Hi everyone !
So, I'm announcing it again! For every 100 power stones, I'll release a new bonus chapter! Let's start working towards our goal of becoming one of the top fanfictions!
Second announcement: I've posted a bonus chapter on my Patreon, so if you want more, go check it out!
In the meantime, you can contribute to the release of a bonus chapter on P@tre0n.
(PS: A friend suggested I create a P@treon account. If you'd like to see advanced chapters posted on Webnovel, that's where you can find them! I'll also mention all the supporters at the end of each chapter!)
Search : StoryLabo on the website or click the link on my bio
Happy reading !
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Aiden placed his hand on the golden handle and opened the door.
What awaited him on the other side literally took his breath away.
The room was immense, far vaster than what the castle's exterior architecture should have allowed. The ceiling rose to a dizzying height, at least fifteen meters, and the space extended over what must have been the equivalent of a football field. But it wasn't the size that stunned Aiden.
It was the course itself.
Holy shit.
Before him rose a structure that resembled an architectural nightmare designed by a sadist with a PhD in biomechanics. Horizontal bars suspended in the void at variable heights, rotating platforms that spun on themselves, balance beams ten centimeters wide suspended at terrifying heights, vertical walls dotted with tiny holds that would challenge the best Olympic climbers.
And that was just the beginning.
Further on, he could make out suspended rings that constantly oscillated, taut cables forming three-dimensional spider webs, sections where surfaces seemed to literally defy gravity by tilting at impossible angles. There was even what looked like horizontal rotating cylinders that one had to cross while running without falling, like in those completely crazy Japanese reality TV shows.
This isn't a training course, it's a fucking hardcore Jedi temple.
Aiden advanced slowly, his wonder tinged with a respectable dose of apprehension. The Room of Requirement had obviously not done things by halves. It had analyzed his superhuman physical abilities and decided to create a challenge worthy of them.
Or rather, a challenge that far exceeded him.
He approached the starting point of the course, marked by a luminous line on the ground. A first section rose before him a series of horizontal bars spaced about two meters apart, each slightly higher than the previous one, forming an ascending progression toward a platform located eight meters high.
Okay. Horizontal bar, nightmare level. Cool. Very cool.
Aiden removed his wizard robe that was dragging a bit, keeping only his pants and sports shirt. He stretched quickly, feeling his muscles respond with that supernatural fluidity he was beginning to know.
Come on, let's go. You ran like an Olympic athlete this morning, lifted a rock like a feather. Horizontal bars are just a matter of technique.
He launched himself, jumped toward the first bar and grabbed it firmly. His fingers closed on the cold metal with a force that would have crushed an aluminum tube. So far, so good.
He swung once, twice to build momentum, then propelled himself toward the next bar.
And there, everything went wrong.
His body went into uncontrolled rotation. He caught the second bar, certainly, but his shoulder had twisted at a weird angle, his pelvis wasn't aligned, and when he tried to reposition himself for the next jump, his entire body began dangling like a sack of potatoes hanging from a hook.
- "Shit!" he growled, trying to stabilize his movement.
He managed somehow to launch himself toward the third bar, but the reception was disastrous. His hands slipped, his body went into a spin, and he had to let go to avoid dislocating his shoulder. He landed heavily on the soft floor below the Room had at least had the decency to provide a landing mat.
Okay, Focus and Let's try again.
Second attempt. This time, he tried to control his initial swing more, to calculate the propulsion angle, the release timing...
Failure. He didn't even reach the fourth bar, his body once again going into an uncontrolled rotation that made him let go prematurely.
What the hell is wrong?
Aiden remained sitting on the landing mat, short of breath more from frustration than physical effort, and began analyzing the problem with his doctor's brain.
Let's see. I have the strength, I have the endurance, I even have superhuman reflexes. So why am I failing miserably?
He stood up and observed the course with a more clinical eye, mentally breaking down each necessary movement.
The problem wasn't brute force. It was biomechanics.
Each transition between bars required precise force transfer. When he swung on the first bar, the accumulated kinetic energy had to be converted into vertical AND horizontal propulsion at the exact moment of release. But his timing was completely off the mark.
Center of gravity, he realized. I'm not controlling my center of gravity during movement.
