Black Solstice-Chapter 31: Fitness [3]

Following that incident, the bell rang and everyone promptly left the cafeteria, heading outside.

The next class was mandatory physical fitness.

Both the Knight Division and the Mage Division were required to participate in this training.

Why, you may ask?

Knight-types specialized in close-quarters combat, so they needed to stay in shape. Devils were physically stronger than humans, yes, but that didn’t mean they could slack off. If they stopped training, they’d get sluggish, slow, maybe even fat and unhealthy. In that regard, they weren’t much different from humans.

Mage-types, on the other hand, needed fitness for a different reason: mobility. Their greatest advantage was their ability to manipulate the ambient reishi, allowing them to resonate their inner energy with the world around them and unleash powerful effects.

As long as they kept their distance, they were practically unstoppable.

But if someone closed that distance and began pummeling them?

They were helpless.

Of course, they could still reinforce their bodies with reishi, but their lack of actual combat experience would still lead to their downfall.

So, as you can see, it was crucial for both sides to maintain their physical condition. The problem was, however...

Whish-!

The whip sliced through the air and struck my back with a sharp, echoing snap. The impact was tremendous, packed with a kind of twisted affection that made my knees wobble. A strained groan escaped my throat before I could stop it.

"Pick up the pace! Even a snail can move faster than you!" shouted the intimidating physical instructor reminscient of a military drill sergeant.

He stood well over six feet tall, closer to seven feet, around two hundred centimeters, and looked like someone carved from pure discipline. His build was massive, all hard muscle and relentless training. Broad shoulders, thick arms, and a posture so rigid it seemed capable of bending steel. His hair was cropped short, every strand screaming order, and his golden eyes swept across the students with predatory focus.

If he spotted you slacking for even a heartbeat, he would materialize in front of you in an instant.

Or worse, you’d feel the sting of his beloved whip, which he had proudly named ’Queen of Punishment.’

Getting struck by that whip was not the end of the world. As long as you reinforced your body with reishi, you would be fine. My soul output seemed to be relatively high, so I could somehow endure the harsh affection delivered by his Red Queen.

The whip was red and already had the word queen in its name, so calling it the Red Queen made perfect sense to me.

Still, getting hit by it was far from pleasant.

For example...

Whish-!

The familiar sound of air tearing apart echoed again, something I had unfortunately grown used to in a very short time, and the whip landed on a male devil who had lagged behind.

The poor guy could not endure the harsh love and, accompanied by a strained scream, fell down with a graceless thud that shook the dirt beneath him.

The instructor didn’t even blink and barked like a dog, his booming voice even more unpleasant than his Red Queen.

"Get up! If you have time to kiss the ground, you have time to run!"

The male devil scrambled, trembling as he pushed himself to his feet. His back was already glowing faintly from the reishi reinforcement, but the welt forming beneath it was unmistakable. Even reinforced skin had its limits.

The instructor marched past him without a shred of sympathy, stomping with militant rhythm, scanning for his next victim... I mean, trainee.

Around me, the rest of the class quickened their pace in sheer terror. Even the Knight-types, who normally strutted with confidence, were sprinting like their lives depended on it. The Mage-types were worse, some were practically tripping over themselves to stay ahead of the instructor’s line of sight.

"Move like devils, not dying pigeons!" he roared, swinging the Red Queen in a smooth, practiced arc that made the air tremble.

Just how many times had he used that whip? He definitely had experience. A lot of it, apparently.

Was he a sadist?

The thought crossed my mind as I swallowed hard and pushed myself to run faster.

Devils were weird.

I truly meant that from the bottom of my heart!

"Hah... hah... hah... I can’t... do this... anymore."

Someone was struggling for breath beside me. I didn’t need to look to know it was the Imp, Dabble.

Keeping my eyes forward, I forced a weak smile and said,

"What are you... doing, buddy... still... holding up, huh...?"

Dabble’s tiny legs were wobbling like wet noodles. Sweat dripped down his round face in large beads, and each breath he took sounded like he was dying a slow, dramatic death.

