The sun was already fully visible when the second test began.
Everyone was outside the barracks again, arranged in four rows.
"Listen! Run and do ten laps around the barracks, but don’t think it’ll be as easy as just running..." Rurik said with a strange smile.
When he finished speaking, some became worried.
’What does he mean, as easy? Has he seen the size of the barracks? Ten laps? How many of us would even make it? And there’s still going to be more?’
That was the thought of several young people, while Kyrian’s was...
He wasn’t thinking about anything. He just wanted to finish and ask for food, he was hungry since he hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning.
So it began. The recruits started running, and it really wasn’t as simple as just running. From atop the barracks walls, soldiers suddenly appeared.
They threw buckets of cold water and wooden logs and shouted insults, anything possible to get in the way.
Rurik considered this a test of endurance, but not only physical, also mental. They had to pick themselves up even when stumbling and falling.
But unlike the others, Kyrian simply ran. He had already passed them all effortlessly.
His small body moved with strange precision, as if he knew exactly when he would have to dodge something or stop and speed up.
And he did know, he could see in time when soldiers would throw things in his path to hinder him, but he easily avoided them.
Because of that, he barely got tired and kept the same pace he had started with, not his maximum speed, but still twice as fast as the other youths.
Soon he completed his first lap and caught up to the others again. Some of them were collapsing, gasping for breath, some vomiting.
But Kyrian just passed them.
"He... wasn’t he behind us?!" one of them said.
"Yes, obviously. He’s already completed the first lap!" another retorted.
"Damn! I’m not going to lose to some brat! I’m going to make it to the end," a young man who had been lying on the ground shouted before getting up and running after Kyrian.
For some reason, several others became determined when Kyrian passed them, following him. Soon they saw how he dodged things, some finding it amazing and trying to imitate him.
None of them managed to dodge everything like he did, since they couldn’t spot the soldiers as quickly as Kyrian, but it still helped many to notice when the soldiers would interfere.
The race became easier for them, now it was just a matter of whether their stamina could last the ten laps.
After some time, Kyrian finally saw Captain Rurik and four soldiers standing at the entrance. He had seen these four soldiers above the walls during some of his laps, so they had also been interfering.
Kyrian reached them alone, his breathing slightly faster but nothing serious, the only thing bothering him was his rumbling stomach.
Rurik looked at Kyrian with an even more satisfied smile. Hearing what Kyrian had done and caused during the race from the four behind him, he realized the boy wasn’t just strong.
An hour later, time was up, only five people besides Kyrian had completed the ten laps.
Only one of those five had also passed the strength test. The others had failed the strength one but passed this one.
So Rurik gave them two hours to rest, and those still around the barracks were called back inside.
Everyone waited in the courtyard, standing in their lines. Kyrian, still in the first, sat and closed his eyes again.
Rest time passed quickly, everyone now had better expressions, which would soon worsen again.
"Now for the last test! Fight, you will fight one of my soldiers," Captain Rurik announced with a slightly cruel smile.
"I don’t expect you to win, just survive for one minute. If you can do that, you’re in."
The young people immediately became nervous and restless.
Kyrian didn’t care and just waited.
Until the captain looked at him with a strange smile.
"You. Brat, you’ll face me," Rurik said, pointing his spear at Kyrian.
Kyrian was a little surprised but didn’t feel fear or anything like that. In fact, he smiled, this showed the captain had good thoughts about him.
’I’ve never fought anyone, but if it’s just surviving, I just have to dodge, right? It won’t be that hard,’ Kyrian thought.
When everyone heard this, the courtyard was shocked. Rurik was publicly known as the strongest in the city, and he would fight a child?
But Rurik ignored what others might think.
"All right, let’s go," Rurik said, walking to a square area of the courtyard like an arena.
The two stood a few meters apart. The captain handed his spear to a soldier, while another threw two wooden sticks to Rurik and Kyrian.
Kyrian stayed silent, just watching Rurik. He had never fought and didn’t know how to attack, so he just waited. But despite seeming idle, his eyes were fully focused on any movement Rurik made. Nothing would escape his sight.
Then it began, the captain attacked first.
In an instant, the stick was already near him.
’Fast!’ Kyrian thought, dodging at the last second. Even though he could see the attack, it was much faster than he had imagined.
But it didn’t stop there, Rurik’s strikes continued after the first.
