Chapter 115: A Year's Ambition

When Eddie Halls, the strongest human, arrived at Stars Academy, it was impossible for everyone not to feel a sense of tension—even Huo Ye, his own son, was visibly anxious. Fortunately, Eddie did not linger long among the others, heading straight into the club president’s office with his son.

"Dad, have a seat," Huo Ye said, quickly offering his own office chair. Eddie sat down and asked casually, "How does it feel to run a club?"

Huo Ye pulled up another chair and sat upright. "It’s alright. Our club isn't large, so it's easy to manage. Lately, I've just been busy reviewing new member applications and handling the monthly exams."

"Have you discovered any promising new recruits?"

"Not yet. Talents like Luo Jiajia are rare, after all. The freshmen are still quite green. Even with Luo Jiajia, we had to take her status as a Superpowered individual into account when we accepted her."

"Hmm, no rush. Quality is better than quantity," Eddie remarked. In fact, the Reaper Hunting Group operated the same way. With only three or four thousand members, they seemed small compared to other Tier-1 hunting groups that boasted tens of thousands, but those few thousand were the absolute elite. Even for those at B-rank, only those with the potential to reach A-rank were deemed worthy of joining the Reaper Hunting Group.

Once the words were spoken, the father and son fell into a silence, unable to find a new topic. That was the way it was between them; whenever they were alone, they never knew what to say. It felt as though they could talk about anything, yet simultaneously, as if they could talk about nothing at all.

Finally, Huo Ye broke the silence. "Dad, there’s something I’ve been wondering whether to ask you, but I feel I must ask now."

Eddie seemed to sense something from Huo Ye’s expression and countered, "You want to ask about your biological parents?"

"Yes!" Huo Ye confirmed. He had many questions—about his origins, and what exactly happened two years ago. Why did he seem born with the ability to consume Calamities? But he had a feeling that if he discovered the truth of his birth, the other answers would follow naturally. Thus, he chose to focus on the core of his mystery: his biological parents.

Upon hearing this, a rare look of hesitation crossed Eddie’s face. After a long, silent contemplation, he said, "I cannot tell you yet."

"Why?!" Huo Ye suddenly demanded, his voice rising. "Why can’t you tell me? Dad, I just want to know who my biological parents are and where I come from. Is that wrong?"

"It’s not wrong, but the time isn’t right," Eddie replied. "Knowing this now would do you no good." Huo Ye paused, calming down slightly, before asking, "Then... what would it take for the time to be right? What must I do for you to tell me the truth?"

"Kill your first one of the Twelve Calamities," Eddie said as he stood up, his gaze intense. "The moment you kill one of the Twelve Calamities, I will acknowledge that you have the strength to face the truth."

"The Twelve Calamities?" Huo Ye’s breath hitched. The Twelve Calamities were the most powerful and apex entities among all disasters. Every Calamity ranked A or higher was under their dominion. They were the disasters among disasters. To face his own history, did he really need the strength to slay one of them?

Huo Ye realized the heavy weight behind his own identity and understood the scale of the challenge. But Huo Ye had never feared a challenge. He clenched his fists, his eyes firm. "I understand. I will do it before I graduate. Dad, I hope you’ll tell me the truth when that day comes!"

Eddie shook his head. "No, that’s too slow. You must kill one of the Twelve Calamities within a year. This is a test for you—from me, and from the Colony!"

Huo Ye was baffled. "What do you mean? What is this 'Colony's test'? What’s happening over there? Is it because of my ability to consume Calamities?"

"It’s more than that. The Colony has always been somewhat distrustful of you. After all... I never told them about your origins; I only told them I found you in the Calamity Wilds. To make those crafty old men accept you and confidently approve your status as the heir to the Reaper Hunting Group, you must prove yourself by killing one of the Twelve Calamities within a year."

Huo Ye smiled faintly, the restraint he felt in front of his father vanishing, replaced by a sense of eager anticipation. "Heh, one year, is it? You certainly know how to set a difficult task. Fine. Then I’ll kill that Tenth Calamity, Hill, within a year!" He stepped out of the office and announced in a voice that rang through the entire floor: "Everyone, assemble! The Halls family’s special devil training begins now!"

Decisive and swift—that was the Halls family way. Eddie immediately took on the role of the second instructor at Stars Academy, assigning everyone a grueling, hellish training regimen.

By that afternoon, the members of Stars Academy finally understood how Huo Ye had reached his current level. If one spent over a decade undergoing this kind of life-threatening devil training every single day, they would become a demon crawled out of hell; it would be a travesty if they weren't strong! However, it made one wonder: why wasn't Alice as strong as Huo Ye? Shouldn't the Halls family genes be powerful for everyone?

To this, Alice explained: "I learned from Mom. Who would want to learn Dad’s style of brute force? I’m going to be a graceful and stylish gunslinger, just like Mom!"

There was no arguing with that, but now, she had no choice but to train.

On the first day, the group endured inhumane physical training. Without using their supernatural abilities, they were tasked with running ten laps around the entire city of Bancroft while weighted down. The better one’s physical foundation, the heavier the load. Huo Ye, with the passive enhancement of his sub-level stem cells, had physical limits far beyond a normal human, so his load was 0.7 tons—700 kilograms—a weight sufficient to crush an ordinary adult man.

Physical fitness was the foundation, even for ability users. Furthermore, physical training improved lung capacity, which in turn increased their ability output—a basic principle taught in every primary school for ability users. The Halls family naturally wouldn't ignore this, but the reason for the incomparable gap between them and their peers was simple: the academy’s training was nowhere near as sadistic as the Halls family's.

Eddie had calculated everyone's limits to ensure no muscle damage occurred, and every two laps, he forced them to rest for fifteen minutes to replenish salt and electrolytes. However, the most daunting part of such grueling physical exertion was stopping mid-way. While rest allowed their muscles to relax, the sensation of resuming high-intensity exercise afterward was agonizingly uncomfortable, putting their willpower to the ultimate test.

At the same time, students from the academy noticed the entire Stars Club running with heavy weights. The load on Huo Ye, in particular, made him look unusually bulky; onlookers felt breathless just watching him, unable to fathom how heavy those weights truly were.

As a result, rumors began to circulate on the academy forums about the Stars Club’s comprehensive intensive training. It was obvious to anyone with eyes, but what puzzled everyone was why they were training their physical bodies. They had already met the entrance requirements for Bancroft; surely their physical fitness was already sufficient?

Those were merely the standards for mortals. In Eddie’s eyes, everyone in the Stars Club was promising, but they were unpolished. The current level of training was the bare minimum for the ever-increasing responsibilities they would face in the future as members of the Reaper Hunting Group.

By the end of the day, everyone was soaked in sweat. Jiang Feng and Lei Limi, the two "brains" of the group, could only be described by one phrase after the training ended: they felt as though life was no longer worth living. Was this the devilish training their leader had been going through all this time? If they had been subjected to this since childhood, they would have run away from home long ago!