That evening, Noah Vale stood outside his apartment in New York City.
A large, carefully sealed package sat by the door.
He bent down to pick it up, but before he could head inside, someone called out from behind him.
"Excuse me! Are you Noah Vale? I've got a delivery."
Noah turned around.
The delivery driver stood beside a van, checking the address on a clipboard.
"That's me," Noah said. "Phone number ending in ****, right?"
"Yep." The driver nodded, then paused.
For a moment he seemed distracted, staring at Noah's face in mild surprise before quickly looking away.
"Just need your signature," he said awkwardly. "Also… the order is pretty heavy. Want help carrying it inside?"
"No need," Noah replied, signing the form. "You can leave it here."
The driver unloaded several large containers from the van.
Then he watched, stunned, as Noah casually lifted the entire load—hundreds of pounds in total—and carried it into the apartment by himself.
Inside, Noah immediately began unpacking the delivery.
The first box contained a custom glass tub—roughly five feet long and a little over two feet wide.
The second package held a thick glass stirring rod.
And the earlier package that had been sitting by the door contained something far more unusual:
Ten liters of extremely concentrated sulfuric acid stored in sealed glass containers.
Buying it through legal suppliers would have involved too many restrictions.
So Noah had found another way.
Under the apartment lights, the glass containers gleamed with a cold, sterile shine.
Perfect.
Noah carried the custom tub into the bathroom.
He pulled on protective gear, then grabbed several large containers of purified water he had purchased earlier from a nearby supermarket.
One by one, he poured them into the glass tub.
Next, he carefully opened one of the acid containers.
Slowly—very slowly—he poured the concentrated liquid along the inner wall of the tub.
As the acid diluted into the water, heat began to build.
Noah stirred the mixture gently with the glass rod, making sure the liquid distributed evenly.
When he was satisfied with the dilution, he removed one glove and dipped a finger into the liquid.
Warm.
Just slightly.
Perfect.
Noah removed the rest of his protective gear, leaving only a breathing mask over his face.
Then he stepped into the tub.
The diluted acid covered his body as he slowly lowered himself into the bath, leaving only his head above the surface.
A faint stinging sensation spread across his skin.
He closed his eyes.
If training works by breaking down tissue and letting it rebuild stronger…
Why not skip a few steps and push the process directly?
His endurance attribute had already reached 1.3.
That meant his body possessed far greater resilience than an ordinary human's.
During earlier experiments, he had discovered that even a sharp knife required noticeable force to cut his skin.
Minor injuries stopped bleeding within seconds and healed completely within a day.
Those changes gave him the confidence to try something like this.
"Guess I'm sleeping here tonight," Noah muttered.
Ignoring the faint burning sensation from the diluted acid, he calmed his breathing and began practicing the Violet Dawn breathing method.
Soon his mind drifted into deep focus.
While Noah meditated, the diluted acid slowly continued its work.
On its own, the concentration was far too weak to cause serious harm.
But over hours of continuous exposure, the mild corrosion gradually wore down the outer layer of his skin.
At the same time, his body's healing response activated.
The damaged tissue regenerated.
Then broke down again.
Then regenerated again.
A fragile equilibrium formed between destruction and recovery.
The next morning at seven o'clock, Noah slowly exhaled a long breath.
A faint violet glow faded from his skin as he finished circulating internal energy through his body.
Inside his abdomen, the energy settled quietly.
Eight distinct strands.
Noah opened his eyes.
My training speed doubled once my endurance reached 1.3, he thought.
One night produced more internal energy than the previous two nights combined.
He smiled faintly.
If my endurance reaches 1.4 or 1.5…
Suddenly he hissed in pain.
Trying to stand up reminded him of something important.
The skin covering his entire body burned like it had been stabbed with needles.
Looking down, he saw the problem.
Everything below his neck had turned bright red.
He looked like someone who had just been boiled.
Carefully, Noah climbed out of the tub, trembling slightly as waves of pain ran across his body.
The sensation was intense—almost like his skin had been peeled off and replaced.
As he stepped away from the tub, the system panel appeared with a new entry.
Training Analysis
You remained immersed in diluted sulfuric acid for over nine hours.
The repeated damage and regeneration cycle has improved your body's resilience.
Continued exposure of this type may further increase endurance.
Noah's eyes lit up.
So the theory worked.
Physical damage followed by rapid healing could indeed strengthen his body.
"Next time," he murmured thoughtfully, "maybe combine this with electrical stimulation."
Internal and external stress together might produce even better results.
After carefully drying himself with a towel, Noah dressed despite the stinging sensation across his skin.
He glanced at the clock.
There was still time before school.
After eating a quick meal, he dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.
With 1.4 strength and 1.3 endurance, his body had already begun approaching the limits of normal human capability.
Even without internal energy, he could perform thousands of push-ups in a single session.
Ignoring the burning sensation caused by fabric rubbing against his damaged skin, Noah kept going.
By the time he finally collapsed, he had completed over five thousand eight hundred push-ups.
Sweat poured down his body, stinging the irritated skin like salt on an open wound.
Noah lay on the floor, breathing slowly.
Too slow.
Now that his stamina had increased, simple bodyweight exercises were becoming inefficient.
If he wanted faster growth, he would need heavier resistance.
Weighted training.
He checked the time.
Ten minutes until class.
Noah grabbed his backpack and headed out the door.
The two-kilometer trip to Midtown High School, which had felt brutal only a few days earlier, now felt effortless.
He ran at full speed without even breathing heavily.
The only discomfort came from the friction of his clothes against his irritated skin.
To bystanders, Noah looked like a blur.
People barely registered his presence before he was already gone.