Serum

"Hey, see if you can do the wisp thing! All you need to do is form a ball of darkness above your palm, and then move it around."

At the lunch table within the cafeteria, Rita set down her utensils before raising her palm. The next second, a wisp of dark mana appeared, and it proceeded to swirl around her hand and forearm. It then disappeared, and Rita turned her gaze towards Dirk as if beckoning him. 

Receiving the gaze, Dirk lifted his own palm. Like he usually did, he found a spot of dark mana in the air before poking it, drawing the mana toward him. Other dark mana was then attracted to it, and controlling it all, he formed a ball above his palm. Usually, this is where he stopped, but now he tried to move it. 

He imagined the ball moving, similar to Rita's. He had to really concentrate though, so he blocked out all other thoughts. His mind became narrow, not unlike when he would get behind a sniper back on Earth, and the ball of darkness budged. It slowly rotated around his hand, albeit unsteadily. Once it had done a full orbit though, Dirk frowned and the ball dissipated. 

"Ahh! You had it! Nice! Now you just need to keep doing that, and you'll be able to make it fly freely in no time."

Rita clapped excitedly at his success while giving advice.

Dirk nodded before drawing out more mana from the air, proceeding to rotate it even more. This time, the ball did a full orbit and a half before dissipating. Unfortunately, on the third try, it didn't even make it halfway around. Any further tries of his were unsuccessful in making a full orbit. 

However, Dirk wasn't unhappy. If anything, he was tired. He found that as he exerted himself to control the ball, he became progressively drained. It wasn't a physical exhaustion though, but mental. His head ached, though that was about the extent of it. It was just his thoughts that became sluggish, and there wasn't much physical detriment to speak of. 

"Don't exert yourself too much. You'll get tired and fall asleep. That would make you vulnerable to an attack!"

Tess, Rita's friend who sat across from Dirk, stopped chewing her food as she noticed Dirk's exhaustion.

Hearing her advice, Dirk nodded rather seriously. Should he be in combat and drain his mental energy like that, he would surely be disadvantaged. While his body was fine, the mind was still needed in order to move it well. At least, that was until he trained himself and made combat instinctual. 

He immediately thought about how much he wanted to train. Having such a young and undeveloped body displeased him. It made him feel weak and vulnerable. How could he complete missions with such weakness?

"Exerting yourself is a great way to train though. When you get tired and recover, your mind becomes stronger and lets you control mana better. That's what my mom said."

Rita chimed in after Tess, and Dirk froze in his thoughts. He had indeed heard that from his mother. But to what extent could you train your mind here? On Earth, while you could discipline yourself mentally, that didn't translate to very much. Everyone still had a set amount of energy and willpower. Given enough time and exertion, you would collapse. That's why one had to be focused in their thoughts and allocate their energy, especially in drawn out battles. But now, on this other world, training your mind meant greater control over mana. Dirk had noticed the difference, how his mind was actually sharper than on Earth. That meant things were different here, that the mind worked under a different system. 

'Is that what the profile was?'

Dirk pondered and pulled out his profile. 

---

|Profile|

Name: Dirk Strider

Species: Human

Tier: I-

Rank: 0

Attributes: Fire - 71% (Lightning - 89%), Earth - 88% (Metal - 93%), Dark - 92%

Traits: Cybernetic Enhancement, Adaptable Genes, Pure Soul

Skills: A.I. Interface (Grade 7)

---

This was Dirk's new profile. After the appraisal, his attributes underwent a change. The information from the appraisal changed his profile to match, and now he could see his affinities. Another indicator was also added to it, called Rank. 

Tiers represented your mana level, according to Dirk's father. The higher the tier, the better your control over mana and the more you could store. Ranks represented the same, but for Anima instead. Anima was the energy used to refine your body. The more you refined your body, the higher your rank, and the higher your strength. 

Both indicators counted using numerals, and each numeral had three stages. The lowest stage was represented by a minus, and the highest stage a plus. 

