“I-I can’t,” Petunia gasps as she collapses to the ground. Not even falling on her knees. She straight up falls into the dirt. If you had a mouth and lungs you would sigh. And you can’t even use all the variations of the “What did we expect from a girl?” that you were working on for motivation/beration, considering that she’s the last one to give out. Dokloram was left behind a lap ago on this cross-country marathon, while Fig and Gilk were done over two laps ago, which translates to roughly eight miles. And God knows you’ve already run the “Are you going to let a girl beat you?” into the ground and then some.

As you lie in the dirt next to Petunia, you start to wonder if your training regimen is a little too brutal for the frail, inexperienced goblins. After all, if they could actually withstand this abuse, they probably would’ve been sent to the front lines a long time ago.

/We should probably go check on the others, to make sure they weren’t eaten by wild wargs yet,/ you joke as you communicate with Petunia telepathically.

“Ah!” Petunia’s eyes snap open and she jumps up, but can’t even take a step, instead of trying not to fall over again from a combination of dizziness, exhaustion, and nausea.

/Don’t worry, it was just a joke,/ you calm the goblin girl down, starting to worry that one of your students might literally die.

As for anyone getting eaten… Sure, you understand why some would find these defenseless goblins enjoyable targets. But while not impossible, it is improbable, as you specifically chose the route for running through the fields where the other goblins are working. Of course, not in such a way that this little quartet would be running literally next to or over the workers. But when one of your trainees did fall behind, there was always another tasty goblin somewhere out in the fields between your exhausted warrior and the outer borders of the farmlands. Not that you would tell this little detail to anyone, obviously. And when asked the proper answer is “to make sure we are always nearby in case of an attack.”

However, now you are faced with the reality that no amount of harsh language, persuasion, and humiliation can overcome—even if you do raise their physical fitness level above non-existent, they will not stand a ghost of a chance against a seasoned warrior. Not in a week. Nor in two weeks. Maybe after a year? Probably three or four.

At least both your quartet and the other villagers are eating properly now. If anything, that has shown the greatest results in improving their both physical and mental state. Honestly, whoever came up with these torturous conditions is a sadist with zero regard for the wellbeing of their working force.

“Hah... I’m okay,” Petunia says, standing up straight.

Looking at the goblin girl from the ground, you find a new appreciation for how tasty she looks—wait, what? Oh, no...

You bring up your statistics, and your fears are confirmed.

Satiation: 9/100

While you did not consciously attempt to drain the goblins of their life force, it looks like you did so subconsciously anyway. This does explain a few things. Like why you are not down to zero after all this time, considering how fast your satiation depleted before. More importantly, however, it explains why Fig was the first to collapse—he was the one who kept you closest nearly always. Except for the last couple of laps, when you had Petunia carry you.

While Petunia takes you, throws you over the shoulder, and carries back to the others, you have to decide what to do now. With only so much physical preparedness that you can squeeze out of these goblins, it most likely makes more sense to go out searching for trouble to raise your own power. But if the village is attacked while you and your trainees are away…

Go alone with Fig and hope the others manage to defend themselves? There is still time until this big bad Rogzor is supposed to show up. But what if a pack of wild wargs rips the village to pieces? Stay train the goblins as much as you can here? Would goblin life force be that much tastier than that of the wild wargs? It’s been so long ago since you’ve consumed either of those properly that you’re starting to forget—No! Bad Sword! Bad!