"Qi" Training

"Th-This is way too much food!"

Colossus watched Hawking get up to fetch another serving for the thirtieth time, his fork hanging in mid-air for a long while.

From his perspective, the food Hawking got each time he queued up was enough to stuff a grown man full. Yet Hawking had already eaten thirty portions and had just said he was only twenty percent full.

"Hawking is really strong, stronger than even Dad. I suspected long ago that his ability was actually super eating, which is why he's so strong!"

Little Pietro said smugly as he watched the dumbfounded Colossus.

Colossus smiled and shook his head.

"All right, then Mr. Yogg is going to be worked to the bone today."

And just as Colossus had said, when the chubby chef, Mr. Yogg, saw Hawking appear before him again, he could not help rubbing his forehead.

"Kid, do you know that you've almost eaten an entire day's worth of food for the school?"

There were only a few dozen people in the school, many of them children who did not eat much per meal. Among the adults, many of the women had a habit of dieting to maintain their figures.

So the thirty portions Hawking had eaten truly amounted to nearly the school's usual food supply for an entire day.

"Isn't that because the food you make is so delicious, sir? By the way, is your ability telekinesis?"

Hawking watched as the various ingredients behind Mr. Yogg were automatically washed, chopped, and cooked, while the serving ladles in front of him scooped food without anyone controlling them. Curious, he asked the question.

Hearing Hawking praise his cooking, Mr. Yogg's expression immediately improved considerably.

"It is telekinesis, but it can't compare to Professor Jean's. Even when my ability is developed to its limit, I can only control things weighing a few pounds."

"Thank you. I'll probably need another thirty portions or so before I'm full. Sorry for the trouble, sir."

Hawking took the tray already piled high with food. Before leaving, he kindly gave Mr. Yogg a heads-up, making the latter's head feel like it had instantly swollen twice its size.

There was no helping it. He had come to Mutant School specifically so he could eat his fill, so naturally he could not be polite about it.

Mutant abilities were not entirely unique. For example, many mutants possessed telepathy, but almost none could reach Professor X's level.

Telekinesis was the same. As a Level One Mutant, Mr. Yogg could only control cooking utensils to assist with cooking, even after developing his ability to its limit.

Professor Jean, on the other hand, could easily make all the cars on a street float even as a child, as a Level Five Mutant.

"Looks like I'll have to make a huge purchase first thing tomorrow morning!"

Mr. Yogg did the math. The ingredients left in the kitchen would probably only be enough for Hawking alone.

Half an hour later, after all the other students had left the cafeteria, Hawking was finally full as well. It was the first time since transmigrating that he had truly eaten his fill.

"Don't the Professors usually eat with us?"

On the way back to their rooms after leaving the cafeteria, Hawking casually asked.

Throughout the entire meal, none of the school's Professors, such as Professor X, Storm, or Cyclops, had appeared.

Thinking back to Storm's somewhat grave expression when he had entered the school that afternoon, he felt a vague sense of unease.

"We usually eat in the cafeteria too, but now that you mention it, I really didn't see them today."

A puzzled expression appeared on Colossus's face as well.

Hearing that, Hawking paused.

Could I be running into trouble on my very first day of school?

Shaking his head, he felt that perhaps he was overthinking it.

From his conversations with Colossus, he had not heard anything about Wolverine Logan being at the school. In the various major X-Men events he remembered, Wolverine was usually indispensable.

Still, caution was necessary. He decided not to do any limit training over the next few days and would wait until he was completely familiar with the school before starting.

However, not long after the four of them left the cafeteria, a heavily built, bearded man in a leather jacket strode into the cafeteria while smoking a cigar.

"Hey, Yogg, get me some dinner."

"Logan, when did you get back? Did you finish what you went to do?"

Yogg burst out laughing when he saw Logan.

They were the only two smokers in the entire school and often smoked and chatted together in the cafeteria.

"I got back less than three hours ago. Things didn't go well. There was nothing at the address the Professor gave me.

I came back to ask the Professor to take another look into my memories, but he left the school on business and even told me to play babysitter here for a few days!"

Logan complained as he took out a cigar and tossed it to Yogg.

Yogg accepted the cigar and lit it.

"No wonder I haven't seen the Professor or the others all evening.

Oh, sorry, you came a little too late. A new kid came to the school today, one who can really eat. He finished all the ingredients I had for the next two days."

"All right, looks like I'll have to check the fridge upstairs. Maybe I can find some snacks to tide me over!"

Logan looked at the spotless kitchen and could only turn around and leave helplessly.

Although not eating anything would not affect him, the hunger would remain.

Meanwhile, after returning to his room and doing several hundred warm-up exercises before bed, Hawking showered, changed into his pajamas, and sat cross-legged on the bed.

"Since I'm not planning to do extreme physical training for the next few days, I might as well spend more time practicing how to gather qi."

He extended his middle finger and focused his mind on it. A ball of white energy slowly began to gather there, then flickered and vanished.

Qi was a term for energy. Any living thing, even flowers and grass, contained qi.

The Turtle Hermit Style's Kamehameha gathered the qi within one's body before releasing it as an energy attack with immense destructive power.

With Hawking's current physical strength, he could not use the Kamehameha like Thirteen Years Old Goku. However, with Goku's memories, he could still sense the qi within his body and slowly train it.

Even if he could not use the Kamehameha yet, it would be nice if he could at least make an ordinary qi blast for now.

Once his body became strong enough in the future and his control over qi became more proficient, there would be nothing stopping him from researching and developing some qi-based Moves of his own.

For example, Yamcha's Spirit Ball, Chiaotzu's Dodon Ray, Tien Shinhan's Solar Flare, Krillin's Destructo Disc, and so on. As long as he was willing to spend the time, he could definitely figure them out.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Just as Hawking finally managed to maintain a marble-sized qi blast on his middle finger, there came a sudden knock on the door.

He got up and opened it to find Little Wanda and Little Pietro standing there in pajamas, hugging their pillows.

"Hawking, we can't sleep. We want to be with you."

The siblings had just arrived in this unfamiliar place and were both frightened being alone in their rooms, so they had come to find Older Brother Hawking, who made them feel safe.

"Come in."

Hawking rubbed their heads and led them inside.

Wanda and Pietro were only ten years old now. Among ordinary people, they would only be second or third graders, so it was normal for them to be scared.

After living here for a few days and getting used to the place, they would naturally be fine.