Eric Mendoza. I don't have any."

the receptionist looks confused for a moment before he realizes.

"oh, you're primarch?"

Eric nods. "that's me."

the receptionist logs Eric into the computer. "the fight should start in about an hour."

Eric walks away and overhears the receptionist talking to himself. "godspeed, kid."

Nathan waves goodbye to Eric. "I'll be in the stands, so don't lose, kid."

Eric walks down the steps and into a room with a massive door. Inside, a man polishes numerous weapons.

"you'll be fighting, angel, and he has low-level flight. I recommend you pick a long-range weapon."

Eric shakes his head. "my hands will be enough."

the man sighs. "your funeral, kid." outside, the arena is packed with people waiting for the fight. Eric didn't know, but he was quite famous. Many human and superhuman people were shocked to see a human on the rookie tournament roster.

The hour ended, and Eric heard the announcer.

"on the left, we have Angel flying into the ring." a skinny blonde man flew into the ring. He sported a bow and arrow and an arrogant smirk. His arrival was met with cheers. "show this fucking mortal the difference between god and man!" a fan cheered.

"and on the right, we have Primarch, the powerless powerhouse." the door opened as Eric walked out, and he heard loud booing from the crowd. Except for two people, his teacher and D were cheering as hard as they could. The sight made Eric smile.

"fighters, get ready, set GO!"