"Haah… Haah…" [Adam]
Breathing heavily, his limbs felt like lead. He heard voices trailing behind him, also speaking in an exhausted tone.
"No more…" [Orion]
"So… tired…" [Brandon]
"Keep moving!" [Mr. Frank]
For the past ten minutes, the class had been running in circles around the dome. They were followed by Mr. Frank, yelling at them with a megaphone in hand.
"Adam! You're slowing down! I'm going to add more laps if you fall behind Brandon!" [Mr. Frank]
"Seriously?!" [Adam]
"Why me?!" [Brandon]
Speeding up, Adam's breathing hastened.
("How did I end up wearing four of these stupid things?!") [Adam]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
15 minutes earlier…
"Cursed Assistant, release energy dampener." [Mr. Frank]
"Affirmative." [???]
A voice came from the wristbands the students held, followed by a short beep. The moment it accepted Mr. Frank's command, the feeling of exhaustion lifted.
"O-oh… I feel so much better now!" [Brandon]
"...It has voice recognition?" [Alex]
"Obviously. It's not like people wearing it would be able to lift a finger to turn it off." [Mr. Frank]
Reaching into his coat, Mr. Frank proceeded to pull out what resembled a clipboard.
"Anyways, the requirements that must be met in the physical test is one hundred pushups, two hundred squats, seven inches worth of trunk lift, and what else…" [Mr. Frank]
"O-one hundred?! I can barely do ten!" [Brandon]
"I can do thirty." [Orion]
"Adam can probably do it." [Alex]
"My last record was a grand total of 20 pushups." [Adam]
"Ay~, I win." [Orion]
"It's not a contest." [Felix]
"I bet you're saying that because your pushup count is low." [Orion]
"...Orion, Felix is actually pretty strong." [Adam]
"Really? What's his pushup count?" [Orion]
"Fourty." [Felix]
"DAMNNN!!" [Orion] [Alex] [Brandon]
"You're jacked dude!" [Orion]
"He's literally the opposite of god making everyone equal…" [Brandon]
"I said that line already." [Adam]
"Wait, how about Sora? There's no way someone as frail as him can do one hundred." [Brandon]
"I don't know about that. Sora is from a martial arts household." [Felix]
"Huh… I remember you talking about that the first day Sora transferred. What's that about?" [Orion]
"Can you all quiet down? I'm not done yet." [Mr. Frank]
The class grew silent, waiting for their teacher to make a move.
"Oh, I was looking at the girls requirements." [Mr. Frank]
"...What?" [Brandon]
The news made him visibly anxious, worrying others around him.
"He's joking guys." [Orion]
Attempting to calm the class, Orion tried to pass it off as a joke.
"The boys have to do triple that amount." [Mr. Frank]
"...You can stop joking now." [Orion]
"I don't think he's joking." [Felix]
Reading off the clipboard, Mr. Frank continued listing off the activity requirements.
"The trunk lift minimum of 7 inches is for both genders." [Mr. Frank]
"...At least the trunk list is that bad." [Adam]
"You also have to run a mile under a limited amount of time." [Mr. Frank]
"Bruh." [Orion]
"...And what is the time limit?" [Alex]
"Run a mile under eight minutes." [Mr. Frank]
Groans echoed throughout the dome, clearly showing the student's disapproval.
"I know, I know. That's why we're here to train." [Mr. Frank]
Crouching near the box of wristbands, Mr. Frank took out a number of them.
"We're going to start off with everyone wearing a single Cursed Assistant. You can put it on your ankle, or wrists." [Mr. Frank]
Setting himself up as an example, he slipped on the wristbands.
"...Are you all just going to stand there watching or are you going to put it on?" [Mr. Frank]
His words brought the bands to the student's attention. Within seconds, the class was fully equipped with the bands.
"Is everyone ready? If so, I'm going to teach you how to turn it on." [Mr. Frank]
Sliding his hand into his pocket, Mr. Frank took out a clear rectangular plate.
("Is that an ID card?") [Adam]
"Everyone should take out your ID cards. Tap them on the Cursed Assistant so it can read your information." [Mr. Frank]
Listening to his words, the class followed his instructions.
"Student file 12103944 has been registered." [Cursed Assistant]
("It read out my ID?") [Adam]
"Have you all registered? I'm going to turn them on now." [Mr. Frank]
Heeding the warning, the students braced themselves.
"Code 03, administrative access. Host ID, 3809553. Activate tailored dampening." [Mr. Frank]
Suddenly, Adam felt a lack of energy.
"Ngh!" [Adam]
He slumped forward, almost falling over. His breathing became ragged, and his limbs barely responded. Through his exhaustion, he peeked at his peers and noticed they were also having similar problems.
"I-I'm falling!" [Brandon]
"I can't feel my legs!" [Orion]
After watching everyone else's reaction, Adam calmed himself.
("I think I'm fine now. Let's just try to stand up straight.") [Adam]
With surprising ease, Adam straightened his back.
"Hm? Adam, you got used to it already?" [Mr. Frank]
Adam's teacher seemed surprised, it was obvious Mr. Frank expected his students to struggle more.
"Uh…I think?" [Adam]
"Then how about I put a couple more on you?" [Mr. Frank]
"Wait, what?" [Adam]
Mr. Frank extended an open hand at Adam, creating a cursed assistant on his remaining limbs.
"Ugh!" [Adam]
He immediately fell to the ground. Adam was gasping for air on the ground, fatigue overtaking his body.
"Ah… Was that too much?" [Mr. Frank]
("I can't just lie down here! Move!") [Adam]
Putting effort into moving, Adam's body trembled. Slamming his fists into the ground, he managed to lift himself up.
"Wow~." [Mr. Frank]
Whistling with amazement, Mr. Frank applauded Adam.
("Now how about everyone else?") [Mr. Frank]
He passed his gaze over the class, assessing the situation.
("I guess they've gotten used to it by now.") [Mr. Frank]
"Listen up everyone! I'm sure you all must be tired as hell, but this isn't the time to rest!") [Mr. Frank]
Seeing as how the class was out of breath, Mr. Frank didn't expect a response.
"The first exercise you all will be doing is running laps around the dome. Ready? Start!" [Mr. Frank]
The class responded slowly. Unsure of what was happening at the start, they began to move.
("And now I wait for the results.") [Mr. Frank]