The new recruits could try to retaliate. At the moment, Vincent and Koss were in no shape to fight. However, they immediately decided against such dangerous thoughts as their nose felt fantom pain of Lupa's nose fixing technique. Not only that, but they didn't know how to go back to Lusterfall City. Also, they saw Lupa train one time in her nightshift. She wasn't a pushover beastman with a set of sharp claws. Lupa was an unbeatable person to the three young soldiers because they didn't have a class. They also couldn't compete without equipping a set of armor, a sword, and, most importantly, a shield to protect from her sharp claws. *Day 34* A new day arrived. Vincent opened his eyes and thought it was cloudy, but soon realized a large chest stood above his head, providing shade from the sunlight. "Good morning, my mate. " Lupa said while brushing his hair. She wanted to try doing the same head pat she loves to receive. [Nice morning indeed. It looks quite romantic, but you should turn your head. Ester is staring at you with a frown. Or is it a jealous glare, haha.] "Good morning, my little wolf. " Vincent said with a warm smile. His head rested on a soft lap pillow, and the large chest sheltering him from the sun. It felt bliss, yet what Kazumi said about Ester worried him. He had to take a glance. "Good morning, Ester. " Vincent said at the frowning Ester with her arms crossed. "How do you feel?" Ester quickly changed her frown and asked. She appeared to be a bit worried with a hint of redness on her cheeks. Vincent slowly pulled himself up and stretched his body. He didn't feel any different from yesterday's morning. But he slowly started feeling something he couldn't quite understand. It felt like a faint breeze touched his skin from time to time, even under the protection of his clothes. However, it felt different than the warm wind he usually felt. As if he could feel two types of winds simultaneously or a delicate piece of cloth touching his sink. "Do you feel it? " Koss asked with his brows raised in surprise after he noticed Vincent touching his body with a puzzled frown. Koss arched his lips up, forming a delighted smile, and cheerfully said, "It worked earlier than I expected. Your blood is already adapting to the filtering adaption. That means it will become more sensitive to the mana in the air touching your body with clothes on or off." "And how long will it last? I feel a bit disturbed by this strange feeling." Vincent asked with a frown. "You have just started the unlocking phase. The job is done on my end. Now it's your turn to adapt to the mana and filter it." Koss approached Vincent and delivered a congratulatory smack on his back. "There are four adaptions a body can adapt to. Filtering, Absorbing, Attracting, and Rejecting." "Filtering adaption is the foundation of the other three; it allows the body to understand the mana. If it's tainted by the intent or not, and plan what to do accordingly." "Absorbing adaption is exclusive to people with mana and is dangerous without supervision in the early stages." "Rejecting adaption is achievable through high-intensity training. Many receive help to stop this phase as they decide it's too much living with the pressure until mastering it." "Lastly is Attraction adaption. It is the basic version of Mana and Energy Flow. However, it requires the user to have adapted to filter the mana and absorb or reject mana. In other words, it's the second step for the journey to awaken the Blood Tempered Body Trait." Koss finished the explanation of the body adaption and warned with a frown, "Remember, only people with mana can absorb mana, so don't try to do that." Koss couldn't believe a person could start the foundation phase after only four hours of intense training. He felt like the new generation had a lot to provide this time and felt proud to teach such a student. [Well, it looks like you have started on the path of cultivation.] -Cultivation my ass. I feel like I'm getting violated by the wind. Sometimes I feel as if invisible bugs are crawling on my body as well. How about you use Mana Sense and check it out?- [Ahem... good luck, ugh... Kazumi out.] 'Kazumi doesn't want to help me. Wait. Is she perhaps afraid to see at the mention of bugs? I didn't think she had a weakness, hehe.' Vincent thought with a light chuckle while trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling the surface of his skin felt. The day became one of the hardest days of his life. Vincent felt as if walking while bugs crawled on his body and flies constantly slammed against his skin. 