"I’m... not holding up... I think... my ancestors... are calling me..."

He stumbled forward, barely keeping himself from face-planting.

"You don’t... look... dead yet..." I muttered between breaths.

"That’s... the tragic part... I wish I was...!"

Whish–!

The Red Queen cracked again somewhere behind us, followed by a scream that definitely didn’t belong to either of us. Dabble jumped so high he actually levitated for a second.

"Run! Run before he kills us for reals!"

"I am running!"

"Run faster!"

"You run faster!"

"I have tiny legs!"

We both pushed forward in a panic-induced sprint.

Behind us, the instructor’s booming voice echoed across the training grounds like an approaching storm.

"Don’t make me come over there! I’ll teach you the true meaning of suffering!"

Dabble let out a noise that could only be described as a terrified squeal.

"Bro, I swear... If I die here, tell my mother I always hated her cooking!"

"I’m not telling her that!"

"Tell her anyway!"

Look at this guy...

I groaned and forced myself to go even faster.

At this rate, I might collapse before I even finished the laps.

"Yo! Wassup?"

"Huh?" I turned my head and saw Seraphis running beside me. Except she wasn’t really running. She was jogging actually like we were on a peaceful morning stroll instead of hell’s marathon.

"What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with the others at the front?"

"They were too slow, so I decided to speed up and finish the laps like this," Seraphis replied with absolute ease. Not a single hint of exhaustion touched her voice.

She was a vampire, and apparently vampires possessed near-inexhaustible stamina.

Honestly, it was unfair.

And, well... I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit resentful. I was on the brink of collapsing because she drained me earlier and bit me all over.

Yes, yes, I know. I said she could suck my blood whenever she wanted, but still...

"Anyway, see you guys later."

I blinked.

"Eh? Eh? Wait, hold on—!"

To my absolute horror, Seraphis didn’t hear my desperate plea. She simply leaned forward and took off like a crimson bullet.

In the blink of an eye, she was already halfway around the track, her long, blood red hair fluttering behind her like a victorious banner.

I stared, dumbfounded.

Before I could process that betrayal, another impact sounded.

Whish—!

The Red Queen lashed the ground right behind us, close enough that I felt the sharp breeze kiss my ankles.

"You two! Why are you crawling like decomposing slugs? Move!"

I physically felt my soul shiver.

Dabble screamed, "I DON’T WANT TO BE LOVED!" and immediately broke into a panicked sprint that defied his small body’s proportions.

That left me alone, staring down the merciless attention of the instructor’s whip.

Those damn traitors!

Gritting my teeth, I pushed my body as hard as I could, but it was no use.

What did I expect?

I wasn’t one of these devils.

I was human.

It was only natural that I couldn’t exceed my own limits.

Maybe with Hardening I could endure longer, but I hadn’t mastered it yet, and my output was inconsistent.

While thinking this...

Crack–!

The whip struck my back again.

He barked.

"Run faster! Or you’ll get more of that!"

You despicable fellow, what do you think I’m doing? If I could run faster, I already would have!

"Ahn?"

The instructor didn’t like the defiant look in my eyes. Before I could even react, the Red Queen lashed across my back again, scorching my skin.

"Aggghhh!!"

The intensity was cranked up this time, evident from the sharp sting that made me scream.

"Fuck!"

"Language!" he barked.

Snap!

"Ack–!"

"Faster!"

Whish!

"Ow!"

"I said run faster, you giant baby. Looking for your mommy?"

Fsshhk!

"Ac... Goddamn it!"

I screamed in pure frustration and resentment.

No doubt about it. This trainer was a full-blown sadist!

"Hehehe. Giant baby..."

With a mad smile spreading across his lips, the instructor’s eyes gleamed like molten gold.

From that moment, I became the sole target of his Queen of Punishment. The whip cracked and hissed through the air, leaving stinging welts across my back again and again, until finally, the distant sound of the school bell echoed, signaling the end of the ordeal.