24 The Path To Strength Is Covered In Blood, Your Blood

"Huff." Yami heaved the bar with colossal weights at each end with coordinated breaths as he laid down on his back. His movements were slow yet there was a slight swirl of air on his every bench.

Such an amount of weight condensed on the plates shouldn't be normally possible, much less for them to be lifted by a human. Nevertheless, the wonders of technology along with the BOR Parasite cells have done miracles when it comes to breaking the limitation that comes with the human constitution.

Although the space remained the same, the training area received new machines to display just how much a revenant can break common sense, and feats easily beyond the strongest predators on earth before the collapse is done by people looking just like your average Joe.

Be it with weights big as a car or a machine that would tear apart one's joints and tendons for better mobility.

Yami's trembling arms did one last rep before setting the bar back onto the machine. He sits up, drenched in sweat, and stares at the pair ducking it out in the clearance that resided in the very middle of the training area.

A special tatami made for the absorption of shockwaves was right above a strong foundation of reinforced alloys to keep it in place. Some filters were at the edges of the circular battling arena to absorb the blood and other liquids, otherwise, the place would smell horrible as a battle between revenants without spilling blood might as well be a tickle fight.

Due to the arena, the training room was one of the biggest facilities in the Cathedral.

'Seriously, can't they tone down the noise a little?' There was no other sound in the near vicinity of Yami as he waited for his burning muscles to recover before getting back to lifting. But that was only possible as he had been using Ichos.

He used his waves to stop most of the sounds entering his near surroundings, but he could still discern the noise as he felt many shockwaves clashing against his little soundproof domain.

'Even he is serious, huh?' He took a glance beside him and saw Oliver who was attentively watching the spar. It was rare to see such a concentrated look on the big guy.

Usually, blood codes that are mainly composed of strengthening gifts lack the flexibility that others may have. After all, Yami can use his Ichos to conceal sound, create a soundless domain for a stealth kill, and make his blade far more lethal with high-frequency vibrations which weakens the particle bonds of whatever is unfortunate enough to be in its way.

Most defenses are useless as long as he has enough ichor in him.

But he didn't attain these abilities on day one. He had been working on them for a little over a decade.

In contrast, a revenant with a strengthening blood code can easily wipe the floor with most revenants that lack amplifying gifts as soon as they wake up from their slumber. Almost as a trade of their potential and flexibility being lower than others…

At least that was what Yami thought. Sometimes, due to their constant struggles to make it through the day with their waning sanity and lack of resources, most revenants fail to realize that they haven't seen a person with an augmenting blood code in their peak physique or such mastery over it.

Strength.

There are many powers that can make people live the fantasies they held onto deep in their hearts since they were kids. There was always something bewitching about molding reality to your liking with just a single thought.

Manipulating fire, wind, water, earth, metals, blood, and many fascinating abilities.

Yet there was always something special about raw physical power and ability. Something so simple but many have trouble expressing it in a few words.

Perhaps the power it gives to take matters into one's hands? The lack of meticulous thoughts and simple actions, maybe?

Adam hasn't arrived at the exact answer to the dilemma as he hasn't even owned his new strengthening blood codes for longer than a week.

Anyhow, he really couldn't even ponder the conundrum he had in his mind as his new strength felt minuscule when clashing against Yakumo.

The regeneration rate that was far above the norm helped him in increasing his flexibility and the stress his joints could support. Thus, helps him attain a better mobility range which translates into the incredible coordination required to strike with precision and power.

The human body is a complicated machine that evolved for thousands of years. Currently, its skeleton sustained a compact layer of 650 muscles meticulously arranged by 187 joints. It might not be designed for combat or lethality like the other species on the planet who developed poisons and claws, but its brain made up for it enough to make even such a body a weapon if held through enough rigorous training.

And Yakumo was a person who did such training even before being a revenant. After all, when a weapon jams, he will only have his body to rely on. When resources were scarce, he had to save every bullet.

He learned to use every part of his body as a weapon. And now that he has become a revenant possessing only a strengthening blood code when others could throw ice from their hands, he saw no unfairness. He saw it as leveling the playing field.

Yakumo's rich experience along with Rin's deep knowledge of human anatomy from her Olympic days have made a terrifying combination that brought each other a step above most elites.

A combination of which Adam was at the receiving end.

His muscles contracted and expanded. The adrenaline in his veins aided his pain receptors dull enough to keep his mind focused on his ongoing task and remain uninterrupted. Kicking off the ground, he twisted his waist as his core leaned forward and transferred his entire momentum to his zweihander.

A certain faint red aura bleeding from his body.

The downward swing was clan and carried every bit of force Adam could muster… or he thought so.

"Good swing." Yakumo praised and nodded his head.

If only his words could match his actions…

'SH*T!' Adam felt his dead heart skip a beat as he saw the man simply slap the flat side of his blade as if it was a fly, deviating from the intended path and missing its target completely.

Adam's strikes might look normal on the outside but it was anything but a regular attack.

He had been using Atlas' reinforcement. A blood code slightly different from Oliver's Berserk. Yakumo specialized in endurance and that was reflected in his power.

