Tension was welling up amongst the Disciples as they gathered in the same old place— the starting point of the marathon.
This was right in the middle of the living quarters, right at the heart of the village where all the Disciples stayed. And the path would head straight through a far forest, then out to another clearing, then circle around the entire village from a distance before returning to the usual route.
Even with all these differences on the land, there were still the usual stairs, torii shrine gates, and pillars of stones with waterfalls littered everywhere. It was the only thing that remained wherever one goes in Magnus Carter's dimension.
For a normal person, this path is a scenic route that will bring out the complete experience of enjoying Magnus Carter's dimension. But to the Disciples, this path was paved with their blood, sweat, and tears.
Of course, they enjoyed the sights, but with the time limit and the tests imposed on them, they barely have enough time to take in the scenery.
"Well, if you've run a marathon in the past, then I guess this would be a piece of cake for you," Horatius said. At this point, he wouldn't even be surprised if Satoshi managed to clear the entire run in record time.
Finana and Lucy believed it as well. They were confident that Satoshi would easily exceed everyone's expectations.
When Magnus Carter appeared in the scene, he clapped his hand and briefly explained the rules. Everyone already knew what the rules were, and also, Magnus assumed that Finana and Horatius also explained a couple of things to Lucy and Satoshi. He didn't want to waste everyone's time going over the nitty-gritty of the test.
"All right, you have five minutes to choose how much weight you're going to put on, and whether you're doing the test with your superpower or not." Magnus gestured, showing a table where all the equipment was.
Rows upon rows of normal-looking weights were on that table. They were all the same size but as it turned out, they were different weights. The heaviest weight available weighed two tonnes and had the advantage of adding five minutes to your time. The lighter the weight, the less additional time one could get, but it wasn't as significant compared to the usual time limit.
There was also the choice of going through the test with or without one's superpower. The majority would pick using their superpowers of course, but some of the Disciples would try to challenge themselves by going at it with no advantages, even equipping the weight so they could earn more mints for themselves.
Doing the bare minimum would grant someone enough mints so they could survive for the day. However, if they wanted something extra, then they had to work hard to get more. It was a normal 'no work, no eat' rule and Magnus Carter greatly stuck to this rule.
This didn't mean that Magnus Carter left his Disciples to learn by themselves. He still gave them pointers and personalized training lessons from time to time so they could break through their limits.
However, it was up to them if they were going to push themselves or not. One thing that Magnus Carter didn't want was to force them to train. If they wanted to stand out above the rest, then they should at least have the discipline to train themselves and improve without him telling them to.
Also, forcing someone to train would actually provide negative results since that would give the Disciple a mindset that training would count as a punishment of sorts. The last thing that Magnus Carter wanted was to rob someone of their potential by negatively affecting their mentality.
As such, he left his Disciples to their own devices. It would be up to them if they'd want to work harder, but in essence, his training was enough to give them the growth they needed. If they wanted to add to that, they'd be rewarded for it, just like how it worked in real life.
One by one, the Disciples started picking out their weights. Horatius and Finana led Lucy and Satoshi to the table, they then pointed at the different weights, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
"I'd be using my superpower but I'll be carrying the one-tonne pack. That should be enough to get me two meals for the day." Horatius explained.
"I'm taking the two-tonne pack. With my superpower, this should be easy." Lucy flashed a thumbs up. The only reason why the two of them pushed as much as they could during the first test was because the second and third tests might be even more difficult.
If that was the case, then there was a good chance that a large portion of them wouldn't complete these tests. It was only logical that they get as much as they could from the first test so they won't have to worry about one of the later tests. They could just take it easy or perhaps even skip one test altogether.
Well, not everyone thought like that, however. A handful of Disciples actually wanted to genuinely push themselves... and Satoshi was one of them. Lucy, on the other hand, just wanted to get through the test doing the bare minimum (it may look like it was the bare minimum for everyone else, but really, she was already doing her best).
"You guys go ahead, I still have to decide what I'd go with," Satoshi said. Quite frankly, he just didn't want them to see what he was going to pick. After all, it was a little bit embarrassing... at least for Satoshi, it was,
As the marathon commenced, the Disciples started running one after the other, eager to complete the test so they wouldn't be late for breakfast. Satoshi watched as Finana, Horatius, and Lucy started the marathon. He also saw the group of bullies going at it as well, glaring at him before they made their way to the marathon.
"All right, now, let's do this." Satoshi clenched both his fists as he went with something that anyone had never done before. In fact, no one had ever thought of doing something crazy since that would result in instant failure.
Without thinking twice, Satoshi actually equipped four two-tonne pouches and slung them on all his appendages. It was said that going with the maximum weight would reward someone with the highest amount of mint... but Satoshi didn't hear anything about the maximum amount multiplying.
'If I were to equip four of them, then my reward should multiply by four, right? Also, my time limit would have a couple more minutes added to it.' Satoshi concluded to himself, heading to the other side of the preparation area and deciding to not use any of his superpowers.
On his way to the other side, he immediately felt the weights that pulled him down. All he wanted to do was lie down and get some rest, but doing that would result in instantly failing the test. That's why he had to fight every urge to relax. More than anything, he had to keep standing as much as possible.
"Any time now. If what I assumed was actually true... then it should kick in by now." Satoshi muttered to himself, letting out a silent prayer as he prayed for his idea to work.
Slowly, the weights seemed to get lighter and lighter with every step he took, until it felt like he was just wearing regular old pouches on his arms and legs. He had experienced the same thing when he amped up the gravity control in the gym and it didn't even faze him. Now he put it to the test, and it happened again.
Somehow, his body adjusted to the crazy weight and he could move just fine. With this, he could finally move forward with his plan. Instead of going at it using his superpower, he made it even harder for himself. He just used his physical strength alone.
He started running.
At this point, there was no Disciple left in the waiting area since he was the last one to leave. This meant that, if everything falls into place, then Satoshi should be the last one to arrive, assuming that everyone else finished their tests properly.
Satoshi started off with the usual pace of thirty kilometers per hour. It was pretty fast for a human but to all the Disciples, it was doable. However, Satoshi was easily carrying over eight tonnes of weight thanks to his pouch! This shouldn't have been possible!
Nevertheless, Satoshi did an easy work out of it, keeping his pace as he ran. He could feel the exhaustion, but he'd been through worse training in the past so it was a normal occurrence for Satoshi.
It didn't take long before he overtook a couple of Disciples. These Disciples actually questioned Satoshi's strength since he was slower than they had expected. It didn't even occur to them that the pouches strapped on his arms and legs were of maximum weight each.
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