Norbert looked at the people around him. All of them have strange faces on them or how they got there. Looking around, they all had the same gear on. The same leather jacket and pants, Norbert could see the green top underneath some of the open coats.
People had belts on them with at least two daggers attached and in sheaths; however, they decided, and all had the same backpack Norbert had with him—some bulging more than others. Looking around, Norbert saw the room he was in, or more precisely, the lack of room.
Norbert's feet crunched on the dusty soil; looking around, Norbert saw no trees or life around him, just a single flat piece of dirt as large as a football stadium. Looking around, he would guess about a hundred people were already standing there, also watching and waiting for something to happen.
As they looked around, Norbert not seeing any portals or frames anywhere, not understanding how they could be transported here. A voice came from the group's centre, echoing, "Attention, everyone!" As the voice slowly subsided, so did everyone else speaking until only the wind blowing through the dirt was heard.
"Thank you, now all of you here for the training of scouts for The Frontier. Most, if not all, of you, have no idea what you will officially be doing. And at this point, I have no intention to make that any clearer for you." The voice said, people looking around nervously, not liking what was being said.
"I am here to teach you two things. The first is how to survive with nothing. Thus, we are out here in the middle of nowhere with nothing. The second thing I am here to teach you is to tap into your body's new potential. Thanks to the wonderful elixirs you have all consumed, your body is better. Some of you may notice the changes, others not so much. Thankfully the perception is easy for people to grasp, most people, that is. The endurance one, now that is harder."
With a pause, people started looking around, jumping from one foot to the next; the voice spoke up once more, "Now the only way to show your mind its new level is for you to do it. So with that said, we shall all begin running."
With that, the crowd parted slightly, seeing someone run up ahead. Slowly the group continued to jog, moving away.
"THE ONLY RULE IS NEVER TO LEAVE YOUR BAGS BEHIND!" the voice shouted off in the distance. Everyone stopped, looking behind them. Seeing the bags just left on the ground. The crowd is looking at what to do.
One by one, each came back to pick their bag up until a sea of people followed. Arguments were happening all around Norbert, him thankful that he still had his bag on, never having the opportunity to take it off with Obsius on his shoulder.
"Looks like we've gotten ourselves into quite a pickle here?" Norbert said to the bird, receiving a chirp of confirmation in reply. Seeing the crowd take off, Norbert followed, beginning to jog and keep up.
As they ran, the dust being kicked up and into the faces, Norbert slowly made his way to the front, trying to breathe fresh air. As he made his way past the crowd, all the faces became slowly red, the breathing haggard people.
Finally, Norbert made it to the front, no more dust in his eyes, just the fresh, calm wind of him moving to blow on his face. Looking up, Norbert saw Obsius flying through the air, getting bumped too much for it to stay on his shoulder. Up ahead, Norbert saw someone running ahead. Realising it was the instructor for their rag-tag group Norbert focused on them and continued running.
Thoughts of when he was running back on Earth in his most recent time back there, happy that he ran in the mornings before, knowing that he had progressed further than before, the fact that he was still running and thinking at the same time at this pace showed it.
The group continued to run, following the instructor in the lead. Sometimes he would get closer, only to hear him shout something out, saying we've only just started before reshooting forwards.
Occasionally looking behind him, Norbert could see that the group that was once packed and bustling for space had spread out. Norbert is still at the front with three more besides him, the same three from the start, all keeping pace with him, sometimes going a bit further ahead, other times going behind him. Sometimes Norbert was at the lead before slowing down again.
As the struggle came behind him, seeing they were stretched out over fifty meters or so from what he could see. Norbert looked around once more, seeming as if the scenery around them had not changed, not like he would be able to know if it did due to the lack of anything there. Up ahead was still the instructor, keeping pace with them as well. He heard a voice shout from the side say, "Hey, out of us here want to try and reach them" Looking to the side, Norbert saw a boy a bit younger than him. His long orange hair flapped in the wind behind him. With one finger pointing ahead to the instructor, Norbert could see, squinting hard. Norbert could make out his details, looking like he wasn't even breaking a sweat.
Nodding, the two other people increased their pace as they overtook Norbert. Looking up, Norbert saw Obsius flying ahead, almost hearing a cackle at him. Being raised to the completion, Norbert re-positioned his backpack. Happy that the straps didn't feel like they were digging in and not chaffing anything, thinking the leather must be providing something for him.
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About to head off, a thought occurred to Norbert, should he run it or go all out and try and sprint to the instructor? Mind underside Norbert chose the best method to do when not knowing; you do a coin toss.
Slowing down slightly, people slowly started to overtake him, the group he was once part of increasing their gain. Norbert reached around and fell into his backpack. Not finding any of his coins from Earth, Norbert reached around for something to use. Finally finding what he was looking for, Norbert pulled out the stone talisman.
