"Nowl-Ahn, you're up next!" the instructor's booming voice sounds through the training grounds.
Gordor is the instructor for the newest batch of youths in Viltrum's capital city. He is one of the strongest Viltrumites, but due to his advanced age, he has retired from active duty and taken the chief instructor job for physical conditioning.
Nowl-Ahn makes his way to the middle of the field and faces another student. It has been 16 years since Nowl-Ahn was born and just as many years since he understood what was happening to him. He was not just Nowl-Ahn of Viltrum but a reincarnated soul from a different reality. After he realised the danger of his new situation and understood that he didn't have the luxury of getting a special gift, he was terrified. Thankfully, his previous life experiences allowed him to adapt to his situation quickly. He didn't enjoy a luxurious lifestyle and had to fend for himself very early on. He learned how to fight for what he wanted and needed and, as such, got into bad company.
He had a talent for fighting, thankfully, which allowed him to survive for longer than others in the same situation. But eventually, he had to go as well. Other than reading comics and smoking some joints with his friends, there was little else he had to enjoy. But waking up in this body of a main character in a comic series was still very strange to him. Eventually, he concluded that his new body, being a Viltrumite, was a cheat in a way, and if he did it smartly, he would grow into something more powerful and enjoy this second life to the limit.
Nowl-Ahn gets into position and waits for the larger student to attack. He was a dirty fighter; it was in his blood, and after doing nothing else, he couldn't go back anymore. The student was arrogant, and Nowl-Ahn would use that. After looking at his opponent's feet, he knows when he should attack and waits for the perfect time. His opponent flies forward, trying to punch him with a powerful right cross. With practiced mastery, Nowl-Ahn moves to the right, dodging the punch and then moves up fluidly. He uses all his strength and delivers a monstrous uppercut at his opponent.
*BOOOOM*
His fist impacts the other student's face and shakes his brain inside his skull, smashing it against the sides and causing him to lose consciousness for a brief second. Knowing about the Viltrumite tenacity and regenerative prowess, Nowl-Ahn doesn't stop his attacks and grabs the young man by the hair and pulls him in, smashing his head with his knee and then into the ground.
"Enough!" the instructor says and walks forward.
He lifts up the student's arm and checks whether he's still breathing. The old man nods his head and then throws him over his shoulder.
"Nowl-Ahn wins this round. With this, we conclude today's lesson. Dismissed!"
Before Nowl-Ahn can leave, though, he hears the voice of Gordor.
"Nowl-Ahn, stay for a moment."
"What is it, instructor?"
"That was impressive work, as usual. You have been showing skills far beyond your years. You have dedication that belies your youth and makes most veterans look like weak Rondarians."
"..."
"I have heard that you are also interested in the science courses, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why?"
"I believe that any form of weakness should be removed. Knowing about science and how to use it is not a weakness, but a way for me to improve all my skills to the max and prepare for potential weaknesses."
"Hmm... a good answer. I am not going to prevent you from doing that, despite feeling that it is useless. You have the talent and the mind to get anywhere. What is it you want to do in the future?"
"I want to serve Viltrum's interest and use all my strength to make it the greatest Empire the Universe could ever imagine."
"Heh!"
Gordor grins in a savage manner. He tried to test Nowl-Ahn, and he passed with flying colours. As one of the most effective soldiers of Viltrum, he has a lot of connections and can help Nowl-Ahn get where he wishes. And he has just decided to do so.
"What do you think your current weaknesses are?"
"My strength, speed, fighting experience... many things. I need strong opponents to fight and thrash me, giving me the necessary experience to grow stronger. I also wish to learn more in my science and biology courses. As a child, I had no access to anything that was interesting or valuable."
"A good assessment. I shall see to it that you get what you will need, Nowl-Ahn. As for the training... I think I know the right man who will help you. An old friend of mine. The only question is... are you sure you want that?"
Gondor looks at Nowl-Ahn intently. But he doesn't have to think about it for long and just nods his head without a change in expression.
"Very well. I will take care of it. Come to the training ground X27 next cycle. That is all."
"Thank you, instructor."
.
Nowl-Ahn leaves the school building and makes his way back home. The institution provides small apartments for all cadets. It isn't large, and it feels like a hotel to a reincarnator like Nowl-Ahn. There are various study rooms and training floors for promising students like him. He studied as hard as he could, but only the things that he would need in the future. History or geography was uninteresting to him. He wanted to know everything about technology and biology. He knew that while he, as the new Nowl-Ahn, AKA Nolan, AKA Omni-Man, would become one of the strongest Viltrumites, there were still a lot of dangers and the fact that he didn't know in what Universe he was in.
He had the advantage of knowledge, and that was a massive cheat in itself. He used it to the fullest, and together with his unbreakable will, which he had honed in his past life, he was determined to grow further and eventually reach the very top.
