Everyone gathered around Lucy and Satoshi as if they were display animals in a zoo. All of them gave their nods of either approval or disapproval while they examined them from their feet up.
A couple of them incredulously checked them out while trying to figure out why they were there in the first place, while some just didn't care at all, and they separated from the crowd as if it wasn't any of their business.
"This here is Midoriyama Satoshi, and Lucy Hexius Von Arabella. The two of them will be joining us for today." Magnus Carter enthusiastically introduced the two to his Disciples. He then put his arms on their shoulders and lightly pushed them to the group.
"They are trial Disciples so treat them as if he's one of us. Show them the ropes and also show them to their quarters. They'd be staying for a day so shower them with hospitality while they're here." Magnus Carter informed the group.
In response, some of them nodded their heads while the others indifferently stared at the two of them. In a way, it was a normal welcoming so Lucy and Satoshi didn't feel at all that out of place. At first, Satoshi was skeptical as to how the others would welcome them.
But so far, they were quite amicable... or maybe that was because Magnus Carter was in front of them. If he wasn't there, they'd probably drive them off like a horde of mosquitoes. Then again, the only thing they could see if that was going to happen was when Magnus Carter actually leaves them alone.
"All right then, I'll be heading out for a bit. Horatius Argroa, I'll leave the two of them to you. Finana Qrystal, accompany him, would you?" Magnus Carter said before waving his hands at the group. "I'll be back in an hour, make sure these guys are fully settled in when I get back, all right?"
Finana and Horatius responded with a nod before slightly bowing down toward their Manager. This wasn't the first time they welcomed someone into the dimension so they weren't actual beginners when it comes down to it.
In any case, they were a bit shocked that Lucy and Satoshi will be joining them in their next training when usually, it would take at least two or three days before the newcomer would be welcomed for the test.
Then again, they witnessed firsthand just how powerful Satoshi was during the three-day survival test. There was no doubt that he'd be able to go head-to-head with them. But the girl was a different matter.
This was the first time they heard her name, but some of them recognize her as one of the top ten who survived up until the end of the survival test.
It was obvious that Lucy got carried by Satoshi during the survival test. But then again, who were they to judge? They've never seen her go full power... or so that's what they assumed as they tried to recall what they watched.
Well, Lucy really gave her best during that test... and it was really thanks to Satoshi that she got through to the end. In a sense, the Disciples were totally overestimating her since she was in their presence.
"Satoshi and Lucy, was it? Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Finana, and this here is Horatius." She said with a smile on her face. "I know that this might come off as unexpected, but I'm requesting a duel." Finana extended her hand, still wearing the friendliest of expressions while bloodlust emanated from her body.
Clearly, she was looking forward to the duel, and she couldn't wait but to see Satoshi in action.
"Ah er... sure, why not?" Satoshi trailed off as if he was questioning what Finana was saying. Nevertheless, he extended his hand, trying to return the friendliness of Finana while suppressing the bloodthirst that almost leaked out of his body.
Finana had blue hair, just like Lydia Schwarz. Except, Finana's hair was brighter, and she was on a much cuter side. She was a foot smaller than Satoshi, but her curves were in the right places, giving her peerless beauty even when she was surrounded by other prepossessing women.
As Satoshi reached for her hand, he felt a certain threat overcoming his body, which made him inadvertently retract his hand before it reached the handshake.
But before he did so, a hand grabbed him with its iron-like strength, squeezing it with a force that was strong enough to crush an apple with bare hands.
Satoshi could still see Finana's hand in front of him. Obviously, it wasn't her who grabbed his hand out of nowhere.
"Before that, duel me instead! I won't ask for anything extravagant. Just give me your best in an arm-wrestling match! No holds barred!" Horatius squeezed Satoshi's hand, infusing a little bit of his energy into his grip so he could overpower Satoshi who wasn't budging at all.
For a couple of seconds, Satoshi looked at his hand and at Horatius's soured expression. It was written on his face that he was trying to force Satoshi into submission, however, Satoshi held his ground like a professional hand shaker.
