Noah stepped forward adjusting his glasses. "Some special phantoms have the ability to use skills which are just like a version of the enigmas we use."
"Initially only phantoms at the S class were thought to possess skills, but in recent years phantoms have been seen to possess skills if they are from C tier and up and there is no evidence that cancels out the chance of a D tier phantom wielding a skill." Noah finished.
He knew everything about the phantoms but decided to wait until Arlder called him just to show how ignorant the rest of the class was.
Noah was always like that, he used every opportunity presented to him to the maximum.
"Thank you Noah." Arlder said.
"Students in the other classes are far weaker than those in your class but once in a while a student may be promoted to your class and sometimes an S rank Venator can even emerge from their class as well."
"Do you even know what it means to be in the special class? You have the highest chance of becoming S class," Arlder said, his voice was still calm but Ella could tell that he was angry or at least disappointed.
"Battles against phantoms aren't all about your physical strength." He placed his index finger on his temple.
"What is up here matters a lot as well, don't assume that stopping your preliminaries means your learning stops." He said sternly.
"Noah, let's start your training, for the rest of you 100 laps around the field, your training will start when you're done."
Ella and the rest of the students filed into the field ready to start their jog.
There were a few disgruntled murmurs among the students but Ella had no complaints because she knew that Arlder was right, they were in the special class and as such needed to hold themselves to a higher standard.
Arlder himself was not that much older than them but he was already S class which probably made him expect much more from them.
'We probably look incompetent to him don't we?' She thought as she began her jog.
The jog was okay at first all students keeping up with each other up until they reached the 30th lap, then things began to fall apart.
The sun seemed to intensify the moment they completed the 30th lap, beads of sweat dripped from the student's faces, their clothes utterly soaked by sweat.
Their legs wobbled each time they took a step threatening to instantly crumble down at a moments notice.
The most athletic students among them still managed to regain their balance and this caused the other students to push forward as well, each person with one singular mantra playing in their heads.
'I can't be the first to drop!'
Slowly some of her classmates began to slow down while some audibly expressed their complaints.
"We can't possibly do 100 right?"
"Do you guys think he's going to let us stop anytime soon?"
"I don't think my legs can take this for much longer."
But among the students one student seemed to the largely unaffected by the jog, of course he too was also covered in sweat like the rest of them but his footing was strong and he showed little signs of fatigue.
He jogged across the field each step stable, each stride confident and was that a smile on his face?!
"I'm about to die Ella!" Diana, Ella's friend screamed from beside her before collapsing. But Ellla was not paying any attention to anything she said, her eyes were locked on Luck.
'He is on an entirely different level,' she thought.
Ella could not let herself get bested by him again, she was not yet completely exhausted but she knew that it would not be long before she reached her limit.
'I will push past it though!'
And that was how what was meant to be a punishment became a mental and physical competition between the two of them, both of them having one focus. Never stop!
At a point only the two students remined on the field both still running at full speed, they were on their 50th lap now and neither of them seemed to be stoping anytime soon.
Luckily for the two students a dark cloud obscured the heat of the sun which allowed them to conserve more of their stamina.
It was as though nature itself was seated, invested in seeing the victor of their race. Ella focused her mind on one thing alone.
'Keep moving, keep moving Ella, Keep moving.'
But her mantra was not enough to sustain her, the fatigue was weighing heavily each step sending tremors through her legs, she knew very soon she would be hugging the field whether she wanted it or not.
The human body has limits and right now she was well above her.
The strange thing was that all this time Luck still appeared unfazed, his pace had defiantly decreased but it looked like he still had a few more laps in him.
'Would she loose again?'
Ella felt her leg slip and that was all it took for all her effort to come tubling down, she was falling and soon she would be lying flat on the field.
She wasn't angry with her performance, she knew she pushed her self well beyond her limit and for that alone she was proud.
She turned to where the rest of the students stood staring at them, most of them were sitting on the grass observing and then her eyes happened to land on Arlder.
'He is watching me! Arlder is watching me! Why is he watching me now that I'm about to fall?!'
Ella thought that Arlder was busy training Noah or scolding the rest for failing to complete the track but she was wrong, he had been watching her since they moment they crossed the 50th lap.
She could not let herself fail now, not when his eyes were on her, she quickly pushed her second foot forward to prevent herself from falling and luckily she was able to catch herself just as she was on the verge of falling.
She propelled herself back up now moving solely due tor the sudden rush of adrenaline she just got, how long would she last? She had no clue but she would give it her all, even if he's unable to move, even if she has to crawl, even if she crashes badly.
She would keep moving.
"I hope you're ready for this luck, I'm not stoping anytime soon."
If only she knew how wrong she was.
•
•
•
•
[A/N]
What's up guys! I hope you've been enjoying the story so far.
I love seeing your comments so tell me what you think about this chapter in the comment section below.
Who do you think is going to win the punishment turned race?