Gustav was about two hundred feet behind.

After another ten minutes passed and they arrived in the middle of a forest-like area.

But it was very dense with only a few trees, and there was an outlined curvy path in front.

This path was cleared out for them to run through.

The moment everyone got out of the river, they started running on the curvy path.

This was the last section to pass through before arriving back at their starting point.

Gustav pushed himself forward, knowing that only a few more hundred meters were left.

Some cadets were only walking at this point and panting heavily.

Some came out of the river and laid on the ground due to fatigue. However, some were still able to muster the energy to keep running.

Gustav picked up speed and started catching up to the special class cadets ahead, who were obviously also fatigued since they were slowing down with each step.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

Several ten feet tapping on the surface of the tiled path rang out.

Gustav arrived on the side of the special class cadet behind and eventually overtook him.

He kept speeding up as he ran and overtook a few more of them.

A minute later, they could see the plain field they had started the race from up ahead.

At this point, Gustav was right beside E.E, and both of them shared a nod and a quick fist bump as they ran forward, overtaking Aildris and Chad.

Aildris smiled and nodded at Gustav as he kept running while a frown appeared on Chad's face as he glared at Gustav.

However, he could feel himself running out of energy, so even though he tried, he couldn't overtake both of them.

-----

Minutes later, Gustav was lying on the ground as sweat dribbled down his face, and his clothes stuck to his body due to the immense sweat his body had oozed out.

He wasn't the only one. Other cadets were also on the ground panting heavily due to being out of breath.

Some of them were complaining about how sore their arms were and how this was a death routine.

A bright smile appeared on commander Briant's face as he stood up from his seat and walked towards the few that had just arrived.

He stared at them and looked forward at the rest that was limping towards them as fast as they could, even though they were out of breath.

"Good job," Officer Briant voiced out as he noted their faces one after the other.

Obviously, the first to arrive was the special class cadets that were about fifty in number.

All of them were out of breath except for Elevora, who looked extremely fatigued. She also had sweat on her visible body parts, but she was nowhere as tired as the others. She wasn't even panting, neither did she look for a place to sit like the others.

The others stared at her with a defeated expression. She was currently holding a small book and reading its content.

"You all arrived seventeen to twenty minutes before the time limit, that's not bad at all," Officer Briant voiced out as he snapped his fingers.

Pah!

The bluish mark on their right palm faded away in an instant.

Everyone held their hands up and stared at themselves as they felt their bloodlines being unsealed.

Gustav felt his strength returning and all the injuries and soreness reduced before eventually disappearing.

Gustav regeneration had returned him back to normal, so all the pain was gone in a few seconds.

Others were still looking tired, but they had regained the energy to move their formerly stiff muscles as they will. After all, not everyone was blessed with regeneration like Gustav.

"Here are med shots for those who suffered injury," Commander Briant pointed at the rectangular crate on the ground not too far from his position.

"Taking this will make you feel even more tired, but you will be healed from your injuries," He added.

Those who were injured moved over to take the cylindrical-shaped orange-colored object and injected themselves.

Cuts and bruises they had gained closed up immediately, and they stopped bleeding. However, they did feel even more tired afterward.

Some of them that knew Gustav fell to a trap at the beginning wondered why he didn't go and take a med shot, not knowing that at the moment, he didn't have a single scratch on his body.

Everyone that had arrived had to wait till the time was up.

Only around nine hundred people managed to make it here before the time was up. There were still hundreds of other cadets struggling to arrive.

Officer Briant started addressing them when the time was up.

"Now since it's you, youngsters, first time trying out the daily routine session, all other morning training sessions will be cancelled for the next one week... I expect everyone to get used to this after one week has gone by," Officer Briant voiced out.

"Everyone should prepare to be addressed by noon at the main hall... Commander Cilia, the head authority of the MBO camp will be there," He added before turning around to leave.

The other male officer followed him while the female officer remained behind.

"Officer Sasha directed the late one to our command center for the deactivation of the seal," He instructed while waving from ahead without turning around.

The cadets started leaving the place as well.

Officer Sasha walked forward and stared at the faces of some cadets before preventing them from leaving.

"You're among those that arrived late today... Start your second lap of the morning routine," She voiced out with an unmerciful tone.

Those involved had looks of horrors as they pleaded with loud voices.

Gustav stood to his feet to leave when E.E called out to him from behind.

"Angy and Falco have not arrived," he stated with a tone of worry.

Matilda and Glade also came forward. They had the same complaints.

"I have checked for them as well... They're not here," Matilda added.

Creator's Thought

We'll be having little time skips