"How do we do that?" Garron asked the boy again.
Without hesitation the boy continued, clear and confident.
"By absorbing and circulating Essentia through our bodies, we change our tissues' adaptivity to it, making it easier to manipulate and store energy. Simply circulating Essentia strengthens the body to a certain degree. If you concentrate Essentia in a particular limb, you can dramatically increase its power — for example, by stuffing tremendous Essentia into a fist, a user at Stage Two of Tempered Body can deliver a strike strong enough to kill a Tier-One monster."
Garron nodded once, satisfied, then added in his slow, steady voice: "Applying Essentia to physical attacks is especially effective for gifted combatants who specialize in hand-to-hand fighting. The amount of Essentia a person can release at once is called their Potential Essentia Output. That term applies to both offense and defense."
He paused, letting the phrase sink in, then continued, "Though it's not common, raw Essentia can also be used as a direct offensive tool — released explosively as concentrated energy beams."
Garron looked around the small circle of kids as if measuring their comprehension, then went on.
"Through Energy Reinforcement, you can also augment your body's physical abilities. Defensively, you can coat your skin in condensed Essentia to harden your flesh and better resist incoming attacks of the same nature. Offensively, the same application — imbuing your strikes with condensed Essentia — increases destructive power to near-superhuman levels."
He let the words hang in the air, watching us process the idea: that Essentia wasn't just some vague spirit force, but a practical tool to be shaped, stored, and wielded in battle.
"And the most important use of Essentia," Garron continued, "is applying it to spells and techniques. Pouring all your Essentia into a simple physical strike wastes a lot of energy and drains you fast. But channeling it through techniques allows you to control how much you expend — maximizing efficiency and minimizing fatigue."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"Of course," he added, "learning these techniques is not easy. It requires discipline, precision, and immense concentration. That's where ability awakeners have the advantage. They don't have to learn new spells. Their awakened abilities are already tailored to them — custom-made tools to channel Essentia with perfect synergy."
At his words, all the kids in the field turned their eyes — almost in unison — toward the so-called 'Prince of the Yard', gazing at him with admiration and awe. The boy, however, remained expressionless, unconcerned with the attention.
What they didn't seem to realize was that Zara — sitting just a few steps away — was also an awakened. And she had no intention of revealing it just yet.
Garron cleared his throat, continuing, "Here, you're all going to learn how to enhance your awakened abilities, and how to use techniques and spells effectively in real-time scenarios. After all, every one of you is here because you want to become an expeditioner."
He clasped his hands behind his back.
"Alright. That's enough for the basic lecture. Now, before we move on... does anyone here not know the Essentia Cultivation Technique?"
Silence.
Not a single hand was raised. That didn't surprise him. The Essentia Cultivation Technique had been made universal across the empire — spread by both Empire and Church alike. Studies had shown that the more Essentia a parent cultivated, the higher the chance their child would awaken an ability. So practicing—and teaching— cultivation wasn't just encouraged—it was nearly mandatory.
To neglect it was to be shamed. Few would ever claim such a foolish path openly.
"Good. Since everyone here knows the basics…" Garron said with a thin smile, "...then let's move straight into the practical training."
His voice grew louder, harsher.
"Everyone will now run thirty laps around the entire training field. Begin."
The announcement echoed across the grounds. But no one moved.
Thirty laps.
The field spanned a full square kilometer.
That meant... thirty kilometers.
Fourteen-year-old bodies froze. Eyes widened. A couple of throats audibly gulped.
You could practically hear the collective thought flooding their heads:
'That's it? We have to run this whole thing… thirty times?!'
I shook my head at the other kids just standing there, clueless. Patting Zara's shoulder lightly, I leaned in.
"Let's go," I said.
Without waiting, I took off running.
Zara blinked for a moment — surprised — but instinctively followed.
For a few seconds, it was just the two of us... then the blue-eyed kid took off too, silently matching my pace before quickly pulling ahead.
Only then did the rest of the trainees snap out of their shock and start running as well, feet slapping against the ground in a delayed frenzy.
Garron didn't expect any of us to actually finish the full 30 laps. I could see that now. He was just assessing our natural stamina and endurance.
Cold as his attitude was, the guy was at least following a proper method — figuring out our limits on day one to customize our training later. Smart.
Running, after all, was the full-body test. Legs, heart, lungs, even mental willpower — everything was forced to work in sync. But for this crowd?
Well…
No surprise that the so-called prodigy — the black-haired, blue-eyed boy — shot past me within minutes, sparing me a quick, unreadable side glance.
He was sprinting.
At the very beginning of a 30 kilometer race.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Across the field, eyes from other groups from different fields, fell on us. Some trainees paused their drills to look our way. A few even grinned knowingly — silently saying "Ah, the good old first-day torment."
I even spotted my roommate on Field Six, waving at me like a maniac with that bright, goofy smile. I puffed out air and managed a nod and a small grin as I ran.
"Huff—someone you know?" Zara's voice came from my right.
She was running steadily alongside me — not trying to outdo anyone, just keeping a reliable rhythm. Smart girl.
"We've only just met today. He's my roommate. Huff I'll introduce you later…" I said between breaths.
She nodded once, then focused back on her breathing.
Before us, several of the kids who sprinted early were already slowing down, panting like crushed dogs. Meanwhile... we just kept our steady pace, eating up distance one breath at a time.
Twenty minutes in.
And this... was only the beginning.
"This is it!..."
My heart started pounding like crazy, each beat thumping against my ribs like a drum.
Sweat poured all over my body, soaking through my shirt as it tried in vain to cool me down.
I could already feel my chest tightening, the rhythm of my heartbeat overpowering everything else.
By now — somewhere after the third lap — no other sound could be heard except the roaring in my ears and the pounding in my chest. My vision was still clear, but my body…
My legs — especially my calves — were getting heavier and heavier. Each step felt like I was dragging weights wrapped around my ankles.
The extra fat I still carried added to my overall weight and made me burn through my energy reserves even faster than I expected.
But through the exhaustion, through the burning lungs and fiery muscles…
I was grinning.
A stupidly wide grin stretched over my face.
****