“Finally, I began to think that you sensed what was coming and ran away,” Shishou says with a mischievous grin as I return to our training ground

“Well, I can’t say that I didn’t consider it. I mean the last time you had an idea for my training it included one of the most disgusting creatures I’ve ever witnessed.” I say with a shrug

“You’ll be glad to know that your friend was very helpful in my improvements this time as well.” He continues with the same mischievous smile

Spoken like a true sadist.

“So why did you feel the need to upgrade it so suddenly? It didn’t seem like you had that planned when I showed up earlier.” I ask trying not to reward him with a reaction

“You went and trained on your day off didn’t you?” He asks in perfect seriousness, killing the previous tone

“...Yes? Why? Was I not supposed to?” I ask feeling confused and slightly guilty

I don’t even know what I did wrong, but his expression and tone make it feel like it must be something big.

“I could see it on you. Your body suddenly took in a huge quantity of energy only to have it sucked out again before it could adjust. You practically undid all the work we’ve done to accustom you to your previous strength. I don’t know how you do it... but if you continue with this insane method of becoming stronger you may forever lose out to your body’s limits.” He explains in a sullen yet angry tone

Leveling up is making me weaker? That can’t be, right?

“What do you suggest?” I ask aiming for his full meaning

“Any responsible trainer would tell you to take it slow, build your strength at a rate you can handle it, to be wary of gaining power too quickly, and to take the safe route and be patient. If you take things slowly you could easily become strong enough to take on any challenge.” He explains

“...I can’t do that. I don’t have the time to take things slow. As quickly as I gather strength, my enemy grows even faster. I need not only the strength that my body is failing to adapt to, but much more. That is the kind of enemy I must defeat.”I answer

Is this why the Maou never win? We become hindered by our own power. By using their armies to gather strength most probably never even noticed, where the Yuusha has powerful mentors and friends to help him through such obstacles...

“I said that's what a responsible trainer would tell you,” Shishou says breaking the silence that fell after my answer

“I don’t have time for such weak reasoning. I honestly don’t care who your enemy is. If one works to become stronger there is only one goal acceptable ‘Becoming the strongest that ever lived’. You’re the kind of stubborn lass that accepts that kind of goal without a second thought, so it would be rather pathetic of me to back down now wouldn’t it?” He continues with a smile

“Becoming the strongest? Wouldn’t that make me stronger than you?” I sneer jokingly

“You still haven’t noticed? If you were able to control that wild power of yours you would already be stronger than me. Not by much, but stronger still.” He admits as he turns around to grab something out of a strange sack sitting behind him

I sit there stunned for a moment as my head fights over whether to focus on what horrors he's going to take out of that bag, or the fact that he just said that I was stronger than him. A geezer as prideful as he is, there is no way he would lie about something like that. When we try to spar, I still can’t even see him though. What kind of power-up would my body adapting to my stats be exactly?

“No tricks this time. I’m going to explain exactly what you are going to be doing, it’s going to be hard enough to survive as is. First, you're going to wear this.” He says as he pulls out a jeweled bracelet from his bag

“What is this?” I ask as I grab it from him

“Command: Restrict” He says in place of an answer

I don’t even have time to become confused at his statement before the bracelet pulls down my arm with incredible weight. Although not so much that I can’t lift it back to chest level with a bit of effort.

“That is a braclet with a cursed charm on it used to keep dangerous prisoners in line. When activated it will add enough weight to rip off a common man's arm with ease... though I see I was right in assuming that it does little to deter you.” Shishou explains as he stared as the bracelet in my hand

“Actually it’s really difficult to lift. I don’t think that I could carry one of these for very long.” I say as I let my arm fall

I almost lose grip on the bracelet as I do. It feels different than something that is just “Heavy”. There is not center of mass or weight distribution, just a solid downward pull across the entire object. It’s such a foreign feeling that it feels fake nearly. I dislike it.

“Command: Release,” He says with a shrug as he turns back to his bag

Fwoosh!

As the bracelets weight instantly becomes immensely lighter my hand flies upward. The previous pull I had put on the bracelet to accommodate for its weight suddenly had nothing fighting against it. I just nearly managed to avoid clocking myself in the face.

“Ksh” I hear in a quiet voice from Shishou

He just snickered didn’t he? Even though he didn’t see it, I’m sure he knows what happened.

“Put these on your wrist and ankles” He says handing me 4 bracelets from the bag with a smile

He did snicker.

“Isn’t this a bit overkill? I won’t really be able to move like this.” I say as I follow his instructions

“And this as well.” He says ignoring my statement and handing me a belt with several gems in it

“What is this?” I ask as I look at each of the gems

It looks rather expensive, though the belt itself just seems to be a simple leather.

“It is a larger version of the bracelets that places an even larger weight on you. It will also serve as a constant but slow regeneration magic. That one is a favorite of mine, breaking it would be an incredibly dumb move.” He warns with a serious face

“I think I get what you're going for here. I go about my daily life with these things on and my body will adjust naturally right?” I says as I fasten the belt on

“Command: Restrict” He says ignoring me

SLAM!

In an instant the weight of the accessories overcomes me and I am slammed face down onto the ground. I clench my fist and grit my teeth as I attempt to lift myself from the ground, but I don’t manage to budge myself an inch. The only reason I can lift my head enough to glare at the cause is that my back and chest are relatively unburdened.

“I already told you. I’m not a responsible trainer. If you want to catch up to your own strength you're going to need to give up on a ‘daily life’ for a while. We are done warming up, real training starts now.” He says in response to my glares

Aside from the humiliation and the pain of having my limbs forcefully constrained there is only one thing on my mind. Why does the bag that he pulled these out of still look nearly full?