The students began running in the large training ground.
At first, there were no particular difficulties as they ran, strengthening their bodies with mana.
Even students who didn't usually exercise were able to run well thanks to the enhancement magic.
But as time passed, their mindset changed.
Mana is not infinite.
The mana required to enhance the body is not abundant.
But if they have to maintain that state while running, it's a different story.
Eventually, students who couldn't even complete a few laps started running out of mana.
The students whose mana was depleted had to continue running with their bare bodies.
The bodies that were previously protected by enhancement magic began to scream in agony.
Huff. Huff.
Heh. Heh.
The sound of gasping for breath echoed everywhere.
For students who were not accustomed to exercise, their complexion turned pale, almost resembling corpses.
Suddenly, a question arose in everyone's minds simultaneously.
'Why am I running?'
'Does this really help with summoning magic beasts?'
'Is this true? Is it really true?'
However, no one could stop their running footsteps.
It was all because of a man who had been staring at them intently with intense eyes.
Rudger Chelsea.
He never stopped watching the students, always on the lookout for anyone slacking off.
Even if the students wanted to stop their steps, they were unable to do so because of Rudger's presence.
Rudger was truly like a ghost.
If any student tried to slow down even a little, he gave them a ice cold gaze.
And if they still didn't listen, he called out their names and applied pressure with his heavy voice.
Just that alone made the students, who were already on the verge of collapse, jump around like wild rabbits.
There was no leniency for female students either.
If he didn't show favoritism to nobles, would he show it to girls?
Of course, there was no need to mention noble female students.
"Heuk. Heuk."
Tracy gasped for breath as she ran like crazy.
Even though it was time to stop, Rudger didn't say a word.
Until he told them to stop, they had to keep running. That was how it was.
"Why am I doing this?"
Her voice broke with each breath.
Even breathing was painful, and her whole body was already drenched in sweat.
Tracy wanted to collapse right there, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
It was because of her pride.
'Why is Leo so diligent!'
If this had been earlier, he would have been the one complaining the most, not her.
But since field training, Leo seemed to have changed in some way and was giving his all in training more than anyone else.
Despite the difficulties, Leo ran without any complaints, and seeing that, Tracy felt a boiling sensation inside her.
She felt like she would have to live with the label of a lifelong loser if she gave in to Leo here.
She didn't want to experience anything like that.
So Tracy gritted her teeth and kept running. (Read at aegeanhope.com)
"Tracy, are you okay?"
At that moment, Aidan approached Tracy, matching his steps with hers.
It wasn't that he slowed down, but he had already completed one lap and caught up with Tracy.
Tracy wanted to answer, but her breath was so heavy that she nodded instead.
"Just hang in there a little longer. You'll be fine if you exceed your usual limits. It'll bring some relief!"
Aidan said with a bright smile.
Are you trying to comfort me like that?
Tracy wanted to retort, but even just breathing was hard.
Tracy glanced at Aidan with a surprised look.
Except for appearing slightly out of breath, he was still fine.
It was thanks to his consistent physical training, unlike others.
Tracy suddenly remembered when Leo called Aidan a foolish stamina monster.
Now she thought that nickname suited Aidan well.
Of course, there were others who ran well besides Aidan.
Iona, who was already running several laps ahead of everyone else, was one of them.
Beast race had superior physical abilities.
Among them, Iona's lineage was exceptional, surpassing the others.
With her long legs, her body moved forward with each step.
As Iona passed the boys, they couldn't help but stare at her back in disbelief.
For boys, being inferior to girls in physical abilities was a blow to their pride.
Because of that, the boys gritted their teeth and continued running.
'She's like a real monster.' (Read at aegeanhope.com)
Tracy clicked her tongue at Iona's unchanged expression.
At that moment, someone with blue hair brushed past Tracy.
'Huh?'
Tracy wondered for a moment who that person was.
It was belatedly that she remembered that person as Flora Lumos, a genius from the second year.
Since the hair color had changed slightly, she couldn't immediately recognize who it was from the back.
'Was she always good at sports like that?'
Contrary to what Tracy had thought, Flora was running well.
Although she had innate talent for magic, it was believed that she was weak in terms of physical strength, so it was surprising.
While everything was difficult, she appeared relatively resilient compared to the students collapsing around her.
"Hehuk, hehuk, Fl-Flora."
Cheryl, who had been running alongside Flora, finally caught up to her after falling behind by one lap, and she spoke with a sob.
"W-What's up with you? Why are you... running so well?"
"Well... um..."
Flora couldn't bring herself to answer her childhood friend's question.
Flora herself was surprised by her improved physical stamina.
Honestly, when Rudger told her to run, she had a strong intuition that it would be extremely difficult.
However, when she actually ran, it was more manageable than she had thought.
'If I were to guess the cause, it would probably because same reason as why my hair color changed.'
Basara, the demon, took control of her body and forcibly stimulated the physical talents with her own power.
Afterward, Basara completely disappeared, but the once stimulated body did not return to its previous state.
For Flora, it was a blessing in disguise.
However, she had expected that only the magical aspect would improve, and that her overall physical abilities would stay same.
'Good things are good, right?'
Cheryl saw Flora's satisfied expression and asked.
"Flora, you look happy"
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Normally, you would have been the first to get annoyed. Heh, heh."
"Me?"
Flora asked like that but then closed her mouth.
Cheryl wasn't saying anything wrong.
If it were the old her, she would have picked a fight with Rudger even before starting such simple training.