He could use his blood code to enhance his muscles for better overall power and tensile strength. He might not be able to gain a surge of power as Oliver can, but Yakumo's blood code will help him keep increasing his momentum without any consequences of his limb flying off.

If you think that you can block his second strike as you did with the first one, you will be crushed into red paste.

But, is it that simple?

No.

How could it be when there are two of the best combatants in close quarters involved in the matter?

There was a reason Oliver bled a red aura whenever he activated his blood code. His use of it was crude… compared to Yakumo who leaked none of it. His reinforcement was deadly precise as it targeted the very muscles required for a certain action. If one could see the inner workings of Yakumo's body as he made every move in battle, one would think that he was having an epileptic fit.

The control needed to apply such a concept was out of the ordinary for someone who didn't exactly require to manipulate their ichor as much as revenants who could conjure fire or control wind.

Now, how can he make sure that such deep knowledge and experience be implemented in Adam's brain and body?

Beat the ever-living (he is technically dead though) sh!t out of him until he learns.

A trauma that helps you achieve your goal is no trauma at all!

"You should use your core more, I saw a pause in the last three moves," Yakumo advised casually as a simple jab connected to Adam's hastily raised guard.

It was an experience that has happened plenty of times, if Adam didn't use a certain part of his body well enough, Yakumo was sure to let him know with a good dose of pain and little words.

The ex-mercenary had been fighting him enough to know how much he relied on his visual prowess. So he didn't give him a chance and used nothing but his arm, avoiding giving any choreographed information from the twist of his shoulders or waist. And so, a punch that he could usually avoid had to be blocked.

A simple jab from the strongest revenant, at least physically, was disastrous to Adam's arm which barely managed to block the attack.

And that wasn't the end. Yakumo was in the home base, not in some expedition, so he had no need to conserve ichor or hold back any of his strength when it came to kindly training Adam to become the best version of himself.

No need to hold back from using his reinforcement like in their first sparring to see what he was made of.

Adam was definitely a special case of revenant. One that he didn't need to hold back much on.

So, as Adam gritted his teeth in agony, his pupil shrunk at the sight of a real punch coming.

The turbulent air around the fist was very much visible to the normal eye, it clearly struggled to move out of Yakumo's hand as it held unreasonable power and speed for its compact size.

'SH!TSH!TSH!TSH!TSH!TSH!TSH!T' With a composed and collected mind, Adam managed to put his sword between Yakumo's fist and himself.

He felt the power clearly transfer to his arms and shoulders that somehow were still in place. It was bizarre how someone with Yakumo's size could be so fast and flexible.

Almost launched backward, his feet skidded across the tatami while on the defensive. Every clash resounded like thunder in the training area, the only reason the ground of the gym didn't shake for every exchange was because of the special tatami that absorbed the shockwaves.

Every attack was getting stronger, every clash made his entire body shudder and become numb, his absurd healing factor helped him keep most of his bones and muscles in place as every exchange became louder and faster.

Yakumo didn't just pack a hell of a punch if you let him strike more than once, he has keen accuracy. His attacks are hard to parry for their immaculate coordination, not wasting a single bit of power in their execution.

As a punch approached his face, Adam held the flat side of his blade forward vertically once again, as if stabbing the ground he stood on, it was almost taller than his own body.

'This better work!' Adam used Oliver's Berserker blood code at the last moment to get a surge in power. Big weapons like his Zweihander are seen as cumbersome, but they are not just devastating swords for their weight and width, they are capable tools when put in the right hands.

Kicking the bottom of the sword, bringing it up, and pointing its end at Yakumo, Adam used his arm to punch the flat side once again to increase the momentum of his upward swing as it clashed with Yakumo's fist, catching it from below.

For the first time, parrying one of his real punches.

*WHOM!*

Blood and sweat danced in the chaotic current of air as Adam's bloodied hair shook under the air pressure created by Yakumo's fist that missed its target by an inch.

Regardless of success in parrying or not, it was too early to sing victory. He had yet to counterattack.

His sword hasn't lost all of its momentum and intended to cut Yakumo's arm as he still held it near his chest. It didn't possess enough force to cut it, but it was enough for what he had planned. Yakumo didn't possess the same rapid healing as Adam, so he had countless cuts around his body having yet to close.

Unfortunately, Adam somehow underestimated the man who handed his ass on a silver platter.

The man held far more experience than his young appearance lets on, he knows much more than his attitude could reveal, and finally, he could be just as cruel to himself as he was with Adam.

In the small moment that both locked eyes, the crimson eyes shrunk as the green ones dilated, the latter pair accompanied with a smile as Yakumo let his free arm down.

Blood splattered on the tatami as a certain creaking was produced by the rows of teeth catching the blade.

The small creaking quickly turned into grating as sparks suddenly flew into the air, Yakumo didn't stop moving even if his jaw was being split open while his teeth grinded against the blade, the distance between the two quickly closing.

Yakumo stomped Adam's foot as he held his blade in place with his mouth before using his hand as a spear to stab his neck.