Nowl-Ahn places his things in his room and then leaves, heading towards the training floor. He has been honing his skills and strength as much as possible, and thanks to his Viltrumite biology, he could train every day and see growth. So he pushed himself until he passed out, breaking his limits every day anew. Viltrumites respect strength, but Emperor Argall also had the reputation of being very wise. This led to them respecting intelligence as well, but not as much as strength. This made Viltrum a society based on strength and violence. Nowl-Ahn depicted these aspects perfectly and was therefore respected even by his instructor, who saw his potential. Others had different ideas.
"Nowl-Ahn, fight me!"
Nowl-Ahn sighed and walked forward, not bothering about the female who had just called him. This happened every time he walked into the training floor.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" she shouts.
Nowl-Ahn walks forward, locks his identity card into the slot, and opens the door to the training room. Because of Viltrumite's strength, it was hard for them to 'train' their strength like he was used to in a normal gym in his past life. So they had created contraptions where large magnets and other technologies were used as 'weights' or resistance. He was going to do bench presses to start off. He enters his previous limit of roughly 4'000 tons and gets to work. He hears the smashing of the young woman's fists at the door as he pushes himself, but he ignores it.
He goes far, as far as he can, until he hits failure. His muscles throb, and he feels the pain, but he doesn't care about it. He is here to punish himself so that he will succeed when the time comes. The more he uses this time, the more he will benefit from it later. After a short break, he goes at it again.
He finishes all his sets and walks out of the room, where the young woman is waiting for him with her arms crossed and a very displeased expression on her face. She is a bit younger than he is at 13, but has already started to develop in certain areas, promising to shape her into a true bombshell in the future.
"Not another step," she says as Nowl-Ahn tries to pass her.
"Sigh, what do you want, Anissa?" he asks her.
"Fight me!"
"I don't have time. I'm training."
"So? Fighting is training."
"No. It won't help me in any way." Nowl-Ahn says and moves away.
"Heh, that wasn't a question," Anissa says and shoots forward. She sends out a punch, hitting him and sending him back. He doesn't move much, but he still feels the punch. She is a strong woman, and while he might find that attractive, she's too young for him to bother. She has nothing to show him that he could use; she can't truly hurt him, which is something he looks for when choosing his opponents.
"You know it's not allowed to fight here; we would have to go to the-"
"I don't care!" she says and tries to hit him again.
He blocks her attack and shakes his head. She has that fierce temper that most female Viltrumites have, even most male Viltrumites, but Anissa has a special fire inside her. When he read the comics, he didn't know that Anissa was roughly the same age as Nolan, but to see her here was eye-opening. He smiles and nods his head.
"Very well. If you stop after one round."
"Three!"
"I don't have time for three. If you want three, I'll just knock you out and be done with that."
"NO!"
*Sigh*
"Two!"
"Alright, two. But no more than that."
"Hehe!"
They make it to the sparring area, where several other students are also working out, but most don't realise just how to fully abuse their Viltrumite biology and get the maximum benefits from this time. Nowl-Ahn has put all his effort into training and growing more powerful, and is constantly pressing every single drop of his potential into his training. He knows that he is the son of Argall, the current Emperor of the Viltrumites and therefore has a lot of talent, but he doesn't allow simple talent to guide him and pushes himself to break his limits daily over and over again, milking everything out of his body that is possible. If he doesn't pass out through training, he wasn't trying hard enough at least in his mind.
*BOOOM BOOOM*
Nowl-Ahn's fists clash with Anissa's and create loud sounds which sound through the training area. But they don't care about the others watching them and just go nuts, at least Anissa does. She doesn't have the talent and training mentality that Nowl-Ahn does, but she is a fighting maniac and loves to fight against him. This alone is what pushes her to be one of the strongest in their year. She is also one of the fastest students and will grow up to become one of the fastest Viltrumites entirely. No one truly knows what is going through her mind, but it is no secret that she has developed some form of obsession with Nowl-Ahn, as he is the strongest in their year and even in the higher years; he has been for two years now.
Anissa's fists impact Nowl-Ahn's face as he allows her to score some hits and to train his reaction and durability. Everything he does in his life, up to this point, has been to improve his power and to prepare. If he hated one thing, it was the uncertainty of whether or not he was one of the infinite Omni-Man's who died or not. And even if he was the main one, he didn't have any interest in dying, not against Thragg or anyone else. He would become the strongest and do everything he could, go through all kinds of pain to get there.
After he entertains Anissa for a while, he catches her fists and pulls her in to knock her out with a powerful headbutt.
*BOOOOM*
He wouldn't give up... he couldn't. He would lose, and he would use the losses well. But he had no time for romance or intimacy. Not yet, at least.
_____________________________________
No cheats or anything like that. Just knowledge and a broken biology. I would like to give this a go, but I'll write both of my stories. Also, harem warning here. Sorry, for those who don't like that. But it's small, just two.