Several days after his exploration, Altair was standing in the hall with a sour face, cursing the fragility of his nascent body. Beside him, Elizabeth and Alexander were wheezing loudly, the former laying flat out on the ground. In front of them stood an impassive Mr Lindt, who watched as the children all struggled to draw enough air into their starved lungs. "Time is up" he said sternly, his voice sounding like a death knell to everyone. "This time, we're going for five laps."
Alexander let out a groan as he removed his hands from his knees and straightened up. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he brushed back his fringe, looking down at the wheezing Elizabeth in amusement. "You heard the man, better get up now." The girl glared back at him in response, but took his hand when he offered it. "This is highly unfair, I'm a scholar not a warrior, why do I have to do the same physical training as the rest of you!"
Zeze and Nezra, who were the two in the best condition, look over at her words and scoffed in unison. Glaring back at them, she straightened out her flustered blue hair and turned to Altair, who was entirely focused on passing precious oxygen through his lungs. "Just look at Altair for God's sake, how can you expect a child to run a dozen laps with barely a break in-between!"
"Don't...use me as...an excuse to avoid...work" he rasped back, alternating between talking and breathing. Overhearing them, Mr Lindt turned back to Elizabeth and spoke with a stern tone. "Regardless of what you specialize in, having a strong body is vital. You're a Mage, but if your body is too weak than you will be killed the moment someone gets close. And don't even try to make an excuse about using Magic Shields or spells for defence: when it comes to battle, only your body can be trusted. You would die in seconds if the opponent possessed an ability to disrupt Mana."
"I'm capable of using a staff or spear though" Elizabeth muttered, but stopped complaining. Once he saw everyone was ready, Mr Lindt checked his watch and gave the signal to start. The children all began to jog together, everyone silent apart from Alexander, who kept chatting to Altair and Elizabeth without a care in the world even without getting a response back. "Lindt was right Elizabeth, building up your personal strength, independent of Mana or Magic is very important. Much like Ranks, physique is the deciding factor between foes of the same Level. When you fought Zeze, you only managed to hold your own for so long thanks to t hat Grimoire. Once she got close, you were instantly on the back foot. Of course, as a Mage your body will always be inferior to a Warrior's like Zeze but you can definitely work on it."
Elizabeth shot him a displeased look but kept her tongue, too tired to talk. Unbothered, Alexander turned his focus to Altair instead. "As for you, I am quite surprised. Your endurance is remarkable for someone your age...have you been working out in the past? Heh, that was a dumb question, you are obviously too young. Let me rephrase that then, do either of your parents have a particularly good physique?"
"...no clue" Altair answered after pausing to take a breath. "Mother is very strong, but that's to be expected from an Epic Ascender. Sia hasn't shown any inclinations towards strength or endurance so far."
"Well then, you got the lucky draw in genetics" Alexander laughed, somehow unaffected by the strenuous running he was doing. Altair looked at him with envy and discretely infused another sliver of Mana into his legs, allowing him to pull slightly ahead. Yes, he had secretly been using Mana this entire time, but who could blame him? He was only a four year old child for fuck's sake, barely more than a toddler, yet Lindt expected him to keep up with twelve year olds? Using Mana was the only way, but Altair was beginning to think Lindt agreed. Altair wasn't confidant in escaping the detection of the Elf, but the man had said nothing yet. 'Is the real lesson for me on controlling my Mana then, rather than just my body?'
Altair sensed something happening in front and looked forward, seeing Zeze and Nezra begin to pull ahead of the pack with increasing speed. "Those two are at it against" Alexander commented, watching the two children racing ahead with a smile. "Who do you think will win this time? Personally, my bet is on Nezra. Zeze has been pushing herself harder than normal this time, and that'll catch up to her. Nezra still has more in the tank."
"I disagree" Elizabeth stated, speaking quickly. "Zeze knows her body better than anyone, and she wouldn't spend her energy until the very end. She's baiting Nezra to take the lead so she can overtake him once he's exhausted. What do you think, Altair?"
"Such a tactic would indeed fir Zeze's character, but Nezra wouldn't fall for such a common trick" he said thoughtfully, analysing the characters of his classmates. "While Zeze is skilled in combat, Nezra seems geared towards actual fighting, and such ploys are common on the battlefield. If I was him anyways, I would stay conservatively cautious."
Alexander smiled at his words. "A keen observation, and one I share. Nezra does seem oddly geared towards the art of murder, don't you think? While Zeze seems to have a knack for ceremonial bouts instead. Since Sol and Xerxes share Authority over the same Element, it seems some of the practises of the God of War has seeped into the Sun God's Church. All religious organizations overlap with at least one other really: Gaia, Dendron and Tiamat; Jester, Fallacy, Weaver and Daemon; Navruavati and Aenrys; Consus, Metallus and Ingrid; Calypso and Polydorus. Hmm, the more "unique" Gods in that case would be Nyx, Chanteur, Zephylte and Seraphic."
"As interesting as this topic is, I would prefer to focus on what's happening right now" Altair shut Alexander down as his breath began to get laboured again. Elizabeth was also showing signs of fatigue to a lesser degree, with only Alexander being in a moderately good form. Complying with his wishes with a smile, Alexander focus on observing Zeze and Nezra gaining more and more distance from the group. The two had sparked an instant rivalry on the third day of school and had engaged in multiple "bets" to see who was superior. Nezra had won seven such bets while Zeze had won six, making her determined to beat Nezra this time. On his side, the blonde boy was also hungry for another victory to pull ahead. The rest of the class and Mr Lindt watched as the two children began to struggle to distance themselves from the other, the air around them cackling.
Seeing them run so fast, and for so long, Altair couldn't stop a curse from forming in his head. 'Crazy monsters!'