Chapter 95: On Top of the Top

“Nuoh, oh, noh, oooooh!”

An insane load on the waist… carrying a barbell and then lowering and lifting … Squats?

『Be sure to tighten the waist as well as the legs. Yes, they assume that Magical Squats are only for training the lower body, but in reality they stimulate not only the lower body, but also the hips, back, abdominal muscles, and even the arms. Most crucial, it trains your core as well. In other words, it strengthens the muscles of the entire body. Also, the lower body is not so vague, but the exact parts are the thigh muscles…. hamstrings, quadriceps, calf triceps, gluteus maximus, and so on.』

“Gu, m, moreover, this barbell on my neck, h-hurts…”

“Get used to it, youngster! Guts!”

『Tis a simply form. Keep your chest up and place the barbell your shoulders…. on the top of the trapezius muscles, not your neck. Adjust the grip width and elbow angle a little more as well.』

While listening to Tre’ainar’s instructions, I’ll try to do as much as I can.

Whole body workout…… is indeed true. The stimulation of the lower body was quite tough, but normally stimulating the muscles of the whole body is also quite tough.

“Oh, Magical Squat, 230 Power! No, that’s a big one! Are you really a beginner?”

“Impressive… Magical DeadLift is also 210 power… No, he’s a frightening lad.”

These also seemed to have been good figures in their own right.

Certainly, these figures are enough to place into the all-time rankings on the wall.

But……

“Hah, hah … hey … this one in first place… they’re all the same guy, but… what kind of monster is that? They all more than double mine…”

I think I’m getting a little stronger, but I’m not really proud of my strength.

As Tre’ainar said, these figures are just for reference.

Still, it’s impossible not to be concerned with someone who was hitting numbers that are incomparable to mine.

“Ah, Machio is a bit of a… substandard monster.”

“That’s right. Cacretale’s Most Powerful Warrior.”

“With the exception of the Master, he is the strongest man in the Arcane True Zenith School.”

The strongest of Arcane True Zenith Style…… Well, I guess that’s the way it is when hammering out such ridiculous figures.

“Strongest…… though…… in this country…”

Cacretale is an independent state that did not participate in the past war with the Demon King army.

A guy like that was in such a country without making a name for himself? If you think about it…

『The strong yet unknown to the world… Aka as well…. Bro is also of that group…. so they exist…. that is to say, outstanding hidden talents?』

Certainly, there were quite a few strong guys that the world did not know about.

Tre’ainar was also muttering while looking at the ranking table on the wall with his arms folded.

It seemed that, I’ve been in such a narrow world until now…

“Well… anyway, do you want to measure your speed? However, since speed is measured outside, how about you measure your ‘eyes’ first?”

As I was a little depressed, old man Cadegha made the next suggestion to me.

We measured my strength, so he said that the next measurement would be for the eyes.

The eye? Is it like a medical checkup, some kind of vision test?

“Come on, this way.”

“Come on, big brother, let’s go!”

“Keep it up, next.”

With that said, Cadegha invited me to the back room on the first floor, as Karui and Amae pushed my back.

If I already came this far, I might as well follow him.

Then we were led to a room.

There were rows of round projections embedded in the walls of the room.

“What in the world is this?”

『What!? You can even do Magical Vision training?』

“This is Magical Vision training.”

Training with exactly the same name as what came out of Tre’ainar’s mouth as he exclaimed with excitement.

Now, at this point, the details don’t matter.

“As soon as the training starts, these buttons will flash randomly with magic. When you press it, another spot flashes…. you do this as fast as possible to see how many times can be done in 15 seconds.”

『It maximizes the field of view and trains peripheral vision, kinetic vision, eye movement, instantaneous vision, deep vision, as well as reflexes and concentration.』

It’s a little different from Magical Speed Reading…. the buttons embedded in the wall flash one after another, and you have to press them quickly. Certainly, reflexes and concentration are also required.

“I see. Amusing.”

I had a bit of hope that I could get a good figure myself.

My eyes should have been considerably trained by Tre’ainar and the actual battles so far.

In addition, my punching speed should allow me to press the button faster than the others.

“Oh, you’re full of confidence… well then, Ready … Start!”

“Sha!”

Release all the nerves and put everything into the next few seconds. Make sure the button flashes and then hit the button without pause.

“Uoh, ooooh!”

“Hands, so fast!?”

“Oh…”

Make full use of both hands and both eyes and hit with my full power….

“That’s time!”

“How is it?”

I didn’t count myself in the middle of it. The movements of my hands were much faster than I could count in my head.

And…..

“Si… Sixty times!?”

“Oh, no way!”

“See here, it’s undisputed! Amazing!”

Sixty times. What level is that?

“Ah! I’m pretty confident in this! Let’s see, that was … that was …!”

I glanced around the room looking for you-know-what.

It’s the rankings.

“The first place in the ranking is… 51 times…. Dinay Zut…. Who’s this!? Where’s that Machio guy?!”

I hadn’t noted any of the other names in the previous power rankings, so I didn’t know anyone else.

And the name of the guy called Machio wasn’t there.

“Ah, Machio is no good at such small details… Simply, his power is so great that if he hit a button, the wall would break and we couldn’t measure it…”

“tte, he what now!?”

For the time being, I’m ranked number one in the current record. However, it seems that there are other circumstances involved as well.

I mean, I’m honestly not happy about it.

“No, but this is amazing!”

“Yeah, I don’t think Machio can get much of a record with this kind of thing, can he? A maiden’s mind is blunt.”

Well, even if the measurement could be done, it seemed that Machio and others are not good at this kind of thing.

Then, this is my win, so I guess I’ll take first place in the all-time…

“Step aside.”

“Eh?”

“Oh, Master!?”