Then, there were his traits and skills. The skill AI Interface was labeled at grade 7, but Dirk wasn't really sure what that meant. He didn't ask his parents either, since he wasn't sure if he should even have a skill or traits. He knew he wasn't exactly a normal case. 

Dirk looked at his Tier which stood at I-. He also didn't know if this was any good or not. He hadn't received any information on tiers or ranks and how high they could go. He at least had a gauge though. Until he learned what all that meant, he would just track any progress he made. 

After draining his mana at the lunch table, Dirk stopped attempting to be as good as his sister and finished eating his food. As he scarfed down the last of his meat, he found that his mana levels were rejuvenated somewhat. Looking at the meat with his magic sense, he could indeed see a bit of mana held within it. It looked like eating these meats were good for his recovery. 

"Can we get seconds?"

Dirk asked as he stood up. Rita nodded toward him as she put another piece of food in her mouth.

"Yea. You can also get thirds."

"Alright. Be right back."

Excitedly, Dirk strode over back in the lunch line and got himself another serving. He then sat back down and inhaled everything before going and getting yet another serving. 

"Hungry boy, are we? Here you go handsome."

The lunch lady served another thick slice of meat while smiling sweetly. Dirk found himself unconsciously smiling as well seeing how nice this lady was. 

Soon enough, a bell rang. Rita told him that was the halftime bell signifying the second half of lunch. At that time, over a hundred kids rushed in to come eat, filling up the line in no time. When that happened, Rita and her friends stood up. 

"Come on! We can go play now! Meet us on the field when you're done."

Announcing that, they ran out of the cafeteria. Dirk just let them go as he finished the last of his meat, taking a bit of time afterward to digest. His digestive system was stronger than most, capable of absorbing energy from food very quickly. He could feel all the meat being broken down in his stomach by the minute. This was why he wasn't full even after three servings. 

"Did you want anymore?"

Dirk turned to the timid girl next to him.

In the time that he was eating and practicing, Ava had cleaned out her soup, and the bowl was basically clean. She shook her head at his question though, prompting him to stand from the table.

"Okay then. I'm gonna go to the field. You can come with if you want."

Standing up, he set his tray above a trash can. Ava quickly mirrored him before the two left the cafeteria.

................

The rest of the day went uneventfully. When school ended, their mother arrived in the carriage for pickup. Dirk saw Ava off before boarding the carriage with Rita, officially ending his first day of school. 

Seeing Dirk sit next to her, Cecilia ran her fingernail across his forehead, combing back his hair.

"So? How was your day?"

"...Good."

Dirk hummed as he enjoyed the sensation of his mother's tender touch. He had come to like the little acts of kinship his mother did, such as this. 

Hearing his bland response though, Cecilia clicked her tongue.

"Truly a man of few words. Did you make any friends?"

"No."

Dirk shook his head. Upon hearing this though, Rita immediately rebuked him.

"Huh? Yea you did! Ava is your friend. And did you not like Edin and Tess?"

"They were nice."

"So they're your friends!"

"Hm, not really."

Dirk frowned as he thought about it. What were friends to him? Ava was basically declared to be his first friend before school started, and he only knew these other girls for all of 2 hours. Were they his friends? He didn't know the significance of that word much. Gray could have been considered his friend, but he was more of a father than anything. 

Sensing Dirk's contemplation, Cecilia reached over and ruffled his hair. 

"If you thought they were cool, then they can be your friends. It's not bad to be on good terms with lots of people. Did you enjoy playing with them or being around them?"

"It wasn't bad, I guess. Throwing the disk was a bit fun."

"Alright, that's good. Be sure to make lots of friends. Maybe when you meet enough people, you can make a couple of blood brothers or sisters."

"Blood brothers?"

"Yea, people who you're willing to fight alongside. People who you'd do everything for. They're more than just friends. Your father is blood brothers with Duke Hillshire. That's why all of you go to him to be appraised. We're very good friends with his family."

"..."

Dirk pondered Cecilia's statement. He had never really been close with anybody other than Gray. His relations with other people were strictly business. The only time he ever communicated with other people was when he ran operations as part of a team. 

