It has been a day ever since the three adventurers left the city to reach the academy that houses countless talented students who will become amazing figures in the future. Aria Academy is an academy that teaches only those who have the potential to rise to the top. Most alumni became powerful adventurers, aspiring idols, and defenders of their country.
To be accepted in a place like Aria Academy, there needs to be rigorous training. Just like what Cliff is doing right now, chasing the carriage when it is going full speed.
"HAH…! FUCK…! IT'S BEEN… 7 HOURS…! HOW MUCH LONG– HAH….!"
Sweating, Cliff continued to run like crazy. In front of him are both of his tutors, Enrid and Esther. Enrid is his physical teacher, while Esther is his magical teacher.
"Don't forget to do the proper form of running!" Enrid shouted, smirking like a bastard as he laughed.
I HATE HIS FACE! I WANT TO PUNCH HIM…but at the same time, he's stronger than me.
Esther can be seen reading a familiar book. It has flame patterns on the cover, and it is pretty worn and dirty. It was the item that he had gotten from the Mage-Goblin; Book of Fire. Then after reading it, she writes it down on a paper and translates it into their language.
Earlier, he had given it to Esther to decipher it. He couldn't open it, so the best thing to do is let the one with the highest INT read it and transfer it to another medium, which is a paper. It was one of the possible loopholes he could think of that would help him use magic.
His body aches, his legs twitch yet he doesn't stop. His arms are tired from flailing around, but he mustn't undo the proper form of running.
"In this training, you will be improving your stamina and physical body! Not only that, I will also train your reaction time!"
His body has been trained before, but it seems that he had lost the accumulated effort of the Original Cliff's training. Not lost, there are times when it became part of his intuition but that's not good enough.
Suddenly, a breezing projectile came towards his face. He moved his head in an instant, but it grazed his cheek. Cliff looked at the back of the carriage and found the bald warrior holding a bunch of rocks.
"WHAT?! T-THAT'S…. O…OVER…KILL!" Out of breath, his body finally gave in and dropped to the ground.
Ah… the uncomfortable hot rocky road… The intense heat of the sun melting my back… Is this it?
Unexpectedly, The carriage suddenly came to a full halt. The gravity pulled the bald warrior down to the ground and a certain woman stepped over his body.
"I don't know if your bird brain can handle this, but he's an archer. Not a brute head like you, okay? Get him over here, 𝗻𝗼𝘄."
"Y-yes, ma'am." He quickly stood up and jumped out of the carriage. The warrior quickly ran to get the archer out of the heat and returned with him to the carriage. He gently places him onto the cold wooden boards of the carriage.
"His first day of training and you made him run onto the scorching heat for two hours–"
"Essie, we need to train him quickly! he only has a month left before the entrance exam starts!"
Esther glared at the warrior, her sentence got interrupted and she did not like that at all. Whenever she is in her scholar mode, she becomes a strict teacher, like how most English teachers are.
Then, she menacingly smiled.
"Then, why don't you join him tomorrow? I'm sure that your lessons would be more~ effective if the teacher is also doing it~"
He gulped. His bald head started producing sweat as he caved in and sighed.
"Yes, ma'am…"
"Good." She smirked before producing snow on the palm of her hands and putting it on Cliff's forehead before covering it with a piece of clean cloth. It is meant to dispel the heat, a traditional way of dispelling heat from the body.
<•••••••••••••••••••••••••>
I'm in the void again. But why are you here?
Ask your brain, did I ever ask to be here?
I guess not. Ha… I passed out again.
Well, I can't blame you. We never ran that much except in high school.
You're not scolding me?
What's the point of shouting at you when you can't control what has happened? Rest is also part of becoming stronger.
Mhm. I guess you're correct…
Damn right, I am. Well, in any case, you're about to wake up. You better do well, we can't die here.
"Yeah yeah…" He opened his eyes and found the two adventurers looking at him with such pity on their eyes.
"G-guys, I'm not thaat~ pathetic. I can return to training tomorrow." Cliff reassured Enrid because he was looking mighty scared right now. Probably because he got scolded by Esther.
Must be.
"Cliff, I've translated the book you wanted me to read. It's a simple fire spell, that allows you to create or manipulate small amounts of fire. It's a perfect spell for you, a kid with a mana pool comparable to the size of a small cup of tea." Her mood isn't getting any better, she's somehow also mad at him despite him being the one who fainted in the middle of a sunny road.
What's with the insult? That hurts…
She gives him the paper with the translated notes. However, she pulled it back and rolled it.
"You are not qualified to use this."
What?
"You've never used mana your entire life, right? I suggest that you get stronger physically first. If you do that, then we'll start our lessons."