They were fast, brutal, and calculated to take Kyrian down and knock him out, not to kill, but even so, Kyrian knew that if any strike landed, a single mistake could really hurt him.
The captain became even faster. Kyrian’s eyes kept up, but his body didn’t. He didn’t know exactly what to do, and the time was too short to think too much.
Then he remembered, stick in hand, the movements of the hunter in his village. Instead of dodging, this time his wooden stick moved quickly, meeting Rurik’s.
A loud sound echoed from the impact. Rurik stayed in place, but Kyrian was thrown several meters back, his small body flying.
But in the air, he straightened himself and landed on his feet again, breathing heavily for the first time since his body had grown stronger.
His trembling hands showed that Captain Rurik had more strength than him and was still holding back.
The smile on the captain’s face was so broad the other soldiers didn’t know what to think, he truly seemed to be enjoying himself.
Then he attacked again, even faster this time. Kyrian prepared the stick, this time knowing exactly where the captain would strike. But instead of meeting it head-on, Kyrian instinctively deflected Rurik’s stick to the side.
The stick was knocked away, hitting the ground with a dry crack and breaking on impact.
But before he could celebrate, a fist was already inches from his stomach. He couldn’t dodge, so his two small hands closed over his belly, protecting it just in time.
Still, Rurik’s fist hit him. A terrible burning pain erupted, and he was thrown back again.
Looking at Captain Rurik, completely calm, Kyrian took deep breaths with a pained expression.
’Was I overconfident? I thought I was stronger now, but what is this? He’s much faster, stronger, and his movements are really strange.’ Kyrian thought, a little sad, he had thought dodging and passing would be easy.
Rurik, who hadn’t had this much fun in a long time, was about to attack again when a soldier shouted that a minute had passed.
Kyrian collapsed, sitting on the ground, breathing deeply.
"HAHA! Brat. No, Kyrian, congratulations. You passed and became the first rookie soldier of the year."
Rurik approached with a sincere smile, extending his hand to Kyrian, who then stood up.
He had mixed feelings, he felt like he had lost and was sad about it, but also happy he had gotten what he wanted.
’This isn’t so bad. Captain Rurik is definitely the strongest here, if he teaches me, I can surpass him quickly. Yes... to become stronger, I will defeat him,’ Kyrian said in his mind, looking at Rurik.
Rurik felt a slight shiver when he noticed that look, it was as if the boy had made him his rival. He found it amusing but liked the boy even more.
Suddenly, a sound came from Kyrian’s stomach.
Kyrian looked at the captain, who was staring at him strangely.
"I’m hungry. Since I passed, now I’m a soldier, I want food," he said to Rurik, his stomach no longer hurting.
"Haha! All right. Soldier Xi, take the boy to the mess hall to eat before the others," Rurik said.
Soon Kyrian was gone from everyone’s sight along with the soldier.
No one could utter a word, while Rurik, after Kyrian left, looked at the ground where his wooden stick had broken.
Remembering the whole fight, he clenched his fists.
’This kid is truly a complete monster. Be it in strength, speed, reflexes, reaction time, or fighting instinct, all are above an ordinary soldier. The only weakness is his small body and awkward movements.’
’Which makes sense if he’s never fought, he followed all my movements as if he knew where they’d come from, his body trying to dodge. If he had more awareness of his body and speed, he’d dodge easily.’
Rurik sighed.
’It’s those eyes, isn’t it? They moved in the fight, side to side, as if seeing everything... He’ll probably surpass me in less than two years. This place is too small for him.’
...
’I’ve decided I’ll train him with everything I can, and I’ll send a letter with his information. Hopefully, in a few years, they’ll send a martial artist to fetch him. The brat has the talent to achieve what I couldn’t,’ Rurik said, with a heavy but happy face, determined to make Kyrian a perfect fighter and teach him everything he knew.
The other youths in the courtyard were staring at where Kyrian and Rurik had fought, terrified. Some moves had been so fast they hadn’t even seen exactly what happened.
It was like two monsters clashing, one giant and one small.
"All right, wipe those looks from your eyes. Don’t compare yourselves to the little monster, he’s something that appears rarely. Someone with a talent that makes others doubt themselves.
If you compare yourselves to someone like that, you’ll only frustrate yourselves. Come forward, you will now fight the soldiers. Prepare yourselves mentally and try to endure," Rurik said in a loud voice that snapped everyone back to attention.