Jin quickly nodded, turning back to his first training task with a fierce expression. He was not aware what nature or form the training of elemental warriors had at all in Sanctum. That however would not stop him, for he was ready to face it anyhow. Considering how agile and technical she was compared to him, the woman in charge naturally knew better than him what could enhance his skills. Pulling the sack of potatoes with a single arm, Jin started to move toward the road with determination. With the pack of potatoes weighting on his back as he shouted, his unoccupied hand showing a thumbs up back to her, “I will be back potato girl. And then you will give me your name.”
With the distance Jin had already gained between him and her, he wasn't sure. Her black hair fell over her shoulders, and the sun hadn't yet risen in the skies to clear his entire vision. But he thought he saw a smirk forming at the corner of her mouth before he turned about to the challenging path ahead of him.
Jogging uphill, Jin started to establish a rhythm in pace. It was essential to know his limits. Trying to find the right pace that could help him beat the clock before his legs gave out. They surely would, eventually. He wasn’t fat by any means, but that didn't mean he was fit to go on running for such an extensive amount of time. All the travels he went through before he found Virtue. They were nothing like this. During all his adventures up to this point, Jin had been always resourceful. Of course there had been times when he had to travel much longer in distance than five kilometers, but the situation was entirely different. He had food, water and could rest at any time. But now he was not only racing against the clock, no.
It was a fight against how much stamina and energy he was ready to sacrifice in order to achieve his goal. The eagerness he had felt last night and today was ebbing. Slowly being chipped away from him with every setback on the road. The rejection by Kornovan to train him early; his sudden knockdown at the hands of a girl that was much smaller, lighter than the sack he had latched on to his back. In spite of that, Jin couldn't understand how slow he seemed when compared to her. Even when reminiscing about his past opponent. She seemed twice as fast as the minotaur he had faced. And he had thought the minotaur he encountered had also been a Disciple, maybe a Sentinel but no further. If he was wrong then the gap in power between both Steps had been much greater than he ever considered. Given that Jin was only able to scrape with his life by using the inner technique and the voices to support him.
The voices.
That was something he would not dare use again before he learned what he was meddling with. That source of power was unlike anything he had ever witnessed or read. Its consequences could be immensurable. It's very origin and foundations, possibly unknown even to those in Sanctum. Even between his companions in the travels he had been, all of them shared one of the elemental affinities. But the voices he had heard did not seem to match with any specific element in particular, nor did Isabella Bahaerys boasted the root of her gift. Nonetheless, the pact had been made. The details and specifics set in stone since he unleashed his nucleus. To ease his nerves then, he would appeal to Vendrick or his father privately to ask about it after the training. With Virtue not being able to intelligently chat with Jin, he deemed no one else but his family trustworthy of cleansing the pertinent doubt that pestered him.
With these thoughts hanging in the deepest corners of his mind, Jin continued to stride along the rocky path, the huge branches of the Araucanthus Tree quickly decreasing in size, far in the horizon. Often bending his head to glance back, making sure everything was there. The road in front of him was a sloping hump, so it wouldn't be doubtful if a potato or two had escaped the sack. Despite being littered with boulders on the ground, most of the path was colored by flowers and groves with fruit and petals that gave off a comforting aroma as he grasped for air. Jin noticed that the dampness and green of the grass were absent in the center of the path, where his feet were touching the ground at every move. He assumed this path, this very crossing was to be used for the training of elemental warriors in the first stage without exception, and for this reason the vegetation dried up. So many people had been through this path that it was becoming a white rug amidst a sea of green.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Heat was beginning to build in Jin's body as the wind still blew strong, tearing leaves from their branches. Brushing away the beads of sweat that rested and slid slowly over his forehead with his forearm, Jin began to show the first signs of fatigue. The potatoes he carried on his back had gradually increased in weight with each step. The long and ambitious strides of the initial start had slowly given way to caution and timidity so as not to fall down the hill.
Eventually moving his legs awkwardly, Jin reached the stone bridge. He had gone halfway, but the pace applied had not been to his liking. The strong glow of the stars from the moment he started the journey no longer lingered in the skies. The orange of the new day was beginning to give its first signs, overshadowing any other point in the clouds. Jin was almost certain that much more time had passed than he wished. With luck and a lot of optimism, he would be able to cover the same distance in half the time to be able to beat the time estimated by the instructor. Not to mention the fatigue and exhaustion of energy he felt in his body.
Stopping for a few seconds, he looked around. A beautiful lake freely flowed under the stone bridge, shoals swam peacefully in that clear, crystal water. Jin's cracked lips, drier than the desert, wanted to cool off but there was no time. He could not give in to tentation at such a lack of pace. Even though he did his best pushing through uphill. Even after gathering all the remaining energy left into his legs, Jin wasn't sure he’d make it in time. At this moment he had no guarantee that his effort would suffice. And that weighed on his mind much more than the sack of potatoes that mounted him, like a knight on a horse.
Tough tasks required much more from an elemental warrior than simply his physical attributes. This was above all, in his view, a test of acumen. Even if a warrior who was in a Step similar to his, with a lot of training coming from a noble family, they would have a hard time meeting the imposed expectations. Shaking his head, he freed himself from the insecurities that lingered constantly reminding him of his physical limitations. He'd never succeed on such pace.
He needed to adapt. A new strategy was compulsory.
***
The northwest wind that was blowing strong starting to turn to the east heralded the end of the estimated time. She fumbled with her Disciple garment, reaching into her front pocket. Taking a pocket watch from her tunic. For a brief moment she withdrew her attention from the heavens, resting her listless gaze on the silver pointers of time. She noticed that the largest was close to completing a full circle around the circumference.
Releasing a deep sigh, she returned the watch back to her attire and continued to admire the skies. For Jin's return it should still take at least thirty minutes to...
“That was a climb and half, I’ll tell you that much,” said a panting voice coming from behind her, “I suppose this is the time I ask for what you owe me, your name. What is it?"
Astonished, the master struggled to maintain the apathetic composure with her apprentice.
The young man was only in the first Step amongst the revered nine. The first task she had given the young man should not have been possible in the physical conditions and circumstances he presented. Ionna had already trained over twenty elemental warriors, and all of them had failed to reach her estimated time. Naturally, she did this on purpose. The time she demarcated as acceptable was always leagues above expectations, to force them to give their maximum. And still fail.
However, Jin had not only returned before the expired time limit, but he also possessed the sack of potatoes in front of him fresh as they came. Furthermore, the sack looked exactly the same way as it had look before he left, so many potatoes that they were almost completely hiding her apprentice.
“I am Ionna, a Disciple of Lix,” she finally said.
“Nice to meet you,” Jin meekly said while covering himself with the sack.
"You realize you can release the sack right?" Ionna said.
“If you say so,” as soon as Jin dropped the bag the girl let out a high-pitched scream.
“Oh my Lix! Where is your leather armor, and your clothes?”
“Uh…I got robbed on my way back,” Jin quickly responded as he covered his parts the best he could.
“But why do you still have the sack?”
"What about it?"
"The thieves let you keep them?" Ionna asked, bewildered with the situation.
Jin shrugged with hesitation, “I guess they weren’t too hungry,” scratching his head with a nervous smile.