"Urgh..."
"You're finally awake."
Nowl-Ahn opens his eyes and sees a stranger standing next to him, looking like the classic scientist who can't be bothered trope. He looks like Dr. Brief from Dragon Ball. He is a short, stocky man with a large grey moustache. He dons a white lab coat with a blue undershirt, black pants, and smokes a cigarette.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Barnuf. And who are you?" Barnuf asks.
"You don't know who I am? Then what am I doing here?" Nowl-Ahn asks.
"The brutish Conquest brought you here after he almost killed you. Seems like you made quite an impression on him."
"Ugh... I don't know about that. He didn't even look like he was trying."
"Haha, yes. He was most likely impressed. He even brought you here himself. That's rare."
"It is? Lucky me, then." Nowl-Ahn says and tries to sit upright.
He can feel sore all over and tries to take it slow. He missed all his classes, so it won't matter now; he can take his time and explain everything later.
"Ah, you're awake. Finally." Conquest appears in the doorway and walks forward, looking at Nowl-Ahn.
"Thank you for getting me here," Nowl-Ahn says and nods his head.
"Never mind that. Since you haven't died, I have accepted you as my student. But I warn you right now. It will be torture, and you will hate me and wish me dead. I welcome you to try that whenever you feel like it. If you, however, don't do what I tell you, when I tell you, I will kill you instead. You will vomit guts and blood, but when I'm done with you, you'll be a real Viltrumite."
"..."
"Are you up for that, boy?"
"Yes!" Nowl-Ahn says without hesitation.
"Ha! Good. Then get your ass off that table and move to the training ground. It's time for your first lesson." Conquest says and leaves the room.
"Thank you, Barnuf, for fixing me. I'm sure I'll see you later." Nowl-Ahn says.
"Don't mention it, young man. Good luck and see you later, hehehe." Barnuf laughs.
Nowl-Ahn then leaves the room and flies after Conquest. He returns to the same training ground where he was thrashed before and positions himself before Conquest.
"I'm not a man who likes to use a lot of words, since my fists do all the talking. So listen, because this won't be repeated. I will train you whenever I have the time and on Viltrum. I don't know how often that will be, so we will make he most of it, while I'm here. What you do on the other times, I don't care, but if you're the same strength, when I return, I will consider you a failure. And what that means, you understand." Conquest says.
"I understand."
"Good. Then show me whether you learned something."
*BOOOM*
.
The first meeting between Conquest and Nowl-Ahn followed an equally violent second one. But indeed, Nowl-Ahn had grown a bit stronger than before and was ready this time. He pushed himself to 120% and passed out, bloody and broken like the first time. If he managed to survive a few minutes the first time, this time it was a few seconds longer. A few seconds were nothing, but it was progress.
"Good morning. We really should stop meeting like this." Barnuf says that after Nowl-Ahn wakes up.
"Thanks."
"To think that he made you go through the same thing again, right after you woke up... hahaha, he's absolutely insane." Barnuf laughs.
"All for the sake of growing stronger. Although I missed like two months of school, I will have to get that done. And my application for the science department will most likely be off the table now." Nowl-Ahn groans in annoyance.
"Science division? You want to join the science division? A strong young man like you?"
"I want to learn as much as I can. I am interested in our people's strength and what makes us special. I want to find new ways to grow powerful and maybe new applications for science and technology."
Barnuf observes Nowl-Ahn with a serious look. Barnuf was such a remote and unknown figure because he had long ago also strived to find the truths of their biology, but had been halted in his efforts before he could get to the bottom of it. His passions were biology and medicine, but the Emperor had deemed what he could find too dangerous and prevented him from getting to the end. It had made him bitter and lonely. But now, here was the very son of the Emperor who had prevented him from achieving his life goal, with the same dream and goal as he had all that time ago.
"Are you serious?" Barnuf asks.
"Serious? Serious about what?"
"Is that truly your dream? To get to the bottom of Viltrumite biology and find ways to grow stronger?" Barnuf asks again.
"Yes. I hate weaknesses and wish to find ways to grow stronger. For years, I have pushed myself beyond my limits, breaking bones and having no interactions with others, just to grow stronger. I want to learn everything I can and reach new heights."
"Hmm... hehehe... Hahahaha... very well. Say, Nowl-Ahn... what would you say, if I taught you everything I knew?" Barnuf asks.
"Uhh... and what might that be?" Nowl-Ahn asks.
"I once had the same ambitions as you do. I never managed to reach the final stages. I'm old now, but you are young and have the necessary will and age to reach the results I never did. And if you want, I will teach you everything I know. And for the things you want to know other than that, I will personally write a recommendation and have you get a spot in the science division."
"..."
"So what do you say?" Barnuf asks with a big smile.
"When do we start?"
"Hehehe, right now, of course."
And so it began. Nowl-Ahn's already busy schedule turned absolutely crazy. As Barnuf had promised, he got him a spot in the science division under one of the prominent scientists, called Korthon. Korthon was a geneticist and biologist. After getting a request from Barnuf, he accepted Nowl-Ahn, but not with open arms. He made him go through the mud at first, because he didn't like that someone could enter their division because of a recommendation. But Nowl-Ahn was tenacious and did whatever was told of him.
