Never Give Up

[Jonathan's POV]

<<January 15, 2023>>

<<Manila, Philippines>>

*Pant* *Pant*

Everything I do, I do it for the sake of my master. Even if that means I have to go through this exceptionally painful training, to get stronger. I have to get even stronger than I was before, in order for me to protect my master. Working hard is not a new concept for me, but now, I have an entirely new goal and purpose. Those goals and purpose are the ones that kept pushing me to keep going and to never give up. I never want to see my master look so frail and weak, ever again.

*Pant* *Pant*

I currently don't know what time it is or how much time has already passed. All I know is that I have to complete the task that my master gave me without fail.

I've already completed half of my tasks, I can't start slowing down, now. I have to keep this momentum and drive, to keep going. Because once I rest, I know it will be hard for me to get back on my rhythm. Push a little more! Keep going! Don't give up!

*Pant* *Pant*

I didn't know what time it was when I finally completed every task my master has given, all I know was that my body felt like its on fire. My muscles are screaming at me as they ache in protest. I was in pain but the sense of total fulfillment overshadowed every pain and ache in my body. As I lie on the ground, panting heavily, I began checking my stats, when a notification window appeared before me.

[Congratulations! You have completed the tasks given to you by the duke!]

[Congratulations! You have achieved an incredible feat by completing the Duke's rigorous training in only under 6 hours.

Rewards: New Title (The Vassal that never gives up) | x1 Soul Crystal]

[Duke's Training Manual:

100/100 Sit-up and crunches

100/100 Pull-ups

100/100 Push-ups

100/100 Squats

10/10km Run

5/5min Front and Side Planks (Each side)

10/10min Jump Rope

Reward: +100 to all stats]

My eyes widen when I saw how generous the rewards were. +100 to all stats is already an unbelievable reward, on its own. But with the addition of the new title and the Soul Crystal, it literally felt like all the Christmas gifts that I never received growing up, are now flooding in like crazy. As my grin got bigger, my heart became even more full. Truly this is what they call "Enjoying the fruits of my labor." Checking my stats, I then began to update it, as I've also gained a ton of levels from the past gate break. Allotting all of my available bonus stat points evenly to all my stats. And now that I also have a Soul Crystal, I could also level up Endrance.

[Status Window

Name: Jonathan Nightingale

Level: 30

Class: Soul Sword <<Mythic>>

Title: The Duke's First-Ever Vassal | The Vassal That Never Gives Up

HP: 1875/1025 (+850)

Mana: 1550/50 (+1500)

Stats:

STR: (-)(5) + 150 | AGI: (-)(5) + 150 | INT: (-)(5) + 150 | VIT: (-)(5) + 150 | DEX: (-)(5) + 150 | LUCK: (-)(5) + 150

Available Stat Points: 0]

[Title:

- The Duke's First-Ever Vassal

You have the honor of becoming the Duke's first-ever vassal. And as such, your responsibilities are going to be much greater, than the ones after you.

Bonus Stat: STR: +50 | AGI: +50 | INT: +50 | VIT: +50 | DEX: +50 | LUCK: +50]

Title bonus: +100% bond gain with the Duke

- The Vassal That Never Gives Up

Title bonus: Stone Heart (Passive)

Grants the ability to withstand lethal damage. When lethal damage is taken, a protective barrier (10% of maximum HP) will then be deployed, lasting for 3 seconds.]

[Skills:

- Transcended Tenacity (Unique Skill)

You have complete immunity to all kinds of negative and abnormal status effects.

- Soul Sword (Passive) | (Active) (Cooldown: None) (Mana: None)

You have the ability to equip and wield a soul sword to your will.

(Passive): Your stats will be greatly affected depending on the soul sword equipped.

(Active) (Cooldown: None) (Mana: None): Equip, unequip, and change soul swords.

- Soul Accessorize (Passive)

You can turn your soul swords into various accessories, for them to be equipped as such.

- Soul Collector (Passive)

Gain soul coins for every life taken. The number of soul coins gained will depend on the strength and power of the life taken. The stronger the life form, the more soul coins gained. Soul coins can be used to purchase items at the Soul market.

When taking the life of stronger life forms, there is a slight chance of obtaining a soul crystal, which you can use to enhance your soul swords.

Soul Coins: 681

- Soul Market (Passive)

You can have access to the soul market.]

