The first-hour mark had just passed, and as Nestor was down on his knees, His back was red, fresh blood still flowing.

He slowly got up, then quickened his pace as Captain Cole had announced a short break for them to rehydrate and for the unconscious to awaken.

Nestor crouched on the edge of the fountain, feeling grateful for the sparkling water. For, not only did it apply a healing effect on its vicinity, but it would also soon quench Nestor's dry throat.

'He is a complete madman, this knight, I never thought to be able to squeeze this much strength out of my body.

The pain is by far the least factor that contributed to it, rather how the other trainees ended up is the problem. Stranded on the sand, bloodied, they peed themself and wept to beg their executioner to stop.

The problem is that the whole point of this run is to make us stronger, to train both our body and mind, at least in my opinion. A soldier can't become such with just pure physical training.

Because of this, Captain simply scoffed at them, saying " Get out then, you're free to leave my training. However as soon as you do, don't ever come back, I won't admit cowards to remain under my wing".

You can imagine that all of the participants are here because they are weak and needed a chance to become stronger. We all wish for someone to teach us how to fight properly. For, nobody explained to us the dangers that are waiting below the city.

I am scared, the anxiety is eating me, as much as the expectations of this new life are driving me further on this journey.

In the end, it made sense, however as much as you could think of it as reasonable, it was also merciless. For some of us, this is the first time we experience any such violence.

I too didn't see as much blood being spilled, at least from one man to another, even if I was freer than my brothers I was still a secluded clergyman. '

Yet Nestor didn't have much time to ponder, he had to focus on the run, to maximize his stamina and avoid ending up unconscious in a small pool of urine and blood. Like Alex ended up being, together with two of his friends and even one of the despicable trio.

' They surely underestimated Cole's might, his whip is truly fast and cannot be dodged by normal means. At best you can manage to somehow block it with a weapon.

Yes, he didn't prohibit weapons at all, only if one were to take it out, you had to keep carrying it with you for a good while. As, if taking it out of the tablet didn't require much time and concentration, putting it back demanded you to stay still for a few minutes. Leisure that nobody truly had.

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The trio had kept on with this back and forth with our central group. They all had similar facial features, with black hair and almond-shaped eyes. Reminiscing me of the eastern folk.

Cole didn't appreciate their petty maneuvers and cracked his whips at them even if they weren't the last on the run. The man was going back on his own rules, even if somewhat justified, it made me doubt the true purpose of this training.'

As Nestor kept on cupping his hands, to drink some water from the fountain, while still in deep thought, Marco had already gotten up.

The young athlete had noticed a girl stranded a few steps from the fountain unconscious.

It was Brittney, with blond hair, gentle features, and an athletic body. However she was now lying unconscious near Alex, both drained by the tricksters and the merciless whip.

A dozen steps south of them was Frank, a tall, slim guy with brown hair, thick eyebrows, and brown eyes. Nestor had often seen him with a joyous expression on his face, reminding him of a happy countryside drunkard.

Only a bit prior to his fall, did his expression starts to twist in pain and anger. A truly bizarre individual, anyway nobody had the will to go up to him and help him out, as only a madman would be wasting this precious moment of respite.

'Why? I can understand the young man helping the girl but this?'

Nestor's perplexed expression wasn't the only one among the trainees, as someone was already upon the unconscious Frank, ready to pick him up and bring him to the fountain.

The individual was the one that ranked first previously, as Marco and Nessa had slowed down to take care of the little Isaac, the green-skinned humanoid had taken the lead.

He was bald and had a small pair of small antennas protruding from his forehead, he had sharp features and a straight expression that rivaled even Cole's.

A few minutes later everyone was up, some barely managed to stand on their own, however, the sudden increase in their backpack's weight got them to resume the desperate run.

Brittney only made it in time to properly thank Marco and take a few sips of water. Alex had woken up on his own soon after, only leaving one of the three thugs on his own, still unconscious.

Time made to the course, and without him realizing, a few trainees had fallen on the ground, kissing the dirtied sand beneath their feet. Nestor held still, he got his khopesh out and often managed to parry Cole's lashes.

The curved sword was incredibly dull, and as it seemed to be rusted all over one would think that it would break pretty easily.

However, its sturdiness surprised Nestor, as it had no problems blocking Cole's strikes. If anything was to be found lacking, it was none other than Nestor's current state. Even blocking a few lashes made his wrists hurt like hell as if they were about to break. Not only that but also the increased weight on his shoulders played their parts, coupled with the fatigue of the run and his sore muscles, Nestor was about to break.

'Not yet, I can keep on going! I won't give up, not this time!'

Thanks to some kind of power, he could only associate with a strange phenomenon 'called a soul', Nestor had been able to approximately predict the knight strikes. However many were still too fast for him to react, and his intuition wasn't always on point either.

Nonetheless, many others were in even worse conditions, as even if they pulled out a weapon, they couldn't protect themselves as much.

As they hit the second-hour mark, about eight participants were still on the run. With the little Isaac versing the best conditions.