"Anyway, you shouldn't have been assigned any work. You won't be for a while. Do you have your books?"

"In here."

Dirk motioned to the bag that he received from the school, simply a wool sack that was fancier than most. Rita also opened hers and pulled out the history, math, science, and world studies books. Seeing them, Dirk almost wanted to snatch them right then and there. They were exactly the books he wanted to see.

"Good. Don't lose them. I don't want to have to pay for any books like last year."

"I won't lose them! The last book just disappeared!"

Rita complained loudly at her mother's jab. Apparently she had lost a book before. Cecilia shook her head. 

"Books don't just get up and walk away. At least, these ones don't."

'...What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

Dirk looked at his mom weirdly hearing that. Were there books that could actually get up and walk away? What kind of exotic creature would that have to be?

Soon, the family arrived back at the house. School ended around 4 pm. Dirk was pleased to find out a while ago that this world ran on a similar time schedule as Earth. Only, there was one crucial difference than that of Earth. 

As the family hopped out of the carriage, Dirk looked to the sky. The sun was getting close to setting, and Dirk could see the moons above the pink clouds. There were two moons in the sky. One was dark, an almost black grey, and one was a bright white. Seeing this had shocked Dirk at first, but he had gradually gotten used to it. It was a cooler sight than the moon of Earth, that was for sure. 

When they entered the house, the three settled down. Cecilia had a garden of her own in the backyard, so she went back to tending to it as she did many days. Rita also went with her to help since she didn't have anything else to do. She surely didn't want to read her new books. 

Dirk also wasn't in a rush to get the books. He first wanted to figure out how he would begin training his body. He was now at the age where he had received training on Earth. All the memories of his training days resurfaced in his mind. 

He wouldn't have to worry about exercises aimed toward discipline. All he needed were the ones aimed at strengthening the body, increasing his endurance and stamina, and refining control over himself. Many of the workouts and drills were derived from martial arts, and most of what they did revolved around those three points. 

Getting to that point, Dirk determined what he would do. He already knew his martial arts. It was one that was designed to kill or incapacitate your opponent in the most efficient, direct way, no matter your position or situation. Of course, while he had also been taught things like kickboxing, boxing, and jiujitsu, those were more supplementary. 

So, he decided to simply train back up his martial arts. Then, at the same time, he would train his body. Both of these things were the same but also different. It was simple for him though. He already knew plenty of workouts. There were only two problems though. 

One, he didn't have any weights to lift with. Two, he didn't have any partners to spar with. While these two things weren't absolutely crucial, they would help him out a lot. 

Just knowing the martial arts was only half the battle. Dirk needed both his mind and body to be trained for the martial art. The two worked in conjunction. If he didn't train himself, he wouldn't have the strength, flexibility, or the reflex he needed to be capable of carrying it out. 

'Should I ask Rita to train with me?'

Dirk considered it, but he knew she might not want to. Rita didn't have the affinity for Anima, so she had never even considered doing anything to train her body, only focusing on her magical parlor tricks. While Dirk would still argue for her training her body, if she was really that opposed, she wouldn't get anything out of it. 

The only other person he could think of to train with was his mom, but there were many problems with that. For one, he didn't really know how he would explain his knowledge of a systematic martial art. Secondly, she was way too big for him. He was still only 6 years old, so it would be a very awkward fight, especially if he tried to grapple with her. 

Eventually, Dirk decided that he would ask Rita, but didn't hold any hopes. He then thought about the problem with weights, but decided that he also couldn't do much about that. He decided he would just train his body freely until he could possibly go out and find weights, should they even exist in this world. Maybe he could find some heavy rocks?

With that last thought, Dirk went to his room. He devised his workouts for the next week, activating his AI and having it track his progress. His workouts would consist of situps, pushups, pullups using the window frame, 10 kilometer runs, many suicide sprints, and other dynamic movements like burpees and side planks. All kids of rigorous workouts were planned, and when he was done, he had 3 hours of planned exercise every day. 

