Five

"PUSH CADET!" Knight Jurgen screamed in the straining boy's face as he tried to rise up in the squat rack. Kon was quickly trying to figure out the weight as he kept performing high knees as his assigned technician kept clutching at her holopad and touching her visor.

"Looks like a hundred-thirty kilos. He's pretty strong." Kon watched as the boy managed to finish the rep, racking the weight and instantly sagging against the support beam as his legs folded under him. Jurgen caught him with one arm, the boy taller than the Knight, but lacking most of the Knight's formidable musculature.

"Cadet Kon, front and center," Jurgen said as a visorless technician grabbed the cadet and helped him away. There was a smattering of applause as everyone cheered the boy, who had so far achieved the most weight on the lift.

Kon looked around the large gymnasium and the small circles of cadets standing outside of the weight racks. Each machine or station was designed with a different purpose, though most seemed fairly basic. He hadn't spent much time doing anything other than body weight exercises during his brief time on the Dragon's Maw and had trouble identifying what each piece of machinery was supposed to do.

"At least the squat racks are simple." Kon thought to himself as he mimicked what the other boy had done, settling the long bar on his trapezius muscles. He stood upright as Jurgen started to open his mouth, eyes widening for a split second. Kon dropped into a squat, reaching a ninety degree angle with his back straight before rising up. He did ten reps while the room slowly grew silent.

"It's not that impressive. That other guy did ten on his first set without a problem. Why are they all staring at me?"

"Cadet. Next time you will not initiate the exercise until permission has been granted," Jurgen said as Kon racked the weight. The Knight glanced at the weights on the end of the bar and Kon realized with a sinking suspicion that they hadn't had time to be changed by the autoloader.

He'd just easily repped what had been the final lift for the, so far, strongest cadet in their class. He swallowed noisily as he looked around all the peering eyes at him. Diur just shook her head slowly, a wry grin tugging at the corners of her lips.

"We're increasing weight to one-fifty. Cadet, assume the ready position," Jurgen said, flicking a button on the rack. With a clang more weight was added to the bar as Kon settled under the bar. He looked and met Jurgen's eyes and the man nodded slowly.

"And lift!" Jurgen barked. Kon dropped down with ease, rising smoothly as he ripped through rep after rep without pause. He caught a glimmer of energy drifting off of Jurgen, but it was so faint he couldn't tell what it was. Kon shook his head to clear his thoughts as he kept going through the lifts.

After every tenth rep they stopped to add more weight, giving him forty-five second cooldowns to catch his breath. The strain on his muscle was negligent until they hit two hundred kilos. Then he started to feel a slight strain as he did his lifts.

At two-fifty he struggled at the apex of the tenth lift. He reached failure at three hundred-five kilos, legs folding under him on the eighth rep. The shudder of the bar hitting the guidance bars rattled the entire rack as Kon sat on his rear, looking up and breathing heavily. He could already feel his muscle repair node dragging energy out of his body to repair his muscles.

Jurgen was trained enough not to let anything show on his face after his original shock. The technician looking at the holopad wasn't. It was hardly staying in her hands as she stared at him with a wide expression, jaw hanging open as she swallowed a few times before coming back to herself and clicking a few buttons.

"Good work cadet. Begin recovery while we finish testing," Jurgen said, offering a wide palm for Kon to grasp. The Knight lifted him to his feet with ease and Kon joined the silent circle, acutely aware of everyone staring at him.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"I don't think that counts as lying low," Diur whispered out of the corner of her mouth to him. Before he had a chance to respond, Jurgen interrupted them.

"Diur Hthior, your next," Jurgen said. Diur opened her mouth then shrugged and stepped inside of the squat rack without a word. Kon felt a prickle of interest begin to pester him as the E-Grade cultivator began her exercises. He thought for a moment that he would have her beat, but she quickly disabused him of that notion. She blew by his record with ease, only beginning to struggle when she reached three-hundred-sixty kilos. She reached failure at three hundred-eighty-five kilos.

