Before we even reached the training grounds I was feeling relief. As we approached I noticed more and more natural light filtering in. Combined with Tom and Bea's statements earlier I had a feeling the ground were either outside or open area. As much as everything was a new experience for me, I've technically been indoors since I got here. The torches are cool and all and must be investigated but I felt like I was being stifled.

Once we got there I just paused and immediately breathed in the biggest breath of fresh air I could manage. Unfortunately Bea was still keeping a sharp eye on me and pulled me further in.

This led to me staring and stumbling after her as I tried to take the whole room in. This area looked to be at least 3-4 football stadiums slammed together, a truly massive are these guys have commandeered. I could already tell that the "Warm-up" runs were gonna be a little different than what I had assumed. There was a well worn path ringing the entire area, clearly where we would be running. Just one lap would easily be half a mile, I mean this area was big enough to fit over a dozen football fields, with room to spare! Bea and Tom had mentioned running "a few" laps as a warmup, which means while completely doable was exceeding my expectations already.

And of course in the center of the track was this "obstacle course" that they wouldn't stop talking about. Truthfully.... it was just a kid's playground, but blown up for adults. It was not even on the level of all that "warrior" stuff they made TV shows out of. There were a few things that came close though, that reverse ladder looking thing for one. Everything did seem, just longer though. Like the track being so big and us doing multiple laps, it seems everything is designed to just exhaust us.

Another thing it did have in common with the warrior shows is that every new obstacle seemed to go higher and higher, until the final obstacle was honestly a good 3 stories off the ground. However, there were no cushions or water here to catch falls.... it was just a grassy plain.

I instantly knew there was no way I was going first, I definitely needed to see how these teenagers were dealing with this, that's for sure.

As I completed the vow to myself, I noticed the bell stopped ringing. I glanced around and noticed all the kids appear to have shown up, at least I can hear no one running or anything, just small chatter. I then hear some very loud steps echoing and all the chatter died. Strolling from the same hall we came through from the cafeteria was very clearly a full on knight.

He strolled in with full on metal boots, those were called greaves right? Which did explain the super loud steps. He was boasting a whole set of ring mail ... or is it chainmail? Is there a difference? Something to research for another day anyway. He also had some sort of vest over the top keeping everything very sharp and clean looking. Strangely, the metal itself made no sound as he walked in and stood practically right in front of the three of us. Bea had chosen this spot well it seems. I took a glance at her and now I knew why it was so many animes drew hearts in the characters eyes at times like this. The infatuation was blatant for everyone to see, and in my whole 25 years in my world I had never seen such an obvious example of it.

The knight, also wasted no time "Alright you lot, you know the drill. I need 5 laps from you. Let's go." he stated very simply and waved us off with a flourish of his hand.

"Yes sir!" was heard from a smattering of voices in the group, but most noticeably and fervently from Bea. The class immediately headed off to the side and took off at a dead run.

This caught me by shock as I was going for a jog. I mean, he said 5 laps and that looked to be at least 2 miles. Were these kids trying to collapse as soon as possible or something?

Bea was having none of it though and quickly fell behind me when she noticed me flagging, and started pushing me anytime I went too slow for her. She eventually stopped when I was pushed out of my jog and into more of a run. I at least managed to keep her from making me sprint with all I had though. Small victory, I know.

As we dashed around the track I noticed no one was really falling behind. Sure, there was movement as people changed positions and what not, but I had received no indication of ranking and no one else seemed to be fighting for any spots. Everyone was really just trying to complete the laps as soon as they could.

I was jolted from my thoughts as I realized we were already passing the knight. Maybe this track was smaller than I thought? I was pondering this on our second lap when I made the decision to time myself on the third lap. Even on the second lap the people dead sprinting were not slowing down so maybe my sense of scale was just off on all this. Once the third lap started I began counting the seconds, and as the lap finished I had counted up to 160 seconds. If I was right that this was a 1/2 mile, then we were almost doing 5 minute miles. That seems... real good actually? Are we all some top tier athletes? I vowed to come back as soon as possible and measure this track.

As the 5th lap finished we had actually moved up a bit in line. Bea did not let me slow down, and honestly I was only slightly winded. I must admit this body seemed a lot healthier than I was even in my prime. Good job other Will!

We came to a stop right in front of the knight and were breathing slightly hard, but not anything major despite running for what feels like 15 minutes.

As the last of us pulled in the knight started back up " Okay listen up, I'm going to send you in based on yesterday's ranking. Remember, effort is rewarded! Top 25 will get to skip the final run and head back to bathe early!"

Everyone was perking up when he said that, so it seems that was worth the effort.

He pulled out a piece of parchment, took a glance and said "Is William here today? The one who missed yesterday?"

Crud! My face fell... I guess I wouldn't get to see other participate first after all.

"Yes sir" I began tentatively "I feel fully recovered from my time yesterday with Samuel, sir."

He stared at me for a moment before nodding and continuing "Good, You'll be going last. Let's see if the extra time can give you a decent placement." He immediately moved on and began calling other names out to go ahead and start the obstacle course.

Oh my stars he was a nice and understanding guy! Bless you sir knight! At least now I wouldn't fully embarrass myself.

Bea and Tom smirked and elbowed me at the same time. "Lucky" they both said in unison. I just shot them my biggest grin. Wouldn't see me complaining!

As the kids were called up and made their attempts through the course, I again marveled at how well they stood up. We were all definitely top tier athletes it seems. Most were honestly falling off before they got even 1 story high in their run. Which was good, they brushed themselves off and formed a line, looking like they were chomping at the bits to go again. One brave soul eventually did get pretty high and was crossing a wall with just his fingertips when he fell straight down on his back. No one else flinched, but the kid landed with a very loud thump and at the least had to have the wind knocked out of him.

Another young kid in one of those monk's robes appeared and began tending to him. It looked like they glowed a bit brighter for just a moment and the kid sat up, and said something to the monk before making his way back in line. The kid in the monk's uniform just bowed and moved back to the side, once more becoming inconspicuous. I wonder how I hadn't noticed him before?

"Who's that?" I asked after nudging Bea and Tom.

Tom jumped in before Bea "That's an abbot we were introduced to yesterday. Although I didn't catch his name, he'll perform any healing if we get injured as part of his training. Our training here is the best! We can go all out without risk of getting knocked out of the ranks!"

"Yes Tom, but it still hurts remember?" Bea mentioned while chuckling.

Tom look abashed and stared down at the ground for a bit before immediately perking up with a "I'll get better at it, you'll see!"

"Just try not to wail as if you're dying this time, okay?" Bea jabbed right back. She was very quick to keep Tom in place, looks like they had become fast friends in the week we've been here.

For my part I just gave Tom a comforting pat to hopefully ease his burden. I went back to staring at the obstacle course though. I needed to make sure I caught any tips or tricks the other kids developed.