[Equipment:

Accessory 1: <<The Torn of Vengeance, Endrance>> (Accessorized) (Bound) (Lvl:2)

The manifestation of vassal Jonathan's extreme longing for vengeance from those that wronged him. His longing for vengeance has grown steadily over time, making it stronger and more powerful, eventually gaining its own identity as a soul sword. Taking the form of the whip sword, Endrance will seek out all enemies that stood and opposed its master.

Soul Sword Stats:

HP: (+1750)

Mana: (---)

STR: 300 | AGI: 300 | INT: 0 | VIT: 350 | DEX: 300 | LUCK: 400

Soul Sword Skills:

- Vengeance (Passive)

Every successful consecutive attack on an opponent gains a stacking bonus of 4% physical damage and attack speed. Stacks last up to five seconds.

(Max stacks: 100)

- Grudge (Passive)

Every damage taken from opponents will grant a stacking 4% HP recovery per second to the caster. Stacks will be removed once HP is full.

(Max stacks: 5)

- Vendetta (Active) (Cooldown: 8 Seconds) (Mana cost: none)

Mark an opponent with Vendetta. Opponents marked with Vendetta takes 15% increase in physical damage and armor penetration from the caster.

Every successful kill on an opponent marked with Vendetta grants a 20% movement speed to the caster, for 5 seconds, that decays over time.

- Retribution (Toggle Active) (Cooldown: 1.5 seconds) (Mana cost: none)

Enters the state of Retribution. While in this state, the caster gains 100% physical damage, 20% attack, and movement speed, 100% Critical rate, and 150% Critical damage. While also in this state, the caster receives 5% max HP damage per second. The skill automatically switches off when the caster's HP reaches 10%.]

Seeing all the numbers add up, I let out a satisfied smile. Now that I can feel myself becoming stronger, I can really say that I'm heading in the right direction. If I can just keep myself on track, I know that I can reach even greater heights.

***

[Elijah's POV]

<<January 15, 2023>>

<<Manila, Philippines>>

Extremely focused on my work, I didn't even have the time to check what time it currently is or how much time has already passed. And let me tell you, when I saw my digital clock stating it's already 2 PM, my eyes widen in complete shock. We finished breakfast at about 8 this morning. Then after that, I started unpacking and finished at about 9. So computing all the hours that passed by, I just realized that I've been working non-stop for about 6 hours.

After stretching out my sore muscles from sitting for too long, I then sent the report that I'd made directly to the association's president's personal assistant. Why did I send it directly to the president's assistant, you asked? Well, I just have this dreadful inkling that once I sent it to other people, other than the president's assistant, all my hard work in making this report will all go to waste. Either my report will immediately be tossed in the trash or be tampered with. I've met the president's advisors once, and let me tell you, one look on those boomers, I could already smell the wicked stench oozing out of them. It's quite a mystery why the president still keeps them.

Deciding to just order in food, I grabbed my phone and started scrolling through menus, walking out of the office as I do so. After ordering a ton of food, I went to the mini-gym to check on Jonathan. And there I saw a sexy young man lying on the ground, completely drenched in sweat, looking happy with a huge grin on his face. But when he saw me, I almost got blinded by how brightly he beamed at me.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked with a soft smile, as I walk towards him. The moment I reached where he lay, he grabbed one of my hands and pulled me towards him. Startled, I fell directly on top of him, where he made sure to catch me, cushioning my fall. I was then enveloped in a sweaty embrace. Honestly, I thought Jonathan would stink badly, but he actually smelt nice. His manly and musky scent was so intoxicating that I got lightheaded when I got a huge waft of it.

"You still haven't answered me. Why are you so happy?" I asked while encased in his strong arms.

Jonathan just called out his system windows and showed them to me.

"Ah... I see," Was all I could muster, upon seeing the overly broken stats that he showed.

" You don't look happy," Jonathan said with a worried frown on his face when he saw my reaction.

"It's not that I'm not happy. It's just... I think I became so used to the surprises that it doesn't affect me as much as before. But don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic for you. I'm very proud of you Tan, and all of these are the fruits of your hard work." I reassured him as I gently cup his face.

Hearing my words, the frown on Jonathan's face turned upside down and gave me a brighter smile than before. He then began embracing me even tighter, while he rests his head on my shoulder. I continuously brushed Jonathan's hair with my fingers at a steady rhythm, making him let out a hum of satisfaction. We stayed in that position for about a couple of minutes, just letting him rest and enjoy himself. Honestly, I'm not even complaining, even though I'm currently drenched his sweat. But boy, the man sure knows how to sweat.

