As Norbert continued running through the dust, nobody caught up to the instructor with him. Looking behind again, Norbert saw the distance between them and the next group grow and grow.
As he turned back around again, Norbert saw his hands flash before his face. For the briefest moment, Norbert saw his hands had purple lines on them.
Shock surrounded Norbert as thoughts flashed through his head. Would he be found out, tested for something, or killed for desecrating a grave? Could he think of something to say instead, some cover for what he has been given? Would anyone believe him?
As Norbert continued to think, he slightly slowed down, losing his pace. He had to focus again, the butterflies in his stomach rising again. Turning his head to the side, he looked at the instructor, seeing the instructor laugh straight at him. A high-pitched laugh, sounding utterly different to the voice he heard before.
Now, even more surprised, Norbert opened his mouth wide, the wires in his head crossed from being thrown from one deep end to the other.
As the instructor whipped a tear from their eye, not knowing if one was there or just for show, they opened their mouth, a voice completely different from before coming out, sounding like the tinkling of bells, compared to the neutral voice from before.
"You sure are a sceptical one. Relax, we all have irregularities here; say, can I look at your card?"
Norbert looked back at the instructor, not believing they wanted him to ruffle through his bag while running. Receiving a nod from his pause, Norbert pulled his bag off one shoulder again and started looking around.
Finding it where he last put it, in his pants pocket, Norbert showed it to the world before handing it over to the instructor.
As they looked at it and nodded once before handing it back. "So you're the Norbert fellow, the one with no lick of magic in them, a completely useless mundane then."
"Well, that's not a nice thing to say to people, even though it's true", Norbert replied, putting the card back in his old pants pocket before placing it again in the backpack. Re-positioning the bag on his back. Realising he had been running for who knows how long and not feeling any pain, he rubbed his shoulders, confirming no soreness.
"And you shouldn't worry about the glowing hand thing", The instructor replied. "It's already added to your file; it was discovered when you were excreting the toxins from your body. Gave the nurses a shock."
He looked at the instructor, thinking that now everyone would know about his hands and being seen as an outcast doubly due to his lack of magic.
"I would recommend wearing some gloves. As a teacher to their pupil, it will make it less obvious when you're using whatever it does," They indicated to his hands, now not glowing as strong as before but still noticeable under the sun. Nodding in confirmation, he looked forward, wondering if now he would have time for some questions.
"So, for keeping up with you for so long, can I ask some questions? Before you start, this would still test my endurance as I would be multi-tasking?" Norbert replied. Looking at the instructor, Norbert waited, not hearing anything to deny him. He continued the most pressing question on his mind for the conversation.
Pulling out the pendant around his neck and showing it to the instructor, Norbert asked, "The last person I talked to said there is a limited amount of conversations for this, and I need to be careful, or else I will be trapped with nothing. So the question I'm asking is, how much time do I have left?"
Looking at his pendant, the instructor moved closer, both still running. Cupping her hand over the pendant, she looked at it before nodding in confirmation. "It's full or nearly there. Normally these things last for about a month before they need to be charged up. When unregistered languages are used, they will be used more up depending on what happens. The fewer records on a language, the more it will use, so you have plenty of time."
With that off his shoulders, Norbert relaxed again, knowing he could use it liberally. The next question is related to it "So how does someone recharge it anyway?"
The instructor looked at him like he was a fool before shaking her head, whispering "country bumpkin" under her breath before replying, "Really, anyone can do it at that level. They need to put some mana into it, normally just a couple of coppers to fill it up. They are designed to be efficient, you know."
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As Norbert nodded his head, still running together. Still, the background was not changing; Norbert looked ahead, running and keeping to his thoughts. Looking back behind him, he could still see a couple of people running, now nearly over the horizon. Suddenly one dropped off, no longer able to see.
"So, may I ask for your name, teacher?"
Looking back behind as well, the instructor continued running, not giving any information on what he asked for. Looking down, Norbert continued to run, waiting to see if they said anything; sadly, nothing was said.
The pair of them ran together back through the dunes once more. Occasionally looking behind them, Norbert saw silhouettes fall one after the other. When Norbert looked back and saw nobody, he looked to the instructor waiting to see if they would continue. Playing back in his mind that they would keep on going until they could no longer run, Norbert swallowed, thinking of how long he would need to go, as still, he did not feel any real fatigue like his body hadn't yet communicated to his mind that it was tired—the adrenalin allowed him to be kept on going for much longer than he could.
