Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Train Pressure
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Helena said,
“Sir Kang Geohan White Knight. Let’s avoid this. He’s a noble.”
But Kang Geohan did not follow her words.
He didn’t know why.
Maybe it was just that he couldn’t stand the sight of Gerot, whose spirit had been utterly crushed.
Or perhaps he didn’t want to be lumped in with non-noble knights and insulted.
In any case, his body moved first. Not after thinking up some reason.
“……Sir Kang Geohan White Knight?”
Helena’s startled voice scattered in his ear.
Kang Geohan stepped forward.
The noble sons’ gazes turned to Kang Geohan. More precisely, to the wing-shaped badge wrapping the hilt of the sword at his collar.
The young master, who had been raising his voice all along, asked Kang Geohan.
“What is it? Are you a new candidate trainee too?”
Kang Geohan gave a calm salute. In this world, knights saluted nobles upon meeting them. That was etiquette.
“Sir! I am Kang Geohan White, graduate of the 13th Selection Training Center.”
“……Lanis Kane, of the Kane Viscountcy.”
After Lanis Kane returned the salute, Kang Geohan dropped his.
“Did my classmate commit some discourtesy toward you, Young Master Kane?”
Gerot White’s face twisted upon hearing Kang Geohan’s voice.
But with the noble sons before him, he couldn’t dare act rashly and could only glare at Kang Geohan with his eyes.
Of course, Kang Geohan paid it no mind.
“Discourtesy? Oh, he did. He told me to get out of his way since I was in his path.”
From what he’d heard of the situation, it was indeed Gerot White’s fault. Gerot, who had been in a foul mood lately, had apparently acted arrogantly relying on his status as a White Knight.
But unluckily for him, he’d run into Lanis Kane, true heir of a noble house.
“Well, truthfully, that level of rudeness I could have forgiven. We don’t go around wearing badges symbolizing our status like you lot, so it’s understandable to make a mistake if you don’t know. But what I can’t forgive is……”
Lanis Kane’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“That he didn’t have the skill to back up that arrogance.”
Lanis slowly scanned Kang Geohan up and down.
“So…… I’m still debating even now. Whether to treat you, who appeared before me claiming to be a knight…… as a noble knight worthy of respect, or as a parasite no better than this fool.”
The young master, who looked about seventeen, spoke without hesitation.
But Kang Geohan did not get angry at the insult. He had long since grown numb to scorn and contempt from his childhood days.
It was nothing new at this point. And above all, Kang Geohan had confidence in himself.
“You should treat me as a knight. I still have much to learn and am inexperienced, but we are formally granted knights of the White name. We have sufficient qualifications.”
“Hmm? At least your spirit is somewhat admirable.”
Lanis Kane averted his gaze from Kang Geohan. He looked at the rooms lined up behind him.
“We’ll test you the same way. That guy earlier collapsed at 0.41 percent, so he couldn’t even properly warm up.”
* * *
The Kingdom Train had exercise equipment that Kang Geohan had described as “fantastic.”
Its name was the Train Pressure.
Moving the massive Kingdom Train required tremendous power.
It didn’t need the complex movements of a Gigant, so it used magic engineering to consume resources and produce output without a rider, but in principle, a rider could also provide the driving power just like with a Gigant.
That was the circumstance behind the creation of the Train Pressure.
While the train was in operation, knights needing demonic mana training would enter the divided Train Pressure rooms car by car, connect to the train’s power unit as if piloting a Gigant, and take on part of the train’s output.
It was a win-win system: good training for the knight, reduced resource consumption for the train.
‘Gerot White endured 0.41 percent……?’
That meant Gerot could shoulder 0.41 percent of the output needed for this entire massive train.
Considering the train’s enormous size, that was impressive in itself. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Lanis Kane’s eyes.
And the same went for Kang Geohan’s eyes.
‘Gerot. You’re falling behind more and more.’
Not to mention Kang Geohan himself, but even his training companions were growing at a rapid pace.
Especially after consuming the golden nutritional supplement from the Celestial Clan, the growth over the last two days had been remarkable.
In contrast, Gerot seemed stuck in place.
“Even for a newbie, I don’t want to acknowledge someone who can’t exceed 0.5 percent as a White Knight. How about it? Will you take the challenge? If you surpass my standard, I’ll gladly apologize for the rudeness I showed a honorable knight.”
