And the race began.
...
When the countdown hit one and the voice yelled "Go," Aiden began to run. He could clearly see other students already surpassing him.
But Aiden kept running—albeit slowly. He didn't know how big the forest was, or how wide the river would be. So, he had to conserve his stamina.
As Aiden ran slowly, he noticed each tree looked unfamiliar. He hadn't seen trees like these anywhere else, nor read about them in any book. Some were very thin and tall, while others were thick and short—but all bore unique designs and symbols that Aiden didn't recognize. They seemed to harmonize with nature itself.
As Aiden ran, he began to feel tired—but it was within an acceptable range. He had been running for almost an hour and had surpassed quite a few students. But he still couldn't see the end of the forest. Still, he persevered.
After an unknown period of time, he finally spotted the exit and quickly rushed out of the forest.
As he emerged, he saw a wide river with currents too strong for an ordinary person to cross. A few students were resting at the edge, preparing themselves. Others were already in the water, swimming with all their might.
Then he saw Calista—she had already crossed the river and now appeared like a dot in the distance. But he recognized her instantly. Aiden quickened his pace and jumped into the river.
After swimming for a while, he managed to surpass most of the students in the water, though some had already crossed ahead of him. Time passed. He could barely feel his joints. His muscles ached. And he had only crossed about half of the river.
Eventually, he made it across and collapsed on the ground, swearing to catch his breath. After a short rest, he began running again.
About fifteen minutes later, he finally caught sight of the end—the finish line. But just then, he twisted his ankle and fell to the ground. His ankle swelled instantly, but he got up again and began to run, limping.
He couldn't muster any strength. His muscles were screaming. He was on the verge of losing consciousness. But despite all of it, he gritted his teeth and ran like mad—driven by sheer willpower.
And finally, after everything, he crossed the finish line.
The moment he did, he was instantly teleported to a hall bathed in red light. His ankle slowly began to heal, and his stamina recovered much faster. Despite that, a sudden thought popped into his head...
'This academy is just spamming teleportation magic...'
Some time passed. He began to sense the presence of other students—not visibly, but he could feel they were nearby. He thought...
'Looks like other students are resting too, and the professor is preventing us from seeing each other in our vulnerable states...'
After an unknown period of time, a large screen appeared on the wall. It displayed a ranked list of students' names.
Aiden carefully observed the list. Calista de Wetherstone Clearwater was in first place. Alaric's name was at number five, and Elric's at number eight.
His own name was in the twelfth position.
At that moment, he realized something...
'I was very arrogant earlier when I thought I had sufficiently good stamina and strength... I didn't even finish the race in the top ten...'
But then, he considered something else...
'They formed their magic circles earlier. Their bodies are already adjusted to the newfound power, but I'm still in the middle of it...'
A passive change occurred after forming a magic circle—the higher the circle, the greater one's strength, stamina, and durability.
'But still... I can't make excuses for my shortcomings...'