Chapter 1 – Juan Dela Cruz
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Hello guys, I'm still new and this is my first novel so pls no bully


Prologue

The name Juan is of Hebrew origin and means "gift from God."

Juan Dela Cruz was reading the history of humanity in the school library when he heard footsteps coming behind. He said, "who's there?" Then behind him his friend Pedro was startled and gave up trying to surprise Juan. 

 
Pedro laughed and said "haha, I guess I can't hide it from you with your freakish senses"
 
Juan didn't bother and just asked "So, what do you want?" Pedro smiled and said "Come on, you make it sound like I need your notes" then Juan said nothing but stared at him. 
 
Pedro got embarrassed but stayed thick-skinned and said "maybe sometimes but never mind that because I have good news for you" Juan got interested and asked, "What is it?"
 
Pedro acted mysteriously and said, "do you know what I got for my 15th birthday?"
 
Juan got annoyed and said "cut the crap and get straight to the point" Pedro smiled then said proudly "My father got me a body tempering technique! and since you're my only best friend and I'm a great guy we can train it together"
 
Juan was shocked because body tempering techniques are not something that commoners like him could get because even if he sold himself he still can't afford it. Pedro's father was a low-level warrior so he could afford it if they save some money. Juan was shocked and touched by Pedro's promise so he could only stare at his friend.

Pedro nodded and is satisfied with his friend's reaction so he said "I already memorized and tried it, you can take this and train tomorrow morning" Pedro then handed him the tempering technique.
 
Juan held the book and couldn't help but think of the future him being a hero and save the booties but it sounds so simple and cringed. Juan thanked him and got out of the library to go back home and eat because it was almost night time and slept early.

The sun rises, and eventually,
 
Juan woke up excited about training because 13 years old people can start tempering their bodies to get stronger and to prepare for the awakening. Juan this year just became 15 years old and he missed the best time to start training because he can't afford body tempering techniques like kids who have high-level warriors as their parents. So let's get started Juan thought
 
In the kitchen, Juan took some ingredients and some cheap meat to cook himself food. Then he ate first and read the book, he had good memory so he could memorize it after an hour. Then he headed outside to train, after some quick stretching Juan started to follow the movements and postures illustrated in the book. It was written that you can only practice this thrice a day after eating. Juan finished doing everything and he sat on the ground panting, he checked his body and felt his strength.
 
Juan stood up and lifted up a rock near him then he lifted it for three seconds and stopped. Juan was happy and said, "Woah my strength rose to 180 pounds!"
 
In this world, average teenagers like him have 100 pounds strength but when he was young he trained his body using primitive methods so he got 130 pounds strength. There was an obvious amount of progress but it will only get slower and slower in the future because he was only using a common body tempering technique unlike children from noble families and clans who have their own legacy.
 
Juan noticed the time and it was time for school so he took a bath and cleaned himself then switched clothes to his school uniform. He ran and arrived in time for classes, he met his friend Pedro and greeted him. Pedro nodded and asked, "How was it?" Juan replied "It really helped a lot so I'll buy you your food" Juan knows that Pedro doesn't lack money for food but he did it to show his thanks. Then Pedro smiled and said "Don't cry when I empty your pockets"
 
The teacher asked them angrily "You guys are late so why don't you guys answer my questions for the class" Juan was safe and answered them correctly but his friend has been fooling around lately and didn't study so he couldn't answer the question. Pedro looked at his friend with puppy eyes but all he found was that his friend that's already seated and didn't even look at him. ''Sacrifices must be made friend...'' thought Juan.
 
Pedro got scolded for 2 minutes straight before he got back up to his seat and he became a laughing stock. After that small incident, the teacher continued to discuss the topic for today's class but before he started somebody entered the classroom again, he got angry and looked at who interrupted his lesson. It was Meg who is slightly handsome and is from a small noble family but a noble is still a noble so the teacher could only swallow his anger and only reprimanded him a bit and reminded him to not be late.
 
He was about to continue but just like earlier the door to the classroom opened again and a pretty girl came in, it was Christine a major noble from the Paez clan which was one of the major powers in his city. The teacher could not even think of offending her so he can only ask her to take a seat.
 
