The forest floor seemed to be trembling as thousands of people ran at the same time.
Jophiel, the lead examiner, ran in a carefree manner followed by the aspiring students of Hestia Academy. In the beginning, there were several people who wanted to show off their prowess and ran ahead of him.
Jophiel didn't mind because he had already told everyone their destination. He said that those who were able to reach the northern tip of the island, would be able to pass the first stage of the exam.
The only condition was that they had to run towards it. Anyone who flew, used spells, artifacts, or rode beasts would automatically be disqualified.
Those who ran ahead of Jophiel, and the rest of the examinees, felt very smug. They were confident in their physical prowess, and wanted to leave a good impression on the lead examiner. Unfortunately, they underestimated this simple marathon, and were soon panting for breath when they reached the quarter mark of their journey.
Their running course was 1,181 miles long. Every quartermark of their journey, their body weight would increase by a hundred percent (only the original 100% will increase and not the increment).
This in itself was not a big deal, but there were wild beasts that would occasionally attack the runners using ranged attacks, especially if they were running solo. Although these beasts were not that powerful, the constant harassment made the already difficult run more difficult.
In the end, these runners waited for the main group to arrive and ran alongside them. There was safety in numbers and they had learned it the hard way.
William and his group were not normal individuals. They were all quite strong, so they paced themselves properly. They just followed behind Jophiel and kept the examiner in their sights.
When the main group reached the half-way mark, the lead examiner increased his pace, which surprised the majority of the runners who were following behind him.
There were several repeaters in the group, so they already knew that this was bound to happen. They had even given this course a name and they called it the "Beginner Killing Course".
Most of the first timers would drop at this stage, and all of them would start training for a few months, before going back to Antilia Island to take the examination again.
These veterans ran at the rear of the group and allowed the "first timers" to run ahead of them.
In cycling, there is a trick called "Drafting". The lead cyclist would be the one pushing against the wind pressure and create a pocket of air behind him. The cyclist following him would suffer less air resistance, and match the lead cyclist speed using less effort.
If you use this technique, you will save a lot of energy. This was why a team of cyclists took turns in taking the lead position, so that others could rest behind them, allowing the group to have enough stamina to send their ace to reach the finish line in one mad sprint for victory.
"I guess that time we spent running in hell is finally paying off," Zhu said as he controlled his breathing.
Sha nodded his head as he saw another examinee fall behind the group. More and more people were falling behind, and some of them couldn't even run anymore due to exhaustion.
They had been running for four hours, and they estimated that it would take them at least ten to fifteen more hours to reach their destination.
"Are you okay?" William asked Kenneth who was starting to lag behind. He could tell that something was wrong with the Elf because there were instances when he would suddenly falter as he ran beside him.
"I'm fine," Kenneth replied as he rubbed his temple. He was doing his best to stay awake, but the drowsiness he felt was getting stronger with every hour that passed.
William frowned and he asked Zhu and Sha to look after Kenneth for a while as he sped up to the lead to talk to Jophiel. There was a question he was meaning to ask, and he wondered if the lead examiner would allow such a thing.
"Sir, excuse me," William said as he ran side by side with Jophiel. "There are several restrictions placed on this trial. However, there is no rule that states that you can't carry a person to the finish line."
Jophiel glanced at William and nodded his head. "There is indeed no rule that forbids anyone from carrying someone to the finish line."
"So, is it allowed?"
"It is allowed. However, very few do it. The weight increase will still affect the person that is being carried. Meaning, the burden of the one carrying that person would also increase drastically as we near the finish line."
"Thank you for answering my question," William gave Jophiel a brief nod before going back to his group.
Jophiel gave William a side-long glance before once again looking in front of him. He had witnessed many people do the same thing in the past. Among them, those that succeeded didn't surpass the number of fingers on his left hand.
Whether William would be able to accomplish that feat, he would only know once the Half-Elf crossed the finish line.
"I'll carry you," William said. "Don't worry. I'm confident that I can carry you all the way."
After a brief internal struggle, Kenneth accepted William's offer. He was really at his limit, and the power of his Divinity couldn't be denied. The Half-Elf carried Kenneth in a princess carry, and marveled on how light he was.
Half a minute later, Kenneth closed his eyes to sleep. Those who held the power of Sloth weren't really built for long marathons. The silver-haired Elf had already gone above and beyond his capability. He was even surprised that he managed to last this long in an event that required constant physical activity.
The hours passed, and only a few hundred were still following behind Jophiel. The sun had already set, and the surroundings were quite dark. If not for the fact that Elliot used his powers to create several balls of light to illuminate the way, some of the survivors might have already tripped on the ground due to how dark it was.
William had no problem seeing in the dark because he was a Half-Elf, and was blessed with Dark Vision.
William estimated that they were almost at the last quarter of their journey. However, something unexpected happened.
Just as they made a turn in the path, Jophiel suddenly disappeared. He literally vanished in front of everyone, and even William didn't know how the Lead Examiner accomplished such a thing, right under his nose.
Suddenly, a loud howling sound was heard in the distance. William assumed that it came from a wolf, because the howl was quite distinct. As if to answer the call, hundreds of howls erupted out of nowhere, and it made the survivors frown.
All of them were quite proficient in fighting, so they weren't afraid of a battle against wolves. However, their confidence collapsed when they heard an earth shaking howl that held considerable power behind it.
Only William, Elliot, Conan, Zhu, and Sha were not fazed by this powerful presence who seemed to be the Alpha of the wolf pack.
Optimus had already identified the source of the howl, and had shown the information to William in his status page.
When the Half-Elf saw the name of the Millennial Beast, a smile appeared on his face, as if he was meeting an old friend.
It was other than a Thunder Horned Wolf. A Millennial Beast that was at its peak stage, and the same beast that William had killed back in Lont, alongside Ella when the Wolf Tide descended upon the Hellan Kingdom.
For the examinees, this was a creature that was out of their league.
Jophiel looked with indifference at the thousands of Dire Wolves that were charging towards the examinees' direction.
This was not included in the Trial, but the Wolf Pack suddenly appeared out of nowhere. If William wasn't in the group, Jophiel would have faced this wolf army alone to protect everyone.
However, since William was already there, he decided to just watch as the battle unfolded. He wanted to know the abilities of the person that had gained so much fame after his achievement in the Tower of Babylon.
This was also in alignment with the order of the Headmaster of Hestia Academy. As the person that was in charge of the entrance exams, Jophiel was given full authorization to gauge William's current strength.
Just like everyone else, he was very curious about William's combat ability. If he managed to pass this trial with flying colors, the academy would definitely welcome him with open arms. They were always in the lookout for promising individuals that would help safeguard the world of Hestia, in its entirety.
