The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 26: Training from Hell

Up, down, right, up, left, down, down again...

Lane passed by the obstacles on the course, while also trying to dodge the projectiles flying around in the air, some of which were homing in on him. It was hard, a lot harder than he thought it would be. It hadn’t been that long since they started, yet he was already dead last, falling far behind the rest of the team.

Of course, it wasn’t his fault. When it came to his own ability, he could instinctively pick up the best route without even having to give it a single thought. He could also keep a good eye on his surroundings, paying attention to all the projectiles and their changing trajectories, while his reflexes helped him react swiftly whenever any of them came close.

However, no matter how good Lane’s own abilities were, it was all worthless when the body he possessed couldn’t keep up. Not even half an hour in, and he was already covered up in bruises from all the projectiles that he wasn’t able to fully dodge because of Noah’s body being too slow, and he was gasping for breath to the point he felt he might just spit out his lungs any moment now, all just from a bit of running and jumping.

He glanced at his teammates. Most of them were already on their fifth lap, some even as far as the tenth, while he was struggling on his second. It was frustrating. There was no chance for him to catch up. Yet, although Lane knew it all too well, his competitive streak wouldn’t allow him to give up. He squinted his eyes, trying to focus, and pushed his already exhausted muscles even more, increasing his speed.

Despite his dissatisfaction with his own performance, however, he couldn’t help but enjoy himself a bit. He didn’t really notice it when observing the training before, but it seemed that Damien not only became stricter, but also ramped up the difficulty of the obstacle track. It was definitely harder than what his team used to have when Lane was ’Evan Greene’. For anyone else, it was a reason to complain, but Lane liked to push himself a bit and move around, so a challenge like that was something he welcomed.

He dodged a few more missiles, jumped over a large gap, before sliding down the slope. He almost lost his balance on the last step, but Hallie, who was just passing by, grabbed his arm and helped him steady himself.

"Thanks," Lane stuttered out, barely audible as he struggled to breathe, and gave the woman a weak smile. Hallie nodded at him, and ran ahead, starting another round. Everyone was under pressure to perform the best they could and go through multiple rounds, so that they wouldn’t have to listen to Damien’s harsh assessment later on.

Lane was about to follow after her, when a stern voice stopped him.

"Murray. Are you doing okay? Do you need a break?"

Lane couldn’t help but pause, glancing at Damien in surprise. He almost got chills from the man’s unusual behavior. Since when did his Team Leader start offering extra breaks during training?

It wasn’t just him. A few of the teammates that were nearby and heard Damien’s words, turned around to look, getting hit by projectiles and tripping over obstacles in the process. One serious gaze from Damien though, and they were back to the training, trying to act as if they saw nothing at all. However, the look of disbelief on their faces couldn’t be so easily erased.

Damien turned back to Lane. "I can tell that you are trying your best. It is good to push yourself. However, it is also important to know your limits. It seems that your current condition is... a bit different from what you’re used to. You need to take that into consideration. If you try to complete the training at your usual pace, you might end up badly injured."

Lane’s eyes widened slightly, as he understood what Damien was alluding to. Still, he scratched his head, playing dumb. "Huh? What I’m used to? What does Team Leader mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I’m not sure... Is Team Leader referring to my school years? I was indeed more active as a kid, I was particularly good at running, but I didn’t expect Team Leader to know that. Could it be that Team Leader can guess it by the way I move, or something like that?" Lane scrunched his face, as if feeling confused.

A moment later, he let out a slight chuckle, his expression easing up. "Either way, it is a bit embarrassing... Team Leader is right, I’ve been trying to run the way I used to. But, in recent years, I’ve been so busy with my studies that I hardly got any exercise, and I have grown so weak as a result..."

Damien raised his brows, staring at Lane. The idea of Lane buried in books, studying hard by the desk seemed so incredulous, that it would sound more believable if Lane were to say that pigs could fly. He didn’t comment on that though, and just turned his eyes back to the rest of the team.

"As long as you keep it in mind," he just added, as Lane moved back to the obstacle course, finally starting his third round.

Lane exhaled with relief. Once again, he somehow made it through without making any mistakes. It seemed that he had to get used to it from now on, constantly being on guard whenever he was around Damien, watching his every word. It honestly made his head spin, but what could he do? He had to solve the situation somehow.

He shook his legs, trying to relieve the tension, and reentered the track. Following Damien’s advice, he slowed down a bit. Although he found it annoying, having to adjust like that, it was still better than having Damien pay too much attention to him.

It was certainly a good choice, as the amount and speed of the projectiles seemed to increase over time. When combined with the sluggishness of his tired body, simply dodging took so much of his effort that he didn’t have much energy left to pass through all of the obstacles. It wasn’t just him - some of his teammates were also struggling, clearly wanting to give up... However, the difference was that they were mostly on their eighth to twelfth round, not the third.

By the time Lane reached the halfway point, his eyes were already slowly losing focus. Sweat was dripping down his body, some of it getting into his eyes, making the situation even worse. He rubbed his face, trying to remedy his condition somehow...

"Murray!"

"Noah!"

All of a sudden, the frantic calls reached his ears, clearing up his mind.

"Huh?" Lane glanced around, his gaze once again sharp.

But it was too late. He was already hit on the back of the head by one of the homing projectiles, charging at him at full speed. He swayed, feeling his consciousness slipping away, as he lost the ground underneath his feet, falling down from the track. Arlo charged toward him, but with all the obstacles and projectiles blocking his way, he could never make it in time.

The last thing Lane remembered was being tightly wrapped by something slightly wet and freezing cold, before he passed out.