Adam could barely block it before his throat was punctured with such force that he was thrown off balance and sent rolling on the tatami a few yards away, painting the black tatami under him completely crimson as he bled like a fountain.

Not that Yakumo was better off if it came to leaving a trail of blood behind as he got closer to Adam's 'corpse.'

"Spar over!" Rin yelled from a bench not far from the arena. Louis and Io sitting close to her.

"Adam managed to only 'die' four times in thirty minutes… Better than I hoped, huh?" She nodded to herself before noting down on her clipboard, only muttering the last part to herself. It had gone from a one-sided beating to at least one proper exchange at the end, even if he still ended up losing in it.

Yakumo stood over Adam's healing body as he saw the man's hazy red eyes again gain focus and suddenly snap wide open. He suddenly got into a coughing fit as he coughed the blood remaining in his throat.

"FU*k- *cough* I was better off - khuf - staying dead!" Perhaps dying with your stomach open and heavy bleeding seemed like a vacation at this point.

With a few pained groans, he managed to stand up and stare at Yakumo who stared back. He held his jaw in place with his hand for it hadn't healed, a pool of blood grew under his feet yet he remained unfazed. Both of them stared at the other in silence.

"Core movement, I get it." Yakumo nodded at Adam's words which seemed more like a groan of annoyance than a statement. How could he not notice it?

Yakumo might've lost some striking force here and there when Adam retaliated, but he never stopped moving since the match started.

Yakumo offered the sword back to Adam and he took it before leaving to rest on the bench with the rest. The former simply stood there waiting for his jaw to heal, the slit in his pupils gazing at Oliver whose turn should be next.

Adam stumbled on some of his steps, it wasn't just his hurting body, but to experience death again and again was exhausting to his mind.

His neck involuntarily twitches when he rubbed it with his hand.

He could still feel it. His entrails fell from a hole in his stomach from his first death in the ring, the shock only helping him stay composed enough to keep fighting as his body regenerated new organs and a broken spine. The deaths that followed... How his strength rapidly left his body through the gash in his neck just a few seconds ago.

The constant tension and focus that kept him on edge every second of the battle, almost instinctively stopping himself from thinking of his injuries, has worn off. He felt like throwing up the empty contents of his stomach, to just drop to his knees and lay there, to sleep and forget what happened and maybe get a nice dream where it turns out this was a nightmare.

His deaths were still fresh in his mind, in no way he could get used to all the pain and trauma in a bit over a week's time. The low consequences as a result of his healing factor barely help much. Maybe it was better for dispersal than just waking up from a short death like now.

Despite that, there was another thing still fresh in his mind as well, one that hasn't disappeared from the moment he started his training.

The mountain of corpses that the Dried Up Trenches were… If he didn't push himself enough, a new layer of death would be added to it. And not just the city, but probably around the world as well, it will all be drenched in blood and guts if he fails to stop Juzo Mido

The madman only sought the ultimate path of evolution for the human race at the expense of any humanity. There was nothing as 'too far' for the mad scientist. Almost half of the horrific monsters wandering the city were his creation.

And that wasn't enough, what of the other threats that will arise if he fails to stop him?

He was sure that, at least, the events from the first God Eater haven't ended as the moon appeared to be intact. Just thinking about the things that Juzo Mido could do if he was given a planet-sized Aragami...

Moreover, what about the timeline of events in Code Vein? He knows about the time that passed since the Great Collapse and now, which is approximately two decades, but how long did the events from the game last?

The time that it takes for the original protagonist from their awakening after almost dying and their adventure which leads to fighting against the final boss isn't that clear.

It was too vague, Adam wasn't nonchalant enough to think that time was on his side.

Deal with the blood beads shortage, assimilate to the best blood codes possible, train them and master them, recruit other revenants like Kyle and Jack to gather military power in case of the red mist going down or fighting Mido's army of experiments, acquire the blood codes from successors to get even a chance of facing Mido and meet Cruz or the Queen, find a way to stop the Queen from fully resurrecting, how to deal with almost guaranteed hostile reactions from the outside world once the city's state being revealed…

'...I… might not even have a year to deal with this…' It was less than encouraging to realize the weight on his shoulders once he thought about it.

But he shook his head before letting out a deep breath, the taste of his own blood still fresh. If he looks back to this one memory of himself, it better not be one of regret.

'To not die another meaningless death…' If he has time to worry, he has time to improve.

Adam collected himself and his steps became much firmer… but he came to a stop shortly after.

"If it's too much, please rest." The delicate voice of a silver-haired woman entered his ears, a soft fabric gently rubbing on his face.

His pondering was interrupted as the blood and sweat disappeared from his visage and were washed away by Io.

The heartstrings of his cold dead heart felt a tug.

{???}

"Stop flirting and sit down!!!" Rin shouted towards the couple.

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Word Count: 3,336

Sorry if the explanation of how the strengthening gifts are applied by Yakumo is kinda long or too much. But I need to give you an idea of how OP the other characters are as well since MC will be using their skills combined. Either way, I will go more into detail later with the other blood codes as well.

Not all, but at least I will try to explain how the ones playing a big part work.