The training ground had not yet settled from the first trials when the second group returned from their run. The hunters forced the exhausted runners into lines after they rested ten minutes.

After the resting period was over, each instructor then took their own group and changed the location and discipline they would do next.

Gillard now had archery and the striking test, while Ralph, Teclos, and Loric had the running test.

Teclos found himself standing at the forefront of his group, eager to start the run. Again, Ralph and Loric weren’t just going to hand the win over without a fight, so they stood next to him.

Instructor Sera stepped forward, her hair was now bound into a ponytail, she seemed ready for the run.

"The second test..." she said, her voice carrying easily across the group, "is a simple endurance test."

A murmur moved through the line as they didn’t believe that for even a second.

She ignored them and continued.

"The path goes toward the outer boundary of the village. To the ridge up in the north, where you will continue left toward the woodland, straight through the fields, and back through the western gate. You begin here and finish the run on the training grounds." She smirked, giving them a challenge.

"You might want to give it your best, as you will most likely be running past your parents during the final stretch."

Upon hearing that, everyone got fired up, determined to give their all.

They had to run in a circle.

A grueling path awaited them—uneven, inclined, rocky, tall grass. They didn’t know all that yet, but soon enough the determination in their eyes would fade.

"The hunters in front of you will set the pace," Sera then continued. "You aren’t allowed to pass them. If you fall behind the hunters running from behind, you return to the village by the nearest cut path. The rear hunters will mark your distance and time."

Her gaze swept over them.

"This is not a sprint. Keep a steady pace as long as you can."

Her eyes stopped on Teclos.

"I repeat. No bravado and No passing the hunters in front."

Then Ralph.

"Do not fight among yourselves."

And Loric.

"Don’t hinder your fellow youths."

With that warning to the hotheads in their group, she stepped aside and gave the signal for the start.

The hunters at the front started slowly. Going at a jogging pace, they left the gates. boots striking stone before moving to packed dirt beyond the southern gate.

Teclos settled immediately behind the right-hand lead hunter. He followed him closely so that the others couldn’t take his spot.

Ralph was just behid him on his left, while Loric ran on his right side.

Behind them stretched the rest of the trainees, a tight cluster at first—with barely any space left.

Their nerves were clouding their judgment, so they wasted energy on useless things like shoving to get ahead.

Teclos felt that this run was a bit too easy. His legs were fresh. His breathing was steady, and he fell into an easy rhythm within the first hundred strides. He was aware of the path they were taking and that this test would get harder with time... still, he felt like it was lacking.

To his left, Ralph ran light on his feet like always. He was still smiling, and prancing left and right, awoiding mudd puddles and portruding stones.

"This is easier than Talmirs hell training."

Teclos agreed.

When he turned his head for a second, he saw Loric steamrolling through. His stride was like a bull, charging ahead without any regard for the terrain.

’Well, this should be easy,’ Teclos thought, as both of them already wasted energy—although in completely different ways.

Looking back at the hunters, they did not struggle. Their backs were straight, shoulders relaxed. The pace was constant, and seemed comfortable for them.

Just then Sera’s voice carried from somewhere on the left side. She was running along gracefully, not breaking a sweat at all.

"Spread out. Give yourselves room to run."

The cluster somewhat listened and loosened the formation.

The path then began to rise.

The path to the northern ridge was deceptive. Although it did not rise sharply, there was no drop in the incline or even level ground, for that matter.

Teclos adjusted, leaning forward a fraction from the ankles and watched his breathing.

Ralph was as agile as ever, so the incline didn’t pose much trouble. He still needlessly avoided uneven terrain or stones in his path wherever he could. His jaw tightened as it grew harder, and he began to feel a slight burn in his legs.

Loric was even worse than Ralph. Not avoiding tall rocks and branches on the path meant he expended even more energy jumping over them. His breathing grew uneven, and his face flushed red.

Somewhere halfway toward the ridge, the hunters suddenly increased the pace.

It was Subtle and Almost imperceptible.

But Teclos felt it immediately.

Loric noticed half a second later and surged forward with even more force to compensate, nearly tripping over a branch on the path .

Ralph adjusted smoothly, though his breathing also grew uneven.

Behind them, the pack reacted less gracefully.

The incline combined with the pace shift began to thin them out a bit.

Sera’s voice cut through again, with some advice.

"Shorten your stride on the hill to conserve some of your energy. Keep your arms compact and tight to your body."

One trainee ignored the advice and powered up recklessly, seeing a chance to overtake everyone.

He paid for it within minutes.

His breathing turned ragged, his stride uneven. He despaired as the rear hunters passed him. They marked the time and the distance while casually running onward.

"Return to town," commanded one of them.

Defeated, he turned back toward the town, kicking dirt and cursing himself out.

Finally, the group reached the ridge, and at the crest, the wind met them.

A cold breeze flowed through them.

It pushed against their chests, cooled their skin, and gave them a second wind, so to speak.

Only problem... it was fairly strong, so they ultimately had to run uphill against the wind.

The hunters didn’t react at all. They held their pace steadily, as if the wind meant nothing to them.

Teclos felt the resistance immediately, and for the first time since the run began, a frown crept onto his face. He pushed through it without slowing, but the incline kept rising, and the path grew uneven beneath his feet. Stones jutted out of the ground, forcing them to adjust, sometimes even jump to keep their footing.

He steadied his breathing—rougher now, less controlled—but still he tried to conserve as much strength as possible.

Behind him, Loric and Ralph both groaned as the wind hit them, but neither of them allowed Teclos to pull ahead.

