Parallel Memory

"Huff… huff…"

The sound of heavy panting resounded in the room as I continued lifting the barbell. The room that I am currently training is not an ordinary room but a room called Gravity Room.

In the Gravity Room, you can adjust the gravity of the room to the one that you want. The maximum gravity was up to 20 times the normal gravity.

Right now, I am being trained here, early in the morning by Professor Mia. Lifting 200 kg barbell plus 5 times the normal gravity. Even for a guy who would train continuously for days, it was difficult.

Last night, Professor Mia sent me a message to come to the Gravity Room at 6 in the morning, after my rest day was over.

First thing she did was to make me run in a circle for 30 minutes. It might have been a piece of cake if the gravity in the room was not 5 times more.

In the beginning, Professor Mia set the gravity to 3 times but seeing that Zero was not at all affected by it, she decided to increase it.

She was determined to make Zero one of the strongest students in the Tournament of Academies. To do that, she would need to train Zero in harsh conditions.

Normal training would do no good to strong people like Zero. Zero already proved that when he completed running in 5 times the gravity.

If it was an average person in Rank-D -, he/she would have passed out from exhaustion. While she saw him sweating and breathing heavily, it didn't seem like he was at his limit.

After that was when she made Zero lift a 200 kg barbell in the Gravity Room. Zero felt as if he was lifting a ton of weights due to the 5 times gravity.

( Looks like Professor Mia is not going to make this easy. )

But lifting 200 kg barbell in 5 times gravity was nothing impossible. While it was difficult training, I could manage to lift it.

I knew Professor Mia's method would be extreme but who could have thought she would make me lift a 200 kg barbell in the Gravity Room right off the bat?

-GRRRR! -GAAHH!

As I kept lifting the weights, I started to become weaker and grunting noises unintentionally escaped from my mouth.

( Good! It looks like he really trains hard. )

Professor Mia thought as she was completely satisfied with Zero's performance.

She was impressed by Zero's persistence and his ability to continue. Rarely did she ever come across students who could follow her training method. It was also one of the most difficult training methods she devised for the students.

She would normally not use this but Zero was a rare talent who had the potential to surpass her. So, she wants to be able to provide the most effective training she can.

While this was her most difficult and grueling method of training, it also provided the highest results. How did she know?

Because it was the same training method she used when she was at Rank-D -. However, she ended up passing out after one hour of following this method during her first week.

Unlike her, Zero could handle it easily and she was happy to know that. She thought she needed to revise her method and bring in more tough training.

She was observing Zero very meticulously. She was carefully watching Zero to find out what his limits are and what he can handle, so that she could come up with a more effective training method.

"Zero, you have done well today. Umm… Let's end the training here. I will see you in class.~"

Professor happily said.

"Hah…Hah…"

Honestly, it was the most difficult training that I ever did. Luckily it lasted for only one and a half hours. In that short period of time, I was exhausted and drenched in sweat.

Normal training will not make me exhausted or sweat even if I practice for a whole day. Normal training was not very effectuve for me.

Only by opting for extreme methods do I see myself improving, though Professor Mia's method could be said to be too extreme.

However, I was happy with the training because I know that I will get stronger if I continue to train like this.

I happily left the Gravity Room and headed toward the shower room.

*****

The morning training ended at 7:30 am. I was able to take a shower and dress up in 20 minutes. And made my way to the classroom.

I entered the class and I could feel the gazes of the students. As I walked towards the classroom, the same thing happened.

Students will most likely stare at me whenever they see me. While it was awkward, I was used to ignoring those stares.

Similarly, I would also ignore my classmate's stare and sit down in my place.

"I heard he rejected Professor Uriel's Art."

"Dammit! I thought it was just a rumor but many students present there confirmed it. Who is stupid enough to reject Level 6 Art? I wish I was in Zero's place."

"Pft! Who would not like to be in Zero's place? He is one of the strongest students and even third-year students fear him. Everybody would be happy to exchange their place with him."

The students who are interested in gossip have already gotten hold of the news that Zero rejected Level 6 Sword Art. While many believed Zero made a major mistake, others believed the reason Zero rejected the offer was that Zero possessed an even higher level of Art.

While the Sword Art that Zero showed in the Tournament could be said to be decent, it didn't possess the power that Level 6 Sword Art typically has. Though not all Level 6 Sword Art would have high power.

Many believed that theory because why else would Zero reject something as valuable as Level 6 Sword Art if he had a low-Rank Art?

Students were surprised and shocked to find out that there was someone so strong among their classmates. They were also jealous of Zero's strength.

However, they were not afraid or scared of Zero because why would they? They didn't do anything to offend him.

"Boss, what shall we do?"

"Do we go and apologize before he beats us?"

"Phew! It does not look like Zero remembers us. It might be a good idea to not appear in front of him. He will eventually forget us."

Flash Erwin said to his lackey. He was a man of pride. How could he bow his head? But remembering Zero's strength, he started to sweat and tremble.

Although other students were not afraid of Zero, it was a different story for Flash Erwin and his friends. They could be said to be fortunate that they didn't face any retaliation from Zero when they were harassing him.

But they were definitely afraid that one-day Zero might cripple them because of their previous action. Beginning from the day Zero defeated Lyon, they lived in fear and waited for their end.

Luckily it didn't seem like Zero would bother with someone as insignificant as them. They felt a little relieved to see Zero was just going to his own seat as usual.

They nervously looked at Zero who was going to his seat. They could not help but think,

'Why the hell did we mess with that monster?'