His labored breaths began to even out and even his screaming muscles seemed to ease up a little.
'What is this?' Ken thought, his eyes wide with surprise.
He continued to run, testing out his body, as if it was brand new.
'Did I overcome my limits?'
Only after completing 10 miles did Ken come to a stop at the park. He quickly worked on getting his breathing under control and inspected his body.
A sense of joy overwhelmed him as he confirmed what he believed to be true.
Just like Hiroki when he'd used the systems training plan to overcome his potential, Ken had made a similar breakthrough.
Of course thinking about this logically would lead to only dead ends, so he had to think outside of the box. Ken began to stretch his muscles and put his mind to work, trying to pinpoint what had happened.
His earlier theory about the Elixirs effects disappearing seemed to have some merit, but it became more unlikely after today's happenings.
If he didn't improve in the 6 weeks he'd been truly training, it meant that it couldn't be true.
'What if the Elixirs improved my muscle capacity?' He thought silently.
Since the Elixirs had definitely made physical changes to his muscles, it wouldn't make sense if they were to disappear overnight. But perhaps it was the system that was maintaining them?
Ken frowned, he felt like he was onto something, but things still didn't add up.
It wasn't like the system was continuously feeding him power or anything. In fact, his muscles should have remained the same, even without the system.
"Ow~"
Ken suddenly stretched his hamstring a little weirdly, causing him to let out a yelp of pain. Yet in the next moment his eyes widened in understanding.
"Fatigue management??"
He stood in place for a few moments before a smile crept onto his face.
His fatigue management skill was constantly active, healing his muscle tissues and extremities.
"With no fatigue management, its no wonder that my muscles had regressed over time." He muttered.
Only after pushing through his limits this morning did he understand that he truly had regressed over the past 12 months. If he could see his status window right now, his physical stats would likely be barely in the S-Grade.
Ken felt that he suddenly had a way forward. This breakthrough was something that he'd needed for the longest time, giving him a much needed boost to his confidence.
"Are you okay young man?"
Ken turned his head only to see an old man going for his morning walk, his face was filled with wrinkles, yet one could see that he was wearing a concerned expression.
"Ah, I'm fine thank you." Ken responded, feeling a little odd at the question.
"Oh good. I heard you screaming while you were running earlier, you scared the crap out of me!" He exclaimed, giving Ken a small smile.
Ken suddenly felt his face redden, not realizing that anyone had seen or heard him amidst his internal battle.
"Ha haha, sorry about that." Ken replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
The old man shook his head, sending him a smile. "Don't worry, we all fight our demons sometimes. Even someone like me."
With that, the old man continued his shuffling walk, on his merry way.
Ken blinked a few times, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He hadn't felt that embarrassed in quite a long time, but it was quickly overshadowed since he was in such a good mood.
Now that he knew how to induce a breakthrough, there was nothing stopping him from moving forward.
With a newfound purpose, Ken returned home in order to get cleaned up since he still needed to go to school today.
Around 2 hours later, he arrived at school only to see Shiro on his way in. Over the past year, the guy had found his confidence, even gaining a couple of inches in height although he was still far shorter than Ken.
Shiro happened to see Ken walking in with a grin on his face, instantly filling him with PTSD. Flashbacks of the one everyone referred to as the Training Demon appeared in his mind, causing him to freeze in place.
'RUN!'
Shiro screamed internally, yet he was unable to move his body.
"Shiro my man!" Ken called out, his grin growing wider.
Gulp~
Not sensing Shiro's odd reaction, Ken placed his arm around the guys shoulder and continued to walk towards the school gates.
"So I was thinking, maybe we should bring back the extracurricular training." He stated thoughtfully.
Yet to Shiro's ears, Ken's voice was like that of the devil who was about to administer the next round of torture.
"Hiroki will definitely be in, as well as Yusuke. I might need their help getting the 1st years to show up."
As Ken went off on his tangent, tears began to run down Shiro's face as he mourned for his poor body. He would also have to kiss his free time with Kaori goodbye.
'Damn you Ken!' He cursed inwardly.
"Oh hey Ken."
Hiroki happened to be walking in at the same time as the duo and called out.
"Ah, just the man I was talking about." Ken replied happily.
Hiroki happened to see Shiro's sour expression and could almost guess what had happened.
"Are you down for some extra tr—"
"Hell yeah! All this study has got my body itching" He responded, cutting Ken's words short.
His response caused Shiro to almost fall to his knees in agony.
Ken on the other hand smiled, though it turned a little sour in the next moment. Since Hiroki was in his 3rd year of High School, he would be forced to retire from club baseball to focus on entrance exams for University since Koshien was now over.
So while he might be able to work out with them, he was not allowed to play in the upcoming Fall Tournament.
Thankfully, Hiroki didn't seem to be upset at all.