I was facing a large hill, as the King described, it was devoid of any trees or greeneries, only spiky stone formations and large holes and crevices could be obviously seen just from down below its base. If viewed really from afar this thing is just a mountain.

'That King must be sh**ting us, this is no hill no matter how you look at it..' I mused after our instructors identified the said hill from the parchment, it was just walks away from the camp.

I was wearing metal wrist bands both from my feet and arms. It weighed 5 kilograms each but despite that I was only only feeling a little weighed down due to activating circulation enhancing my body. I looked to my side where both Rea and Ben also had the same accessories on their limbs.

"So are you ready trainees?" asked the bald man in front of us.

We stayed silent, still in disbelief that we have to traverse this huge a** hill (I still think its a mountain) starting from the sun rises up till it goes down, needing us to complete ten laps around the whole thing going around in circles to the top and the other way around to the base.

'You got to be kidding me' I thought exasperated.

When we read the parchment. It clearly said to follow those exact instruction. It was simple but absurd at the same time. In the first phase of the regime, we were tasked to complete these laps for a whole week before going to the 2nd phase. It required us to train our bodies in actively circulating arcane as we also had to practice getting used to our enhanced bodies. 

It also noted that we wouldn't need to be worried running out of internal arcane due the high concentration of it in this place so the only thing stopping us from completing the training was the pain in our bodies.

"Remember that if you can't complete this, I will have to add another band to the one who fails, understand?" He strictly said as he glared at the three of us

"""Yes sir!""" we replied immediately. 

'Sh*t' I grimaced internally, it was painful to think about the difficulty I would experience if another one of these things got added.

"..Now go already! we dont have all day! Go!" He shouted as we all ran, the metals band clinking.

And so my hell began.

-----

"Oh God!" I screamed as I stopped inches away from falling to my death. I caught my breath trying to make sure I was still circulating. 

'5 more laps to go...' I thought as I looked at the sun gradually setting down, I have already completed 5 laps going up and down the mountain. 

At first, running was all we had to do since not much obstacles was at the base of the mountain, noting that our speed was really freaky as I knew my own strength and that had really weirded me out. As I got to the halfway point, I realized that running only was going to get me killed since the terrain had become steeper and crevices were abundant from this point.

I had to rock climb to move forward and honestly, there were many time I almost pissed my pants from almost falling. It was possible to make pockets to hold by breaking away the surfaces with just my fist and feet.

I had my doubts but it seems that I wasn't really human anymore at this point as I could break rocks with my fist.

On the way to the top, spikes that could skewer you were the main obstacles. I needed to take my time and avoid those parts although that led to eating away most of my time.

It also didn't get any easier coming back down from the top. In my opinion, it was the hardest path to take.

When I got to my third lap, I also had realized that my stamina also wasn't really being depleted although my focus was getting robbed from the pain I was feeling in my body.

There were times that I paused since I couldn't keep focus on circulating and when I did, all the exhaustion that I couldn't feel before assailed me. It was excruciating that I Instantly circulated again. It dawned on me that I had to keep this up until I finished unless I want to feel that again.

"Hup!" I jumped several meters to avoid a stone spike. I was at the top, only problem is that it was obvious that I had failed this training seeing as I still needed to go down and the sun had already set. In addition, another session awaits me after I go down there.

"Man now I really don't want to go down there~" I complained feeling a little hungry as well. At this point, my whole body was screaming to stop alas I needed to go down if I wanted to eat at least.

Thus I started running down, if you could call limping running per say.

-----

"Colt Pelter! You have failed this exercise hence you will have an extra band tommorrow just like those two" scolded Mr. Harold as he pointed to the twins.

I had finally come down from that mountain and the first thing that I hear is news of punishment.

'Kill me now~' 

I glanced towards the twins also lying down on the ground like me. It seems that they also couldn't finish it but it also meant that they did better as they got down first.

'I bet they're used to this kind of thing due to their muscle headed Dad, I also had some experience since he dragged me along most of the times..' I mused, a grin forming on my lips.

"The food is ready dear, let them eat first" Nellie called out from the camp. Mr. Harold nodded as he left us alone.

"Let's eat but before that drink this" said Nellie as she gave us a bottle, it was red this time.

'What is this, another weird drink, don't tell me its another royal secret' I mused as I looked at the bottle.

"Ma'am what is this thing?" asked Rea, having a doubtful face same as mine.

"No need to be tense, it's a healing potion, your not honestly thinking of keeping up your circulation all throughout the night are you?, Your bodies are going to break if you did so drink up, by the way this cost a ton too since it's high grade" she stated, although she emphasized the cost again.

'Is Irelia in debt or something?' I thought of the possible reason for her obsession with the cost.

We quickly obliged, as we had been keeping circulating all this time to avoid fainting and to ease the pain.

It tasted like strawberry juice, a welcomed flavor in my opinion. As I gulped it down my throat. All of a sudden, the crippling pain that I was feeling all this time went away. I also reluctantly stopped actively circulating and found that it indeed cured my exhaustion. A sigh of relief escapes my lips.

"Hey even my wounds healed!" exclaimed Ben as he looked at his bloodied hands, the cuts and bruises slowly fading away and closing.

"Dude what the hell did you do mess up your hands like that?" I asked as I saw his hands all banged up.

"Well I just kept punching things out of the way, it was cool man!" He excitedly said, his eyes showing stars in it.

"..So that's why~" I remarked, thinking that must be the reason he was faster than me. I also noticed that Rea was looking at her brother's arms with worry although the person in question didn't notice.

'These two...make up already' 

"Colt let's go,....hmmmph" said Rea as she proceeded to head to the camp, her face showing slight annoyance . 

"Uhh sure.." I awkwardly said knowing why she was acting like that.

So the three of us ate soup once again, it was a moment of relaxation before another session awaited us.

-----

"Colt, ready yourself, I dont want to accidentally hurt you or anything" exclaimed a platinum haired girl as she pointed her wooden sword at me.

"You know~...basic combat means practice swings and stuff like that right?" I asked as I sweated bullets. I was also holding a wooden sword albeit the way I held it seemed pathetic compared to her almost elegant stance.

"This is Irelia Colt. Like my father always said to me, the best way to learn is to feel it with your body" she said as she proudly smiled.

'Why am I always surrounded by muscleheads?' I lamented inside. 

"Enough about that. Let us start!" she said as she sprinted in an instant, appearing like a blur to me.

"W-wait a min-!?" before I could finish she had already striked the side of my abdomen. The force behind her swing sent me flying.

"Gahhh!?" 

I had impacted a rock. It broke instantaneously as I plopped down, unmoving and my consciousness slowly fading away. Although I caught Leyana's voice as she stood before me.

"....Oh....I think I forgot to to tell him to circulate beforehand.." she shyly scratched her cheeks.

'..I knew...you were going to be...violent..' those were my last thoughts as I blanked out.