And so they ran together, Obsius still flying in the sky, now drooping down. He slowly landed on Norbert, catching Obsius before the bird fell out of the sky.
Feeling Obsius slowly rise and fall, the bird now fast asleep in his arms. And still, the instructor continued to run as Norbert was still not stopping. Over time Norbert's legs started to feel like jelly, but he continued. Occasionally looking down to ensure that Obsius was still fine, Norbert looked at his hands again. Now the light flecks of purple previously barely visible in his veins were noticeable.
The veins on his hands were bursting, completely obvious, and glowing, completely visible in the light now, almost like it was pulsing. Looking up, Norbert looked back, seeing that nothing was seen. And still, they ran; looking at the instructor, Norbert saw they also were starting to sweat, the tiredness visible on their face.
Norbert, now forcing his foot to raise, carrying the now awake Obsius in his arms, the little guy still too tired to fly, the person behind him dropped out. Norbert continued to run forward, not even paying attention, realising he was no longer running with someone. He tripped over his feet as he turned around for the last time.
Instantly Norbert sprawled on the ground, Obsius crying out and flapping out of the way before Norbert landed on him.
With a thud and a wave of dust billowed, Norbert rolled around until he was finally still. Lying on the ground, Norbert looked up at the sky, seeing no clouds. As he breathed in the air, the dust slowly drifting down to the ground again, Norbert saw a shadow over his face. Moving his face to the side stood Obsius, looking down at Norbert.
Smiling up at him, Norbert was unprepared for what was happening next. The bird came down and started pecking at Norbert's forehead. On his part, Norbert was too tired even to move a hand to swat the bird away, just lay on the ground, accepting his punishment.
***
After who knows how long, the sun not moving anymore from what Norbert could see, Obsius stopped pecking at Norbert. After being able to relax, Norbert once more had his breath. Slowly he leaned up, only to see the instructor sitting on the ground.
In front of them was their backpack, now also opened. From it, they pulled out a bag of some kind, nibbling on some food in their hand. Slowly Norbert stood up, legs shaking as he approached the instructor.
Slowly the instructor looked up, taking a sip of liquid and putting more food in their mouth. Now looking at them, Norbert saw the food looked like dried apple pieces, not sure there are apples in this world, to begin with.
"You're finally up; let's go and pick up the rest of the stragglers." The instructor said, placing the items back in their bag and getting up, looking like they hadn't run.
"And to answer your previous question, my name is Lily," she said, in her butterfly voice, before changing back to a neutral tone. "Don't tell anyone else; they haven't earned the right yet. Now come on, we're burning daylight here."
And with that, she ran off once more. Shaking his head, Norbert looked at Obsius, sitting on his shoulder; with a peck at his head once more, the bird flew, flapping its wings right in front of Norbert's face, blowing dust-up at him and making him stumble.
"That bird" Norbert shook his head once more before he also began to start running.
Back the trio went, Norbert catching up quickly with Lily as they started looking around for people once more. Their band slowly increased more and more. They were first picking up the trio who Norbert competed with before. All of them had grouped themselves and sat and talked when Norbert found them.
Getting up, the group continued; as more and more people came together, the group started slowly slowing down until they were only jogging, no longer running. Lily never goes ahead of the group and keeps them together.
After some time, the group never continued getting bigger, but still, they jogged once more.
***
Lily started slowing down from their jog, holding her hand in the air as she walked before stopping and engulfing herself in the crowd.
"Now that we have done the first drill of the day, I will take you to your quarters you will be staying in for the next, however long you remain here."
Everyone started talking in hushed whispers, waiting to see how well they could relax.
"Your standing at it right now; we shall be staying here. We shall be staying here, on this dust bowl, for your training, teaching you survival training and endurance of all types. Let's begin our first lesson, getting your sleeping quarters, for it will be dark soon."
Looking around, Norbert could not see how it could soon be dark, the sun still shining high in the sky. Pulling out items in his pack, he looked to see if there was a tent or food magically, and sadly there was nothing, and only what items he had in before.
As everyone was disappointed, Norbert realised they would be out here with no food, water, or shelter for as long as the training took. All in the name of "endurance".