Hesitation was the ingredient of failure in most cases. When you hesitate, your movements are slow and inaccurate. Whatever you had in mind wouldn't play as you wanted. The secret to any successful success was to know your limits and bet on risks without hesitation.
When he reached the middle of the balloon race, Stephan noticed that all balloons tilted forward with the same distance if applied the same amount of strength. There were approximately three metres between all balloons and when the balloon tilted forward, it helped in cutting the distance.
Until now, he hesitated with each jump and it hindered him. He couldn't bring out the limited potential of his body. The length of the jump depended very much on how much faster he managed to jump forward. He remembered how in middle they used starting blocks to start a race. They helped in boosting the initial starting jump to run faster and be advanced compared to the others.
If he followed the same logic, he had to quickly bend down one knee and do the same position to help him in reaching the next balloon faster and keep jumping with the same strength till he reached the end of the second part. Until now, he was jumping with hesitation. He didn't have to hesitate anymore. He would trust in his abilities and leap forward. It was a good stratagem to push his body to the limits; only by reaching the limits, one would be able to grow stronger.
For example, if one wanted to lose weight, he would have to cross the limit of the daily calories consumed in burning them. In other words, he would have to push himself till his muscles screamed. Since he was in a death situation, it was better to take advantage of it. If he survived, he would have gained more. If he died, he would have died anyway. It was just that dying without trying to survive would be embarrassing. He would be a coward by all standards.
He got one knee while supporting himself with his two hands on the smooth surface of the balloon. Seeing him so focused, Aurora grinned and crossed her hands. She understood he wouldn't waste time since he got the mechanism in mind. Jumping was easy when there wasn't any risk but with all the acid surrounding them, it would be hard to keep focus. At first, he was hesitant and now he was determined. She was pleased with his change of expression. He had his eyes on the road.
"Let's see where his hand will reach," she whispered to herself thinking on how to screw his confidence again. The clock kept ticking but he didn't have his eyes on it. If it was ticking it would be for her and not for him since he kept moving. At least, that was what he believed and she saw it clearly.
Applying what he learned in middle school, he was able to reach further ahead in a short time. The five-minute rule wasn't important as long as he kept moving forward. Aurora had her eyes on the ticking timer that kept approaching the zero of the end and death.
Each time he was on a balloon, it tilted forward helping him cut the distance to the next one. However, with excessive confidence, he almost slipped and fell. He didn't have any choice but to stop his streak. He was two balloons away from the firm road. He slapped himself saying it wouldn't take long to see the next part of the solo race.
Aurora opened her eyes widely and her grin widened. He finally stopped. For her, it was the best moment to throw him off-guard. "Yosh! Let's start!"
As the great mage she was, she didn't use her powers but she had the confidence she wouldn't die. As someone who survived many death flags, it was always a normal thing to have the confidence. She called his name loudly with a childish voice. She wanted it to sound like a young sister calling her big brother.
As he was calculating how to jump again since the distance was three metres like at first. There were only ten seconds left for death to come. The sight of three zeros made his body tremble. It was something he didn't expect. But why did he have the same timer as her? Could it be they shared one timer?
"It's impossible!"
Hearing his name, he turned his head slowly. She was jumping, almost running to him. At the last balloon, she jumped higher than usual and spread her arm as if expecting a hug from him. However, her sudden behavior made him terrified. She was crazy. Why was she acting this way with him? She already caused him enough trouble.
The first thing he thought of was to let her fall. Without hesitation, he jumped to the next balloon. The force his legs applied at the balloon made the latter tilt forward and at the same time, Aurora fell on the balloon, all her body was lying with her arms and legs stretched. She looked at the acid and sighed in relief. However, the timer hit the zero and a dart was sent.
He watched the dart fly to the balloon and burst it. A strong wind came out of the balloon and pushed Aurora's body slightly higher. Since their lives were connected, he couldn't let her fall. He reached out for her hand and grabbed it tightly, using all his strength to swing her like a ball of bowling to the ground; he was at the last the balloon after all.
The push made her roll on the ground till she reached the next line. She stopped right next to it. If she advanced, there would be no way to go back. The timer restarted the five minutes. As soon as he jumped to the firm ground, he let his body fall, drenched in sweat. He didn't realize it before but it was as if he took a shower of sweat.
"Why did you help me?" she asked stretching a hand to help him stand up.
"If I was the one dying, you would remove the spell but if it was the opposite, you would drag me with you. Isn't this your intention from the beginner, Sensei?" he slapped her hand away.