Then the hunters increased the pace again, as if waiting for everyone to struggle.

Ralph forced himself, pushing forward and drawing nearly even with Teclos for a few strides.

Teclos responded in kind with the faintest increase—still controlling his stamina but he would not let either of them claim even the illusion of first place.

Loric saw the exchange, and couldn’t be left behind so he pushed closer aswell, inserting himself into the silent rivalry.

Behind them, another few youths faltered under the combined strain of incline and wind.

They tried to hold on.

Failed.

The rear hunters marked their distances and time and moved on.

Then finally, some respite as they descended from the ridge into the woods.

That relief didn’t last long.

The terrain shifted under their boots—a hard and rocky path turned into soft soil, it grew dense with overgrowth. Bushes, branches, even some fallen trees in the way.

"Watch your footing!" Sera called. "Lift your feet and don’t drag them."

Teclos’s focus sharpened. His stride adjusted seamlessly to the uneven ground, avoiding tree roots, moving almost like a deer.

Ralph also had a fairly easy time here.

Loric, on the other hand, was hit by branches and even slowed as he nearly tripped, falling behind them.

And as if on cue the pace increased again.

And this time the change was unmistakable,

They sped up from a semi-fast jog into a full run.

Teclos changed his mind midway through andthen felt his heart beat faster, excitement flowing through him. Like a true training maniac, he started treating this as training.

Ralph frowned as he saw him pulling ahead again. He ofcourse not wanting to lose, he picked up the pace too.

For Loric, the terrain itself was already a challenge, as he was too stubborn to listen to Instructor Sera and too stubborn to change his running style. Now, on top of that, the pace had increased again.

Seeing the two push ahead, he grew angry. Really angry.

’They dare ignore me? No! I won’t lose!’

Like a mantra—almost like a psychopath—he chanted in his head:

’Never. Never. Never.’

Three more trainees dropped out, either because of the pace, the terrain, or a weak mind.

The hunters remained untouched by fatigue.

The next stretch revealed itself—the fields.

There was no shade from the sun and no incline. Only tall grass and mushy ground, softer and damper than before.

This was the last strech and where endurance and state of mind revealed themselves fully.

The hunters leaned forward slightly and increased the pace again for the last strech and the longest sustained push yet.

Teclos had to focus the most now, all leisure gone with only focus remaining.

He moved closer to the hunters’ backs—close enough for the grass to be split apart by them and not hinder him.

Ralph tried as well, but by now he was fairly exhausted and couldn’t maintain the front position anymore.

Loric’s pace also dropped hard. The mushy ground and his unadjusted stride were sapping his strength. It was inevitable—he still refused to listen.

Behind them, the remaining trainees began to fracture even more.

One fought valiantly to stay within reach, breathing desperate, but after several hundred strides the gap widened beyond recovery. As the rear hunters passed him, he slowed, shoulders slumping, and walked towards the town.

Two more clung to the line longer than expected.

One followed Sera’s advice.

The other did not.

The latter fell away within minutes.

By the time the western gate came into view in the far distance, only eleven trainees remained.

The hunters did not sprint for the finish.

They did not need to and instead just held a hard, disciplined pace.

Ralph made his final attempt to catch Teclos once he saw the gates.

He lengthened his stride and gained ground.

Loric instantly responded aswell, matching Ralph’s speed even.

Teclos didn’t look back, but a smile crept onto his face. He reveled in competition, of course—but what he wanted most right now was a win.

He edged half a stride ahead, almost matching the hunters.

The western gate loomed, and the townsfolk had gathered along the edges of the square, watching, drinking, eating.

Some were even betting on who would come first.

They entered the village. The hunters first, of course—but the crowd was shocked.

The running test, although simple in name, was anything but simple.

And everyone there knew it.

To see a young boy keeping pace with the hunters and arrive the same time as them—it was shocking, to say the least.

Talmir even stepped onto a tavern table and shouted, "That’s my boy!"

Drunk already and very animated.

That almost made Teclos stumble, this was his first time seeing his father be that lively.

’Huh... I guess Dad has that side to him.’

Teclos crossed the finish line first among the trainees, half a stride behind the hunters.

Ralph followed seconds later, accompanied by Loric, who was half a step slower than Ralph.

The remaining youths arrived moments later.

Everyone except Teclos collapsed at the finish line. Of course, even Teclos was heaving heavily with hands on his knees—but he was standing.

"Line up!" Sera called.

So they did...although barely.

Looking over, Teclos saw a frustrated Gillard holding a bow. From what he could tell, Gillard had roughly the same results as Loric in archery of not worse.

As everyone lined up and waited for the other groups to finish, Teclos and Ralph watched Gillard’s final discipline.

Loric followed their gaze as well and frowned.

Across the yard, Gillard exhaled through clenched teeth as he readied himself into a stance.

When he struck the dummy, the impact from his punch lifted it and broke the outer protection.

That drew a few whistles, and even the instructors nodded in approval.

The second strike landed on the head. The dummy hit the ground, debris flying after the impact.

"Damn..." Teclos said.

"Yeah, when it comes to pure power, he’s the strongest among us," said Ralph.

Loric just huffed in dissatisfaction.

After the hunters picked the dummy back up, Gillard prepared again.

This time longer, clearly gathering all the mana he had internally for the final punch.

He exploded forward and threw a haymaker directly into the midsection of the dummy.

It shattered.

Blown away, the dummy landed a few feet away.

It was shattered the same way the instructor demonstrated at the start.

Fire ignited in Teclos’s eyes as he thought that this was a challenge to him.