"Um... why are you squeezing my hand? Satoshi asked, curious whether this was a part of the culture amongst Magnus Carter's Disciples or not. He didn't want to disclaim anything since it might greatly offend a whole crowd. Since he was new here, he figured that he'd at least respect their culture.
In return, Satoshi squeezed back, causing Horatius to wince in pain. Satoshi wasn't even using any of his power and yet he could already squeeze Horatius's energy-infused hand.
The first one to let go of the grip was Horatius, and he put up a false bravado as he clenched his fist. "I guess you agreed to the duel, right? Men first." Horatius flashed a thumbs-up in front of Satoshi.
Satoshi didn't notice it but while that interaction was going on, the Disciples were actually keenly watching his actions. They knew just how much of a fanatic Horatius was when it came to arm wrestling, and they also were aware of Horatius's usual greeting of squeezing someone's arm out. He was considered one of the most powerful Disciples out here in terms of raw physical power output.
And yet, he was struggling to squeeze Satoshi's hand despite infusing energy already. They also noticed that Satoshi looked bewildered when Horatius did that, and he didn't even bother tapping into his energy reserves to squeeze his hand back.
"Wait... did I see that right?"
"No, I saw it too."
"Horatius was overpowered in a handshake?"
"Well, that's something we don't see every day."
Despite the false front that Horatius showed in front of everyone, he couldn't feel any of them. In terms of that handshake, he had lost so disgracefully. Satoshi didn't even bother using his energy. He just squeezed his hand with raw strength and it was enough to almost break his bones.
'Wait... there's no way someone as powerful as him is also talented in the physical spectrum. There's no way, right? He's powerful enough to survive three days in that hellish training. He even brought ten people with him to the end! How could someone blessed with magic and energy be physically talented as well?!' Horatius inwardly screamed, forcing a smile on his face as his eyebrows twitched.
'There's no way... there's just no way! That grip was merely a fluke, right? I'm just not on my a-game today, right?"
Shaking his head, Horatius decided to just pass the torch to Finana. Since she was the one who asked for the duel first, he figured he'd just let her go first before him.
Before he could say anything, though, Finana just shrugged and forwardly waved her hand in front of her. "You go do your thing, men first, right?" She smirked. "I can wait."
Upon saying that, she turned around and shook hands with Lucy. "I'm Finana, do you want to watch their match, or should we head over to your temporary residence?" She gently asked. "And don't respond with 'either's fine', okay? I'm pretty much free for the entire day so we can do what you want."
"T-then, let's watch the duel. You'll be dueling Satoshi as well after this, right?" Lucy asked, a soft smile written on her face, matching the serenity of her gaze as her pristine white hair fluttered with the gentlest of breeze.
"A-all right then." Lucy stammered, almost bewitched by Lucy's natural beauty. She couldn't believe that someone could actually look so heavenly as a human.
One of the Disciples created a cylindrical pillar made of hardened earth and as if on cue, the crowd started spacing out to give Horatius and Satoshi the ring where they'd be arm-wrestling.
"Finana! I brought some sandwiches. Let's eat them while watching the match." One of the Disciples who goes by the name Silverina happily joined the duo while they found a nice place to sit.
Horatius and Satoshi assumed their position on opposite sides of the cylindrical pillar. In this contest of strength, they didn't need to speak any words. They just went in and initiated the match without warning everyone.
"Aight, everyone give us a count!" Horatius grinned as he and Satoshi adjusted their grips to overpower each other in a snap of a finger.
Three.
Two.
One!
Without warning, Horatius activated everything he could activate. Physical enhancement, magic enhancement, skill enhancement, increase morale, stat buffs, you name it! He went all in with his multiple-activation in a split second before overpowering Satoshi.
With a grunt, he brought he tried to bring down Satoshi's hand... but it only budged a little bit!
'What?!' Horatius exclaimed in his mind as he slowly brought down Satoshi's hand.
It was clear that Satoshi was struggling, but try as he might, he just couldn't overpower Horatius.
In the end, Satoshi lost, and the first round went to Horatius. And yes, it was a best of five arm-wrestling competition.
'No way... he stood on his own... without using any superpower?' Horatius won, but he couldn't believe that Satoshi matched his power without even activating anything! He didn't even infuse his hands with energy!
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