William opened his eyes and lightly rubbed his Mama Ella’s stomach before propping himself up into a sitting position. He raised his arms to do a little bit of stretching, while the goat beside him also raised her head.
“Good morning, Mama.”
“Meeeeh.”
It was still dark outside, but William had already formed a habit of waking up early in order to do his morning training routine. However, this time, it was different. As the Head Prefect of the Martial Class Division, he would lead the students into a rigorous training exercise that would help them build their foundations.
He planned to use the same training that his Grandpa James, and his mentors back in Lont, had used with him.
William went to his closet and selected the sleeveless black training uniform that he had prepared beforehand. This was the same uniform that he had used during his training in Lont and it was made from the pelt of the Thunder Horned Wolf that he had defeated ages ago.
After putting on his clothes, William walked towards the opposite bed where his delicate roommate was still sleeping. Due to his Half-Elven bloodline, William was able to see in the dark. He could see Kenneth’s cute, peaceful, face in the darkness as he continued to sleep.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty,” William said as he lightly poked Kenneth’s cheek. “Our training is going to start soon.”
Seeing that his roommate was not showing any reaction, William continued to poke the delicate face which was as smooth as a girl’s. He poked Kenneth’s cheeks and nose until the sleeping boy opened his eyes in irritation.
“Rise, my little sunshine,” William teased. “Or do you need me to kiss you before you wake up completely?”
“I’m not your sunshine and I don’t need your kiss,” Kenneth replied as he grabbed William’s annoying finger and pushed it away. “Wait for me outside the dormitory. I’ll wash my face first.”
“Okay.” William smiled as he walked toward the door.
Ella followed behind William as they left the room together. The entire dormitory was quiet, and it seemed that most of the students were still in their beds, dreaming of when they would stand at the peak of the Mortal Realm.
William felt mischievous and placed his hand over the emblem pinned on the right side of his training uniform. Immediately, blaring sounds erupted throughout the Solaris Dormitory.
The noise instantly woke most of the sleeping students. Some of them came out of their rooms to see what was happening, with their weapons ready.
“Wake up, sleeping beauties! The time to train has arrived!” William’s domineering voice reverberated inside the Solaris Dormitory. “Of course, if you want to stay as beautiful princesses, you can ignore this announcement. Those who want to become strong and increase their ranks, I’ll meet you at the gates of the Solaris Dormitory. I’ll give all of you ten minutes to prepare. See you outside!”
After making his announcement, William made his way towards the dormitory gates. He didn’t know how many people were planning to participate in the morning training, but he hoped that more than half of the First Years would come.
Ten minutes later, a bunch of annoyed, drowsy, and excited students could be seen lining up behind William.
The guards, who were manning the gates, looked at this scene with interest. This was the first time they saw such a scene and they were wondering what was going on.
“Okay, all of you follow my movements,” William shouted. “We will be doing basic stretching exercises first. After that, all of us will run towards that golden flag fluttering in the distance!”
Some of the students groaned when they saw what William was pointing at. The huge flag fluttering in the distance was the flag that marked the boundary of the Martial Class Division. According to their estimate, it was at least five to six miles away from the gates of the Solaris Dormitory.
Only those who had been training for a long time didn’t make any unnecessary comments and began to follow William as he did his stretching routine.
After five minutes of stretching, William faced all the students and smiled.
“The first one to reach the flag will become a “temporary” officer. If that person continues to follow my training regimen until this month is over, he will become a permanent officer of the Martial Class Division.
“Cheating is not allowed. You are only allowed to use your own physical powers. Using artifacts, weapons, or accessories to boost your body’s performance is not allowed. Anyone caught doing this will not be tolerated, and will be forever banned from getting an official post. If you want to become an officer, use your own two hands and feet to seize it!”
William’s words broke everyone out of their daze. Those who were still half-asleep suddenly became awake, while those who were grumbling earlier looked at the flag in the distance as if they wanted to eat it whole.
The red-headed boy chuckled internally as he saw their serious expressions. ‘The carrot and stick approach is really effective.’
