Magnets

With the morning sun shining on Sun Stream Plaza, Arthur stood before a large, detailed blueprint spread across the floor of his workspace.

It had taken mere days for him to convert the scribbled ideas into tangible plans, and now he had a focused vision for his training facility—a hub of innovation that would defy conventional limits.

After his trip to Diana's office, he had promptly utilized a hefty portion of his wealth, coupled with Diana's black card—which granted him limitless access to the resources of the Land of Money.

With both money and influence, he had filleted through luxury supplier catalogs and chose only the finest materials for his construction, sparing no expense on the most powerful equipment.

He bought an array of Olympic-weight barbells and bumper plates. Alongside the barbells, he purchased a power rack equipped with a pull-up bar, dip station, and adjustable bench to facilitate every lift and exercise imaginable.

To enhance his agility and balance, he didn't hesitate to acquire a complete set of plyometric boxes, balance beams, and a vaulting horse. Additionally, his training space was outfitted with resistance bands, kettlebells, and medicine balls in various weights to ensure he could address every muscle group while improving coordination and explosiveness.

He also bought an extensive collection of padded mats for floor exercises and gymnastics routines, along with a pommel horse for refining his tumbling skills. To complement his strength training, he added an array of dumbbells that were only heavy.

The only thing he didn't implement were items related to his cardiovascular fitness. Things like a high-quality rowing machine and a variety of conditioning tools, like battle ropes and agility ladders, were left out on account of his stamina already being so high.

Each piece of equipment, however was selected with purpose, reflecting his ambition to train like a bodybuilder, gymnast, Olympian, and a ninja.

The total? Five million ryō.

But there were few items he prioritized above all else, especially two extremely expensive components: the antigravity magnets and the control panel.

Magnets can create interesting effects related to gravity. One notable phenomenon is magnetic levitation (maglev), where magnetic fields can suspend an object in mid-air by generating an upward force that counters the object's weight.

This is often achieved with materials like superconductors, which exhibit diamagnetism and expel magnetic fields, resulting in levitation.

Theoretical concepts such as gravitomagnetic and quantum vacuum effects suggest potential methods for manipulating gravitational fields using magnetic fields or exotic matter, of which Arthur knew full well.

Because of that, his magnets would allow him to simulate and amplify gravitational effects, enabling him to train under conditions that felt desperately severe. The control panel would facilitate the adjustment of this artificial gravity with a simple switch, manipulating his training sessions to unprecedented levels.

As he began unpacking, the first three days were spent with labour, innovation, and frustration. Each day started early and ended late, with Arthur pouring over details, fusing his chakra with the materials in ways that transcended ordinary construction.

He sliced through steel and reinforced the walls, methodically ensuring that each component could withstand both time and the brutal training sessions he planned to unleash within.

Of the things that he knew he needed, traps were one of them. The traps demanded special focus. He crafted mechanisms designed to fire kunai and shuriken, creating an obstacle course that would force him to hone his reflexes and speed.

He created this trap design by researching and developing various mechanical triggers and releases, such as tripwires, pressure plates, and pulley systems, to launch projectiles of all types.

This required a deep understanding of mechanics and careful consideration of the design's purpose: to serve as both a defense mechanism and a training tool.

He finished it by selecting materials suitable for the traps, sketching out the layout, and then constructing the mechanisms using tools like saws, drills, and pliers. The traps themselves were then tested in the controlled environment to fine-tune their operation.

The only issue was that there was no regard for safety within these walls. That meant if a trap was set off, it would undoubtedly kill someone!

Just as he finished, Koko swung through the doorway and said, "Hey, daddy, can we play today?"

Her eyes were filled with excitement, one that many would find very hard to reject. Arthur himself was engrossed in adjusting a tripwire, wondering how effective it might be if he didn't warn Koko.

Koko skipped closer, and in her enthusiasm, she mistakenly triggered a pressure plate hidden beneath the floor. The trap sprang into action, propelling a shuriken through the air with incredible speed. Koko's eyes widened as she barely dodged the spinning blade by a hair's breadth. The shuriken then ricocheted off the wall, leaving a faint scorch mark on the stone.

Koko's face paled. "Whoa... that was close!" She then turned to Arthur and complained, "I don't want to play here anymore!"

As she hastily exited the room, Arthur watched her go, contemplating the experience. He knew he could make the traps faster, so he got right back to work.

To refine this portion of his training facility, he needed to adjust the tension in the springs and fine-tune the mechanical releases. So he added a few more pulleys to the system, making the shuriken launch faster than before.

Stepping back to test the trap once more, the shuriken shot through the air with increased velocity, blurring as it zoomed toward the target.

'Better…' he thought to himself.

He continued to experiment, tweaking the design until the trap was absolutely perfect. And as he worked, it felt as if this was the kind of training course he was meant to create.

