Parallel Memory

"It's the Holy Training Ground. This is the place where guards and Holy Guards are trained."

Adeline answered.

"Hmmm"

( So this is the place where they train. )

Even a Rank-A guard would become rusty if they were not trained from time to time. This place seemed to be where they polished themselves.

However, only 10x the gravity seemed to be an easy place to train. At least 30x gravity is needed if a person at Rank-A wants to train effectively.

10x might be enough for Rank-C and below. But the Church's strongest military, the Holy Guards, are at least Rank-B. For them, this place would be inefficient.

Though having 30x gravity inside the whole building might be hella expensive even for the Church. Even in the Ace Academy, there were only three or four rooms with such facilities.

"One, two, three."

"Whooo!"

"Huff…Puff…"

As we reached the training area, lots of people were training. They were making a lot of noise.

"All attention! Saintess Amelia is making her presence."

The guard stopped their training and immediately gathered and bowed when Saintess came.

"It is our blessing that the Saintess has graced us with your presence. Did the Saintess need something from us?"

The leader of the Guard asked Saintess Amelia. He is the Holy guard that Professor Mia froze when she entered the Holy Church.

"I want you to include him in your training sessions for the time being."

The Saintess ordered. This was her purpose for bringing the Zero here.

She had already thought of bringing Zero here but unexpectedly the person himself was also finding a place to train.

The Saintess wanted to make Zero suffer a little. The training of Church guards is said to be twice as difficult as in a Guild.

Not everyone was able to endure that training. Only the elites are capable of doing so. Even walking becomes difficult for Rank-D+ in 10x gravity.

At least that was the case for normal people at Rank-D+, not someone like Zero.

The guards at the Holy Church were more capable than others who are of the same rank. Though Professor Mia had easily defeated all the so-called elites.

That was the difference between an elite and a genius. In normal people's eyes, elites might seem talented at being stronger than normal people at the same rank.

However, the true monsters were those geniuses who could fight on par with people above their rank.

Anyway, Saintess didn't seem to know that the training Zero usually does with Professor Mia is many times higher than those training sessions with Holy Guards.

"And this is?"

The Holy Guard leader asked, looking at Zero.

The Holy Guard captain didn't know that the reason Saintess visited them was for allowing a kid to train with them.

"He is the apprentice of Ice Enchantress."

Saintess Amelia said.

Saintess mentioned Mia as Ice Enchantress because people usually know famous people by their titles rather than their actual names.

"Ice Enchantress?"

The Holy Guard leader's eyes widened. He didn't like Professor Mia very much.

In addition to Professor Mia's forceful entrance into the Holy Church, he was unable to stop her despite her numerical advantage.

Not to mention stopping her, they were defeated in one move. It was a humiliation that he could not forget in this life.

He didn't hold a grudge against Professor Mia though. It would be foolish to hold a grudge against someone as powerful and talented as Professor Mia.

Though he would naturally dislike someone who had any relationship with Ice Enchantress, especially her students.

The same was true for other guards who had been defeated by Professor Mia that day. They had their pride shattered by Professor Mia.

Normally, not even Rank-S would make trouble with them in the Holy Church. The Church was a very strong and influential organization after all. Nobody would want to get on their bad side.

They would not put Rank-S into their eyes but Professor Mia taught them the reality that day.

Their current position was a matter of riding the coattails of Church power, without knowing that even one Rank-S - would be enough to wipe them all out.

"Apprentice of the Ice Enchantress?"

"How dare he show his face here?"

"Is he Rank-C? I don't think he is Rank-C. He might collapse if he trains with us."

Several guards discussed the Saintess' intentions here. Some were dissatisfied with Zero joining them while some were concerned about lower rank training with them.

"Captain, we can't accept an outsider with us."

The guard who was dissatisfied with Zero spoke. To him, it looked like Zero was relying on Professor Mia and Saintess to join them.

While others might look down on the position of guards, getting the job as a guard in Holy Church was no easy thing.

You needed strength and endurance to be selected as the guard for the Holy Church. The man prided himself on being able to get the position of the guard in Holy Church.

