The run… was nothing like what Tom could remember.
Even years later, he could always recall the strain of treading up the treacherous forest path with the mere mention of the topic.
It wasn't even the camp's final exam, and yet it was an event that left a lasting impression, superseded only by the events that would later take place in the academy.
But with just a few slight adjustments to his pace, form, and angles of approach, the sharp turns of the road, many unearthed roots, and all of the stones poking out from below the ground…
They all posed a much lesser challenge than what Tom could recall.
'I know I made all those adjustments exactly for this kind of result, but for the effects to be so great…?'
Tom wasn't baffled by the situation.
He was stunned by it, even more than he should be by his apparent drift back in time.
But the more he thought about it, the more sense this real-life review of the effectiveness of his methods proved to make.
'While my foundation is abysmal, just those small changes to the form add up quite quickly.'
For the young man, all the changes he made to how he ran were… just a process of him settling into his new… - old? - body, grinding down its gears to get himself familiar with the sense of balance, added weight, and even slightly different height.
A process that he completed within the first tenth of the whole exercise, only for it to continue paying off throughout the rest of it.
And pay off it did, allowing Tom a buffer of energy just big enough to keep actively thinking, searching for whatever answers he could find.
'Could it be the work of… the core?'
The source behind the heroes' and their heretical counterparts' power wasn't really a secret: a heroic jewel, rumored to grant them strength beyond any other.
'That bastard's power…' Tom thought back to the recent events, apparently scheduled for a bit short of twelve years into the future.
'Yeah,' the young man thought as he maintained steady breathing and a comfortable pace, 'it certainly wasn't on a human level.'
While their opponent was a legend in the academy all in his own right, Tom's group were no strangers to glory and fame. It was their name that rang loud and clear through the alumni records, not that son of ill-fate.
Their lives after the academy also couldn't steer them more apart, with the future heretic driven to a corner in a tragic event only to succumb to his powers, all the while Tom and his party went around the world adventuring and growing stronger.
On the day of the clash, however, just a single wave of that bastard's arm was enough to slaughter two of them. A single gaze of his rotting eyes sufficed to burn Grace's will away, while a single strike brought Dali down.
The secret behind that bastard's strength was likely nothing else but the legendary heroic jewel, an artifact that could either put one on the path of a true hero or bring about their fall into the heretical caricature of it.
A jewel that was as real as much as it was a legend. A source of power only possibly rivaled by the freaks of nature capable of reaching the ascension.
'Thinking about it, what else could be behind this return of mine?'
Tom didn't know much about the heroes, heretical heroes, nor was he interested in their jewels. What little he heard about those three, however, was enough to come up with this kind of possible solution.
'I mean, it's not like there's a proper study about how all of this works, so, who knows, maybe those jewels were not only real, but also relied on putting people back in the past so that they could make use of all the opportunities they otherwise missed?'
For some reason, the thought that those heroic jewels would be just… massive pools of power for their users to draw from simply didn't sit well with Tom.
It was too simple, too crude, too unbecoming of a legend.
Yet, as the young man's eyes drew toward the finish line of the race, he had no other choice but to realize that, while stuck in his thoughts, he leisurely ran the distance that the rest of the cadets struggled to complete.
A few of his colleagues already rested behind the finish line. Their numbers, however…
'Wait, what the hell?'
Burdened enough with all the questions about his situation, Tom hardly paid any attention to the fellow cadets he passed during the run. And as it turned out…
He finished the race slightly faster than he did originally in the past.
That wasn't the biggest difference, though.
In the past, by the time he crossed the finish line, Tom simply fell down on all fours and remained in that position for nearly half an hour, drained to his absolute limits.
Right now, however, despite boasting clearly the same imperfect physique as he did in the past, this entire run became quite the leisurely stroll for him instead!
'How the hell am I so okay?'
Startled by the unexpected yet positive change, Tom looked down… Only to then stumble on some protruding stone, restoring his balance only when he desperately shot his arms out to counterbalance against the direction he stumbled in.
After such a perfect run that left him with more than enough energy to attend the event most of the cadets, out of mere exhaustion, would miss, he… stumbled.
Not somewhere deep within the forest, where all he would get for such a mistake would be an occasional snicker from his fellow cadets.
No, he had to stumble right by the finish line, where the judges actively looked into every detail on the cadets they could gather.
This test would be a major contributor to the number of score tokens the cadets would receive which, thanks to the complex system set in place, would translate directly to the degree of sponsorship they could receive within the academy. Sponsorship that covered stuff from the dorms, through the dining hall fees, to teaching materials, training manuals, and important resources.
For the would-be students, it was the perfect system to translate their talents and hard work into tangible benefits that would go a long way in helping them establish themselves at the royal academy. For the academy, it was the very foundation of its internal economy, creating an environment perfect for young masters of merchant families to get practical exercise within a controlled economy.
The camp's examiners weren't free from this system's influence, with their bonuses riding on just how accurately they could nail a cadet's potential, making it easier for the academy teachers to organize their classes and manage the students in the long run.
That's why, when Tom stumbled… Rather than feeling shame over making such a silly mistake right in everyone's view, he could feel his heart tear in slight grief over all the score points this stunt was likely to end up costing him.
'Well, it's not like I've planned to waste any of the points on the dorms, so losing a few points here shouldn't be a problem,' Tom thought, quickly changing the narrative of his mistake, only to stabilize himself within the next step and cross the finish line a few steps later.
"Haaaa…." Letting out a long sigh, Tom hurried to the side of the track. Then, even with how this draconian run failed to properly drain his energy, Tom leaned down while resting his hands against his knees and breathing as heavily as he could without making it obvious it was merely an act.
No good would come if he were to brag all around about how this exam was nothing to him.
With his fellow cadets all on the verge of death from exhaustion all around, it would be the quickest way to make all of them collectively hate him.
And so, as he continued to act his part and go through every motion someone brought to their very limit would perform, his thoughts could finally move back to the important point.
A point that dragged his eyes from his feet to the dueling circles established all over the open terrain of the knightling camp's group.
'It should still be an hour before that bastard comes to vent on the newbies, so…' A small, wicked grin appeared on Tom's lips. 'In the meantime, should I take advantage of a few more opportunities that are about to show up?'
Tom couldn't care less about not knowing HOW he came back to the past.
He did.
He was now in the past.
And if that was the hand he was given to play with, then this was the exact reality he was going to adapt to.
Even if the first step of doing so meant volunteering for what most of the cadets in the camp would consider the worst possible punishment shy of expulsion.