Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 4 (Part 2)

All the other children had dropped out. Most had fallen behind Rodin, with only a few ahead of him, walking like corpses.

But Hedler was still running. There wasn’t much difference from walking speed, but he was definitely running.

‘I can’t lose.’

Rodin pushed himself to run. It was barely faster than walking, but he ran anyway.

He ran one lap and walked two. Then he ran another lap and walked two more. He staggered through the last lap.

“Huff! Huff! Huff.”

Rodin completed the 33 laps. It felt like his lungs were about to burst through his throat.

Hedler came in first. He had an overwhelming lead of at least two laps over the others.

The second place was a slightly smaller kid, about the second or third in height order.

Rodin finished seventh. Considering he wasn’t even five years old, it was an impressive result.

“Don’t lie down. Stand up and take deep breaths!”

“Breathe in on one, out on two. One! Two!”

At the cadets’ instructions, Hedler managed to get up. Rodin, who hadn’t laid down, also took deep breaths.

“When your stamina returns, walk slowly. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Though their voices were dying, they responded immediately, driven by the fear of push-ups and violence.

As they walked slowly, other children started arriving one by one. All of them were on the verge of collapse.

“Huff. Huff.”

Cory, who was gasping heavily, collapsed in front of Rodin. Cory was the one who stood right next to Rodin when they lined up by height.

“I feel like I’m dying.”

“Don’t lie down! Don’t sit down. Stand and breathe! If your breath returns, walk slowly!”

“Don’t stop. Walk! Walk now!”

The cadets roamed around, constantly urging them.

Like those who had arrived earlier, the latecomers also moved their bodies reluctantly out of fear.

“Huff, huff, hooo.”

Taking a deep breath, Cory walked slowly. After a large lap around the field, Cory’s body gradually calmed down.

“Whew, I thought I was going to die.”

“You worked hard.”

“Rodin, you ran really well.”

“If I ran well, what about them?”

Rodin pointed his chin toward Hedler. Around Hedler were the top stamina monsters who arrived before Rodin.

“They’re monsters. We’re humans.”

“Thanks for treating me like a human.”

“You’re the top among humans. Be proud.”

“Pfft.”

While they lightly chatted, more children finished the laps.

When more than 30 children had completed, most didn’t look tired. They had given up running early and walked to the finish.

Despite the small field, running 33 laps was not easy for children under ten. Today, only Hedler managed to complete all 33 laps by running.

However, walking the laps was not difficult. Any child with sound limbs could complete the distance without dropping out.

“They’ll get in trouble for cheating like that.”

“Maybe.”

“The instructors and cadets are watching.”

Cory hoped the cadets would punish the latecomers. He looked expectantly at the cadets, but they just kept repeating not to lie down and to breathe.

“Well, I don’t think they’ll say anything.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“They’ll suffer later.”

Rodin believed there was a reason for this physical ordeal. Not building stamina would cause trouble later. Thinking of that, it was better to push to the limit as the instructors and cadets directed.

But those who conserved their strength missed the chance to build it. When stamina was crucial, today’s laziness would lead to big problems.

“Line up if everyone’s here! Line up!”

“Line up by height! Three! Two! One!”

Rodin and Cory rushed to the end of the line at the sound of ‘three.’ Hedler, running the opposite way, gave a nod, but Rodin just shrugged.

“Ugh, my legs are shaking. Are you okay?”

“No way. I’m starving and exhausted.”

“Hey? Now that you mention it, I don’t see the seniors?”

“They moved to a larger field when we were on our second lap. There must be a bigger field than this.”

On the second lap, one of the cadets had ordered the seniors to move to the ‘large field.’ As soon as he spoke, the seniors in gray and navy clothes marched west behind a building.

“Why did the seniors show up here anyway?”

“Maybe to show us there are other kids besides us.”

“Hah.”

As Rodin and Cory talked, lining up finished. The cadets then brought out large boxes.

“Distribute them.”

“Yes, instructor.”

The cadets opened the boxes and took out piles of something. Brown clothes.

“It’s clothes.”

“Looks like it.”

“Hehe. It must be the same as the seniors we saw earlier?”

“Seems like it. Just different colors.”

The cadets started distributing clothes, starting with the taller children. Cory and finally Rodin received their clothes last.

Rodin picked up his clothes and focused on the numbers on the chest.

‘Three, dash, one hundred and eight?’

3-108.

Seeing the numbers, Rodin instinctively understood their meaning.

The seniors in gray clothes were group 1, and those in navy were group 2. The 52 gathered now were group 3. The numbers following indicated their sequence among the seniors.

To confirm, Rodin looked at the numbers on Cory’s clothes. It read 3-107.

“Put on your clothes here. Begin!”

“Yes, sir.”

Rodin threw off his ragged clothes and put on the new ones. It was quite thick, likely for winter.

“These clothes are nice. Warm and smooth.”

Cory kept stroking the clothes in admiration. It was the best outfit Cory had ever worn.

Hyung_Otaku2

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