More precisely: when he swung, his pelvis and legs followed their own trajectory independently of his torso, creating a dissociation that completely parasitized the force transfer. Instead of having a unified body that transferred kinetic energy coherently, he had different parts of his anatomy working in disagreement.
It's like trying to throw a ball with a limp arm. All the strength in the world is useless if it's not properly directed.
He got back into position and tried again, this time concentrating specifically on bracing his trunk. Abdominal contraction, pelvis locking, spinal alignment...
Better. Slightly better. He reached the fifth bar before his positioning completely fell apart and he fell back down.
Fuck, this is frustrating.
But he was beginning to understand. It wasn't just a question of bracing. It was also the angle of attack when gripping each bar. When his hands grabbed the metal, the position of his elbows, the orientation of his shoulders, the rotation of his wrists all of this influenced his body's trajectory for the next swing.
And then there were the transitions themselves. The moment he let go of one bar to grab the next, that fraction of a second when he was in free flight, completely subject to the ballistic trajectory he had imposed on himself. If he hadn't generated the right force vector at the moment of release—angle, magnitude, direction he was completely screwed.
It's pure and simple physics. Kinetic energy transfer, conservation of angular momentum, rotational torque management...
Aiden tried a new approach, mentally breaking down the movement into distinct phases.
Phase one, which could be called Initial Swing: generate kinetic energy using the legs as a pendulum, while maintaining a braced trunk to avoid dissociation.
Phase 2 was Apex Rise: at the highest point of the swing, when gravitational potential energy is maximum, prepare the release by pre-orienting the body toward the next target.
Phase 3 was with a view to Release and Propulsion: let go at the exact moment when the velocity vector points toward the next bar, while adding an explosive impulse with the arms to compensate for distance.
Phase 4 was a sort of Ballistic Flight: during free flight, adjust body orientation to optimize reception.
And finally Phase 5 consisted of Gripping the next bar with hands at optimal angle, then absorbing impact by slightly flexing elbows to avoid losing energy in brutal shock.
In theory, it's simple. In practice...
He tried again, concentrating on each phase. This time, he managed to reach the sixth bar. Then the seventh on the next attempt. But each time, something stuck.
On the eighth bar, his obvious problem was rotational pivot.
When he swung, his body naturally performed a rotation around the horizontal axis formed by the bar. But to move to the next bar, which was higher and slightly offset to the side, he also had to initiate a rotation on the vertical axis a torso twisting movement.
And there, his supports were completely inadequate.
To generate this torsion effectively, his hands should have been positioned differently on the bar one in pronation, the other in supination perhaps, or with asymmetric spacing. But he was gripping each bar symmetrically, which prevented him from creating the necessary rotational torque.
It's like trying to turn a steering wheel with both hands at the same position. Impossible to get leverage.
He fell back onto the mat again, this time really frustrated.
- "Fucking hell!"
His body was capable of superhuman performances. He had proven it this morning. But all this strength, all this endurance, all this speed were strictly useless if he didn't master the fundamental principles of movement.
It's like having a Ferrari when you just got your driver's license. The power is there, but the technique... zero.
Aiden remained lying on the mat for a long moment, contemplating the course that stood before him like a silent challenge. This room had been designed to push his limits, but it had just shown him something fundamental.
He wasn't a superhero.
Not yet, anyway.
He was an eleven-year-old kid in a superhuman body he didn't know how to use. He had the raw material strength, speed, endurance, reflexes but none of the technical skills necessary to exploit that potential.
Proprioception, he suddenly realized. That's what I'm missing. Spatial awareness of my body in motion.
When he ran this morning, it was relatively simple—one foot in front of the other, repeat the movement. But here, in this three-dimensional course where each movement affected the next, where each micro-adjustment of position influenced the overall trajectory, he was completely lost.
His brain knew the theory he had studied biomechanics in med school, understood the physical principles at play. But his body hadn't yet integrated this knowledge. He hadn't developed the automatisms, the proprioceptive reflexes, the muscle memory necessary to execute these complex movements without thinking.
It's going to take time.
He stood up slowly, dusting off his pants, and contemplated the course with a mixture of respect and determination.
- "Okay, Room," he murmured aloud. "Message received loud and clear. I have work to do."