Vol. 1 - Ch. 26.1 - The Lowdown on Stamina and Club Activities (1.1)

In the Knight and Mage Royal Academy of the Yugria Kingdom, there are many regulations, and one of them is— students must join a club.

It was one of the education policies of the academy, which focused on raising all-rounders. Except, this rule, which had been continued for a long time, was now no more than a mere formality and there were just a handful of proper clubs currently.

Take the example if someone wanted to learn martial arts, there were as many excellent dojos in the Royal Capital as you could count. This wasn't the only example, the situation was the same for other pursuits. After all, it wasn't that difficult to arrange for an excellent training environment.

As society became more civilized, club activities also began to go down in trend.

One month after enrolling in the academy—

"Don't just run aimlessly!

Think about the significance behind the running!

Those who don't have willpower go away!

Drop any idea of leniency!

Those who are slow go away!

Surpass your yesterday's self!

Those who can't triumph go away!"

I had turned into a strict coach.

Surprisingly, the entirety of Class A was participating in the morning running session. Apparently, the fact that I could hold my ground against Leo for so long with my mana capacity stunned my classmates.

According to Leo, he had seemingly consumed around 70% of his 50,000 mana units in that 30-minute scuffle. He couldn't find any opening to use his interference techniques due to the quick rotation of my mana, and when he sensed he was about to be outdone, it inevitably led to him increasing the output of his body-strengthening magic to bring out more power.

But of course, such bold moves couldn't decide the outcome immediately. He was already at his wits end dealing with my attacks and creating the gaps.

But my swift counters brought the situation back to a draw.

At first, no one had thought we would fall into such a stalemate. Furthermore, I was facing Leo immediately after my battle with Parry-kun which lasted for over 10 minutes, and the former himself had absolute mana capacity that only appeared once in a decade or two even in the Royal Academy's mana capacity exam.

Even if I tried to aim for a short-term battle with my remaining mana, it would be his win as long as he could endure. Deciding on that, he focused more on closing any opening that otherwise would have given me a chance to exploit.

But contrary to this, my mana capacity which has been judged as merely C rank was like a relentless river.

As a matter of fact, he was apparently sweating internally seeing the gradual depletion of his mana.

"Alright. Stop there."

I declared, ignoring Fey who gave me a tearful glare.

◆◆◆

The next morning, I didn't find anyone at the main entrance when I arrived there at 5 a.m.

I didn't expect even Leo to skip after the first day. Well, whatever, I paid it no more heed and followed my running routine.

Apparently, my ever-so prideful classmates had woken up even earlier and adjusted their departure time in accordance with their speed. They must have heard about the hill dash from Leo as when I arrived at the lovely slope at 6 a.m., all 19 of my classmates were waiting there.

To be honest, I was genuinely delighted to see them value me so much.

"When did you start running?"

I asked Coco, who had been the last to arrive in the classroom yesterday.

"I started at 3:30 a.m. Today, we didn't plan anything jointly, so everyone just set off at different times."

Heh. So they all ran at their own discretion without any discussion.

Even after I had taunted them so much, none of them showed signs of breaking the schedule. In each of their eyes was shining an intense gleam. I had assumed that fundamental training was a solitary endeavor.

'Well, whatever' was my true feelings when I saw the deserted entrance earlier. But...

I was glad I came to this academy after all. I dropped my grudges there.

◆◆◆

"Can you wake up at this time every day and keep going? You don't need to force yourself to keep up with my pace. It'll be pointless if you can't sustain it."

"...I think my stamina and body-strengthening magic talent in this class is at the rock bottom. I don't want to become that 'Official who is all about theory but can't do anything in the actual scene' that Godorfun-sensei had talked about. I also have something I want to achieve... Can you share your thoughts?"

No longer was he the shy, timid, and nervous Coco. Instead, there was determination in his eyes, showing his strong will to accomplish something.

I couldn't help but be pleased at that sight.

"...What I'm going to say here is just my opinion."

Everyone paid attention as I started speaking.