Chapter 28 - A Competition [3]
The 50 meters sprint was done, and except from me, Zion, and Marcus—everyone in our class lost.
The rest of the Class 1-F students had been swept rather easily by the superior athletic training and better general conditioning of the Class 1-B ranks.
This was to be expected, but the fact that they suffered three lost, and an overwhelming one at that, against us—made the [B-Class] idiots shut their mouths. Especially since our time were better than most of them, there are only two person who was able to beat my time and Marcus’ in the [B-Class].
A boy and a girl.
And even then, one of them fell short to beating Zion, and the other one just draw with his time.
The one who draw with Zion’s time was the boy, his name was David Aodhan.
He was standing near the front of the Class 1-B group, crossing his arms with a serious, sharp glint in his dark eyes as he stared in our direction.
And in this early of the game, he’s a minor character that will be a rival of the protagonist as well.
He was someone from a noble lineage who prided himself on absolute perfection, making him naturally hostile toward anyone in the lower classes who managed to equal or surpass his official recorded scores.
Moving on—
"Next is continuous endurance."
Professor Russel’s voice echoed, as he announced the next activity we will do.
His loud, booming tone instantly pulled the attention of all students back toward the center of the open training yard.
"It’s nothing hard or complicated, as the name implies—it’s just to test your endurance."
He followed, looking at us. He shifted his broad shoulders, tapping his clipboard lightly against his thigh as he laid out the guidelines for the second evaluation drill.
"There’s a simple method of doing that."
He pointed at the finish line of the 50 meters sprint, and with a straight look on his face—
"All of you will run at the same time back and forth from here to there—you can drop and stop at any time, and the activity will continue until all of you had stopped."
He declared that.
The simplicity of the drill made a few students murmur in low voices, realizing that this wasn’t going to be a quick test of raw speed like the previous sprint.
"You can’t use mana, it will take a long time if you do so, after all. You can intentionally run slower to last longer, but your lap time and lap count will be recorded by Professor Aine so it will affect your score here as well."
He added.
All the students nodded after hearing all that, the rules and instructions are reasonable and simple.
"You all have five minutes to rest—after that—all of you stand on the starting line."
Professor Russel stated, and just like that, he left to talk with Professor Aine again.
He turned on his heel and walked toward the far side of the course, where the blonde professor was adjusting the digital timer on her recording tablet.
"I’m pretty confident with my endurance as well."
Just then, Zion scooted over and whispered that to me. He rolled his shoulders back, giving me a bright, cheerful grin while wiping a bit of dust from his sleeve.
"Really? What a coincidence—me too."
I told him, smirking.
I stretched my legs lightly, feeling the stiffness from our earlier sprint fading as my muscles loosened up.
The two of us passed time by talking to each other, five minutes isn’t that long anyway, so we used all of it having small conversations and recovering our stamina for the endurance activity that was about to come.
We joked about the sour expressions on the Class 1-B students’ faces and made quiet bet on how many laps we could last before we stop.
*****
Five minutes passed before anyone noticed—Professor Russel’s voice echoed again as he told everyone that the activity is starting.
"Alright, time’s up! Everyone on the line!"
His deep voice cut through our casual conversation, signaling that the short rest period was officially over.
At his words, all of us stood at the starting line and took a stance, preparing to run. Professor Russel nodded his head in satisfaction, then he looked at the other end of the track—Professor Aine was there giving him a thumbs up. She was holding a device.
She stood near the fifty-meter boundary mark, her thumb hovering over the interface screen that tracked each individual’s lap sensor.
She was probably telling that she’s ready to start recording data, as per Professor Russel explained earlier.
As we were all in the starting line, I saw David and the other students from the [B-Class] eyeing at me and Zion, but Zion doesn’t seem to notice it, or he’s just ignoring them on purpose.
David was standing just two lanes away from us, his glare focused intently on Zion’s relaxed posture.
Anyway, Zion glanced sideways at me, adjusting his posture into a light, casual runner’s stance.
"Don’t trip."
He told me that.
"Hah, watch your steps."
I just shrugged and replied with that... some idiots from the other class might do something after all.
"You worry too much, Vael."
He chuckled softly, keeping his eyes glued to the track ahead.
Anyway, we didn’t have to wait long—Professor Russel turned to look at us again.
He raised his right arm high into the air, waiting for the final signal from Professor Aine before giving the command.
And with a simple gesture of his hand—FWISH!
He started the activity.
"Start!"
We all started running!
BAM!
A heavy stampede of pairs of boots hit the dirt all at once, sending a low rumble through the open field as we crossed the starting mark together.
Our pace was neither fast nor slow, it was a controlled one, our breathing was quiet as we concentrated on saving energy. And just like that—the endurance test began.
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
Lap after lap, the entire crowd of students moved like a single wave back and forth across the fifty-meter strip.
Without the aid of mana reinforcement, the physical toll began to stack up far quicker than most of the students had anticipated.
