Saints give her guidance. What kind of introduction was that? She’s smiling her bloodthirsty smile, but to others, it might come off as friendly. Some of these idiots actually laugh, the excitement of seeing an elf and their inability to imagine someone truly threatening them obscuring her menace.

“Now then—”

“Um!”

We all look over to the girl who interrupted her. Oh, it’s the little princess who tried to start problems with me earlier. Her eyes are practically shining, face flushed with excitement. “Are you really an elf?”

Kierra reaches up and pinches her long ears. “Last time I checked. And yes, I am from the elven continent, specifically the Violet Dusk Province.”

“Saints bless me, this is so exciting! Why—”

“I’m glad you’re so excited to meet me but this isn’t the time for questions, hm? Perhaps when the lesson is over, I can spare a few moments.”

“Of course. Excuse my lack of decorum.” The girl seems to come back to herself, smiling sheepishly.

“So, let’s jump right into it. Everyone get a little distance from each other. Enough to swing your arms out. Good, good. Now we’re going to do some stretches. Follow along with me.”

The field is filled with giggles and snickering as we try our best to imitate the poses, often ending up with ridiculous results while Kierra shouts instructions. Alana is smiling but my face remains stoic. This woman. Lowering their guards with that big smile. It’s only going to make what happens next that much worse.

“Alright, that’s good enough. Time to see what you can do. One lap around the field. Go at whatever pace is comfortable. Don’t need anyone collapsing in the first few minutes. What are you all standing around for? Go on.”

I’m already moving before she finished speaking. To her credit, Alana is right beside me and we take to the task at a brisk jog. A few students are close behind us but the majority are taking it easy. For some, it might really be their comfortable pace but there is a large group of geniuses back there who are taking their sweet time walking. Some are lazy while others simply aren’t dressed in a way to promote strenuous movement.

Either way, Kierra is going to love them.

Alana and I finish our lap and hang close to Kierra as she watches the others finish with the intensity of a predator stalking prey. When the last of the walkers have made it back, she claps her hands, her smile stretching wider. “Good. Now that I have a good idea what everyone can do, let’s get started for real. All of you, laps. And this time you’re going to run until you drop.”

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Haha. And so, it begins.

“Teacher,” Alana calls out. “When you say run until we drop, do you mean—”

“I mean exactly what I said. I want you to run until your legs can’t hold you up anymore. Don’t stop unless you collapse.”

“But—”

I cut her off by grabbing her arm, pulling her after me as I follow the instruction. “It’s not good to argue with the instructor,” I sigh as we fall into a rhythm.

“I wasn’t arguing. It’s just…running until we collapse? Knight training isn’t easy but it’s the first day and this a group unused to physical activity. Pushing them to that extent sounds a bit unreasonable.”

Foolish girl. It’s only going to get worse from here on out. “Let’s just do our best.”

A shout makes me look to the side. Kierra plants her foot in the back of a lagging student, jolting them forward. “Did you not hear me?” she yells, voice carrying to everyone on the field. “I said run. If your legs can’t do that much, you’d be better off without them and I’d be happy to oblige you.”

I turn away as she kicks someone else, focusing on my own muscles starting to feel the burn of exercise. After my fifth lap, sweating is falling into my eyes but I spot two foundation acolytes by the looks of them approaching us, their armor clacking as they pull a wagon behind them. The cages stacked atop it look very ominous, but I put it out of my mind. We’ll find out what they’re for eventually.

After the eighth lap, I struggle to keep going. Did this field grow? It must have. I’m putting in the same effort but it’s taking twice as long to finish. Alana is barely keeping up beside me. Strands of blonde hair that have escaped their tie are glued to her face and her head is bowed as she powers through the exhaustion to keep running.

“No more!”

I turn, eyes widening as I see all the students lying on the grass. I grab Alana’s arm and slow her down to watch the student facing off with Kierra. Facing off is a little wrong. He’s on one knee and I think I can hear his panting from here.

They exchange words for a few minutes before Kierra claps him on the shoulder and walks toward the middle of the field. “Alright, everyone. Take a break.”

I join the collective sigh of relief and fall to the grass, Alana right beside me.

“Thought…I really was…going to collapse.”

“Hmm.” That was definitely trying but something isn’t right. Simple exhaustion isn’t enough to stop her.

One of the knights pulling the wagon grabs a barrel off it and jogs about the field, distributing canteens of water. I take what’s offered and guzzle down half of it before lying down in the grass and closing my eyes.

They snap open when the ground begins to rumble. I jump to my feet as earthen walls rise along the outside of the field, creating a passageway that branches off from its entrance in the middle of the field to form a large circle.

The second knight who worked the earth stands up and works together with his partner to pull down the cages, setting them on the ground.

“Alright, everyone gather up.” Kierra waves us over. “Into the passage, two lines. Leave some space, you’re going to need it. That’s good.” She walks over and picks up one of the cages the two knights are struggling with, placing it in front of the entrance.

“I asked all of to run until you collapsed. You didn’t do that. That’s okay. It’s my job to coax out your maximum efforts. So, I've provided a bit of motivation.”

The knights place the second cage next to the first and open the door. My eyes widen as two dogs slowly pad out. They aren’t any taller than my knee but two large fangs hang out of their mouths and a thin slit that greatly resembles a vertical eye sticks out on their foreheads.

Kierra opens the cage in front of her and two more come out, each bristling with aggression.