Within the vast training grounds of the military fortress Anfang, Dante was running through the flat plain along with many others. He started at the center at first, but then he slowly got left behind along with time.
He was running at a fixed speed, slightly faster than an average walking speed. The reason why he was running slow was because of the plan to conserve his already trashy stamina.
If Dante wanted to succeed, he must last long enough to reach the goal of the marathon test. So while he was running at a fixed speed with no hint of acceleration, numerous thoughts passed through his head.
'This body really needs some training.'
'It feels like running with weights despite being skinny.'
'I hate this body.'
Grumbling lights about his body was the only thing that Dante could do. At the very least, releasing such stress in terms of thoughts would lower his mental instability. It will be problematic if he gets stroked or pass out in the middle of nowhere.
While running through the flat field, many others passed right by him. As they passed him, they turned their gaze towards Dante, looking at him with a mocking expression.
Dante seeing their faces didn't pay them any heed. Rumors about his identity must have spread throughout the training regiment and maybe beyond. Some would probably look for an opportunity to bully someone from a legendary family.
That was something that could be turned into stories and passed into multiple generations as if it was some glory.
He obviously didn't want that, but there was nothing Dante could do about it. He had no control over others, and whether or not they tried to bully him was entirely dependent on them. If they did try to do such things, Dante would make sure they would regret it.
With his last thoughts, Dante shook his head and wondered what just happen. It was the same as before. A strange and violent feeling tried to envelop his head. The feeling appears to be turning into a frequent thing which was a piece of bad news.
Trouble would probably plague him on this body, but oh well. He was already determined to not get passive and chase the things he wanted to get in his life.
Dante concentrated on reaching the goal, and it would be good if he could impress some of the people within that warship.
'The training officers within that massive warship.'
'How is that thing even flying? It's practically 3 times bigger than a heavy transport ship. One could call it a city of its own.'
Dante wondered how the airships fly within the heavens. The things here always defy the laws of reality. But he knew that he shouldn't compare the reality of his past world and the reality of this current world.
'I guess I'll learn more about it sooner or later.'
Dante thought as he continued running through the flat plain. He was losing the others meaning that he was getting left behind. Though, he didn't mind it that much and kept running at the same speed.
He needed to lower his pride if he wanted to reach the goal of the marathon test. He must not care about others' provocation if he wants to succeed in this life.
Enemies will be common in this kind of world. They would probably wish for him to die. Well, one could say that others who weren't even his enemies were already wishing for him to die. Probably because of his infamous title and identity.
Anyhow, two hours later, Dante was still running through the seemingly endless field. The military fortress Anfang was really a big military installation. Though there might be things bigger than Anfang in the core sectors of the Imperium.
'I underestimated the size of this place. No wonder those 50-meter walls were built. They wouldn't even be noticeable from afar.' Dante thought with sweat covering the entirety of his body.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as he was now in an unsynchronized breathing pattern. Which meant that he was running without any care.
The first checkpoint of the marathon test was a lot longer than he thought. To be honest, Dante felt chills thinking about the entire distance of the marathon test. He never thought that this much distance would be too hard for the current him.
'I miss my body even though it already is nothing more but ashes.'
Dante sighed to himself as he turned his gaze forward to look at the horizon. Staring at it for a short while, he noticed gigantic trees protruding from the land. They were hundreds of them enveloping a part of the horizon.
It was at this moment he realized that he was about to reach the next biome. And before the next biome was the long-awaited first checkpoint he desperately needed.
He surveyed his surroundings, noticing many others running toward the checkpoint. Unlike him, who looked like a mountain climber about to get a stroke, the others had normal expressions on their face.
It seems that they have the same idea of conserving their stamina.
Dante looked at the first checkpoint as he kept running at it. 'I must reach the first checkpoint no matter what.' He thought as his legs ached.
He wanted to puke everything out of his body as his fat body wiggled while running. Dante's consciousness was fading, meaning that he was about to pass out.
"Techniques and breathing abilities don't really matter in this kind of stupid body," Dante mumbled as he cursed his current fat body. Why the hell does it have to be a marathon anyways? Such was his thought.
He wanted to give up running and take a deep slumber. He wanted to eat breakfast and drink some water. He wanted to regain the luxuries of life.
These were the thoughts within his heart, and upon hearing them echo within his mind. His body jolted as his tired eyes were awoken. He looked forward as he was now in front of the first checkpoint gate.
He had a shocked expression on his face as he looked at his trembling hands. The idea of giving up was scary to him, and his current thoughts made him realize that he still was someone who didn't have the will to not give up.
'Damn, this.'
Dante remembered the words of his past captain. Before he was about to leave the military installation, he asked his captain whether he had grown or not. The answer was simple. His captain said that he didn't change that much.
He didn't know what to feel after hearing such words, though he didn't pay much heed to it.
'So this was what he meant, huh? I didn't change that much even when I worked hard on training within the military.' Dante thought to himself as he sighed in disappointment.
Dante's trembling eyes looked at the gate of the first checkpoint as he walked towards it. His muscles were tense, and his entire body was soaked in sweat. His chest was heavy as each thump of his heart gave him an aching pain.
Upon entering the first checkpoint, many other recruits looked at Dante's unsightly appearance. Some were from the training regiment 69, while many came from other training regiments.
Rumors regarding the third son residing within the training regiment 69 must have already spread throughout the first checkpoint.
"That's the guy?"
"The third son of Astarte, the god of assholes, according to my father."
"He always throws his family influence everywhere. Can't believe he's in this military installation."
"The silver pig of Astarte."
The recruits began talking to each other, and none of them even bothered hiding their words. Dante noticed their mocking words and didn't pay them any heed. He continued walking through the first checkpoint as he noticed many others leaving the first checkpoint.
From the looks of it, the numbers within the first checkpoint were smaller than he expected. Meaning that others were already heading toward the second checkpoint. Well, this works for the better for Dante.
Dante arrived at the center for the most part of the first checkpoint and saw a small tent. He stood before it as the nurse maintaining the tent looked at him and asked for his name.
"Name, please."
"I'm Dante Regent Astarte." Dante calmly replied as the nurse started going through the document. After confirming his identity, the nurse went back to the tent and soon took out the supplies intended for Dante.
The nurse gave a black bag to Dante and gave him a smile. "Take care of your supplies. You wouldn't be given anything else if you lost them."
"Understood." Dante nodded as he left the tent and treaded to the outskirts of the first checkpoint. He saw a small wooden table and placed the black bag there.
He looked at the table and mumbled. "From the warning, she had given, either the black bags can be lost in the forest or get stolen." A glint could be seen in his ocean-blue irises as he looked at the gargantuan forest behind him.
The forest had threes that stretched over 50 meters with incredibly thick barks. The evergreen leaves of the forest were expansive, and Dante couldn't help but wonder what could be lurking behind the forest.
As Dante entirely opened the black bag, he took out the things stored within it and sighed to himself. "I wanted to be proved wrong, but I guess I was right."
He turned his gaze towards the forest and uttered. "Monsters, eh?"