After the speed test was the –endurance that was also a mix of the comprehension– test. This one was relatively long because it took time to push the human, or in this case, vampire body to the limits.
Casstis showed them a series of stretches that looked almost impossible to replicate to the five students. She first sat on the ground and did the splits with both of her legs at her side with her toes pointed upwards. She then twisted her arms into a spiral before bending down towards her chest while putting her arms in front of her, like she was praying.
After that she lifted herself up on top of her hands, which were still in their spiral positioning. She was now upside down while doing a sideways split with her arms twisted around each other.
"..." Needless to say, all of them were silenced in shock. At least for a few seconds, after seeing everything else she could do, they stopped being so surprised.
"Huu, Now you will all be trying your best to copy the set of stretches I just did" explained Casstis as she stopped and took a deep breath. She then continued, "Start with the splits and move on to the next move when you're ready. You will have a time limit of 46 minutes" said Casstis as she took a sip of water and sat down in the lotus position.
After they all got a decent distance away from each other, they each tried the splits. They all failed the first few times, except Alicia, who got it on her third try.
After 20 minutes and about one hundred failed attempts, Marcellus started to think deeply about how he could accomplish it.
'Hmm, What can I do to get this?' He was in a real dilemma here. He had never stretched in his life, after all. If he, as a human, didn't stretch, why could he as a vampire?
'Alicia said that vampires have an overall superior body to humans, better flexibility, strength, speed, stamina, reflexes and a lot of other things…' trailed on Marcellus. He then started to think, 'What do I have that could help me become more flexible in a short time?' He put his hand on his chin in wonder. As he was in deep thought, he suddenly got an idea.
'Vampires inherently have a better regenerative capacity than humans. So what if I tear those muscles that are being stretched and with our superior adaptability, regrow those muscles to their new defined shape?' Thought Marcellus in trepidation.
While this is a possible way to accomplish this task, there are still two problems that Marcellus is facing. The first one is that he is scared of the pain that will come with tearing and ripping his bodily muscles and having them regenerate over and over until he gets it.
That kind of thing hurts, okay?
The second is that he doesn't know if he can ignore that feeling of dread while waiting for the pain to come. He also doesn't know if he can hold on and focus to push through that pain once it arrives.
'How can I ignore the pain?' thought Marcellus, fully focused on succeeding.
*SIGH* "I don't think I can," muttered Marcellus with a deep sigh. He then continued in his head, 'Endurance, indeed'.
He then started to lower his body once again, moving very slowly, desperately, not wanting the pain to come.
After one last deep breath, he takes the plunge!!! Plus side, he finally did the splits. Down side, he can't even scream, due to the unimaginable pain he felt through his lower body.
As he was about to lean over and get up, he felt the muscles and ligaments repairing themselves. However, even if his plan was working, he couldn't keep it up, so he was still about to stop.
However, then suddenly, his eyes flashed with a blood red lightning and he felt the pain level receding and receding. Until, like the end of a flash of lightning, it vanished.
He smiled at that sight then took a deep breath and stood up. He felt a slight dull ache but other than that, he only felt excitement for being able to get it right.
After that he continued, until he managed to get the entire thing. There was one minute left and he finally decided to stop.
As he looked around he saw Casstis staring at him with a big smile that sent shivers down Marcellus' spine.
"Alright, stop" said Casstis as she hit the stopwatch. Alicia also managed to complete it, however, she had already done things like that before, so she was flexible.
Arthur managed to do the splits but couldn't pull himself up to do the upside down part. While Fenris and Zachary both barely managed to get the split part right before the time ended.
"So, there were three reasons I had you all do these tests' ' started Casstis as she held back a yawn. "The first, to see your current level of fitness, because a few of you didn't go all out in some of them, you will be getting the punishment from the first test" said Casstis with a happy, sh*t-eating grin.
"..." 'I thou—COUGH—Hoped she forgot' they all thought in unison, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.
"The second, to see your competitive spirit, I had hoped seeing your peers also doing these would push you to try your very hardest" continued Casstis as her lips twitched a little from her plan backfiring.
They all felt like hitting her in the head right now. She made them do those barbaric tests for such simple reasons!!?!!
Although they all felt wronged, who among them had the courage to actually try?
Casstis continued, not giving a f*ck about their feelings, "The last reason was to see which type of martial arts suit you the best" as she explained she told them all their personalized fighting styles.
Fenris Maccon, Kung Fu
Alicia Alucard, Wing Chun
Zachary Reid, Taekwondo
Arthur Rathaway, Aikido
Marcellus Mckinley, Muay Thai & Tai chi
As they all heard what they would be learning, they felt like those nightmarish tests were going to be worth it. Especially if taught by this monster. However, they all had confused looks when they heard Marcellus would be practicing two while they all only had one.
"Marcellus, you have two because you have the best comprehension, meaning that I think you could succeed in martial arts the most if you learn both '' explained Casstis as she looked straight at Marcellus' eyes.
Zachary frowned in disdain as soon as he heard that, while on the other hand, Zachary and Alicia smiled a little.
"However, it is still up to you, so would you like to learn both?" asked Casstis, who was trying her best not to pressure him.
Knowing that he'd have an advantage over Zachary if he agreed and that he'd be a fool to disagree, he immediately smiled and accepted.
"It would be my honor" said Marcellus with a big smile as he bowed slightly. His predatory grin looked like a baby tiger trying to roar compared to Casstis' , however, when she saw his smile, she also smiled. It would seem that these two are birds of a feather.
"..." When everyone else saw those two like that they simultaneously facepalmed and thought, 'These two are both battle maniacs!!!!!'