The once-loud training grounds, filled with yelling and panicked cadets, were oddly silent by comparison. The only noises heard were the occasional cadets hunting over and vomiting from being overworked, the heavy panting that seemed to bring joy to Captain Woods' face, and the rhythmic pounding of feet.
"Yo, Caedus," an exasperated voice called out to him.
Caedus didn't say anything or even look in the direction of the voice. "Eric, where have you been?" Caedus slowed his pace slightly, allowing Eric to catch up next to him.
"Well, you know, just running in circles. For hours. This shit sucks, man." Eric panted out. "I have been looking for you for a bit, but in this crowd it was hard to see you till the herd thinned out, and I didn't want to burn energy running around looking for you."
Caedus shook his head, causing some of the sweat covering him to spray onto Eric. "You don't have an obligation to hang with me, plus I am just trying not to collapse. Just a bit of half of us are left, right?"
Eric nodded his head. "Yeah, it seems like it." Caedus and Eric ran past a small group of cadets lying on the ground, vomiting.
'How much longer…I'm getting tired.' Caedus thought to himself.
Caedus already had a great physical body. He spent nearly all his days running around on a mountain where the air is thinner than at sea level. This caused his cardio and stamina to be a lot higher than those of his age. He lacked the show muscles of some of the other cadets, but he always focused on function rather than show.
As Caedus and Eric ran next to each other, they matched each other's pace and breathing.
'Oh? Those two are picking up their pace slightly.' Captain Woods, who had grown bored of watching, saw Eric and Caedus get into sync and overtake the people ahead of them.
He watched the blonde and black-haired men eventually glance at each other as their speed increased.
"Are they competing?" Captain Woods raised an eyebrow before laughing out loud, drawing the attention of a few instructors who were also watching.
At this point, about 25 cadets remained standing. The ones who quit a while ago were being screamed at by a few instructors while being forced to do bodyweight workouts until the end. If anything, they seemed to be in a worse state than before, which caused the cadets who quit earlier than their limits to regret their decision.
They had no idea how many push-ups they had done at this point.
"Caedus, are you trying to race me?" Eric panted out, gritting his teeth.
"Who knew I was a competitive person? Didn't you increase speed first anyway?" Caedus coughed out. 'Besides, if I am about to collapse, I might as well beat you. But he doesn't need to know that.'
'Ugh, I am about to collapse. I should have done more cardio. Father, you were right! Stamina is king in a battle. But I can't lose this one!' Eric steeled his resolve, picking up his pace even more, making Caedus match it.
From there, it was a sprint.
This desperate race grabbed the attention of all the instructors, including Captain Woods, who had an evil, satisfied smile on his face. His laughter rang out even louder before.
The duo kept brushing elbows as they passed the rest of the cadets. They were even about to lap a particularly large group, then the smaller trios and quads they had passed before.
It was Iris, Ragnar, Mira, Keira, Dorian, and Jared. With Iris in the middle, setting the pace for their group.
Not paying much attention to them, Eric and Caedus flew past them, causing a breeze to brush their clothes.
"That fucking dumbass." Keira breathed out, an angry look in her eyes as Eric sprinted by. Seeing someone she hated with such passion pass by her made her yell in rage and sprint to catch up to Eric and Caedus. "I won't let that guy, of all people, beat me!"
Dorian Blackthorn, the silent guy from before, had a strange look on his face as Keira sprinted to catch up to the group. He stared at the back of Caedus's head before breaking off into a sprint, also without saying anything.
The once-united group of 6 quickly turned into a group of 4.
Ragnar, the huge, muscular cadet, seemed to have a harder time than the others. He was sweating from head to toe and even started to drag his feet a bit.
"Sorry, guys, thank you for running with me." He breathed out embarrassingly.
Jared, who wasn't in as bad a shape as Ragnar, slapped him on the back. "Knock it off, big guy, cardio isn't your strong suit. Plus, since we all chose to follow Iris, we will be a cohort in the future. We gotta look out for each other. Right, Iris?"
Jared looked over and saw a distant look in Iris's expression.
She was staring at the backs of the duo, who were now dozens of meters ahead.
Mira leaned in to Jared and Ragnar before trying to lean in subtly and say softly. "I think her competitive spirit has been ignited." The two nodded without needing an explanation.
Iris Steelheart. The daughter of a Duke. She had always been a proud woman and a prodigy. So seeing someone give their all and pass by her lit a fire in her that she had to suppress for the sake of her future subordinates.
Caedus heard footsteps slapping the ground behind him and Eric.
He glanced back and saw Keira, who had a scary expression on her face; it seemed her look could kill.
And Dorian, who was close behind her, with a strange look on his face, also.
"Do you have the energy to be distracted by my weirdo comrades?" Eric brought his attention back to the competition, making Caedus ignore the two people chasing him.
"Attention. All Ironwood Crown Initiative cadets."
The familiar booming voice of Captain Woods echoed over the grounds, earning the head turns of every recruit. "We seem to race Cadet 0007 and Cadet 1001! For those who dropped out early and are doing bodyweight training, when the duo passes you, you may rest for a few minutes, as with Cadet 0007 and Cadet 1001. Since you are officially leading the pack, whoever finishes this last lap first gets an extra portion of protein at chow time for a full week. However, if anyone passes you two, you two owe me 300 pushups and 300 jumping squats per the cadet who passes you. As a reward for those who passed, they will get extra meals for a whole week!
