With energy coursing around her body, Elara had a newfound confidence.

She couldn’t care less about the onlookers and stepped forward with her fists clenched.

’I’m an A Rank,’ she kept reminding herself.

Then she stepped forward and threw a punch with all the strength she could muster. It wasn’t graceful or skilled; it was clumsy, awkward, and almost pitiful.

The grey-skinned man, who was known by many as the Bulldozer, didn’t even bother to dodge. He stood there with an amused expression, taking the punch without even flinching.

’Even a truck couldn’t do anything to me, what does this little bitch think she can do?’

It was widely known that Elara was the weakest A Rank, so even after seeing her Titled ID, he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

And her punch just proved that he had nothing to be afraid of.

He blinked.

"Is that it? Do you-"

Boom!

Crimson energy exploded from her fist, the delayed impact hitting him like a cannon. It was even more effective since it was after the man had dropped his guard.

Bulldozer’s body was launched backwards.

Crash!

He slammed into the floor, skidding several metres before stopping.

There was silence, everyone in visible shock, including the woman who had thrown the punch herself.

Ethan was also surprised.

That punch was not weak and was easily of C Rank output, maybe even brushing B Rank. Though compared to that Crimson Flash attack, it was slightly underwhelming.

The pink-haired woman whistled.

"Damn..."

The wall-punching man stepped forward now, one of the few big enough to physically restrain Bulldozer if needed.

Bulldozer groaned.

He was winded, and the only reason he wasn’t injured worse was his ridiculous durability as he pushed himself up slowly.

His eyes locked onto Elara, then to Ethan, flicking between the two. The man was practically seething with rage, and just as it looked like he might charge at them, a pink blur cut between them.

The pink-haired woman appeared instantly, pressing a palm against his chest.

Palm pressed against his chest.

"Relax, big guy."

Despite her casual tone, he didn’t move, knowing who she was. Her speed also spoke for itself. The large man who had been punching that reinforced wall also stepped in the way, so there was no way he was getting past them both.

At the same time, footsteps echoed.

Black suits, the association’s enforcers, flooded in, moving quickly and efficiently.

"Combat is prohibited within this facility," one said sharply.

The tension snapped just like that.

After making sure that this didn’t become a bigger issue, speaking briefly to everyone involved, the black suits dispersed. Ethan was surprised that they didn’t make a big deal out of it, and it seemed to be a common occurrence.

’That monk dude is still meditating even now,’ he realised, suppressing a laugh after seeing him still levitating in the corner, completely unbothered by the commotion.

The crowd dispersed soon after, but the so-called Bulldozer’s gaze lingered on Ethan specifically, a look that was petty and resentful.

’Seems like he’s scared of Elara now, so he’s angry at me.’

Ethan smiled, winking at him from afar, completely unbothered by the large, grey-skinned man.

’He seems like a strong C Rank with an ego, maybe even a B Rank. But whatever he is, he won’t do anything. People like him are all talk.’

Instead, he turned to Elara.

"How did you do that? I thought you couldn’t use your abilities."

She hesitated, then signed slowly.

*That was the first time.*

Ethan nodded along as she continued.

*I asked it for help, and it told me to deal with it myself. Then it gave me some of its power.*

"And... is it still there?"

She nodded anxiously.

"That’s great. If you can use and control that power, you won’t have to rely on that thing inside you."

She nodded again, this time with a more determined look in her eyes.

Then he glanced back at the squat rack, and a grin spread across his face.

"Let’s try this again."

Ethan rolled his shoulders as he stepped towards it, eyes settling on the barbell with quiet intent.

"Alright," he muttered under his breath. "Time to test what this body can actually do."

He wasn’t a seasoned lifter, far from it.

Back in the day, his "training" had been street fights, running from trouble, and the occasional burst of effort when survival demanded it. Structured lifting was new territory.

Still, curiosity burned in him.

He began loading plates onto the bar, the metallic clang echoing softly in the room. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Pretty sure these are the three big ones... squat, bench, deadlift," he said to himself. "Might as well go in that order."

And that was exactly what he did, with Elara watching him absentmindedly.

He ducked under the loaded bar, letting it rest across his upper back.

’This is just over 500 pounds... about 225 kilograms. That’s nearly 3 times my weight.’

Even thinking about it was absurd, especially without warming up his body or building up with a lower weight. But he should be able to lift that with his Strength stat, which was double that of a strong untitled.

There existed untitled his weight that could lift this with enough training, so it was definitely doable.

’I fight giant beasts, this should be easy,’ he assured himself while adjusting his footing. ’I just need to focus on not folding in half.’

He didn’t exactly warm up before facing beasts, and he had a backup plan in case he couldn’t lift it.

’If it’s too much, I can just use Minor Assimilation.’

As such, Ethan inhaled deeply before lifting the bar off the rack and lowering himself slowly.

It was controlled, but not perfect.

His knees bent, his hips dropped, and the sheer weight pressed down on him much more than he expected. At the bottom, his body instinctively paused, every muscle tightening, bracing.

For a split second, he felt the pressure that threatened to buckle his legs.

Then he pushed with everything he had.

His legs drove upward, muscles firing in unison as the bar rose with him. It wasn’t elegant. It wasn’t clean like a professional lifter’s rep.

But it went up.

He reracked the bar with a sharp exhale, stepping back as adrenaline buzzed faintly in his veins.

"Yeah..." he said, nodding to himself. "That’s crazy."

It was an impressive lift, and he could probably push it further if he really wanted to, especially with better form. But that was enough for him to gauge how strong his legs were.

Next were the remaining compound lifts, which weren’t any less impressive...