Rise of the Crusader

Chapter 23: Monster

“What is he even doing in there?!” Aiden asked, staring at the door in front of him.

Aiden then turned towards Devon who was on the chair, “Aren’t you curious?” Devon, however, shrugged his shoulders when heard Aiden, “If you are that curious, why don’t you just enter.” Devon exclaimed.

“He hasn’t stepped out of the room since yesterday when we came back from class, even when we told him, the food has already been delivered, it was Gus who came out to get his own.”

Aiden stood in front of the door with his hand placed on his chin, “Could it be that he is disturbed about what Craig will do to him, after all, he did reject a member of the cabal.”

“Or is it because of what happened between him and Serena?!” The words just kept coming out of Aiden’s mouth.

“You know, I would have assumed that he is dead, but I can still hear footsteps in the room, so he is still alive... So, what has he been doing in there all this while.”

Devon, who was playing video games, suddenly heaved a deep breath, he then glared at Aiden who had been chattering for a very long time, and when he could bear it anymore, Devon dropped the gamepad and stood from his seat.

.....

“Move aside!”

When Aiden heard Devon, he quickly moved, and after Devon shot another fierce glare at Aiden, he pushed the room door open. “Now, are you ha-” Devon abruptly paused, and his eyes couldn’t help but twitch when he stared at the room.

This wasn’t the first time Aiden and Devon were stepping into Raphael’s room, and while they had once been left dazzled by how he had arranged his room, it was nothing to compared to how they felt this time around.

On one side was his bed, and the other was his working area. But the previous time Aiden and Devon were here, the working space already took more than half of the room, and now, it had widened its horizon, leaving only a portion left.

There was once a standing fan, mirror, and a few other items in the room, but now they didn’t exist any longer. It was only the bed and wardrobe that remained in that area.

“Did you rob the mall of all this equipment when we were there... And how were you able to bring this much in without us realizing.” Aiden couldn’t help but ask.

Even Devon was stunned when he saw all that was inside the room, “It’s no wonder why you spent more than a million points in a single day.” Devon muttered with shock evident in his voice.

While Devon and Aiden were appalled, after a few minutes they managed to regain their composure, “Raphael!!” It was Aiden’s loud voice that rang out.

Devon and Aiden had been swept over by the equipment which was around the room, and they didn’t realize that Raphael wasn’t far away from them.

“He has an earbud on, there’s no way he is going to hear us,” Devon muttered.

Raphael was down on all fours beside his bed, his hand’s palms placed slightly wider than his shoulder, his back, arms, and legs were straight, he lowered his body until his chest nearly touched the ground and began to push himself back up.

“75”

“76”

“77”

Devon and Aiden continued to stare at him, however, after a few seconds, Devon’s mouth opened wide, “This... Is... Impossible!!!!!!!” Devon exclaimed with his hand then placed above his head.

“What is it, Devon?” Aiden asked.

Devon rubbed his hand across his eyes, before then glaring at Raphael, “Aiden, I need you to pinch me, so I will know this isn’t a dream.” Devon said.

“Ouch!” It wasn’t even up to a second after Devon spoke, and Aiden squeezed a small amount of his skin.

After the pain lessened, Devon stared at Raphael, and that expression full of disbelief appeared on him. “His... W-Watch...” Devon stammered, before then pointing his hand at Raphael and saying, “Look at his wristwatch.”

It was then that Aiden then glanced over to the wristwatch Raphael was putting on, and seeing the number which was showing, his mouth opened so wide that an egg could fit inside.

“Ohhhh... My godddd. No way!!!!” Aiden found himself in the same stupefied state that Devon was.

“The number was precisely 27,000 points yesterday, and now look it has climbed to 29,000...” The shock was evident in Devon’s voice as he spoke. “And it is still increasing!!!!!” Devon uttered, rubbing his hand across his hair.

“29,300”

“29,700”

“30,000”

By the time the number got to thirty thousand, Devon and Aiden sat abruptly on the ground. “He is a monster!” Aiden said, and Devon who was seating on the ground nodded his head, agreeing with what he had just said.

“His power points are increasing from the push-up he is doing. I can’t believe he did push-ups to climb into the rank of B-rank meta-human.” Devon mumbled in a low voice.

“Perhaps he possesses the push-up-leveling system or something,” Aiden stated.

Devon raised an eyebrow when he heard Aiden, “Really, push-up-leveling system, that’s a terrible name... It should be the meta-leveling system. I really thought that systems only existed in comic books, but it turns out that it’s real.”

“I wonder who else knows apart from us?”

Aiden and Devon continued talking to one another, unbeknown to them, a figure was standing in front of them with a dumbfounded look on his face.

The figure was no one other than Raphael. Raphael had completed his daily 100 pushups and sit-ups, he was about to head over to the bathroom, when he saw Aiden and Devon seating on the ground.

“When did you guys get here, and what meta leveling system or push-up-leveling system are you talking about?” Raphael asked. He had been standing in front of them for a few seconds and heard some of what they were saying.

Aiden and Devon stood from the ground when they saw Raphael, the two of them glanced at each other before staring back at Raphael, and Aiden then said, “Don’t worry Raphael, your secret is safe with us.”

“Yes, we won’t tell anyone about it.”

Raphael’s eyebrows furrowed when he saw Devon and Aiden acting all weird, “What secrets? I honestly have no idea what you two are talking about.” Raphael said.

“You have no idea?” Aiden asked, and without any delay, Raphael nodded his head. “Alright then, I’m going to ask you one question, how long have you been doing push-ups?”

“Since I was ten,” Raphael replied.

“Why are you asking?!”

Devon and Aiden stared at one another before Aiden turned towards Raphael and said, “After the push-ups, do you perhaps hear a ding sound, or do you feel more powerful.” Devon and Aiden’s eyes were glaring at Raphael after that question was asked.

“Hmmm” Raphael placed his hand on his chin, “I don’t hear a ding sound, but I feel lighter after every session. I have been doing my exercise since I was ten, and I haven’t missed a day, so I have actually gotten used to the feeling.” Raphael said.

“So, you mean, you have only been doing push-ups since you were ten, no other training, and with just that, you have become a B-rank metahuman,” Devon asked seemingly dazed.

Raphael frowned when he heard Devon, he then stared at his watch and seeing the numbers a smile appeared on his face, “Look at that, 30,300. Not bad! Anyway, one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, yeah that’s all.”

There was complete silence in the room after Raphael’s voice rang out. Devon and Aiden’s eyes were twitching, and while it seemed like they wanted to talk, neither of them was able to get them out of their mouth.

However, the silence was broken, when Raphael spoke, “You guys should excuse me, I want to freshen up... You should do the same, it says on the timetable that the next class will be on the elite division training ground.”

Devon and Aiden had yet to regain composure when Raphael gently pushed them out of the room.

“On-One hundred push-ups... And sit-ups. The push-up-leveling system is really insane.” Aiden mumbled.

“I will be back in ten-fifteen minutes.” Aiden stretched his palm forward and a portal appeared in the room. He then stared at Devon, who was walking towards his room before jumping into the portal.

Meanwhile, a deep smile could be seen on Raphael’s face, “With this class, I will finally get to know everyone’s powers, and I will begin making preparation.” Raphael said as he walked to the bathroom.

**********

DaiostSteve1

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