He could not accept someone entering through a back door. He assumed Zero was going to become a guard.

"Yes, yes, how can we just accept that?"

"He is unqualified to train with us."

The others also supported it. Some were because of similar reasons while others were because they didn't like the Ice Enchantress.

They could not accept that the student of the one who humiliated them would be joining them.

"And a weakling like him will only get in the way of our training. I guarantee he can't even withstand our training session for 10 minutes."

The man further added. He seemed to view Zero as a weakling.

"Stop it! Don't act disgracefully in front of the Saintess."

The Holy Guards leader shouted and stopped the discussion among the guards.

While he didn't particularly like this, he was requested by the Saintess and could not ignore the Saintess request.

"Saintess Amelia, Sorry for their shameful behavior. I would increase their training so that they don't shame you in the future."

"It's okay. Zero, what are you planning to do? They seem to dislike you. I could not help you any further."

The Saintess said with a smile on her face. The way she acted made it seem as if she didn't have any power here.

( This bitch! )

She could have just commanded them to keep quiet and let me use the place but she purposely acted like she didn't have any authority in this place.

Those guards were all under her command and with just one word from her, they had to listen to her, whether they liked it or not.

She was truly looking forward to what I would do here.

*SIGH!

And there were those guards. I don't know why they seem to be so hostile towards me.

Even If I take advantage of Saintess to come here, I don't think so many people will hate me.

Zero, who was unconscious at that time and didn't know the problem that Professor Mia created.

He was confused at the hostility shown by them, not knowing how they were defeated by his teacher.

However, he quickly accepted it. It was because he was getting used to being hated by others.

"Then let's do it."

Zero said as he made his way towards the Guard.

There was one thing that spoke louder than anything in Edolas. It was power. As long as you show you are worthy, no one will say anything to you.

"Oie, you!"

I pointed at the guy who first questioned the captain about my capabilities.

"Since you think that I am too weak to endure the training session, let us see who could train more inside here."

Though the fighting was one of the ways to prove one's worth, it would be more meaningful to defeat him in the contest of endurance since he said I could not endure their training session.

Let's see whether they could compete with me who has been training under the guidance of Professor Mia, aka the training monster.

"Humph! Do you really want to compete with me? I am Rank-C+. You don't stand a chance."

The man spoke. He assumed that Zero was low rank because of his young appearance.

A Rank-E or Rank-D competing with a Rank-C was absurd.

Even if Rank-D might win in the fight because of luck and experience, there was no way for Rank-D to defeat Rank-C when competing in terms of strength and stamina stat.

Although how much one can endure in training will depend on their endurance, a higher stat means one will have an easier time enduring it.

So, people with higher stat were at an advantage if they were having a contest of endurance.

"Whether I have a chance or not, you will find out soon."

Zero thought that competing with that man would be more than enough to get him the acknowledgment to use that place.

"Are you sure?"

The Holy Guards leader asked Zero for confirmation.

Even if he disliked Professor Mia and her apprentice, it didn't mean that he would support something which is disadvantageous to one party.

He sensed that Zero was only at Rank-D+, which was one whole rank below Karn Kobe. Karn Kobe is the man who is being challenged by Zero.

Although Zero made the suggestion, he had a hard time accepting it.

Even if Zero lost, he could not ignore Saintess' request. He had to somewhat make Zero join the training session.

Zero's loss will only make it more difficult for him to convince his subordinates.

"Yes, If I lose I will disappear from here but if I win I want to use this place to train."

"But..."

"It's okay, Zain! Let's do as he said."

The Saintess said. She would not want to miss the opportunity to see Zero's strength. She wanted to find whether he was worth her lost lifespan.

Since the Saintess had already agreed to the idea, Zain also had no objections.

The contest was very simple; With an additional weight of 300 kg, whoever ran the highest lap would win.

It was essential to put them on weights so that the contest would end quickly. Without the weights, they might run for hours without being exhausted.

Zero and Karn put on the weight and were ready to compete. Zain was appointed as the judge of the contest.

"You may start!"

With Zain's signal, the contest started.