Then, since he was in his room, he decided to start right then. He changed out of most of his clothes, appearing from his closet with only fitted cloth shorts. While he was still only 6, his cybernetically enhanced body made his muscles already denser than normal. His bones were also stronger, and his blood could be filled with more oxygen, giving him greater stamina. This all added up to a slim but strong body. 

"Interface. Status."

Dirk spoke, giving a basic command that would have the AI evaluate his body similar to when it first booted up. The AI was always keeping track of the changes in his body, so he could ask for this information at any time. 

---

[Host Model:

Host Age: 6 years

Blood type: AB+ 

Skeletal structure: Organic iron composite (Developing)

Muscle structure: High power compacted fibers (Developing)

Sensory organs: High density receptors (Developing)

Self-replicating nano-robotic maintenance and repair systems: Offline

Final Stand weapon system: Offline

Overdrive systems: Offline

Current bodily state: Slighty combat capable, 100% healthy, developing]

[Warning! Unable to construct nano-robotic maintenance and repair systems. Insufficient chemical energy production.]

[Warning! Unable to construct Final Stand weapon system. Insufficient chemical energy production. Insufficient mineral reserves.]

[Warning! Unable to activate overdrive. Insufficient chemical energy production.]

[Intelligence systems fully functional. Awaiting host orders.]

---

Dirk looked through everything and nodded. While he was still developing, that was natural. He was still a growing boy after all. He often checked this status before doing any activity just to be sure nothing was off.

"Alright. Maximum effort."

Saying that, Dirk popped down to the floor and started his pushups. He knocked out 30 before flipping over onto his back and immediately starting his situps. Once he did 50 of those, he moved straight onto his next set. 

His workouts only had a single break for 7 minutes after each hour. Toward the end of his life on Earth, he would work out for 5 hours straight. It was the only way for him to fully exert himself. Now, he was beginning to push himself back to that standard. He didn't care that this body didn't have nearly as much stamina. 

And sure enough, as he expected, after only 15 minutes he already felt like vomiting. He didn't stop though. It was only when he was on the verge that he finally ran to the bathroom and puked. Only moments later though, he was back on the floor doing his work despite the continuous churning of his stomach and burning of his muscles. He constantly gasped for air, and a puddle of sweat quickly formed at the spot he did his work at. He felt bad because it was on carpet, but if need be he would clean it himself. 

Soon, the first hour passed, and Dirk collapsed to the floor after completing his last set. His arms, chest, core, shoulders, and legs hurt. Actually, there wasn't a single part of him that didn't hurt. Even if he were to stop here, he would definitely be sore tomorrow. This was especially so since he didn't currently have his nano repair systems that could repair his body. 

But he didn't. After 5 minutes of gasping, Dirk forced himself to his feet and went over to the windows. He struggled to unlatch them and push them up, but after he did a nice breeze blew in, cooling his body. He basked in the sunset and cool winds for 2 minutes before pulling himself away and beginning his next hour. 

By now, there was practically nothing in his stomach, and he never felt like vomiting anymore. His body was too tired to do so. He just pushed himself to carry out his workouts. Unfortunately, by the end of the second hour, his body couldn't quite handle it anymore and started giving out. Dirk frowned as this happened more and more. 

'Looks like I'm pushing myself too much. This body can't keep up yet. Oh well.'

Dirk decided to stop there. He didn't want to hurt himself, and he didn't have any reason to rush. If he could only do two hours of work, then so be it. He would just have to slowly build up from there. 

With that, he decided to just rest as much as he could. He could feel his heart beating at a million miles per hour, and the pulses of blood could be felt through his head. The lactic acid was building up in his body, making his muscles stiff and feel like they were on fire. Knowing that he would tighten up if he stayed still, he stood up and did some light movements and stretches. Each movement felt labored, but after a while he was able to keep himself flexible. He also slowed his breathing down, controlling his heart rate and by extension his body's recovery. 

"Dirk! Dinner!"

Suddenly, a voice was heard from his door. Rita shouted as she entered, but when she saw his body covered in sweat, she stopped in confusion. 

"What in the world are you doing?"