Juan looked and saw that the treatment between them was very different so Juan thought "I have to get stronger so I can defend myself and not be treated like Pedro" he was right because only by getting stronger will he be recognized and appreciated and looked up to.
 
Then the teacher finally started to explain the basic knowledge and history lessons, everybody was bored and sleepy but except for Juan even tho he already knows it, he still listened attentively so the teacher looked at him with appreciation. An hour later after the class finished, everyone was asked to go to the training grounds for training.
 
Everyone's reactions were the opposite and instead, they were all energized and moved fast. Juan arrived at the place and could only marvel at how big it was. There was a teacher waiting for them there and asked them to hurry up then form two lines. The teacher's name is Ron and he is a mid-leveled warrior who has 5,000 pounds of strength, he nodded at the students and said "Each of you use all your strength to punch this machine so everyone strength can be recorded and ranked" as he pointed at the machines beside him.
 
The student Dodong at the front punched with all his might and got 115 points (115 pounds) he felt proud. When Meg who was beside him punched the machine too and he got 380 points. Dodong got flustered and hid behind the lines in shame while the class was shocked and cheered for Meg. Meg acted calm but in his heart, he was satisfied with their reactions. Next, it was Christine's turn and she got 530 points which made Meg ashamed for losing to a girl.
 
Then all the boys acted like they found a treasure and cheered loudly for her, she was instantly known as a goddess in class 1. She got the attention of Ron so he took a few glances at her but thinking of her background he praised her and nodded for the next students to continue.
 
Soon all of them tried, some were happy and some were sad. Juan's turn was the last so everybody looked at him.
 
"He looks handsome is he a noble?" "No, I heard he is just a commoner" Meg heard it and then looked at him with disdain.
 
Juan didn't care about his surroundings and punched the machine with all his strength. Ting* He got 180 points, it was as expected so he was ranked just behind Pedro's who was ranked 17 for getting 200 points because he had trained earlier than Juan.

Then everyone looked at the ranking board.

Spoiler

div>

Ranking Board
1. Christine - 530
2. Meg - 380
3. Gian - 350
4. Jehanna - 330
5. Maria - 300
6. Ezra - 250
8. Yuri - 230
9. Pedro - 200
10. Juan - 180
[collapse]
After everyone was ranked the teacher looked at them and asked them to gather for an announcement. He said loudly "Those who are talented are rewarded by the school so work hard!" Then the teacher announced the rewards.
 
Spoiler

div>

Rewards:
10 to 6 = 1 strengthening stone
5 to 4 = 5 strengthening stones
3 to 2 = 1 mid-strengthening stone
1 = 3 mid-strengthening stone
[collapse]
Ron touched the space ring on his finger and took the rewards and distributed them according to the ranks. Everybody looked at his ring in awe it couldn't be helped as a space ring was too expensive but the one Ron has is just one of the cheapest ones but it is still expensive and he got it only due to luck for helping a noble.
 
Christine was unimpressed because it would be a joke if she from a major noble clan doesn't have one, even the ranking rewards are just spare change to her.
 
Juan received his reward from the teacher and after everyone got their rewards, Ron said "Ok! everyone on the ranking board got their rewards this month, you guys can redeem it again next month" then he asked everyone to train.
 
Ron then explained how to use the stone by crushing the stone and using their body tempering techniques.
 
Juan followed the steps and felt his strength increasing so he tested it again by punching the punching machine with all his strength.
 
Ting* 240 points,
 
Juan was shocked and wondered what if he has more resources then he couldn't help but look at Christine training and thought "No wonder how she is already a warrior apprentice so that's why."
 
Christine felt his gaze so she looked over and saw him. Juan hurriedly looked away and started training again by tempering his body and his strength again rose to 260 pounds.

After class is done I should go back home to rest because I am hungry and tired. Soon he reached his house then he went inside to cook some food and ate. He went to sleep after he finished doing the chores. 

 
End of the first chapter, I'm still a student so I can only write on the weekends and I'm doing this for fun so don't expect fast updates. (I have to do 4 diff projects this week so am gonna be super busy) and if I made many mistakes I'm sorry and pls point it out so I can help fix it or make improvements.

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