The Path of Ruin-Chapter 107: First Evaluation

Kael could admit that he wasn’t particularly well-built for his age. No, setting aside the fact that he could admit it, it was simply the truth. No matter how much he ate or how hard he trained, his body mass just wouldn’t increase much, strangely enough.

Combined with his height, which could be described as a bit shorter than average, he looked rather scrawny...

’Hmm...’

...

Actually, maybe he was right.

Maybe, even if only a little, he really was puny.

But still...

’Did he really have to say it so bluntly?’

He couldn’t help but feel a little offended.

Of course, he never let it show. There was nothing he could do but remain silent in front of the man across from him. This man was the one responsible for his initial evaluation; he wouldn’t show any disrespect.

"Right, Volka. That’s exactly the friend causing all the trouble. As for the matter with him being my disciple... let’s keep that between us for now."

When Hakon winked, the massive man across from him, Volka, grinned slightly.

"Rumors spread fast, friend. Everyone will know anyway after a few days. But, well, leaving that aside..."

When Kael felt Volka’s eyes on him, he didn’t look away. Being seen as timid was the last thing he wanted. But when he saw that the man wasn’t looking at him but at his body, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of unease.

’Huh...’

This man’s gaze...

Was it a little unsettling?

"Heh, you’ve found someone just like yourself. You were exactly like this years ago. Weak, short, scrawny."

He instantly forgot both the unease he felt and everything else he’d been thinking.

"..."

Every word that came out of Volka’s mouth felt as though it had been carefully chosen to stroke his ego.

Still... he remained silent.

Because as much as it bothered him, he was fully aware of a certain truth. This man’s sarcastic remarks weren’t malicious. He’d have to be an idiot not to understand that.

Volka clearly had a friendship with Hakon and was just messing around.

...

Well, at least that’s what he hoped.

"Haha, right. I was just like that during my first few months in the army, too."

When he heard Hakon’s words, though, he couldn’t help but pause in an instant.

’Oh?’

He was drawn deeper into the conversation by the fact that he’d learned something about Hakon he hadn’t heard before.

It was hard to imagine Hakon spending his early days in the army as a weak, short, and scrawny person. There was something about the man that made him seem like a sly bastard from the day he was born.

However, contrary to Kael’s wishes, the conversation didn’t continue.

Because after his last sentence, Hakon finally took a few steps back, moving away from the two of them.

"I’d like to keep talking, but we’re both busy men now."

Volka seemed to agree, nodding his head.

"You’re right."

So, with a small smile on his face, he tore his gaze away from Hakon, whom he’d been speaking to as if they were old friends, and turned it downward, toward Kael’s face. Finally making eye contact.

"Kael, right?"

Kael... was disappointed. He had thought he might learn more from the two men’s conversation. Yet despite these thoughts, he nodded obediently without any hesitation.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. I’m the first to test you. I’ll be evaluating your physical abilities, your reflexes, your decision-making speed in sudden situations, and the accuracy of those decisions. I’m quite strict, just so you know, but as a disciple of the great Commander Hakon, you won’t find it that difficult... will you?"

"..."

Was this... a provocation?

He wasn’t really sure.

So he chose to give the safest answer.

"I’ll do my best, sir."

Volka’s smile widened.

"Then start running."

Kael stared blankly at the man in front of him at the sudden command.

Run?

Where?

"Run along the perimeter of the yard, Kael. I want you to just run without using your eon. This will be our first test."

Kael tore his eyes away from Volka and turned them to the yard, which he had already scrutinized from head to toe.

"..."

The yard was enormous.

He was supposed to run around it without using any eon, is that so?

"Understood..."

Well, he couldn’t disobey orders, anyway.

So... he started running.

But the moment he took his first step, he realized he’d made a mistake.

’Uh... how fast do I need to run? Is there a time limit, or is he trying to measure how fast I can run? Or is it something else entirely?’

He thought about turning around to ask.

But... in the end, he decided against it.

After all, Volka would be watching him throughout the run. If he wanted him to go faster or slow down, he could just say so.

So... the best thing he could do in this situation was to maintain a steady pace.

With that, he started his first lap at what he’d call a relatively average speed.

As someone who’d been training for months, his stamina was actually quite good. As long as he kept a steady pace, he might be able to run for hours without slowing down.

And that’s exactly what he did.

The minutes ticked by.

Every step was measured. His goal was to conserve his energy as much as possible.

Ten minutes passed.

In the first few minutes, since he had just started running, his breathing was slightly irregular, and his muscles were tense. But now he felt warmed up. His breathing was steadier, and his muscles had loosened up.

Twenty minutes.

He had started to sweat. However, his breathing was still calm. He had begun taking steps without thinking, as if his body were now maintaining the pace he had been trying to preserve on its own.

Half an hour.

