Foundation

"OH MY GOD!!" Alexander roared as he struggled on his knees, holding himself up with his fist.

Overwhelming Pain was the only thing Alexander could feel right now. If one looked closely at him, they would see that underneath his skin his muscles were moving and flowing in all directions as if ready to burst out. Alexander's shoulders started shaking as he struggled not to fall face-first into the ground. Thoughts of regret flooded through his mind for a second before intense pain flooded it out.

"Aaagh!!" Alexander started to punch the ground as hard as he could hoping that would wash out the pain he was feeling.

"BOOM!!BOOM!!BOOM!!"

Punch after punch landed on the ground, however, nothing he did could get rid of the pain.

"I got too confident," Alexander thought. The rebirth process had gone so smoothly that he thought taking the Super Soldier Serum would be the same. Oh, how wrong he was. The blood-red vial was very much different from the green rebirth vial.

Alexander had opened the vial and immediately gulped the Serum down, waiting for the effects to start. However, when they did, he wished he never bought the Serum in the first place.

Pain. Uncontrollable pain. Unstoppable pain flooded throughout his body, he immediately dropped to his knees and cursed the Serum. He had never experienced anything so painful in his life, the Serum spread to every part of his body in just seconds, destroying everything in its path. With every passing second, the Serum would destroy his flesh, break his bones, and heal and create new flesh and bones, slowly merging and becoming a part of him.

As time passed, Alexander gradually gained control of himself, no longer feeling so much pain. Alexander crawled up from his kneeling on all four positions and slowly sat down. As time passed, the more and more clear-headed he became. The pain didn't decrease at all, but Alexander didn't scream anymore. He sat with his back straight against the wall and endured the pain. Feeling himself slowly changing, Alexander began to feel different about the Serum.

Slowly, as time passed, Alexander stood and walked towards the second pond. Sitting in the water, Alexander couldn't help but let a relieved grunt escape from his mouth. The water seemed to massage his body as he relaxed for the first time in hours.

Alexander laid his head back and thought, "Looks like Josh was right, Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Josh was an old friend of Alexander's from Earth. They had gone their separate ways but still kept in contact with each other. Josh had joined the Marine Corps and always wanted Alexander to enlist with him. Alexander never even considered it as that would mean he couldn't smoke anymore. Josh always said the motto of the Marines when he tried to get Alexander to join "Pain is weakness leaving the body." Alexander had never understood the phrase but only now did he realize how amazingly profound it is.

Alexander stood up from the bath and looked at the reflection. What he saw left him dazed for a few seconds. Expecting a Round and babyish face, what he saw was a greatly defined jawline. His light gray eyes stood out and gave out an easygoing vibe as if nothing could bother him. His hair turned curly and more full at the top with the sides short and neat giving out a type of laidback attitude, which perfectly matches his glowing light bronze skin.

Alexander was shocked at how much his appearance changed in just a few hours. Not only did he become incredibly handsome, but his body also changed as well. His chubby muscular body had become a well-defined machine. You could see every detail of muscle on his body. Losing much of the fatty muscles and gaining pure power. Alexander felt the strength coursing through his body and was amazed that a mortal body could be so powerful.

"I haven't even begun to cultivate yet, how powerful will I be when I start," Alexander thought excitingly.

Moving out of the tub, Alexander proceeded to get dressed. "System, scan my body and report my progress."

[Scanning... scanning...]

[Scanning complete]

[Reporting progress: The host has made incredible progress from the first scan. The Super Soldier Serum is made of Dragon, Phoenix, Leo, Tigris, and Lupus blood essence. The raw energy of the Serum has refined the host's flesh, purified the blood, and strengthened and reinforced the bones. The Serum has also had the effect of strengthening the meridians, increasing their resilience by 3x. Lastly, the Serum has fully merged with the host, resting within the bone marrow. This has the effect of passively increasing the host's strength, healing, and defense capabilities. The Serum has raised the host's talent by 50%]

As Alexander heard the report he was completely satisfied with the results. It was worth going through all that pain. Sadly, he wasn't able to open the fighting spirit as he hadn't started cultivating yet. Other than that, the Serums truly are a work of miracles, transforming Alexander's averagely talented body into a cultivation genius in a matter of a few hours.

As Alexander was trying to put on his clothes, they realized they were the wrong size, he had gotten bigger, not to mention taller.

Alexander quickly entered the shop section of the system and looked at the clothes he could wear. Randomly choosing a princely outfit the system recommended to him, he quickly put it on. Alexander then sat down and thought about what to do next. He had been in this room for quite some time, probably a few days now. He knew that some people outside had to think he failed and died by now. While pondering whether or not he should be right now, he suddenly exclaimed, "I have no cultivation right now, I should at least wait until I reach the original Alexander's level or even surpass it before I leave."