"Then let's start the test."
Alberad blew away the earwax on his pinky finger.
"What do you think the most important thing is when learning martial arts?"
He asked a question to the children who were looking at him with mixed feelings.
"It's talent!"
"It's a strong and flexible body!"
"A steady energy center!"
"The way of training for swordsmanship and aura is the most important!"
The children seemed to think that the test had already started, as they shouted what they thought was the most important with their hands raised.
"Talent, body, energy center, swordsmanship, those are all correct. However, those are just the walls and roof. There is a groundwork that needs to be laid under them. It's stamina and willpower."
"Ah…"
"Hm…"
The children lowered their hands and nodded, believing that he was right.
"Some of you have already learned martial arts, and others haven't. As such, I'm going to use the simplest, yet the most certain, method to evaluate you."
Alberad's finger, which had been pointed at the children, moved towards the outdoor gymnasium.
"Run laps in the gymnasium until I tell you to stop. At full speed!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two people moved.
It was Vikram, the bastard son of Duke Sena and Ahmed from Duke Khan's family.
"Eek!"
"Let… Let's go!"
"Run!"
The other children followed the two and started running in the gymnasium.
{Don't move. How dare that point-eared chicken order the contractor of this great monarch! No one is allowed to order this monarch…}
Ashoka ignored Drako and filled his lungs with fresh air. He kicked the ground, following the children running in front of him.
'They are indeed different.'
Ahmed and Vikram were running way ahead already. Despite looking like they were casually running, they were at a speed that nobody else could catch up to.
It wasn't because of their aura being high quality or having special attribute mana, but simply because they had trained their minds and bodies from an early age.
{Ahem. If you have started running, then go to the front. Why are you at the very back?}
'I don't even know what you want anymore.'
{ just don't want to lose.}
'This is not a competition.'
Ashoka looked at Alberad, who was whistling on the platform. He probed others' potential and spirit. What was visible to the eyes wasn't going to be the only criterion.
"Huu…"
Ashoka exhaled with shining eyes.
'The winner of this test is whoever lasts the longest.'
And that was something that he was confident about, more than anyone in the continent.
* * *
"Lord Ahmed is clearly peerless."
"That kid Vikram doesn't seem half bad either"
"It's not just their speed, but they are also stable. They aren't at their full speed, so they should be able to run for hours like that. To be so accomplished at that age, I'm afraid of what they will become. It's scary."
The two instructors standing under the platform were chatting while looking at the running children.
"The other noble children this year are also quite capable. They must've been well educated."
"Hmm... There are many competent ones. It looks like they have been picked carefully."
They didn't only look at Vikram and Ahmed. They evaluated every single child, including those running at the back.
"Hmm…"
The instructors that were observing every child frowned as they looked at Ashoka, running among the group in the back.
"How unexpected, he can't catch up?"
"As expected, the rumors are always exaggerated"
"Hm, he can't even catch up to those lowly nobles."
The instructors calmly looked away at the other children while ignoring Ashoka who was at the very back of the group.
However, Alberad, who was humming behind them, had his eyes fixated on Ashoka.
'How curious.'
his black eyes shone brightly.
'It's my first time seeing someone like him.'
Alberad had received a blessing of nature brighter than anyone of his race, and he was excellent at discerning others' conditions and potential.
He thought the only people he couldn't analyze with his talent were the continent's strongest.
'However…'
He had to change his mind for the first time.
Neither Vikram nor Ahmed, who were running at the front nor the noble children who were running behind them, could go beyond his insight.
He could see how they would grow, and how much stronger they would become.
Except for one person.
Ashoka Maurya.
He was like a mystery covered in secrets.
'Why can't I see it?'
As if hidden behind a cloud, he couldn't see his future or his potential.
Because he had no potential? It wasn't something like that. It meant that he was outside of his perception, like when he was looking at those stronger than himself.
"This is funny."
Alberad smiled. A really interesting human had appeared in such a boring era.
* * *
"Look at that."
"Is he really in last place after acting all cocky?'
"You can't even call him last place, since he will drop out soon."
The nobles smirked, looking at Ashoka running among the slowest group.
"There's no way a guy who grew up comfortably in the tempest manor protected by those royal knights can run properly."
"Look at his face, there is not even an expression on his face."
"He isn't even going to last ten minutes."
Other children also started laughing.
But Ashoka didn't have an expressionless face because of being worn out.
'Are they really only going to run when it's training?'
The amount of training that Sage Chanakya made him and his brother undergo when they were just three years old was beyond what these children who were still wet beyond their ears could understand.
Not to mention the personal training he had been doing ever since he entered the Tempest manor.
Just running until their stamina ran out was too easy to be true in comparison.
'It is too easy.'
Ashoka thought running leisurely while enjoying the beautiful weather.
---***---
(Note: I will be using 'Drako' as a short name for Drakorinith, the Dragon monarch from now on, hope it doesn't confuse)