He’d felt the first twinge of pain in his legs around this time. It was a minor ache, nothing worth paying much attention to. However, he could tell his breathing had deepened slightly compared to normal. Whereas before he could run without thinking, now he needed to... concentrate a little. For that reason, he gradually began to stop paying attention to his surroundings.

One hour.

Actually, he wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed. To save even more of his energy, he had even limited his mental focus. He felt somewhat disconnected from the world; his sense of time had faded to some extent.

That aside, he could now feel the pain spreading through his body much more clearly.

His legs felt like hot stones. He had sweated so much that his clothes had started to stick to his body, making him feel uncomfortable. So he took them off and continued running with his upper body bare.

But perhaps the most important thing... was his breathing. His breathing had begun to grow irregular, slowly but surely.

Still, he could keep running. There was still way more to go until he reached his limit.

An hour and a half.

He had never run for this long before. Perhaps that’s why it took him a while to realize what he was starting to feel at this point.

He felt a kind of fatigue.

A mental fatigue.

Running for such a long time without doing anything else was causing his attention to wander and his focus to slip away at times. He was running not just with his body, but with his willpower as well. Though, since the muscles in his legs were starting to feel the ground more heavily with every step, their condition probably wasn’t all that great either.

And with that...

The second hour.

"Haah... haaah..."

He had to admit it.

Yes, he had spent months training and building his body, but... using eon, even just a little, for tasks like this had become so natural to him that he was struggling more than he’d expected in this test, where its use was forbidden.

He was more dependent on eon for this kind of physical work than he’d realized. After all, he was now feeling the downsides of running this much quite clearly.

His breathing was no longer silent. Every breath entering and leaving his lungs was distinct. His heart had begun to strain against his ribcage. Slowly but surely, he was approaching dangerous limits.

And two and a half hours...

Apart from the increasing difficulty with every step and every passing minute, there was nothing new. His body was sending him very clear signals to stop.

Despite that, he was certain.

If he pushed himself, he could run even more.

Even after this much, he was not at his limit yet.

The only problem... a different kind of thought had begun to take shape in his mind.

A feeling of doubt.

’Should I... really do this?’

He’d thought he’d be going from test to test all day, but he’d already spent this much time here.

Didn’t he need to stop now, if he wanted to make time for other things?

Even if he stopped running, he’d need to rest for a while.

His brows furrowed.

Was he thinking wrong...?

For a brief moment, the seeds of doubt he’d planted in his own mind caused him to lose focus on the running and the path ahead.

He just... wanted to check.

What were Hakon and Volka doing right now? Had they continued to watch him all this time? Maybe if he saw them, he could get an idea of what he should do...

So, he turned his head to the left, towards where the two of them should have been.

And...

"...?"

What he saw was so different from what he’d expected that for a moment he couldn’t make sense of it.

What he’d normally expect to see were two figures about forty or fifty meters away, staring at him.

But...

Why was there a dark line right in front of him?

"H- huh...?"

His eyes widened instantly, and his mind seemed to shut down.

After all, right in front of him was not a ’line’ at all.

It was the sharp edge of a massive sword, completely blocking his field of vision.

"Holy sh-"

He ducked as fast as he could. No, that would be too slow. So, he practically threw himself to the ground. After running nonstop for so long, doing something like this all of a sudden caused a pain to spread through his muscles as if they’d all cramped up, but he clenched his teeth and endured it.

When he felt the blade brush against his hair and was certain he’d dodged the attack, he focused on the ground. He twisted his body into a small somersault, then sprang back to his feet as fast as he could despite the pain he felt all over his body.

"Haa... Haaa... Glk- haaaa...?"

What he found in front of him...

Was a massive man with a colossal sword still embedded in the ground where he’d been standing just moments ago.

It was none other than Volka, the same man who’d been talking to Hakon just hours earlier as if they’d been friends for decades.

"Nice. Your reflexes and decision-making seem okayish."

A bright smile spread across his face as he pulled the sword from the ground.

The moment Kael saw that smile, he felt his soul leaving his body as his eyes widened. He had noticed a small, yet absolutely terrifying, detail.

"We’re moving on to the second test. You won’t be running anymore. Instead, you’ll be fighting with me..."

His words were clear and cheerful. Someone watching from a distance might even have thought he was telling a fairy tale. But the words that actually came out of his mouth...

"To death."

Then, he pointed the huge sword at him again, still smiling brightly.

"..."

Despite the words he heard, Kael couldn’t focus his attention on the sword pointed at him.

Because the smile he saw... It was familiar. So familiar that his face had gone pale.

"Let’s see how good you are while pushing your body to its physical limits."

How had he only just realized it now?

The signs had always been there.

This man was Hakon’s friend. He had chatted with Hakon as if reminiscing about the old days. His unsettling gaze was that of someone examining a new toy. His demeanor was quite friendly from the beginning...

This man named Volka...

"Remember, no using eon. You’ll only use your body."

He was no different from that devil named Hakon!