Novel Boss
Chapter 14: Kratos Pressure Training Room
[The Kratos Pressure Training Room]
The system answered to Nolan whose eyes narrowed as he looked around the room, discovering what the system meant.
It was a training area at the farthest depths of the entire space, situated on the second floor.
Nolan immediately took the stairs, making his way towards the training area.
Contrary to the rest of the training rooms, this area was made of clear glass instead and was shaped like a long cubic box, with a warrior statue at its end.
The statue depicted a muscular man with a fierce and intense expression. He had a bald head and a full dark beard, with his body painted in red and white stripes reminiscent of tribal or war paint.
The warrior's outfit consisted of a leather belt with a large circular buckle and a kilt-like garment. In his right hand, he held a large axe, and in his left hand was another large axe.
Even though it was nothing but a statue, the character's stance exuded a sense of strength and dominance that Nolan found awe-inspiring.
Slowly, he approached the glass covering, gently pushing it open, but his face changed when it wouldn't budge at all.
"Is this really glass?" Nolan thought to himself in shock.
With no other choice, he began exerting strength on the glass, green veins bulging all over his arms.
After battling for 30 seconds straight, Nolan finally pushed it open and quickly rolled into the half-open space before the glass shut back with a loud bang.
"Phew, that was..." Nolan was about to say when his face changed in the next instant and then...
BAAAAAAANG
His face smashed onto the glassy floor, feeling himself roughly pressed into the ground by a crazy pressure.
The pressure's source was none other than the statue of the man before him. Only now did Nolan understand why the glass had been so heavy; it was because of the effect of the statue on it.
[Let me explain to you how this area works, Nolan. That statue isn't just an ordinary stone statue; it has been implanted with a fraction of Kratos's pressure himself! Now, it is safe to assume that you're standing before a god!]
[This cubic area is an artifact meant to reduce the pressure in a particular area. Look in front of you and tell me how many areas there are...] the system said as Nolan struggled to lift his face and look into the distance.
He could see right before him a total of nine barriers that extended into the distance, with the final barrier being right in front of the statue.
"Nine areas..." Nolan responded.
[That means what you're currently undergoing is 1/9 of the true pressure coming from the statue as you're still in the ninth room.]
[If you want to awaken your Pantheon Will and fulfill the second quest, you have to at least reach the 6th room.]
The system said casually, but Nolan's face paled.
He was only at the ninth area and was already pressed tightly onto the ground, struggling to move his body. How would he fare at the 6th area? He would probably be reduced to a pulp.
[It is also noteworthy to say, Nolan, that this pressure doesn't affect your body. It affects your will.]
[So it isn't your body that is being pressed down; it is your weak will telling your body it is unable to move.]
[Your body is still perfectly fine and can rise, but it is held back by your own will.]
[ Now you understand why I repeatedly called you a peasant? You lack even the tiniest bit of will.]
[ I'm pretty sure others your age will easily reach the fifth area before they are reduced to such a state.]
"I'm not a peasant!" Nolan shot back fiercely.
[Oh really? Then prove it to me, Nolan]
[Reach the 6th floor and show me you're not a peasant.]
[Or give up and move out; the door is just three inches behind your leg]
[I just hope after that, you shut your mouth anytime I call you a peasant.]
[See you on the sixth floor...] The system said to him before completely fading away, leaving only Nolan alone in the white room and the warrior statue.
"Tch," a click of his tongue rang out, full of irritation.
When the system had formerly called him pathetic, Nolan had blamed it on the fact that he couldn't grow stronger like the others due to his weird constitution.
But now, this was different.
Right now, it wasn't his weak body that was being pressed; it was his will, and he couldn't get up.
The other Celestial Heirs were able to reach the higher rooms and get closer to the statue, but he was struggling to move at the first barrier!
What excuse did he have this time?
It was as clear as day that he truly was pathetic.
"I am not pathetic!" Nolan said with beastly determination and conviction.
In the next instant, he pressed onto the ground and rose from the floor, moving from his laying position to all fours.
The pressure on him immediately doubled, trying to press his head back to the ground and forcefully make him succumb.
But Nolan clenched his teeth even harder as he forcefully jerked his head up, rising onto both knees.
"GRRRRHHH"
A groan of pain rang out from his mouth as he half-rose up, and withstanding it, he took the first step, raising his leg and immediately slamming it hard on the ground.
Now, he was only on one knee.
"I am beyond pathetic!" he said through clenched teeth.
With one last push, he rose his second leg up, forcefully standing upright against the monumental pressure haunting his will.
The instant he stood upright and stared fiercely at the statue a few meters away from him straight in the eyes, something changed!