After the counter ended, Gorath was true to his word. Those who hadn't formed a group bent over in intense pain for ten agonizing minutes, while the others stood by, watching and listening to their screams.
Gorath looked at those still standing. "When I speak or any other master speaks, our word is law. Disobey the law and you will be punished. Now, training starts. Follow your system commands."
Finn received a system alert directing him to go west. The only one to accompany him was Mountain Ridge. As they walked through a tunnel, they emerged into a coliseum. It was enormous, though not as large as the courtyard, and there were far fewer people, maybe 10,000 thousand Finn guessed.
At the front stood an orc, towering and muscular with deep green skin and piercing yellow eyes. He wore minimal armor, displaying his unblemished, powerful build. His presence was commanding and intimidating.
"You shall run on the edge of the coliseum, and I shall be watching, adding weight when I deem fit," the orc stated. "If you slack," he pulled out a whip, "not only will the slacker be punished, but each and every one of your fellow classmates shall taste my lash as well every time someone slacks."
He continued, "Everyone will have two minutes of rest to adjust after receiving a lash. Additionally, in the same 2 minutes the person who caused the class to receive a lash is allowed to be attacked. If attacked, that person may defend themselves. The goal is to break those who don't run until they are in the infirmary and no longer able to get the class punished. Those who kill will be killed themselves. Start running now."
Finn started running—not a sprint, not a jog. A steady, determined run. One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed.
A human fatty, clearly out of shape, began to lag behind, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Sweat poured down his face, soaking his clothes. His movements became sluggish, each step a visible struggle. Despite the pain and exhaustion, it wasn't his physical limit that caused him to give up; it was the absence of will. His eyes, filled with defeat, scanned the surroundings hopelessly. As he stumbled and finally came to a halt, it was evident that he lacked the inner drive to push through the discomfort. He hunched over, hands on his knees, gasping for air, and then collapsed to the ground, surrendering to his exhaustion.
The fatty immediately felt a lash on his back, his clothes ripping and his skin breaking, causing him to bleed. He was then highlighted by an aura, marking him as the one who caused the class to be punished. The school they were in was essentially a giant array with numerous functions; everyone in the coliseum immediately felt the lash as well.
Finn fell forward, gasping, "Fuck, that hurt." He stood up, but the highlighted fatty was on the other side of the coliseum, too far for Finn to reach in time.
The Vorath, needing no encouragement, immediately set upon the fatty, punching and kicking him. One Vorath, driven by bloodlust, clawed the fatty, nicking an artery in his neck.
The fatty bled out, and Finn blinked in shock. The Vorath responsible was immediately impaled by a spear, the spear actually put a small crater into the ground upon impact.
The orc grinned wickedly. "Please, break my rules again; I need more target practice."
When Finn received his lash, a two-minute timer appeared in his view. He could feel the blood running down his back from the whip strike. Unlike many who let the timer run out before continuing, Finn started running at the one-second mark. Immediately, the orc's whip lashed out again, striking across the previous lash. "Dammit, that hurts," Finn thought.
The orc yelled "Do not rest longer than 2 minutes." Finn had guessed right, letting your timer hit zero would get the classed punished if you weren't running.
The ones who shone with the aura were those who had stopped running and caused the class to be punished.
Finn sighed and glared at the human next to him, deciding not to do anything but conserve his energy.
The Vorath seemed to be getting off on beating the shit out of people.
The orc deemed a lot of people too injured to run, which they were, and used an array to transfer them to the infirmary.
Finn kept running, keeping pace. He had always had good cardio, but being constrained to his room for a year had affected it slightly, having had more to focus on strength and flexibility workouts.
Suddenly, Finn felt extra weight on his back. The orc's voice boomed, "You may have noticed it got a little heavier. I've only put weight on those who were doing a little too good. Keep running."
Finn gritted his teeth and kept running, determined not to let the added weight break him. Every step was a struggle, the added weight testing his endurance and willpower. His muscles burned, and his breath came in ragged gasps, but he refused to slow down. This was a test, and he would not fail. Fib. focused solely on the path ahead.
As the minutes dragged on, the weight seemed to increase incrementally. Finn's legs felt like lead, and his back throbbed with pain from the lash marks and the additional burden. But he pushed through, driven by a determination to survive and thrive in this brutal new world.
It was pretty consistent: lashings for everyone and beatings for those who didn't run.
At one point, Finn found himself closest to someone who had caused everyone to get punished—a short human female. No one else was near enough to punish her. Finn ignored her, trying to push through the dozen lashes already on his back. The wounds stung like hell, but he figured they were only flesh wounds.
Everyone started running again but were immediately lashed. It was the same pretty human female. Finn was furious and glared at her. She was crying, clearly in distress.
"Run!" Finn shouted, but she continued to sob. Everyone else began yelling at Finn to beat her up. She was going to get everyone punished again.
Finn walked over, knowing that those deemed too injured to run had one of two injuries: they were either knocked out or had a broken bone that was essential for running.
She was still sitting there, sobbing. Finn knew the cultivation world could be cruel. He stood over her for a moment, his shadow falling across her trembling form. She looked up at him, eyes pleading, but Finn's expression remained hard. He couldn't afford to be soft, not here, not now. With a resolute sigh, he lifted his foot and brought it down hard on her shin. With a sickening crack, her bone broke under the force. She screamed, clutching her leg in agony.
Finn's stomach churned at the sound, but he forced himself to stay focused. He knew the reality of this world: only the strong survive, and sometimes that meant making brutal choices.
He stepped back, watching his timer count down. The pain from his lashes still throbbed, and he could feel the blood running down his back.
As he turned to rejoin the run, he caught a glimpse of the orc overseeing the training. The orc's eyes gleamed with approval, a twisted smile playing on his lips. Finn knew he had done what was necessary, but it didn't make him feel any better.
The girl's sobs faded as she was transported to the infirmary; Finn resumed his pace. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, but he pushed them aside. There was no room for weakness here. He had to be strong.
Finn sighed, watching his timer count down. It was going to be a long day.