Lanis Kane nailed it down.
“But if you disappoint me too, you’ll have to accept the punishment for it. You and that arrogant fool. I’ll have each of you slapped five times.”
Success meant apology and respect. Failure meant five slaps across the face.
For a knight to be slapped in front of everyone was dishonor among dishonors.
For someone with strong pride, it was horrific enough to drive them to suicide.
It wasn’t a fair bet.
But Kang Geohan didn’t want to back down spinelessly here.
The man who had set his sights on standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Celestial Clan shrinking back from a mere viscount’s son? Unthinkable.
Kang Geohan brought up his InBody window to size up the opponent.
[Lanis Kane]
Height: 168cm
Weight: 56kg
Willpower: 112/112
Strength: 77/77
Mana: 108/108
Fat Mass: 5.81kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal): 19.34kg
Demonic Mana: 1,321 pindem
He was strong. Helena, the top among his classmates, had her demonic mana explode to 1,089 pindem even after the golden supplement. This crushed that. As expected of a noble?
[Kang Geohan]
Height: 178cm
Weight: 60kg
Willpower: 153/153
Strength: 66/66
Mana: 74/74
Fat Mass: 5.53kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal): 23.03kg
Demonic Mana: 761 pindem
Kang Geohan had also achieved tremendous growth in a short time.
Through growth leave, he’d gained about 50 pindem of demonic mana, and after the golden supplement, an absurd surge of over 200 pindem in just two days.
But compared to Lanis Kane, it was barely over half.
‘Still…… I don’t want to lose.’
Lanis Kane had phrased it as recognition if he endured just 0.5 percent output, but Kang Geohan always aimed beyond that.
‘Demonic mana twice as much. I’ve faced conditions like this plenty of times.’
It had always been that way at the training center. Competing and winning against Helena and Gerot, who had twice his demonic mana.
Kang Geohan trusted himself. And with his goal to become a noble, he greatly wanted to beat a real noble.
“Let’s start right away. Of course, you’ll join me, Young Master Kane?”
“Of course. I can’t call myself a noble if I can’t prove myself.”
Kang Geohan and Lanis Kane’s gazes clashed in midair. Then both opened their respective doors and entered the Train Pressure rooms simultaneously.
* * *
The Train Pressure really was a fantastic piece of exercise equipment.
The overall feel was similar to boosting a Gigant’s output, but there was a crucial difference: “safety.”
Piloting a Gigant always carried the risk of “crashing.”
If you pushed for higher output but couldn’t handle it, you crashed.
If unbearable pressure crushed the Gigant rider, you could be smashed to death or crippled.
In contrast, the Train Pressure was safe.
Unlike a Gigant, where the rider bore all the output alone, the Kingdom Train’s output was fundamentally handled by the engine room consuming “power water.”
A knight doing Train Pressure merely temporarily shouldered part of that output.
So if the knight couldn’t handle it, the excess output naturally returned to the engine room.
In other words, it was the ultimate exercise equipment for safely challenging maximum weight without risk of injury or death.
For that reason, ever since boarding the Kingdom Train, Kang Geohan had never skipped a Train Pressure session.
He was already familiar with it.
No need for needless tension.
‘I can do this.’
Though his demonic mana was sorely lacking, Kang Geohan trusted in two things.
‘My demonic mana is low, but I can handle 3RM.’
In fitness, there was the RM concept.
Lifting at 10RM meant a weight you could lift 10 times but failed on the 11th.
1RM meant you could muster it once with all your might but not twice.
Kang Geohan applied this to demonic mana a bit differently.
‘Others max out at 10RM, usually less than 20RM.’
It was measured by how many bursts it took to expend the mana shown in the InBody window.
Kang Geohan could do 3RM—that is, empty all his mana in three bursts.
At first, he could do 1RM, using all mana in one go, but as his demonic mana grew rapidly, it became harder, dropping to 3RM now. Still, it overwhelmingly surpassed others. Using mana was harder than physical strength, requiring more willpower.
Especially to burst it all at high RM.
Kang Geohan had steadily raised his willpower by using all his mana from the start, was innately gifted with exceptional demonic mana sense, and had the full-body mirror ability to see it directly—allowing him higher RM than anyone.
That’s how he’d beaten Gerot and Helena, who had far more mana back at the training center.
Kang Geohan ramped up the output in one go.
‘Straight to max output without stopping……!’