Eric and Caedus, who hadn't broken their pace, looked at each other with confusion on their face.
Then came the sound of desperate running behind them. Dorian and Keira, who no longer had strange expressions, got serious and gave it 100 percent.
Even Iris, who was pacing herself with Ragnar, broke into a dead sprint in an attempt to catch the duo. Jared and Mira shrugged before sprinting, also leaving behind a wheezing Ragnar.
"Fuck." Caedus breathed out before lowering his head. Eric matched his actions, and the two gave it everything they had left in the tank, with Dorian and Keira, hot at their heels, and Iris, Jared, and Mira closing the distance.
Even the cadets, who had no chance of closing the distance, began sprinting; they figured the faster they ran right here, the more likely it was that Captain Woods would still give them extra food.
As Eric and Caedus sprinted past expectant cadets who finally could stop their workouts, their sweat began to fall even more than before, stinging their eyes.
Then they rounded the corner of their last lap and saw it—the designated starting point.
The moment they both saw it, the exhaustion from their bodies slipped away, and pure adrenaline surged through their veins.
Caedus could hear nothing except his breathing, his own heartbeat hammering in his ears, and the violet noise of his feet hitting the ground.
Beside him, Eric's breathing had become slightly ragged and uneven.
'I can do this!'
Caedus gritted his teeth so hard his jaw began to hurt.
50 meters left.
His lungs felt like they were on fire. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to stop. His vision blurred around the edges as sweat poured into his eyes.
But Eric was still beside him.
So he refused to slow down.
Eric glanced sideways at Caedus with bloodshot eyes and barked out a breathless laugh. "If I die here, I'm haunting you."
25 meters left.
"You started this!" Caedus wheezed back.
Caedus and Eric leaned forward almost unconsciously, both trying to squeeze out one final burst of speed from bodies already past their limits.
5 meters.
2 meters.
Then, they crossed the line.
Both of them collapsed immediately. They were shortly followed by Dorian and Keira, who also collapsed, wheezing heavily. Cadets, grateful for some respite after Caedus and Eric passed them, brought them all water bottles.
After a few seconds, a heavy-breathing Iris crossed the finish line, followed by Jared and Mira.
Iris was hunched over, grabbing a water bottle from another cadet without looking up from the ground. But she didn't collapse like Caedus and Eric.
Eric and Caedus lay on their backs, trying to get a hold of their breathing. They worked so hard their bodies seemed to emit steam.
"Ugh!" Out of nowhere, Iris shot straight up, chugged the water bottle in her hands.
Caedus, who wasn't paying attention originally, glanced at the beautiful Iris Steelheart. She was staring at him with fire in her eyes. Her whole aura changed from earlier, and this sent a shiver down his spine.
"God, first Eric, then Dorian and Keira. Now her? Are they all weirdos?" Caedus mumbled under his ragged breath before looking away from the staring Iris, who seemed to want to tear him apart.
After everyone had finally crossed the finish line and Caedus was standing again, chugging water, he almost felt refreshed.
He nudged the blonde guy next to him, "Yo, how do you feel?"
Eric looked at him before smiling, "You asking if my body hurts?"
Caedus nodded slightly. He should be barely standing at this point.
"The water has a potion mixed in. It amplifies muscle recovery without sacrificing muscle buildup. It is usually an expensive luxury, but I guess the King is going all out to make sure this program works." Eric said, taking another swig of the water.
"That is amazing!" Caedus exclaimed, feeling he was holding a precious elixir. Then he remembered Umbra saying the quality of training in the Initiative was higher. 'Was this a part of what he meant?'
"By the way, Caedus, thank you for letting me win and having the extra food," Eric said seriously, putting his hand on Caedus's shoulder.
This caused Caedus to chuckle. "Nice try, Pailin. Everyone saw me cross the line first."
Eric tilted his head a bit in confusion before frowning. "You're joking, right? Everyone saw me cross first."
Silence filled the space between them.
"What?! You're serious?" The two said in sync with surprise evident.
"Attention! Division One! Get into formation." Captain Woods shouted, breaking the argument up before they could even start.
Glaring at each other slightly, they both complied quickly. Once everyone was in an acceptable formation, Captain Woods spoke again.
"Cadets 0007 and Cadets 1001. Step forward." Caedus and Eric didn't glance at each other, and both took two steps forward.
"The winner of your little race is…" Captain Woods spoke slowly, as if seeking a dramatic effect.
Caedus and Eric held their breaths.
'I won.' They both thought.
"No one, you both crossed at the same time. So no one gets the reward. Fall back in line." Captain Woods grinned at the stunned looks on their faces.
Caedus and Eric just sighed in their hearts before stepping back. Caedus could still feel a fiery gaze staring at the back of his head.
Next time, I am going to win.' A collective competitive thought formed over the 1,001 cadets.
"This is how strength is forged! Neither of those two cadets won, yet both of them became stronger because they refused to yield! They dragged each other past their limits and stepped beyond what they thought their bodies could endure!" Captain Woods roared, his voice echoing across the training grounds.
"With the King's generosity in providing recovery potions, you have been given the chance to train harder than ordinary soldiers ever could! So stop fearing exhaustion! Stop fearing pain!"
His sharp gaze swept across the exhausted cadets.
"From this day forward, every drill is a battlefield! Every exercise is a competition! I want each of you to fight to surpass the person beside you! Push yourselves higher! Faster! Stronger! Show me why you deserve to stand among the Ironwood Crown Initiative!"