As the giant ant got closer, its legs shook the ground, forcing Ali to steady himself against the wall. When the insect was a few meters from the teenager, he made his move by charging at it. Just as the ant’s mandibles looked to cut him, he quickly dived beneath the ant and used his momentum to get underneath the creature.

<

Hit by projectiles. Lost 10 HP.

Currently, you have 10/20 HP

>

Ali felt intense pain, collapsing onto the ground. When he looked at the back of his arm, two needle-like projectiles were stuck in it. Given the pain he felt, he could safely assume that he had multiple other similar projectiles throughout his body.

<

Inflicted paralysis status.

Paralyzed targets cannot move their body until the status is removed or has run its course.

>

Facing the ground, Ali couldn’t move his arms or legs. Meanwhile, he could see the large shadow towering over him.

Move! Damn it! Move!

Ali felt himself lifted up within the ant’s mandibles. No matter how much he struggled, his body no longer responded. Yet, he could still feel the pain as the mandibles crushed down on him.

<

Crushed by mandibles. Critical hit! Lost 30 HP.

Currently, you have 0/20 HP.

>

Guess this is how I die. To a stupid an-

The teenager felt himself floating in the darkness. In the distance, he could see two individuals waving at him. Before he could get close enough to recognize them, he opened his eyes to see instructor Bardanes looking down at him.

“Good work,” said the instructor. “Head back upstairs and join the others in the training exercises.”

Ali listened until he could no longer hear Bardanes’ footsteps. Then, he cautiously raised both hands and found they were responding. He carefully felt his body until he confirmed that he was still in one piece. After that, he sat up to perform a thorough check of his body before he finally stood up. To address his paranoia, Ali checked his prompt window.

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<

With HP regen, you now have 20/20 HP.

>

How am I still alive?

The prompt stayed silent. A few seconds later, the teenager backtracked the way the instructor led him down. When he reached the floor where he met Bardanes, Belen was waiting there by the stairs.

“How was the evaluation?” she asked with a devilish look on her face.

Not wanting to give too much away, Ali simply said he died. The two of them stared at one another for a short while before Belen turned away. She took a few steps and looked back.

“Keep up! I was assigned to be your guide to our training room.”

Ali wasn’t sure if he preferred Belen emotional or emotionless. She seemed like someone who only had two states with nothing in between. Following a sigh, he followed the girl down the winding halls until they arrived outside a room. Belen entered first and Ali followed.

“Pick up your pace! Those who don’t finish all their laps will not be getting lunch today.”

The threat of no lunch saw many teenagers picking up their pace around the race track. Ali found himself mesmerized by the size of the room when he felt a pair of eyes focused on him.

“This is the new punk?” asked the big man who towered over Ali.

Unlike Baranes, the man only wore black pants and shoes. He was topless and had a black headband over his head. The muscles of the man were beyond what Ali thought was possible, though he had grown up in a poor formation where meat was a luxury. At the moment, he spoke to Belen who didn’t cower before the man.

“Yes, I don’t see he’s very impressive. Doubt he’ll survive a day here.”

I’ll show that bitch!

Ali would love a chance to wipe the smirk on Belen’s face. He didn’t care if she was a girl. If she was going to trash on him, he would prove her wrong. Then, the man’s hand reached out swiftly, putting a metal wristband around his right wrist.

“Listen punk! You refer to me as Master Nabil. When I give orders, you follow. Understood?”

Ali nodded his head.

“Now, do fifty laps around that track. If you don’t finish by noon, I won’t remove the wristband. If you have your wristband, you don’t get lunch. Understood?”

Ali nodded his head. His attention then turned to Belen who couldn’t suppress her laughter.

I wish I could punch her right now.

Master Nabil turned at a speed that wasn’t humanly possible to put a wristband on the girl too.

“If you find this so entertaining, missus, you can join him.”

Ali found satisfaction when Belen’s smirk turned to a big frown. He then entered the track to join the other teenagers. Some of them were barely making progress while a couple had already given up at the side of the track. There were a few who treated the run like a walk as they showed no sign of struggle. The teenager chose to go at his own pace, unsure how much time he had until noon. When he made his first lap, a marking showed up on his wristband. Following his second lap, the marking changed.

This must be how they keep track of our laps.

Due to his inability to read the marking, Ali had to keep track of the laps in his head. In the village, he was involved in trading goods for food and the experience taught him how to count numbers up to a hundred. As long as he wasn’t expected to run more than a hundred laps, he could pace himself. After his twentieth lap, Ali stopped when a bell sounded. Following the bell, there were many groans from many of the other teenagers. The ones who had a breeze with the laps went to Master Nabil who removed their wristbands.

No lunch for me then. What's new?

“For the rest of you! Get back to your laps unless you want to miss supper too!”