Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Testing Limits

The mechanical arm of the grip strength tester creaked as Ethan steadily increased the pressure.

Numbers on the display began to climb rapidly.

66 pounds… 110 pounds… 154 pounds…

He’d already surpassed the strength of an average person, but Ethan wasn’t done yet. He continued to exert force, pushing the mechanical arm further.

198 pounds… 243 pounds… 330 pounds…

Finally, with a sharp exhale, Ethan released the handle. The display froze at an impressive 346 pounds.

Right then, Todd walked over, catching sight of the number. His eyebrows rose as he glanced at Ethan, a mix of surprise and curiosity crossing his face.

Not bad, Todd thought to himself. His own record was 370 pounds.

But this scrawny-looking kid? With barely any visible muscle? How on Earth had he managed that?

Ethan stared at the display, equally astonished. He remembered his grip strength from before, barely 105 pounds, the lower end of average.

Now, he’d added over 200 pounds to that. How could he not feel a rush of excitement?

Still, he kept his expression neutral as Todd approached, walking calmly to the squat rack. Without hesitation, he slid the barbell onto his shoulders and began a deep squat.

The display lit up, numbers climbing steadily.

198 pounds… 220 pounds…

The weight increased, but Ethan showed no signs of strain.

“This is insane,” Todd muttered, his eyes glued to the display.

330 pounds… 385 pounds…

Ethan’s lean frame seemed completely unfazed, despite lifting several times his own body weight.

For an average person, attempting to squat even close to this much without proper conditioning would be a death wish. But Ethan? He wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

Finally, the numbers stopped at 458 pounds. Ethan straightened up, his face slightly flushed but otherwise composed.

Suppressing the surge of exhilaration, he thought to himself, ‘My body really has changed. This isn’t just a minor improvement.’

In recent years, fitness culture had exploded worldwide, with records reaching impossible heights. Ethan had seen videos of professional athletes squatting over 2,200 pounds. Compared to them, his achievement wasn’t groundbreaking.

But for someone who, until recently, could barely squat 44 pounds? A tenfold increase in strength was incredible.

Time to test his punching power.

Ethan moved to the punching machine, settling into a proper stance. He stepped forward, fist crashing into the target.

Bam!

196 pounds.

He frowned, something feeling off. The punch didn’t land quite right.

Lowering his head, he closed his eyes, recalling a specific moment from the game. The bear form in Ethereal… the way it executed its attack during the clash with Marcus Skeiner.

The bear’s technique relied on…

Ethan adjusted his stance, mimicking the bear’s movement. This time, his punch came from his core, the motion fluid yet powerful.

Boom!

The punching machine let out a series of warning beeps, its sensors overloaded.

Every head in the gym turned toward the sound, including Jade, Len, and Quinn at the front desk.

“Holy shit,” Len blurted, staring in disbelief.

“How is that even possible?” Jade muttered, her eyes wide with shock.

Quinn, on the other hand, gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

As for Todd? Standing right behind Ethan, his jaw hung open, practically touching the floor.

492 pounds.

The number flashed on the screen, breaking the machine’s previous record by a mile. No wonder it had started blaring.

Todd vaguely remembered the old record—246 pounds, set by some rich client who rarely cared about fitness. Their gym’s clientele, after all, was mostly wealthy people who prioritized luxury over physical performance.

Ethan’s punch strength wasn’t just impressive, it was terrifying. Even in a professional boxing gym, it would place him among the top contenders.

But he didn’t stop there. He moved from machine to machine, testing his abilities.

A leg press? 690 pounds. Record broken.

Reaction speed? The machine’s hardest difficulty? Cleared effortlessly. Record broken.

Sprinting? 100 meters in 8.78 seconds. Record broken. That was faster than the world’s top sprinters.

Ethan stared at the sprint results, his mind reeling. How was he this fast? From start to full speed, it took him less than four seconds, something that brought to mind nature’s fastest predator: the cheetah.

Jade Taylor watched him silently, her emotions a whirlwind. This wasn’t the Ethan she remembered.

To her, Ethan had always been that frail, awkward boy, a gust of wind away from toppling over. Back in school, she used to pick on him relentlessly. And when she’d discovered those love letters he’d written her, it only made her bullying worse.

The more humiliated he looked, the happier she felt. Before moving away, she’d even stolen something precious from him just for the thrill of it.

Now, seeing him shatter record after record, Jade felt an unsettling discomfort in her chest.

“This guy… he’s scary,” Len muttered, his voice trembling as he stared at Ethan. He glanced sideways at Jade, edging slightly away from her.

‘Better keep my distance from Jade,’Len thought. ‘If she’s crossed this guy in the past, the last thing I need is for him to drag me into it.’

Len’s eyes flickered with hesitation. Ethan mentioned buying this gym, should he warn Leon about it? Leon had been eyeing the place for months, waiting for the price to drop.

With that thought, Len slowly crept toward the door, slipping out unnoticed.

Meanwhile, Ethan had tested almost every piece of equipment in the gym. The reaction speed tester was particularly frustrating, it wasn’t advanced enough to truly push his limits.

In combat, reaction speed could determine everything. No matter how strong or powerful your punches were, if your reactions lagged behind, you’d never land a hit.

Even in Ethereal, reflexes were critical. Reaction speed and mental agility were the defining traits separating professional players from casual ones.

By now, every pair of eyes in the gym was locked on Ethan. People whispered among themselves, wondering who this impossibly strong and fast man could be.

In the center of the gym, a raised boxing ring caught Ethan’s attention. Two massive men stood atop it, their muscles bulging like overinflated balloons. Both were over six feet tall, their thick, chiseled frames radiating raw power.

Ethan’s lips curled into a faint smile. He felt a sudden urge to test himself against them.

For years, he’d dreaded combat training in school. Every session had been a nightmare, an opportunity for him to embarrass himself in front of his classmates. He would always hide in the back, avoiding the instructors’ attention.

Everything changed when the infamous Ice Queen, Celeste Hawthorne, became their assistant instructor.

Unlike the previous coaches, who used Ethan as their personal punching bag to “teach lessons,” Celeste never singled him out or mocked him.

Ethan still remembered the day she became the assistant. One clean kick had sent the previous instructor to the hospital. After that, Celeste took over all their classes.

Though technically an assistant, she was the only one left to train them. Strangely enough, Ethan didn’t fear her the way others did. If anything, he felt a sliver of gratitude toward her.

She never humiliated him, never used him as a scapegoat. For once, he could attend class without the anxiety of becoming a public spectacle.

Back in the present, Ethan’s grin widened as he called out to the two men in the ring.

“Hey! Want to play a round?”

This was a first for him. Never before had he willingly wanted to step into a ring.