Chapter 55 - Density

"Okay then, get to it," said Jun, indicating that he wanted Julius to pick up one of the many giant bowlders in front of him.

"Are you sure I can pick it up?" Julius asked as he still doubted Jun even though he had just survived a full from a mountain top like it was nothing.

"Did you not just survive falling off that mountain? Stop doubting yourself or you won't make for a good king," said Jun as he lectured his student.

"Fine fine, I'll get started," said Julius as he walked over towards one of the bowlders with a slouched back to show that he didn't want to do it and was instead being forced to do the task.

Julius placed both his palms on the bowlders as he widened the space between his feet so he would be at his strongest when he picked up the rock. As he lifted the large bowlder, Julius' face began to turn red from exerting so much of his strength as his nerves began to show just from trying to pick up the bowlder.

…

"Wait, is this thing hollow?" Julius asked as he stoped posing as is he was going to pick up the entire planet. In his one hand was just a single bowlder which Julius carried with ease.

"It's exactly as I feared, even this is too easy for you," said Jun in shame as how much of a good teacher he was that he might have made Julius reach a state of power which was too much for his own good.

"So… what are we going to do?" Julius asked as he tossed the bowlder like it was just a kid's toy into the distance which caused many thees to fall down.

"Oops," said Julius as he followed his master who had began to walk further into the forest in search of something which could actually challenge Julius.

…

"Try to pick this up," said Jun as he pointed towards a tiny pebble on the ground which Julius smirked at as if he was hearing a joke.

"Sure master Jun, this will be so hard," said Julius as he mocked his teacher while leaning down to pick up the tiny pebble. To his surprise, he couldn't do it. No matter how much he struggled, Julius wouldn't be able to pick up the tiny pebble on the ground. However, Julius wouldn't give in that easily as he placed his second hand on the ground and began to pull upwards with all his might until he was finally able to bring it 40 cm off the ground.

"Wow! Good job! I didn't think you could do it but you proved me wrong," said Jun in an overjoyed voice.

"Why are you so proud? It's just a pebble," said Julius as he continued to breathe loudly due to it taking a lot of his energy to hold the pebble.

"What do you mean just a pebble? That's a secret art enchanted pebble, it's like you're picking up a quarter of a while mountain," said Jun as he continued to be impressed by his student.

"A-A mountain?" Julius asked as he began to smile, slightly proud of what he accomplished. However in that moment, Julius lost grip over the pebble and let go of it, only for him to drop it on his foot.

"OW!"

…

"Ow!"

…

"ow!"

…

"ow…" Julius' said could be heard all across the mountain range as Jun quickly moved the pebble off of Julius' leg after deactivating the secret art.

"Be more careful next time! But seriously, you've managed to accomplish so much in so little time. That's why I cannot allow you to rest. You need to keep growing, for your own kingdom and… for your futon," said Jun hoping that the last 3 words he said would encourage Julius. However, he was wrong… as Julius was more than just encouraged as he began to to do arm curls with the pebble at first before beginning to run with the pebble in hand as if it was nothing even though his foot had basically taken the damage of 1/4 of a mountain falling on top of it.

…

"Master, please give me another pebble with the same weight as this one. I need to make sure my body is evenly trained," Julius requested to which Jun gasped before fulfilling his students request.

<<Secret Art: Density Augmentation>>

After activating his secret art, Jun placed his index finger on another pebble before giving it to Julius. It was just as Julius hoped, both the pebbles were the exact same weight. With one pebble in each hand, Julius continuously ran across the forest endlessly while he kept talking to himself.

"How dare you Steward, I thought you were one of the cool kings. You dare betray my trust?! I'll have your head its the last thing I do! You could have taken anything except my futon but you still picked up the most priceless thing that belonged to me! Now just wait for me, your kingdom will turn into ruins soon enough, you'll pay dearly for having the audacity to steal my most treasured object," said Julius as his face continued to grow with rage until he eventually didn't even realize that he was holding the pebbles. All he thought he was doing was running in random directions with his fist clenched in anger.

…

"He's been at it for 11 hours… is he even human?" Jun asked himself as he hit Julius with a karate chop to the head which brought his student back from his thoughts into reality.

"Yes master?" Julius asked wondering why his master had stopped him.

"You've been running since morning until sun set, it's time for you to get back inside to sleep while you cultivate," Jun told his student.

"What do you mean, it's still morning-" Julius began to speak before looking around to see that it indeed was dark.

Seeing as his master was right, Julius stopped clenching his fists which allowed the augmented pebbles to drop onto the ground, in turn causing a miniature earthquake.

"If his control over his strength is this bad right now, what will happen when he gets inside my house," Jun said to himself as he began to cry as he said farewell to his lovely home.