By the twenty-minute mark, the heavy breathing of the weaker students echoed loudly across the track.
Thud!
"I-I can’t... go on..."
The first student from Class 1-F collapsed onto the grass, clutching her knees while panting violently.
"Student out! Keep moving!"
Professor Russel called out, marking the drop-off on his log.
Not long after, several students from Class 1-B began to fall out as well, their faces bright red and drenched in sweat as their legs gave out under the relentless back-and-forth shuttle running.
The fifty-meter line felt longer and longer with every turn, the sharp pivots at each end placing heavy strain on our ankles and knees.
An hour had passed, but only a few students dropped down. A lot had slowed down though.
Out of the original roughly eighty students, more than half had already quit and were now sitting on the sidelines, watching the rest of us with exhausted, wide eyes.
"..."
My throat felt dry, I was covered with sweat... but I can feel that I can still go for a bit more.
My uniform shirt was sticking to my chest, and every breath I inhaled tasted like dusty air, but my legs were still moving in a steady, unbroken rhythm.
I looked in front of me, and there—I saw Zion. He was still basically full of energy.
He was running with an absurdly relaxed stride, his chest rising and falling at a completely steady pace as if he were just taking a casual morning stroll in the park. He hadn’t slowed down, and even with sweats drenching him; the smile on his face didn’t vanish.
’That’s absurb.’
The protagonist is really something else.
Even without channeling a single drop of mana to support his body, his natural stat growth and innate stamina reserves were completely off the charts compared to normal human limits.
I looked at the other named characters... Marcus looks like he’s doing a bit worse than me. David and the girl from the other class looks lively still—but they’re already falling behind of Zion.
Marcus was running a few paces behind me, his teeth gritted tightly and his brows furrowed in pure determination as he forced his tired legs to keep up.
David and the girl student from Class 1-B were maintaining a solid pace near the front, but the strain was clearly showing on their faces as their strides grew heavier with every turn.
"Haaaaa..."
I let out a tired sigh. I wiped a layer of sweat from my forehead with the back of my sleeve, feeling the burning sensation in my calves intensify with each step.
Then smiling a little—
"At least until only the named characters are left... I won’t stop until then. That’s the bare minimum."
I told myself, and with that—I picked up my pace a little more.
I adjusted my stride, matching the subtle increase in speed set by the leading group as we turned around the far marker for another lap.
One by one, the remaining nameless students from both classes dropped to the ground, utterly spent and unable to maintain the required lap times set by Professor Russel.
And by the time another thirty minutes ticked by... only five runners remained on the entire track.
Me, Zion, Marcus, David, and the blonde-haired top student from Class 1-B.
*****
"Look at them... they’re still going?!"
"Are those F-Class guys made of iron or something?!"
The whispers from the sidelines grew louder as the audience of dropped students watched the five of us continue our relentless back-and-forth sprint.
David glared over at Zion, his jaw clenched as he tried to push his body to match the protagonist’s unbothered pace, but his form was visibly breaking down.
"Kuh..."
David stumbled slightly at the turn, his breath coming out in ragged, harsh wheezes.
Marcus, too, was reaching his absolute physical limit, his posture slumping as his boots dragged heavily against the dirt path.
I pushed through the burning ache in my lungs, focusing entirely on maintaining my balance and rhythm as we crossed the line for what felt like the hundredth time.
THUD-
"Ugh...!"
Marcus was the first among the remaining group to drop, falling to one knee with a heavy groan as his legs completely refused to move any further.
"Marcus—out!"
Professor Russel called out.
I lasted for a few more laps right after him, my vision blurring slightly as my body finally hit its absolute wall without mana support.
"GAAAAHHH--I can’t anymore... Haaaaaa...."
I slowed down my pace, stepping off the track with a deep breath and letting out a long exhale as I leaned against the nearby wooden post.
"Vael—out!"
Right after me, the girl from Class 1-B gave out, collapsing onto the grass with a loud gasp for air.
That left only Zion and David pushing forward on the track.
David gritted his teeth, pouring every ounce of his remaining willpower into his legs to outlast Zion, but his body finally buckled at the far turn, causing him to fall flat on his hands and knees.
THUD-
"Huff... Huff... Huff..."
"David—out!"
The endurance test finished roughly two hours after it had started, and as Vael predicted—
Zion came out of top, followed by David, then the girl from the other class, then him, and finally—Marcus.
Zion completed one final lap all by himself before coming to a slow jog, breathing somewhat heavily but still standing tall with that signature, energetic grin on his face.
"And that’s it! Activity complete!"
Professor Russel’s booming voice signaled the official end of the endurance evaluation.
"Haha... that was pretty fun!"
Zion jogged over to where I was resting, slapping his damp towel over his shoulders as he offered me an open palm.
"Fun for you, maybe..."
I mumbled with a breathless laugh, taking his hand as he helped pull me upright.