That took up most of his time for the week. He worked his ass off, from early morning to late in the evening. On his free days, he spent time in the remote and secret labs belonging to Barnuf, who started to teach him about his thousand-year-long experience. That was the time Nowl-Ahn enjoyed the most, because he felt that his goal was getting closer during that time.
Other than that, whenever Conquest was on Viltrum, they fought, and Nowl-Ahn tried to defeat the old Viltrumite in some way. He grew used to the pain and the damage he suffered, and also numb to the brutality of it all. It was all something that would help him, and so his mindset started to adapt. More and more, he lost his 'human' mindset, and mixed more savage and violent nature into it, from his new Viltrumite side.
.
"To understand what makes us Viltrumites so special, we first have to list what is different about Viltrumites. Viltrumite DNA aggressively self-repairs and adapts. The individual molecules of a Viltrumite's body will perform their functions in extreme conditions or in opposition to extreme force. Viltrumite muscles can produce greater and greater force until almost any given task is performed. Viltrumite lungs can extract more energy from oxygen, allowing a Viltrumite to live for weeks off a single lungful of air. Our tissues remember their normal range of properties and strongly resist breakage. Other biological processes are similarly enhanced." Barnuf started to explain to Nowl-Ahn.
"Yeah, I noticed that after every near-death experience I have had through Teacher, I grow stronger. Like my body remembers and wants to grow to avoid another pain of the sort." Nowl-Ahn says and plays dumb despite knowing the truth of the matter.
"Ahaha, indeed. The reason for this marvellous property is called 'Smart Atoms'." Barnuf smiles like a mad scientist right now.
"Smart Atoms?"
"Most atoms have fixed properties. But Smart Atoms have variable properties that can be arranged to produce several useful effects. You see, although atoms are made of only 17 fundamental particles, 12 fermions and five bosons, each particle can exist in numerous frequencies, velocities, positions, and so on, the number of states a system can exist in and still be the same system. These states can be used for encoding information.
Smart Atoms "remember" their normal states in relation to their environment, and can be encoded to react to changes in that environment. For example, atoms in a muscle can ensure that the molecules behave normally even under extreme forces. Or atoms in the air can be forced to maintain their relative positions, thus acting like an impenetrable wall. Do you understand?" Barnuf asks.
"So that's where our strength comes from, then?" Nowl-Ahn asks.
"Indeed. At a molecular scale, Smart Atoms are identical to other atoms when in normal use. They form conventional molecules, which perform conventional tasks and whatnot. The problem that comes with this is that Smart Atoms are highly complex and difficult to control. It is normal for an advanced technology or civilisation to use only a few features of Smart Atoms, as they cannot master other features, despite thousands of years of experimentation. We Viltrumites are unique in not simply mastering several useful features of Smart Atoms but in being able to duplicate these features through our DNA."
"That's unbelievable. But have we yet found a way to manipulate Smart Atoms? If we know about them, we should be able to make use of them." Nowl-Ahn asks.
"Sadly, the answer to that is no. You see, when I went to see the Emperor about my discoveries, I was told to stop the continuation of my experimentations, for if that were true, it might be too dangerous for Viltrum as a whole, should anyone get hold of that knowledge." Barnuf says.
"In what sense?"
"Well, you now know that Viltrumite DNA makes use of and can somewhat manipulate Smart Atoms inside our bodies. What do you think would happen if someone who didn't like our way of life got hold of that and now decided that he might use his knowledge to harm us or eradicate us outright? We Viltrumites weren't created naturally, we aren't products of evolution, which is something no one seems to understand." Barnuf reveals.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Smart Atoms, which 'remember' their state compared to the surrounding atoms and states. Evolution is the process of change and adaptation to the environment. But we don't do that. When we arrive at a new environment with a hazardous nature or other things, we don't say, Well, how can I adapt to this. No, we say: Let me get stronger, so I don't have to adapt to anything. It is the natural and biological equivalent of stagnation, but made useful and powerful." Barnuf finishes.
"That's... unbelievable. It makes sense. But then... oh my word... this means-"
"Hahaha, yes. You are a quick one, I see. It means that using Smart Atoms, and if we could learn how to manipulate them, we could theoretically create anything with the properties we want them to have, and it wouldn't change or only under extreme conditions. So, from a logical standpoint, Argall was right in telling me to stop. But from a scientific standpoint, I almost killed myself when he told me that. Now that we're here, I will show you everything I have on this and then allow you to go on and complete my work. So that you can create anything in the future."
Nowl-Ahn looks at Barnuf and thinks about all the implications he just heard. He was truly fortunate to have someone who was willing to teach him the 'basics' and the not-so-basics for him to then finish. What he heard was truly extraordinary. He had long planned on creating a gravity chamber like the one from Dragon Ball and using it to train like mad. Or creating training weights that weren't large but still had the necessary mass to be useful for him. That and so much more will be possible now if he manages to find a way actually to manipulate and control Smart Atoms.
He had time—at least 2000 years, but probably a bit more. He was no genius, but even he should have got somewhere in that time.
__________________________________________
I don't know much about physics. I will try to make this as logical as comics can be. I hope my explanation was understandable. If not, I am willing to explain it again or differently.