"C'mon, the food will be here in about 45 minutes," I informed Jonathan, as I gently pull away from his embrace, making him pout, which in turn made me chuckle. "With the training that you went through, you need to refuel the nutrients in your body," I told him, as I stood up. "While waiting for the food, I'll prepare a relaxing bath for you to soak in, so that your muscles will ease up and recover quickly," I said as I helped him stand up.

And with that both Jonathan and I headed upstairs. I instructed Jonathan to take a quick warm shower first to wash away all the sweat on his body before he could soak in the tub. Jonathan obediently did as he was told, but the cheeky young man has a mischievous side to him. As I was filling the gigantic bathtub with warm water, Jonathan slowly stripped himself naked out in the open, giving me a full view of his extremely exquisite and sexy body. The sight before me made my throat and mouth extremely dry, that I was so tempted to gulp down the water inside the bathtub.

Jonathan gave a mischievous and wicked smirk, upon seeing me ogle at his perfect body. Being caught, openly staring in 4K, I let out a helpless sigh as I shook my head at myself for being so shameless. But, I mean, with that kind of body, you have to give it the respect it deserves. That means, openly appreciating it without shame.

Jonathan gave me a wicked wink, before entering the glassed shower room. Commanding my furiously beating heart to calm down, I then focused on preparing the aromatherapy bath for Jonathan. After the tub is filled with warm water, I then put a healthy mix of Lavender oil, Eucalyptus oil, and Roman and German Chamomile oils. As the aromatic scent of the essential oils filled the air, I gave myself a proud pat on the back for getting just the right amount of oils mixed together. It wasn't too pungent or overpowering, but also not bland as well. And for the final touch, I added a whole bottle of mana crystal powder, which cost me about a hundred thousand each bottle. I didn't even worry about the cost and just thought of it as an investment, for my own survival.

The mana crystal powder will help strengthen and enhance Jonathan's body even more, while also helping heal his muscles at a fast rate. By adding the mana crystal powder into Jonathan's bathwater, the mana crystal powder can easily enter Jonathan's body, through the pores of his skin. The mana crystal powder can then evenly spread and circulate throughout his body, making it so that the effects of the mana crystal powder can be utilized at its highest potential.

Adding the mana crystal powder to one's bath is a very special secret of mine, that I've discovered when I accidentally spilled a whole bottle of it when I was preparing a bath in the past. I wouldn't normally buy these kinds of expensive stuff, but one day my body was aching so bad from overworking. A colleague of mine suggested that I ingest a mana crystal powder, which will help my body recover faster.

Normally, mana crystal powder is added to anything that could be consumed. Consuming mana crystal powder does give you instant effects, as the stomach quickly digests it. But compared to slowly soaking in it, the gap in effect is big. That's when I realized that consuming mana crystal powder is not as potent as soaking in it for a set amount of time. Instead of being digested by the stomach, which causes it to quickly lose its potency; adding it to bathwater can preserve every ounce of power it holds. As the effects can last long in the bathwater, it's made possible to squeeze out every possible benefit that the mana crystal powder contains. You'll just have to soak your whole body in it for a set amount, till the mana crystal powder is completely drained of its power.

Hearing the shower turned off, Jonathan then walked out of the shower room, completely naked and wet. The world suddenly turned in slow motion as he walked towards me, looking very smoldering. The droplets of water on his body smoothly cascaded down the peak and valleys of his sculpted body, as if intimately caressing him. His damp hair glistened under the soft light of the chandelier. And his face held a dangerously sexy and seductive smirk, that made my mind literally haywire.

At that moment, for my own sake and safety, I immediately sprinted out of the bathroom and escape. But not before I instructed him to soak in the tub for about 30 to 40 minutes. After I made my escape, looking all beat red; I heard a loud laughter ring out from the bathroom.

"He had the nerve to laugh?!" My mind screamed as I stared dumbfoundedly at the closed double bathroom doors. But eventually, I could just let out a helpless smile, at how adorable and sexy Jonathan's antics are. Once again, as I try to calm my rapid heartbeat, I headed down to the first floor to wait for our food delivery. But not before telling him that I unpacked all his clothes inside my closet.