“High Priestess!”

At that time, the High Priestess entrusted the scepter to Karui and prepared. And…..

“Begin.”

She seemed motivated. What’s going on all of a sudden? At the same time as I thought, I realized something.

“…… What? Those eyes…”

『…… Hmm…… to use those… tis foul play.』

The High Priestess suddenly revealed the crest that I had never seen before.

For a moment, I thought it was a mistake, but they clearly emerged.

And…..

“… !? What !?”

The next moment, something incredible happened.

The High Priestess did not move her neck or eyeball at all, moving only her hands and hitting the buttons from her initial position.

Moreover, the moment the button lit up and the moment it was pressed are almost the same.

I confirmed that the button flashed before pressing it, while the High Priestess hit it as if she knew which button would flash next.

As a result……

“62 times… well, it’s what I think …”

“Eh!?”

My record…

“Hold on, Master, you can finish it anyway…”

“That’s right, High Priestess!”

The High Priestess pulled out even though there were ‘five seconds left’.

“As a teacher, it doesn’t matter how vast a figure I give. There is a limit to how much I can flaunt the difference in strength to my students and motivate them.”

The High Priestess told us that with a nonchalant air.

It was such a shock that she shattered what I thought was ‘my win’.

“Well, but apart from the Master, your record is awesome!”

“That’s right. Your power and eyes are among the all-time highest!”

I was praised that way, but … honestly, I wasn’t happy.

And at the same time, I’m reminded of the person I was just a few days ago.

I was not able to defeat my childhood friend, I never got to the top of my class, and I was just a talented person.

“~~~, t, next! What should I do next?”

There’s no way I’m gonna lose!

At that moment, I was crying out to let me do the next event as soon as possible.

“Haha, he’s a stoic one.”

“You’re not satisfied with this at all… no way, so freaking amazing.”

“Then, next is speed!”

I’ll do anything. And even one is fine. I want to find something where I’m second to none.

I’ve been saying, sooner or later, I was going to be a big shot in the world with enthusiasm. but if I can’t even win a single record in a dojo in a country, in general, it’ll be nothing more than big talk.

“Speed, oh, that’s good! Let’s do it!”

I am confident in my speed. Thanks to having learned many steps, I am able to perform “sharp acceleration”.

“Then, the speed measurement is outdoors, let’s move outside.”

“Oh!”

Next time, for sure…. that’s what I thought, but…

“By the way, Karui. Is it wise to be so carefree?”

“Yes? What’s going on? High Priestess”

“Should thou not be in school by now?”

“Huh? ……”

The moment we went outside, the High Priestess suddenly asked Karui, in a “forced” manner.

Then Karui was a little dumbfounded, but soon her face turned blue….

“…… Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I, I forgotーーー!!?? S, so late!!”

Karui, who had been flippant until a while ago panicked, and was in a great hurry to get going…

“Ah, I’m going, I am going!!”

Immediately, she began running fast through the town…. began…… running…… eh?

“Fufu, that Karui, in such a rush … to leave without changing into uniform…”

The High Priestess laughed dismissively, but… hey, wait a minute.

『Huh~… that little girl… has good legs.』

“Wh-what the hell, is that girl!? F, Flying…”

Karui ran in a full dress. Her light feet jumped through the city, and the moment she saw the crowd, she jumped and climbed up to the roofs of the buildings and ran through while maintaining high speed.

The run, which does not feel the effects of gravity, disappeared from sight.

I’ve done Magical Parkour, I know what I’m talking about.

That’s not normal.

That gait, is much better than the usual ninja warriors… it’s better than me…

“Oh, by the way… that girl, Karui… though still a little lass… she’s the fastest in Cacretale…she was nicknamed ‘Weightless Sprinter Karui’…… now, the speed test…”

“…Nah… for now… I’m good…”

“Fufu, that’s fine. Well, either way, thou has passed. Use this place to train thyself as thou wish.”

To be clear, it’s an overwhelming gait that I can see just by looking that it’s much faster than I run.

Maybe even faster than me using the Breakthrough…

It made me think that this is exactly what the unstoppable legs are.

After being shown something like that, I didn’t have the spirit to attempt the test while she snorted, “take first place”.

“Well, lad. I’m so sorry, but… Karui went ahead without a uniform and no textbook. Could thou bring them to the school?”

“…… Huh? Why me?”

“On the way, thou can take a tour of the city, right? Amae, show him around.”

“No, even if you say that …”

I haven’t gotten over the shock yet, but the High Priestess suddenly asked me to be her errand boy.

I’m told that I’ll also be given a tour of the city, but I don’t feel like it.

On the contrary…

“Are you sure?”

“Of what?”

“I might immediately run away, right? Break through the barrier and stuff.”

You can’t just give me free reign like that, right? I tried to ask.

Then, as if the High Priestess had seen through everything….

“Fufufufufu, could you do it though? Nay, in the first place… if thou could escape as it is, why not do as thou would like?”

If you can break the barrier, then break it.

Before that, if you don’t mind running away with this test result, then run away.

It sounded like she was saying that, and of course I had no choice but to accept that I couldn’t just turn my tail and run away.

“Damn it!!”

It’s pathetic. And I’m ashamed of myself. I thought I was much stronger than before…

“Hn. Piggyback”

“Gu, ku… ah~, jeez!”

“Okey… dokey~”

Amae demands a piggyback ride from me, holding Karui’s uniform and what seems to be a bag in both hands.

Despite my frustration, I carried Amae on my back, and now I have no choice but to do as I was told.

Watching over me even now, as I harbor these thoughts in my heart.

So….. once again…… I entrust myself in your care…. Master!

『Naturally.』

At the thoughts I muttered in my heart, my reliable Master nodded.