Chapter 19: Running

1st Grade Training Ground.

Rewen's face was incredulous at the sight of the training ground. Even though Rewen expected this training ground to be better than his class', he still was surprised at the gap. In his class' training ground, there was only a large clean field. Here, what wasn't there? The size was about four times the size of his class' training ground. Gym equipment, athletic fields, sports fields… There were even some stalls set up at the far corners.

Seeing his surprised look, Francesca smiled. "You shocked?"

"It'd be weird if I wasn't. Well, are you sure I can run on the athletic fields?"

"Of course, you can. It wasn't rare for someone to enter this training ground from outside. Besides, there are very few people at this time."

Rewen surveyed the area with his eyes and indeed, it was more or less empty. Only a few five to six students were present who were talking among themselves. Taking off his bag, suit and watch he went to the athletic field and started running.

2 m.

25 m.

…

..

700 m.

800 m.

…

[Ding! Daily Missions from 'Bloodline System' have been completed! Would you see the rewards right now?]

[Yes] [No]

Rewen stopped in his tracks. 'Yes.'

[Ding! There are three rewards presented for the Host but the Host can only pick one out of them.

1. Chaos Bloodline (0.01 mL)

2. 5% Bloodline Activation

3. 2x Power Spike]

[What would the Host like to choose?]

Rewen was visibly attracted to the '2x Power Spike' but the option above it held it off from him. He didn't even consider getting the Chaos Bloodline. Although he had a feeling that he would gain the most from the Chaos Bloodline, he didn't want to lose his humanity. It was silly but growing up as a human, he had prided himself as being the race with the lowest mortality rate. His parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and his fourteen generations of ancestors were humans. Not to mention, coming to this world, he discovered that he was a "pure human" and was mocked. He knew it wasn't a personal attack and the whole world likely thought the same. Even though he didn't mention it, he had the desire to prove them wrong.

'2.' Rewen said in his mind after much deliberation.

[Ding! The Host has achieved 5% completion in activating the "pure human" bloodline!]

[Ding! The Host has unlocked an innate skill 'Stealth'!]

---

Race: Human (100%) (Yellow) - [Perks]

---

Rewen saw that the "Race" in his stats had changed. The writing had changed from white to yellow and there was a glowing word - "perks". He tapped on it.

---

Stealth (Initial Mastery)

---

As there were no explanations given, he didn't understand the full extent of the skill but that didn't stop him from recognising that the skill was worth it. Finding himself in the middle of the track, he ran the complete the round and was planning to go home. He had already completed most of the daily missions with only a single one left which he planned to complete in his house. But something stopped him from leaving the training ground. He had a feeling that leaving this would be a waste and was hoping for something.

[Ding! 'Basic Knights and Magic System' issued a chained quest! Would you like to see it?]

[Yes] [No]

'Yes.' This was what he was waiting for.

---

Quest: Baby Steps of a Knight

Grade: A+

Goal: Run a mile within a minute.

Rewards: Unknown

Failure: None

Note: This is a chained quest. Instead of "details", "goals" are targets of completion. Chained quests update itself after the current goal is achieved.

---

[Would you like to accept it?]

[Yes] [No]

He didn't immediately accept it. He looked around to find Francesca drinking water from a tap and went near her. Francesca, who was engrossed in drinking, heard the footsteps as he raised her head and saw a familiar figure. "Are you done?" She wouldn't be surprised if Rewen decided to pack things up. Being a student of 1st Grade Class, she understood physiques very well and knew it would be a thing that would hold her back. So she trained her physique from an early age despite having a top-tier aptitude in mana.

She thought that Rewen already had a good stamina running for so long and now has reached his limits.

"Pack things up? No, I'm here to drink some water."

"Oh? Go on." Hearing an unexpected answer, she left the tap for him to use.

Rewen cleaned his sweat-filled face first. He is the type to sweat bullets after little hard work. Drinking cold water, his whole body felt refreshed. He then closed the tap and stretched his arms and legs. From the side, Francesca stared at him curiously. 'His physique is quite good. It's a pity that he had low mana resonance.' To her, not getting tired after sprinting at full speed for more than five minutes is already an achievement.

After ten seconds, Rewen cracked his shoulder joints and calculated in his mind. 'I took approximately five minutes and six seconds (306 seconds) to run half a mile with 80% of my total speed. If I used my full speed, it would have taken… 245 seconds. If now, I used [Freestyle Combats Manual] to run half a mile, it would take a little more than a minute which is not enough. In this case, I have to use [Boost] but I can neither sacrifice my stats nor [Freestyle Combats Manual].

'System, If I temporarily sacrifice [Blacksmith] and [Missions to Doom] features, how much boost would I get?'

[40%.]

Rewen wasn't particularly shocked when he heard this. He knew that [Freestyle Combats Manual] was extraordinary so it's value would naturally be extraordinary. Aside from the two features, he had other options. 'Temporarily sacrifice all of my MP and tell me how it would increase.'

[Including the two features, the total boost would be 40.02%.]

'Shit. It's probably because MP is a renewable source. I don't want to temporarily sacrifice MP in that case. Let's try this then. If I temporarily sacrifice my bloodline along with the perks, how much would it increase?'

[Including the two features, the total boost would be 99.45%.]

'Close but not enough.' Rewen knows his limit. He couldn't just exceed his limits like anime characters. He had to work hard to do so. 'System, could I try again if I fail?'

[Yes. The Host is allowed to do so but the number of attempts should not be more than ten times.]

At this moment, Rewen felt that the system despite its emotionless bland mechanical voice was very cute.

'One more question. Would something negative happen if I temporarily sacrifice my bloodline? Wouldn't I just die?'

[A base bloodline would be replaced for the time being.]

'What is a base bloodline?'

[Base Bloodlines are bloodlines which died out because they had no abilities.]

'Would there be a side-effect?'

[None.]

Carefully surveying the training ground, he walked towards an extreme corner. Curves could potentially destroy the momentum and speed so instead of running into a small circle, he was about to circle the whole training ground. This way, although he still had to face turns, he can run the fullest before encountering one.

"Where are you going?" Francesca asked, observing his unnatural actions.

Rewen turned to face her. "To the corner. Anyways, do you know how much the circumference of the whole training ground is?"

"It is said to be 1.8 km. The stalls and gym equipment take up some space, so I would say it should be more than 1.5 km free space."

Rewen asked casually but didn't expect her to really know. "Do you think it could be a mile?"

"A mile? It would be a good measure. What are you even planning to do?"

He smiled. "Nothing too impressive. You got a timer?" Since he would be showing off, Rewen planned to do it well.

Francesca took out her phone from her bag. "Are you ready? What's your target though?"