'No wonder many people wanted to quit. Suffering three types of adaptions without morale support is a nightmare.' Vincent thought. The pressure of the mana in the air caused Vincent to feel a constant breeze from all directions. Sometimes it even felt like it lightly rained, but the day was clear and bright. It felt like his mind was playing tricks on him, and his state of mind was constantly confused. Ester and Lupa walked by his side and helped Vincent walk when he was about to tumble from stepping on his foot or slip from a miss-step. One thing made Kazumi worried about this situation. Koss never said it was going to be this difficult. However, Koss was actually as surprised as the rest of them. He never heard of someone being able to trigger their blood adaption to start the foundation phase this quickly, moreover, from a person that didn't know anything about intent. Vincent started a phase normally achievable after a few months of intense training. And not everyone can manage to achieve this phase. Hence people holding the title veteran trainee for years. Koss said nothing about this strange occurrence, but he kept a watchful eye on Vincent. He didn't want the savior of his daughter and his first student to suffer from complications. A few hours before the darkness of the night arrived, Vincent began feeling an additional pressure weighing on his body. He felt as if the gravity pulled him with a stronger magnetic force. Vincent soon realized it felt strangely similar to the Intimidation's pressure, yet the weight had no taint of oppressive emotions. The faint mana surrounding his body started to get rejected and collected as the weight on his body. "How about we call it a day? Vincent, you can eat and sleep. " Koss worryingly said with a confident poker face. Koss could feel Vincent started the mana rejection phase and completed the foundation phase in a day instead of months under guidance like everyone else. It meant his body already adapted to filter what kind of mana surrounds the body. Koss was puzzled beyond belief. But he had to keep a straight act as the person suffering to temper his body needed a confident teacher and not a teacher that even he himself didn't hold a lick of an idea about what was happening. To Koss, Vincent suffered from what people slowly suffer over the course of a few weeks and even multiple months, enough not to hinder their daily lives. Some would feel a bit under the weather while others feel a bit tired. But it felt as if Vincent suffered everything in one day. The army instructor, Koss, couldn't help with a situation that possibly never happened in this world to his knowledge. All he could do is give Vincent time, constantly observe him, and hope for the best while wearing a poker face that it's normal. Vincent weakly nodded and later went to sleep. Ester and Lupa took turns watching over him, wiping his forehead from time to time. Kazumi used Soul Visit to talk with both Ester and Lupa. She wanted to reassure the two worried girls that Vincent wasn't in danger and calm their worried minds. The three retainers supported each other while taking care of their loved one. *Day 35* Morning arrived, and Vincent opened his eyes. He felt his head resting on a soft pillow once again, but the chest providing shade for the sunlight was missing. "Good morning Vincent. How are you feeling?" Ester asked with a warm tone. She did her best to hide her worried emotions. Lupa quickly approached and gazed at Vincent with a worried expression. Unlike Ester, the wolf girl didn't hide her emotions to reduce his worry. "What did I say about making Vincent worried if he sees us devastated about his condition?" Ester blurted her true feelings. Lupa "... " "Thank you, Ester." Vincent raised his heavy trembling arm and warmly said while touching Ester's cheek. "What about me? I'm worried too!" Lupa swiftly lowered beside them, wanting to get included. "Thank you, Lupa, hehe." Vincent raised his other heavy trembling arm and warmly said while touching Lupa's cheek. He could see her tail wagging, showing a content mood. [Hey, casanova. Everyone is staring at you while both your hands are holding their cheeks.] [So... how are you feeling?] Kazumi was worried about Vincent. She also felt a bit jealous as she wanted to be held by him like the two girls beside him. Vincent slowly stood up with the help of both Ester and Lupa. He could hear them grunt from his strange heavy body weight. It appeared that the additional weight wasn't a delusion. There was a force weighing him down. Although Koss didn't know what was happening to Vincent or what triggered such unheard progress, he knew how hard some people found the phase of Rejection adaption weighing their bodies. It was a problem easily avoided by doing the phase slowly. The teachers would help the trainees with the Rejection's deactivation, but Koss couldn't deactivate Vincent's Rejection adaption when he tried in his guard shift to give him a good night's sleep. Koss held only one explanation; Vincent's case was different than he imagined. Koss could somehow feel Vincent absorbed all the mana he directed to his body, intending to stop the adaption phase. A deep puzzled frown remained on his face for quite a while. Koss heard from Vincent that he has no mana. Vincent was also asleep, meaning he couldn't intentionally absorb mana on his own. However, Koss felt something disturbing. He felt as if the mana was devoured instead of absorbed. It didn't give the feeling of a body adaption but something with the desire to feast on the mana without stop. 'Vincent has a class I have never seen or heard before. Humans can't be shapeshifters, yet he has a similar ability. Could he be able to use Absorbtion adaption without a Mana Tempered Body Trait unconditionally?' Koss pondered all night about why he couldn't help the suffering Vincent.