This time when the bar hit the safety rails the entire gym shook slightly as Diur extricated herself from under the bar, a slight sheen of sweat on her face. The other cadets were staring at the two of them with a mix of horror and awe. Jurgen was smiling though.

"Diur and Kon, front and center," Jurgen said after they watched the last of the cadets go through the training. None had managed to pierce the one-fifty barrier. All of them shuffled off looking more in awe than horror as a different technician led them to their next set of exercises.

"I can see that your training has superseded what the cadets can do. Honestly your physical strength is already getting close to reaching Knight levels, indicating that you have finished your node placement or have even made your first full rune. Now, don't say anything about it. I am not in your direct chain of command nor or you sworn to my Order." Jurgen looked seriously at Kon and he felt glad the man had specified that.

"I am to evaluate all cadets and having you two here overshadowing everything can create a detrimental environment to a group that has already been placed under significant strain. You will remain here while I finish the cadet's testing and then resume your testing with the Squires. Do not leave the gymnasium." Jurgen finished the last part with a quick finger waggle before turning and heading back to his group.

"How are you so strong?" Kon asked instantly, looking over at the much smaller Ulmna.

"Just because I'm not a body cultivator doesn't mean my body isn't strengthened," she said with a quick laugh as they moved to a corner of the gym and sat down to quietly observe everyone else.

"You are very strong for a F-Grade cultivator, even if you are closing in on the peak. It gets hard to tell which step someone is on the closer they get to your own level of strength. The lines blur and body cultivation is strange. But I'm still currently stronger than you," Diur said as she crossed her legs and began to slowly meditate. In the void of space there was no energy for her to cultivate with, but she seemed to enjoy the actual act of meditation.

Kon just leaned against a wall and watched the rest of the cadets workout. The rubbery feel in his legs quickly faded away as his node healed everything and he knew that he could lift slightly more now than he could have a few minutes ago. Kon wondered just how much stronger he had become under Alice's tutelage and how much further he could go.

His eyes found Knight Jurgen as the muscular man walked around. He wondered how strong a Knight was if he was already approaching Knight levels. When Jurgen had hauled him to his feet he had felt the man's strength for a brief moment. It had been like staring into a deep pool of water, the depths hidden from him, only the knowledge that he was looking upon something vast tickling his mind.

Jurgen might be stronger than Alice, at least physically. Alice had been a D-Grade, but had just started working her way through the grade before she had fallen. Bosch had been a peak E-Grade or close enough and had seemed significantly weaker.

"How big is the gap between peak E-Grade and low D-Grade?" Kon asked Diur. her breath hitched for a moment and a bit of a scowl tugged at her features before she snorted softly.

"Less than five minutes before you start asking questions."

"Better to ask than sit in ignorance," Kon fired back. Diur snorted loudly, drawing a few eyes as she covered her mouth with a hand, eyes wide as she looked around, shocked that she had made the sound.

"My apologies, you sound like one of the elders for a moment. And the gap can be quite considerable. Larger than the gap between low to peak. Breaking though to the next realm is a struggle. You saw my ancestor's tribulation as she ascended to B-Grade, which is a severe reaction, but similar to what everyone faces as they go from one realm to the next."

"What? That doesn't answer my question at all," Kon cut in drawing Diur's irritated gaze on him. He swallowed and bowed his head as the woman continued.

"You absorb some of the energy of the tribulation, the ripples of your ascendancy like a rock in a pond. The water reflects back upon you and you take some to yourself, the amount differs and can offer some leeway which makes grading someone hard. Two peak C-Grades could have wildly different amounts of strength, regardless of their techniques, based on how they handled their breaches into E,D, and C grade."

"So you don't know and it's all individualistic?"

"Yes. When I reach the peak of E-Grade I would not fight a D-Grade cultivator unless to do otherwise is death. What Knight Bosch did was tremendously brave and she knew she would not survive it. Your runes are quite formidable as are your armor," Diur said. Kon nodded along and sat back against the wall, chewing over her words as they waited for the cadets to arrive and the real testing to begin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.