Unbeknownst to all the Disciples who participated in the first test of a marathon, Magnus Carter was actually monitoring each of them just as he had done so in the past.
He never told his Disciples about it so they wouldn't know whether he was aware of their diligence or their laziness. In any case, this had been an unbreakable habit for Magnus Carter and it allowed him to guide each of his Disciples accordingly.
Had the Disciples known that Magnus Carter was keeping close tabs on them, they'd have done their utmost in challenging themselves and breaking through their limits. However, because they were presumably left to their own devices, most of them stuck to the bare minimum.
Since this was Satoshi's first time joining his marathon, he was curious whether he'd carry more weight or not. There was also the option of using his superpower, and Magnus Carter looked forward to that as well.
To his utter shock, Satoshi picked up a couple of two-tonne weight pouches and strapped them on himself. This was too much for a marathon, so Magnus Carter was convinced that he'd do it using his superpower.
Even then, it would still be pretty tricky. After all, he had to keep using his superpower for thirty minutes straight, assuming that he would finish the test in time.
After witnessing Satoshi grabbed his weights, Magnus still couldn't imagine how Satoshi would be able to pull it off. Even if he used his superpower, he still wouldn't last long. After all, Satoshi's superpower mainly relies on his tamed beasts, and the rules of the marathon specifically state that the runner had to carry the weight himself.
"Beast integration. Is he going to stick with beast integration for thirty minutes? Then again, it's possible... but could he really hold eight tonnes of weight?" At this point, Magnus Carter was half-convinced that Satoshi would clear the test. Because he was especially curious as to how Satoshi would go about the marathon, he decided to watch him closely.
What happened next was enough for Magnus Carter to almost lose his reason. He rubbed his eyes to reconfirm that he wasn't dreaming, and when that didn't work, he had to pinch himself.
Satoshi had chosen not to use any of his superpowers! And moreover, he had already passed the starting line, which meant that he couldn't go back on his choice anymore. Either he finished the entire marathon without using his superpower, or he gives up on it altogether.
"How could he possibly finish this entire marathon while dragging eight tons by himself? Also, there's a time limit of one and a half hours, could he really do it?" Magnus asked himself.
But before his skepticism got the better of him, he saw Satoshi picking up the pace, and it didn't take long before he started running at an even momentum. For the first time in who knows how long, Magnus Carter witnessed something that left his mouth hanging open in shock.
...
Back to the present,
When Satoshi arrived at the finish line, everyone looked at him as if he was an alien who just arrived on their home planet. He was exhausted but he managed to keep himself upright as he dropped the weights on the floor.
Now that he'd finished the entire marathon in time, he felt the weights begin to drag him down which almost forced him to seat. Left with no choice, he just dropped all the weight altogether, unstrapping the pouches and dropping them on the ground before anyone could react.
A cloud of dust erupted and Satoshi let go of the pouches. To be fair, the pouches he wore seemed to be lighter than normal, but little did they realize that Satoshi actually got four pouches with the heaviest weight. And he managed to carry all of that all the way without even stopping.
He was able to clear the marathon in the least expected time, but he exceeded everyone's expectations. Even Alicia Quill, who was with him all the way, was surprised at how much weight he was carrying.
At first, she assumed that Satoshi was only carrying a ton of weight, but who would've thought that he had eight tonnes total in his body? And he was able to finish the marathon while carrying such an insane weight.
When Satoshi dropped the weight on the ground, it let out an ominous thud as the four pouches slightly bounced off the ground. A huge column of sand and dust erupted from where they were dropped, and Satoshi was expecting something 'biased' and normal at the same time.
As soon as he dropped the weights, Satoshi collapsed on the ground, heaving a sigh of relief as he lay down on the ground, obviously exhausted. he didn't even bother looking back at the other Disciples who were clearly observing him without disturbing anything in his vicinity.
"Whoa~!"
"How much weight is he carrying?"
"No way he just finished that marathon while dragging a lady with him. How did he manage to arrive in time with those crazy weights?"
"I don't know, did he use any of his superpowers? And even if he did, how did he do it? He should've collapsed right now after the test."
"He's clearly alive though. How was that able to happen?"
It wasn't just Magnus Carter who was questioning himself. Every one started murmuring at each other when Satoshi walked away so he could sit down on one side of the starting line.
As the smoke cleared up from the weights he dropped on the ground, he briefly noticed the majority of the Disciples, wearing a shocked expressions on their faces, wondering how Satoshi managed to finish the marathon in time while carrying such a ridiculous number of weight.
They had no idea how much Satoshi was carrying, but some of the Disciples got curious enough to try to carry one of them.
And since Satoshi didn't use any of his superpowers, all of them didn't even bother activating their superpowers when they tried to lift them up. One of them grunted when they tried to lift one of the pouches up, but they couldn't even put it up to the ground.
"What is this, Thor's Mjolnir or something?" One of the Disciples commented. When he turned around to see if the others could carry the other pouches, they too couldn't do it.
"Is this real? Am I dreaming?" Another Disciple said, scratching his head in amusement. It was only when he activated his superpower was he able to carry the pouch that Satoshi dropped.
Curious, Alicia Quill also walked up to one of the pouches and he tried to carry one of them. If it weighed at least a hundred pounds or something, she should've been able to lift it up even just a little bit.
Nevertheless, no matter how much she struggled, she just couldn't lift it. It was only when she activated her superpowers and clenched her teeth was she able to lift it a couple of inches from the ground.
"This is insane, how did he do it? Was he cheating?"
"No, I didn't sense any superpower coming from him when I passed by him."
"Or maybe he just deactivated his superpower on the last hundred meters."
"No, he really didn't use any of his superpowers on the entire race. I was there." Alicia announced to everyone. But of course, no one believed her.
A couple of minutes later, Magnus Carter arrived at the scene, clapping his hand and congratulating everyone for a job well done.
As usual, none of his Disciples failed the first test of the day. No one could afford failing the first test so most of the Disciples took little risks. It was to be expected, since passing the first test gives everyone more freedom for the upcoming tests.
"Please head forward to receive your rewards." Magnus Carter said as some of his personnel appeared. They began handing out the mints that every Disciple earned for keeps.
Usually, no one bothered with each other's earnings. However, today was different, they were curious as to how much Satoshi earned during the entire race.
They lingered around the place after getting their mints, sticking close to Satoshi, but no so much so he wouldn't suspect them that much.
When it was Satoshi's turn to get it, Magnus Carter specifically stepped forward to give him his mint. He glared at some of his Disciples since they were sticking too close to Satoshi, not that Satoshi was bothered by it.
"Here you go," Magnus scratched his head, handing Satoshi eight gold mints— an equivalent of 800 gold mints.
"Thanks," Satoshi indifferently said as he pocketed eight gold mints. As for everyone, they hung their mouths open in shock. They couldn't believe that someone earned eight times as much as their expected maximum earnings.
Initially, they thought that one could earn a maximum of one gold mint, when in fact, one could actually multiply that maximum amount by equipping more than one two-tonne pouch.
"Wait... so, he really ran with that much weight without using his superpower?!" One of the Disciples asked, to which Magnus Carter nodded. Apparently, he too was shocked that Satoshi could actually pull it off.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel