Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 4 (Part 1)

Despite being given orders, the children were unable to grasp the situation.

“Why?”

“To where?”

“Right now?”

They kept asking foolish questions. As soon as the word “run” came out, Rodin started to move but then hesitated.

‘No.’

Running alone was not a good idea. He decided to move when the others did and stayed put.

He had been ostracized during the entire carriage ride because he didn’t run away with the others. It wasn’t that he disliked it, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience either.

‘Let’s move together. Together.’

“Cadets! Capture them!”

“Yes.”

A few cadets dragged out some of the children. They were the ones who had asked questions like ‘Why?’, ‘To where?’

“Get down!”

“Wh-Why are you doing this?”

Whack!

At the instructor’s scolding, a cadet kicked one of the children who asked why, making them fall flat on their face.

“From now on, when this instructor gives an order, you will obey immediately. Understand?”

“Yes, we will. Please don’t hit us.”

“The answer is ‘Yes, sir.’ Get down!”

“Yes, sir.”

Those who were quickly dragged out put their arms on the ground and got down. Those who didn’t know how to get down copied the others.

“The rest of you run 33 laps around the field. Begin!”

“Yes.”

“Listen to that answer! Can’t you shout louder?”

“Yes, sir!”

The children began running around the field. Rodin attached himself to the end of the group, maintaining a steady pace.

It was 33 laps. Starting off too quickly meant it would be impossible to finish. Rodin calculated the distance in his head and slowed his pace.

Soon enough, Rodin fell behind. It wasn’t exactly walking but a speed that could barely be called running.

“Phew.”

He focused on his breathing as he ran. He tried taking long breaths and short breaths, observing his body. He wanted to figure out which breathing pattern was best for long-distance running.

‘Long breaths aren’t good.’

He took a long breath in and out. It felt like the air he took in had flown away somewhere.

He took short, repeated breaths. There was quite a bit of air left in his body, but his stamina was being consumed in the process.

‘Two breaths should work.’

Using his keen senses, Rodin figured out an efficient breathing pattern.

He took two breaths in and two breaths out. It put less strain on his body and kept more air in.

He completed two laps. The children doing push-ups at the starting point were trembling.

Drok, who always acted like a leader, was among them.

Drok had leadership qualities. He would step up first and ask questions on behalf of the others.

However, he also had a strong hero complex and was full of bravado. He often stepped up unnecessarily and got himself into trouble, just like today.

‘Are you okay?’

Rodin comforted the children in his mind without speaking. There was nothing he could do for them from where he was.

He completed five laps. Some of the children who had been holding on somehow fell. Immediately, the cadets rushed over and kicked them.

Even though the children clung to their legs and begged, it was useless. The cadets beat them silently with emotionless faces.

Ten laps in. The children who had been beaten for a long time got back down. Whenever they fell, they somehow got back up.

By the twelfth lap.

All the children had reached their limit and collapsed. The cadets, now out of kicks, fetched sticks from somewhere and started swinging them.

The children grabbed the cadets’ legs and begged, but it was a meaningless struggle. The cadets’ expressions remained cold, and the severity of the beatings did not lessen.

By the fourteenth lap.

More and more children started dropping out.

Although the field was small, the children were young. Running fourteen laps was only possible because they had seen the others get beaten. Otherwise, they would have given up much earlier.

Even those who gave up didn’t stop completely. Knowing that stopping would invite a beating, they slowly walked, following those still running.

By the fifteenth lap, all the children doing push-ups had collapsed. Most had long since lost consciousness, with only their chests rising and falling.

‘Tsk, they’ve been beaten a lot.’

Their lips were all busted, and their eyes were swollen. Most of the children were twitching as if having seizures.

By the twentieth lap, there were barely ten children, including Rodin, still running.

‘This is hard.’

Even with his careful management of stamina, he was reaching his limit. A body not even five years old was too weak to run 33 laps.

“Huff! Huff!”

Hedler, who had been running at the front, was now beside him. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his eyes were glazed over.

“Heh, ha. Heh, ha.”

Rodin stuck to his planned breathing pattern.

He wanted to say a word of encouragement to Hedler, but his mouth wouldn’t move. His parched mouth felt sticky.

By the twenty-fifth lap, Rodin too felt his stamina depleting and had to stop running.

Still, he kept his legs moving. It was barely a slow walk, but he couldn’t stop completely.

“Heh, ha.”

No matter how he divided his breaths, his stamina wouldn’t recover. Every step felt like a shortcut to hell.

‘He’s a monster.’

Hyung_Otaku2

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