Surely, if someone like Koko dared to come "play" here, she wouldn't receive a close call; she would have her head chopped off.

The first days he spent on the training facility were draining as he assembled and engineered devices that would surround him during his training sessions.

After finishing the walls, snug against the steel beams, he understood how one would marvel at the daunting nature of the space he had created.

The core of his facility, however, was still in its nascent phase. The multitudes of magnets he had purchased from merchants needed to be installed purposefully and embedded into the structure to create zones of an altered gravitational pull.

That part was the hardest.

He connected the generators to the control panel, melding simple chakra constructs into an elaborate mechanism. Then he connected each wire and secured the inputs.

A hundred times more is the weight he needed to bear in if he ever desired to truly improve.

On the morning of the fourth day, after a relentless commitment, he stood in the center of the space bearing a completed facility. Every piece fell into place and the walls glowed under the neon lighting he had installed.

It was at that moment he initiated the testing phase. Standing before the control panel, he pressed a button to activate the magnets. While the machines operated, he felt as if he had succeed. But as the seconds ticked by, he noticed something amiss—the room became silent and the gravitational effects were absent from his surroundings.

There was something wrong.

He knelt beside the control panel and examining the wiring. Yet there was no visible flaws—the connections seemed intact and operational.

So he checked the power output from the generators, but again, everything appeared in order.

Arthur was never one to be frustrated in times like these. Some would go as far as slamming their palm against the wall or floor, but he had no reason to mess up the project he'd work so hard on.

The first thing he did was relax against the tension. Then, an epiphany struck him. He remembered the melding of chakra he had harnessed.

That's it," he murmured, gathering himself.

He needed to channel his chakra more effectively into the generators.

Standing upright, he focused, pooling chakra into his palms and then allowing it to flow into the wires leading to the magnets. Concentrating, he felt the essence of his chakra follow suit, intertwining with the devices.

As he pushed his chakra forward, a definitive pulse erupted, and suddenly, there it was—the unmistakable sensation of altered gravity flooding through the facility.

This was quite the euphoric moment, but Arthur remained expressionless. He neither laughed nor gave a single sign of a smile; he was only content.

Feeling victorious, he engaged the control panel again, gradually increasing the gravitational pull in increments. Each press of a button caused a swift reaction: the fifty-pound weights felt like lead, and he struggled against the oppressive pull that sought to pin him down.

Then he tested the newly crafted course, dodging kunai while leaping under the increased inflation of gravity. The shuriken set to snap against targets released from hidden compartments flew past him as he grappled with newly forged challenges. His body felt the burden from each movement like a strain that no other training method he'd done thus far could produce.

And it was worth every ryō.

He stood in the center of the training facility. It had taken him almost a week to set this up himself, and today was the day he would push his limits by testing out the newly calibrated traps and the antigravitational effects.

He approached the control panel and adjusted the gravity settings, starting with a modest five percent increase. Already, he could feel the increase of weight within him.

Now he prepared for a warm-up routine. With the balance beams set up around the room, he leaped into action, navigating the narrow planks. The beams felt wider, and the gravity made each movement more deliberate.

The beam was just 5 centimeters (0.1 meters) wide, less than half of what a traditional beam others would use.

With unprecedented skill, he launched into a perfect cartwheel, covering nearly 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) in a single graceful arc. He transitioned instantly into a back handspring, flipping backward with a precision that seemed to defy physics.

As he executed an aerial walkover, his body seemed to hover for an instant and his legs extended over the beam in a full 180-degree split before gently landing, all while maintaining flawless balance.

'Strange,' he thought to himself. 'My body's not responding like I need it.'

His earlier performance was nothing to scoff out. For instance, the Olympic record on earth for the highest score on the balance beam during the Olympics is typically around 15.5 to 16.5. If it were possible, Arthur would have tripled that number.

Next came his back tucks. He performed a stunning series of ten consecutive back tucks, each rotation reaching over 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in height, a feat surely impossible for the average man. He landed each move at a perfect angle, as if gravity held no influence over him.

Next came the turns. He initiated a full turn, spinning seamlessly the air, followed by a breathtaking quadruple turn that required not only physical strength but immense mental focus. People would have gone crazy as he transitioned directly into a series of split jumps, achieving a full 180-degree split mid-air each time while covering a distance of 2 meters (6.6 feet) in each leap.

With his blood pumping, he moved to his final act. He steadied himself for a daring one-legged balance pose, holding it for an impressive thirty seconds while perfectly upright. And then, he launched into his dismount, executing a double back flip with a twist that sent him soaring at an astonishing 3 meters (9.8 feet) into the air.

He rotated twice before landing cleanly on the mat below just as his feet touched down with the delicacy of a feather.

In just a span of five minutes, Arthur Bennett had shattered several world records. He had not just performed; he had redefined the boundaries of man's achievements, marking a moment that could have gone down in history.

And he still wasn't done; these were just warm-ups.