William stood straight in front of everyone and raised his chin. “Are all of you ready?!”
“”Yes!””
“Very well. On my mark,” William said as he raised his hand. “Ready, get set, Go!”
The First Years started to run earnestly. They didn’t hinder each other’s path and ran at their own pace.
William ran behind the group to ensure that no one would slack off. Although running five to six miles may seem like a long journey, for Martial Warriors, it could easily be accomplished in less than an hour.
All the First Years that had passed the entrance test of the Royal Academy were all talented individuals. Although they may not be as strong as Priscilla, Spencer, Drake, and Conrad, they were not far behind when it came to Martial Prowess.
Just like William expected, the entire student body reached the border area in less than an hour. While all of them were panting for breath, and their sweat oozed out of their bodies, they looked at him with determined expressions.
—
Surprisingly, the first one to reach the goal was a chubby boy with dark-brown hair. William had ordered the system to memorize the faces and names of everyone that he had met. After a little bit of digging, William was finally able to recognize the boy who was looking at him with anticipation and excitement.
“Dave Cornwell, step forward,” William ordered.
“Sir!” Dave replied as he stood in front of William.
“You did well.” William patted the boy’s shoulder. “From now on, you will be our Temporary Logistic Officer. You will be in charge of gathering the things that we will need for our daily exercise routines, as well as the supplies needed for the missions that our class will undertake.”
William smiled as he personally pinned a silver emblem on Dave’s uniform. “I will allow you to pick six people to help you accomplish this important task for our Martial Class Division. Do not let me down.”
“Thank you, Head Prefect,” Dave replied with a teary expression. “I will do my best.”
“I know.” William once again patted Dave’s shoulder before facing the rest of the students who were looking at Dave with envious faces.
“Our training is not yet over,” William said with a smirk. He then pointed at the boxes that were piled up beside the tree where the flag was enshrined. “Open the boxes and pick four metallic bracelets each. Wear them on your wrists and on your ankles. Starting today, you are not allowed to remove them!”
Each bracelet weighed 22 lbs each (10 kilos). The martial students were familiar with this training method, so none of them complained. What they didn’t know[,] however, was that these were “enchanted bracelets”. The bracelets would automatically increase their weight, depending on the one who wore them.
If they were worn by someone like Drake, instead of 22 lbs, they would weigh 44 lbs. That would mean that the boy would be carrying that much weight on both his wrist and ankles.
William had pestered Grent and Andy to have these bracelets prepared so they could be part of the First Years’ training. The two instructors happily accepted William’s request and went to the Martial Division’s storage to personally handle this undertaking.
Training bracelets were very common in the Royal Academy. Even mages used them in order to build their physical foundations.
William wouldn’t wear any of the bracelets that were prepared by the academy. He was already wearing his own that were personally forged by the Blacksmith of Lont, Barbatos, to help with his training.
The blacksmith’s best friend, Seraphy, the Jeweler of Lont, helped inscribe the runes on William’s bracelet, doubling their effectiveness.
In the four years that William had trained in Lont, the black bracelets on his wrists and ankles had already passed 100 lbs each (40 kilos). As William got stronger, the weight of his bracelets also increased.
When he started, William had a hard time adjusting to the weight, but as time went on, he got used to it and treated the bracelets as accessories instead of shackles that limited his movement.
Of course, William’s bracelets were not ordinary bracelets. They had a special enchantment that allowed them to transform into bracers (arm guard) giving added protection to William’s body.
William eyed everyone with a serious expression. When all of them had secured the bracelets around their wrists and ankles, the red-headed boy gave the order to jog back to the Solaris Dormitory.
He wanted their training to be a gradual strengthening instead of an intensive one that would leave the students paralyzed, and unable to go to their respective classes.
William wanted to increase their stamina first. Once he deemed that everyone was ready, he would increase the intensity of their training accordingly.
He was confident that the students of the Martial Classes would be able to surprise the other two divisions in the inter-division-class battles in three months’ time.