One side was just solid stone, and the other had purple insignia. Looking closer, Norbert could see that he had not seen the marking before, not the same as the magic circle but similar still. Carefully blowing on it for luck, Norbert flicked it into the air ahead of him. "Magic side for sprinting, stone side for running."
As it spun in the air and came down to his eye level before slamming into his face, his arm whipped out in front of him. Feeling the successful weight of it nestled in his palms, Norbert quickly looked at it, deciding what his fate would be.
The purple insignia, AKA the magic side, stared out at him. A smile forming on his face, Norbert quickly placed the talisman back in his backpack, making sure it would be secure and he would not lose it on the next trip of his run.
With his backpack on once more and secured, Norbert looked up, seeing that Obsius had stayed ahead with the group, now hard to see. Looking around, Norbert saw he was now near the group's back. The wheezing surrounding him, the huffing and puffing of people, starting to look like they would fall.
Looking around, Norbert cheered for them, trying to give them something to keep them going. Not getting any response back, Norbert let his cheers sink into him. Forming deep within his belly.
Norbert breathed in, more and more, as much as he could. Closing his eyes, he felt the air within him, the power it would provide, amplified by the elixir coursing through his muscles and blood. He envisioned the red blood cells moving around his body, now to magic even more efficiently, taking it to the muscles of his legs. The muscles load it up, release the striations, receiving the brain's signals to move.
The red blood cells returned to his lungs to load up with oxygen again, going through the capillaries before reaching the heart again and rushing forward. As Norbert breathed as he imagined the blood within him reaching his lungs, Norbert breathed out, feeling some hairs on his head standing up, a feeling in his stomach.
As Norbert breathed out fully, his body never stopping or slowing down, keeping to the same pace, he slowly opened his eyes. When he was out of the air, Norbert looked straight ahead, seeing the instructor far off in the distance.
The world around him slowly faded, the people no longer there, just shadows of something in the background. Norbert opened his hands up; his next step in his gait was just a bit further. The dust from his foot slapped the ground before going behind him and the next one taking its place.
The time between each step went faster and faster; his arms started to pump, propelling him further in front. Norbert started to sprint, not caring if he was tired, knowing and trusting in the belief of the magic and what the instructor said that he now had to find his new limit; that was all to the course.
As Norbert sprinted past the other people jogging, feeling the wind blowing in his face, there was no dust near him. Norbert occasionally looked up, using Obsius as a guide to see how far forward from his destination. As he continued to sprint forward, not feeling tired, Norbert passed the group of three he was before. With a wave of his hand, Norbert continued going forward, leaving them in the dust. Looking back now that he was in the front, he saw they started to sprint, trying to catch up with him, looking more like beasts chasing him now than people.
As Norbert dismissed them in his mind, he looked up once more to see Obsius, flying still in the sky, now going up and down and doing tricks out of boredom, as it definitely could not stay on his shoulder with all his bumping around.
Surprised once more that the backpack was securely on his back, Norbert looked to the instructor before him. His prize and all for him.
Breathing in deeply, Norbert pushed off with a burst of speed. Feeling like he was flying through the air, not just running on the ground. Finally, after all the running, Norbert could see the instructor slowly come into detail. As he sprinted forwards, the instructor ahead slowly approached him until they were beside each other.
Norbert slowed down, feeling his feet once more thud on the dirt, kicking up dust into the air together; Norbert could finally see the instructor. He was wearing similar clothing to what he had currently on, the only difference being the leather's brownness and the shirt's green.
Instead of being a solid patch, it seemed to form and mist together, like the camouflage gear from Earth, but constantly moving and changing shape. Norbert looked up, only for his eyes to stop lower than expected and looked at the person before him. Hair cut short, the same black as the village and an angular face with eyes looking more like a cat than a person. Their pale white skin left little sweat, unlike Norberts, who felt it was almost raining.
As he looked once more ahead, the voice from before came up. "What makes you think you can run next to me?"
Thoughts flying through his head, Norbert, not seeing the issue here, replied, "Well, because I can; this was only a test of endurance, and we just need to go further than we previously thought possible."
"And where do you think that is." The instructor replied.
"I'd say that is when someone can no longer move anymore, no matter what they do."
A smile formed on the instructor's face; a used car salesman could convince someone to price for more than it is worth and see them sign on the dotted line, knowing they had made a mistake.
"Thanks to this one here", The instructor boomed out; Norbert thought it likely that everyone would be able to hear them. "We are going to go until nobody can move any more, so let's chop chop" With that, they turned around and continued running as if nothing had happened.
Looking forward, seeing that the conversation was other, Norbert now had nothing to do but to continue to run; he synched his breath up with the instructors.
Norbert occasionally looked behind him as the two of them continued to run on the dusty earth. Seeing the numbers of the runners slowly dwindle off, falling to the ground out of exhaustion and not getting back up.
As Norbert looked forward again, a thought occurred to him; he had not eaten breakfast today.