These two sure are harsh– igh. I can't complain, they're right.
<•••••••••••••••••••••••>
After a day of resting and recovering from the intense heat. Two adventurers can be seen running on the road while the scorching sun is up in the sky. The road wasn't built with stability in mind, it is full of rocks that are uneven and shakes the carriage multiple times in the span of every two minutes. Despite that, Esther continued to sleep in the carriage.
"S-so! Why are you here– running with me– Mr.Enrid? G-got bored?"
It has been six hours and a half ever since they began running. From morning to noon, they've been running to improve their stamina and their running form.
"Why are you stuttering? Are you getting tired???" Despite that, Enrid doesn't look unfazed at all. With just a few droplets of sweat on his face, he is running beside Cliff. In comparison, it looked like Cliff was running for his life while Enrid was just warming up for a marathon.
"I'M…AN ARCHER, NOT A WARRIOR LIKE YOU…!"
"Haha! A pathetic excuse!"
This is so annoying.
He's reminding you that you are not at his level yet. You better rest before you pass out again, you will never pass the entrance exam– heck, you might not even reach your destination.
Shut up, me! I know! You don't have to shove it to my face like it ain't obvious as fuck!
"I need a break– Owah-!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, he was grabbed by the warrior. In an instant, they reached the carriage within 10 seconds. The gap between their abilities and skills is obvious, it's not close at all.
"You might be more agile than me, but you are less experienced when it comes to this!" He puts his thumbs up, pointing it toward him as he grabs a pair of clean towels. He threw one on Cliff's face and he used the other one to wipe his sweaty body as he sat down on the front of the carriage.
[ 24 Days Left ]
A daily reminder that always pops up each morning. It keeps him notified of how much time he has left before the start of the entrance exam. Within 24 days, he'll train as much as he can to successfully get into the academy and become a student.
After drying himself with the towel, he opened up a flask of cold water and drank it like he had been dehydrated for days.
Cliff looked at the sleeping Esther and smiled.
"Thank you for the cold water."
Due to her being an Ice mage, they were able to drink fresh cold water every single day. It is refreshing, especially at this time of the month when the sun is burning everything and drying up crops.
After resting for 30 minutes, Cliff went towards Enrid who was sitting down at the front of the carriage.
"Sir, let's run again–! I made sure that I cooled down and rested my body." With strong conviction and steadfast determination, Cliff suggested running again. Enrid agreed and they ran at the back of the carriage again.
[ 23 Days Left ]
They arrived at an extremely rocky area, so the training for that day was to lift rocks to build up muscle and endurance. Sure, Esther could've helped but Cliff suggested that he and Enrid should lift it. Perfect opportunity, he said.
After 3 hours of lifting, they finally removed all the rocks that were blocking their way. Not only was it perfect for their training, but it also helped the future travelers who were also going in the same direction as they were.
During the night, they arrived at a small village. They went to the inn and slept there instead of the carriage, which was heavily barricaded by Esther's Ice wall.
[ 22 Days Left ]
After waking up, Cliff and Enrid went outside for a morning exercise. Tutoring him about body, core training, shoulder training, leg training, etc. With this, he can perform exercises that require no heavy objects other than himself. After training, on the way to the inn. They met a farmer who was having trouble farming due to their recent back problems.
Both of them saw this as an opportunity and offered to help. They did help by removing the dead crops, putting the ripe ones in the farmer's barn, and putting seeds so that they would grow again.
Cliff realized how refreshing it is to train his body, it soothes his mind because the voice is no longer talking to him. He got even more motivated to train hard.
[ 21 Days Left ]
After leaving the village, they ran into a small problem. Their carriage got stuck in the mud, which their horse couldn't pull. So, both Cliff and Enrid pushed the carriage instead. They also considered this part of the training.
"Y'know, I'm terrified that you're making this kid like you."
"N-naaaw! He's fine!"
"If you say so~"
Esther stayed being a princess, while her two soldiers kept pushing the carriage to a land with no mud. It took them half a day to finally arrive at a location where it had stable ground and no mud detected near or far away from the road.
[ 12 Days Left ]
"Cliff," Esther mentioned the young lad's name.
"Yes?" The red-haired lad went inside of the carriage, his body was mildly built. Compared to his scrawny agile body before, he had grown an inch taller and his body became toned and detailed.
"You're now ready to handle magic. Sit down, allow me to teach you." She calmly ordered him, and he obeyed.
"Yes, ma'am!" He sat down, eager to listen and learn from the master.
Enrid's lips were curved as he silently sang a tune while he was driving the carriage. Proud to have raised and trained a boy like him for 2 weeks straight.