I could understand Zara's and the blue-eyed boy's shock — anyone would be surprised to see a kid who was nearly falling suddenly get a second wind and start slimming down as he ran.
Their reactions were reasonable.
Garron's astonishment, though, looked almost exaggerated — as if he'd just witnessed something that shouldn't be happening.
He stared at me like he was trying to slot an impossible piece into a puzzle.
Zara, meanwhile, grinned wide and without warning slammed her palm into my back.
"Huff That's cool… pant" she panted.
Her slap nearly sent me stumbling, but I managed to plant my foot and stay upright.
Zara was wild — slamming people mid-run and I didn't much understand what was so "cool" about my ability.
Eating, training, sleep… that was it.
Still, the ability worked: my stamina recovered.
A new determination rose inside me.
I could go another ten — maybe more…
I pushed off and ran the next lap with renewed energy.
The blue-eyed kid watched me intently, eyes narrowed as if measuring everything.
Across the field, as the minutes piled up, more and more of the non-awakened kids slowed to a walk and finally stopped.
Garron didn't move for a long stretch; he was watching, taking it all in.
Then, once a cluster of kids had clearly fallen out of the run, he spoke up.
"Hey—boy at the rear!" he called, his voice cutting through the field.
One of the kids who'd been lagging far behind shuffled over, drained and breathless.
Garron put him through a few simple breathing cues and then told him to begin Essentia cultivation—checking whether he could still circulate any energy under strain.
That kid obeyed, sitting down and focusing as Garron watched.
Just as I thought, I thought to myself. Garron wasn't merely punishing us with a brutal run; he was also teaching.
The man knew exactly what he was doing.
But the instructor's training method was useless for someone like me.
Time and time again, the same cycle repeated: kids would run until they were on the verge of collapsing, and just as they reached their limit, Garron would call them over and instruct them to begin cultivating Essentia.
It was too precise — as though he could see the exact moment their bodies hit the wall.
'Is that his ability?' I wondered.
That was the only explanation that made sense.
Unless he could read our capacity — truly see our physical limits — he wouldn't be able to time his calls with such perfect accuracy.
Eventually, by the time we reached the twelfth lap, only three of us were still running: me, and the two awakened — the black-haired, blue-eyed boy, and Zara.
When I crossed the fifteenth lap mark, the boy finally got called over.
His steps had grown erratic several laps ago, and now his breathing was ragged and uneven.
It looked like he'd tried too hard at the beginning and burned through his stamina too fast.
He didn't argue when Garron instructed him to step out.
That left just me — and Zara.
I hadn't expected her to last this long. Despite her terrible breathing form and her slowing pace, she kept going.
Her posture was completely different from when she started running — her shoulders slumped, legs stiff from muscle fatigue, her breaths shallow and strained.
Yet, she insisted on keeping pace, even when I pulled farther ahead of her.
Maybe it was her upbringing — growing up in the countryside, where life was naturally tougher.
Or perhaps it was the result of personal training from her father.
Either way, the girl was stubborn.
Admirably so.
But there was a limit she couldn't push past… and eventually, after one more agonizing lap, she hit it.
Her footwork faltered, and Garron finally called her over.
That left just me.
The last one still running.
Garron never once called out to me — didn't even give a glance signaling I should come out.
But I knew why.
I wasn't showing signs of exhaustion anymore.
My form had steadied, my breathing evened out, and my stamina — with the fat being consumed — was gradually regenerating itself through my ability.
He noticed, I thought, catching Garron's narrowed golden eyes briefly tracking me.
But I wasn't going to stop.
And from his expression, neither did he expect me to.
My appearance which was already become lost my chubbiness.
All of the extra fat that burned were used up to nourish my body and broke its limit just a moment ago.
I am going to reach the next limit of my body before the lunch break and going to eat lot of monster meat again.
****
While Kael was running — half lost in thoughts of the meal he'd reward himself with after this — the kids sitting in Field 8 watched him with expressions of sheer disbelief.
"Oi! What's even happening? How is he still running?"
"He must've awakened some kind of stamina-related ability, right?"
"Tsk, lucky bastard… imagine awakening something like that."
"He even outlasted Aurius! He was the first one out of the three to get called in!"
"Wait, does that mean the girl is physically stronger than him?"
"No way… she must have some other ability — maybe like that guy?"
"Yeah, it has to be the ability…"
Everyone spoke freely, blurting out whatever came into their heads.
In the middle of the murmuring crowd, Aurius sat silently, sparing just a glance at Kael — still making laps — and Zara, who was sitting beside him, breathing hard but already focusing on her Essentia cultivation.
Neither of them paid attention to the chatter.
It didn't last long.
"Oi, you punks!" Garron's voice cut sharp through the air, and every head snapped up.
"Who said you could open your mouths? I told you to cultivate, not gossip! If you've got the energy to talk, get up and run some more laps!"
Silence fell immediately.
The kids snapped into focus, dutifully shifting into their proper cultivating posture.
Soon, the field was filled only with the low sound of controlled breathing and the steady footsteps of Kael circling the grounds.
Watching them, Garron let out a long, deep sigh.
"Listen up," he said, voice calm but firm.
"Cultivating Essentia while your body is at the point of exhaustion is the ideal state for growth. In that moment, your mind and body are both starving for energy. Don't waste that chance."
The words sank in.
Some nodded.
Others clenched their teeth harder, making a conscious effort to pull in more Essentia.
Meanwhile, Garron's gaze shifted to Zara.
Even worn to the bone, she followed every instruction to the letter.
Didn't hesitate. Didn't complain.
Her posture was solid, her focus unwavering.
A promising girl, Garron thought, the corners of his lips twitching upward just slightly.
She doesn't need to be told twice. I like that.
With a nod, he turned back to Kael — still running, with no signs of stopping.
For the first time since the session began, a deep frown appeared on his face. He didn't know what to think of this kid anymore.
With his ability active, Garron could trace even the most subtle muscle movements — every shift of tendons, every tremor in tired legs, every ounce of pressure working through the body.
The ability let him break apart an opponent's movement into pure patterns and predict what came next.
It never failed him.
Through Hawkeye Cognition, what he saw in Kael wasn't just odd — it was downright absurd.
'That kid… he was the very first among all of them to reach his physical limit. His body was already screaming for rest even before the rest of the kids even slowed down.'
But then — something changed.
In just a handful of heartbeats, the boy's whole body recovered.
No… it wasn't just recovery.
His muscles didn't just heal — they rewired themselves.
What should have been months' worth of gradual progress happened within minutes.
Every fiber that had been under strain was now re-formed — stronger, leaner, more efficient.
Like a body that had been rebuilt for exactly this kind of stress.
That shouldn't be possible.
Garron narrowed his eyes, watching the almost visible ripple of transformation — the fat melting off Kael's frame at an impossible rate, the muscle mass growing denser and more balanced as he ran.
He was witnessing something no training, diet, or rest could ever achieve.
Normally, such development would only come after thirty days of continuous training — with perfect food intake and flawless sleep.
But Kael?
Kael was doing this... mid-run.
It wasn't healing.
It was evolving.
'That's not normal...'
His interest spiked — sharp, focused, all-consuming.
Garron thought, eyes widening just slightly. 'I need to know what exactly this kid's ability is. Only then can I decide how to train him.'
***