Now, it was because she trusted Rudger.
'If it's something that Professor Rudger told me to do, there must be a good reason'.
A change that the old Flora couldn't even imagine.
Cheryl suspiciously stared at Flora's appearance.
"Flora, you..."
"What is it?"
Flora, sensing Cheryl's gaze, avoided her eye and increased her running speed.
"Huh, huh? Flora! Wait for me!"
Amidst the small commotion happening around, Rudger's voice, enhanced by magic, spoke.
"Students who are called, stop running."
As Rudger called their names, the students immediately sat down in their places.
The students who were still running hesitated, thinking that maybe they might get called.
"Didn't I say only those called by me should stop? Or do you want to stop here forever?"
Of course, as soon as Rudger's words fell, they had no choice but to start running again.
"Those who are tired, gather in one place and focus on restoring your magic power."
"Huff, huff. Sir, does this process really help in summoning magic beast?"
A male student asked, catching his breath.
Other students around also looked at Rudger, expecting an answer.
"Well, listen while you recover. You may not understand, but summoning magical beasts are different from ordinary studies."
In general, studies involve sitting down, thinking with your head, and exploring theories through calculation. To prove them, experiments are necessary, but even that is just a process of validating theories.
But magic beasts were different.
Magic beasts were distant from studies.
"If we must compare, magic beasts require embodiment. It doesn't require theoretical cleverness or a shift in thinking. What's important is to feel the essence of your own magic power."
"Essence, you mean?"
"Yes. Your mana, which you normally manipulate without much thought. It's about finding the 'self' contained within the hidden power of mana."
The students didn't understand his words any better.
Where does the self exist within mana?
"It seems you all don't understand." (Read at aegeanhope.com)
"Well, it doesn't make sense that mana has a will."
"There's nothing that doesn't make sense. Mana is a mysterious energy and one of the origins of the world. It can't be defined by human thoughts alone. Even great sorcerers throughout history couldn't define it recklessly."
"But magic utilizes that mana."
"Even that magic can only utilize a fraction of the concept called mana."
Rudger explained while observing the running students, and he called exhausted students to the center of the training ground.
The students who had come early to take a rest were silently impressed by the scene.
Rudger, as if he were a person with a measuring instrument in his eyes, caught the students who had reached their limits like a ghost.
Rather than a sense of relief when their exhaustion almost made them collapse, they were more shocked by his accuracy.
"While recovering, feel your mana rising from your very bottom. If you repeat that process, you will also grasp something."
Rudger advised the resting students and continued his previous explanation.
"As you know, spirits composed of energy are beings formed by the accumulation of natural forces. Such spirits also have a will. Needless to say, higher-ranking spirits possess more complex and higher-dimensional wills."
Rudger immediately asked a question.
"Here's the question. If magic beasts are made up of mana, does it have a will or not? If there is a will, what could be the reason?"
Upon hearing his words, the students cautiously glanced at each other, unable to answer hastily.
But there was someone who raised their hand.
"Yes, Rine."
Rine, who was resting with Erendir, immediately answered.
"Magic beasts possess wills."
"Why? After all, mana is just a comprehensive energy. Can it have a will like nature?"
"While it may not have the will of nature, it does have the will of the magician."
Upon receiving the desired answer, Rudger nodded.
"That's correct."
Ohh.
Some students looked at Rine again with admiration.
Iona, who had been running until the end, took her seat.
Now everyone has gathered.
"You must all be curious about why I push you to such physical limits."
The students were already curious about that.
"I explained that the acquisition of magic beasts is not an academic process. So I'll ask you all. Do you know the biggest characteristic of acquisition?"
Upon hearing this, the students each fell into their own thoughts.
Ultimately, acquisition is a process that must be practiced directly with the body.
The biggest characteristic of that process, to put it mildly, was that the students felt it was 'very difficult'.
"I guess you don't know. Let me tell you."
The students all fell silent and waited for Rudger's answer.
"The biggest characteristic and advantage of acquisition is that the more you do it, the better you become."
...Is that it?
The students asked with their eyes.
Rudger understood their feelings, but there really wasn't much else he could say.
"The more you do it and the more effort you put into it, the more you grow. That's the biggest advantage you can gain from acquisition. The reason your seniors can summon magic beasts in their third year is because they have grown by learning various magics in Seron over the past two years. But you don't."
By the end of the semester, half of the students who learn magic beasts in their third year cannot summon them.
Moreover, it was needless to say that the freshmen who had not experienced two years in Seron had no chance at all.
"You are overwhelmingly short on time. Unfortunately, this special lecture has a deadline that you must successfully complete before the end of this academic year."
"You mean, we have to finish it within this year?"
"Yes, but I think even that is long. Considering the future academic process, you should be able to summon magic beast by the end of the summer break at the latest."
By the end of the summer break?
There is still the fourth test remaining, but even considering that, it's not that much time.
"Then how can we achieve the best efficiency in such a short time?"
"...."
The students couldn't answer.
It wasn't because they didn't know, but rather because they knew it too well that they didn't answer.
"The answer is to increase the density of training. If you put in twice the effort in the same amount of time, your learning speed will also increase accordingly. That's another advantage of acquisition."
Increase the density of training.
In simple terms, it meant working much harder than others.
"I can see from your expressions that you're starting to recover your stamina."
Upon hearing his words, the students were suddenly overwhelmed with anxiety.
And Rudger didn't betray their expectations.
"Run again."
The hellish training was about to begin.