Chapter 35 – The Circuit

"I... can't... believe... that... this... is... a... lesson..." Titus fought for his breath as he ran 'the circuit' for the fifth time.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually," Jordan replied, markedly less exhausted than Titus. Petra had also kept step with the pair, though she chose not to speak in order to conserve her energy for the task.

In their groups, all of the Blue ranks had to tackle the circuit, and they all had to keep the pace of their slowest member – which in this case was Titus, by quite some stretch.

"Didn't you ever do any physical training out there in the City?" Jordan asked.

"No… just… baking. And badly…" Titus managed to reply, almost doubling over.

Jordan looked like he was about to laugh before he remembered what was coming next: the part of the circuit he hated the most.

The circuit had clearly been devised by some deplorable, mad, hedonistic person who enjoyed making people sick to their stomachs through exercise alone. Carved from sheer rock and shaped in a rough circle, the circuit was very quickly understood by all to be their worst nightmare.

Beginning with a short run up to a sheer rock face with small handholds, the group had to pull themselves up a five-metre-high wall. When they reached the top, they had to push a cart filled with boulders down a narrow tunnel until it revealed an entrance off to the side. The cart could be filled with fewer or more rocks depending on the strength of the individuals taking the course.

Then the floor fell away, leaving the group having to swing across a ten-metre chasm on a series of hanging wooden rings, half-slide, half-run down a long, steep ramp out into a wooden obstacle course that again spanned a sheer drop beneath.

A balance beam, swinging logs, and unbalanced see-saws then did everything they could to knock the Contestants off the course, at which point they'd get badly hurt by the drop, somewhere between death and being unable to continue the course.

Past the obstacle course was a tunnel that had a series of five thick wooden walls that could be slid upwards but had devilishly varying amounts of rocks stacked in containers to their sides, so they could be light or unimaginably heavy, requiring the entire group to lift them at once to break through.

Finally, a sprint around a long, gentle incline led the group right back to the beginning again, where they would have to do the entire thing again.

It wouldn't have been so bad if each group didn't have their run time recorded by a small, plump Instructor named Miss Diana. It was almost like because her physical stature wasn't one that lent itself to conditioning well, she delighted in punishing the Contestants, shouting insults as they passed her by at the starting blocks.

The group was back at the first wall, and it was the only part Jordan had an issue with because mainly he was very large and heavy.

Titus, surprisingly, was quite the climber, and Petra was up the wall first on every go-around, seemingly having no trouble at all with the thing.

"Just... a... minute..." Titus wheezed, bending in half at the waist as he peered up at Petra who was already halfway up, and Jordan who had two hands on the wall ready to go, but looked like it wasn't something he particularly wanted to do.

"Come on," Jordan grumbled. He wasn't completely out of breath like Titus was, but his arms and hands burnt from the repetitive need to use them to haul his hulking form about the place. Conversely, Titus knew he'd be able to climb physically, but the effort seemed like it was now finally beyond him.

Titus struggled for breath and tried to concentrate on both sucking in as much air as his pained lungs could manage and also forcing his beating heart to return to somewhere within a normal range for a human being, rather than a mouse.

"Just do what you can until you can't do any more. It was always the way with anyone I ever trained with growing up," Jordan said, still not moving.

That actually made Titus feel a little better. Not because he knew there was an end in sight, but rather because if Jordan was having trouble with the course and had actual trainers growing up, then he wasn't actually doing too badly.

Titus summoned every ounce of energy he could to unfold himself and take the two steps towards the wall. He took a hold of the slight indents and moved his feet onto the protrusions he'd used each time he'd climbed the thing and did everything he could to embrace the pain that he knew would hit his bare hands and his aching arms and legs a moment later.

It took a good few minutes of painfully slow movement and more than a comfortable amount of insults from Miss Diana, but Titus groaned his way up the wall until Petra and Jordan both extended a hand over the edge to help pull Titus up the last few feet. When he found solid ground again, he took a tentative look behind himself, winced at the thought of the painful fall should it have occurred, and collapsed to the ground.

Titus closed his eyes and embraced the stars that had been dancing in his vision and now enjoyed the feel of the cool, hard ground against his back, noticing the stars didn't go away. In the darkness of his tightly shut eyes they remained like they were mocking him.

"If I have to drag you along with that cart full of rocks and throw you down the next corridor, then I will," Jordan said. It was very much out of character for him to act so unsympathetically, and something that Petra picked up on.

"What the hell, Jordan?" Petra asked. Titus couldn't see her, but he could imagine the look of disgust on her face through her tone.

"Why do you have to be so hard on him? Can't you see he's trying? And what makes you king of the circuit?"

Jordan was silent for a long moment but eventually he sighed loudly. Titus opened his eyes just in time to see his friend's previous professional manner melt away as he realised the act he'd been putting on.

"I'm sorry, ok?" He said. "I guess I just fell back into that training mode from back home. You know my parents would have me run laps until I threw up, and that was after a hard day's training with a sword and shield. It… it puts me in a different frame of mind, you know?"

Titus watched, and his eyes bulged at the one thing he never thought he'd see, not once. Petra placed a caring hand on Jordan's shoulder. And then she spoke softly.

"Well if you keep pushing him like this, he's going to sneak over to your bed at night, and hit you as hard as he can. With a stick. And I'm not going to stop him. I might even laugh."

Titus managed to force his eyes open, but the rest of his body didn't seem to want to respond.

"What happened to you?" he forced out. "Your parents wanted to send you off to fight? To take the oath knowing they'd never see you again?"

Jordan peered at Titus for a long moment before he replied. It was clear that he was trying to figure something out, but wasn't quite sure how to voice it.

"It... it's not always just some bad thing," he said eventually, to which Titus frowned. "Not everyone gets sent to fight in the Arena as some kind of punishment. I know it's how you came to be here and all... but I've loved the Arena and the fights ever since I was small. I asked for this, and it took a fair amount of convincing for my parents to even entertain the notion. I trained on my own for a long time, ever since I was small. They never wanted me to go, to take the oath. But I was stubborn. Eventually they knew they would have no choice so instead of standing in my way, they did what they could to help me. They found me, trainers, built me, practice dummies, hell, even brought me weapons and armour to train with - not that I've brought any here, mind you, but still, they did everything they could to prepare me for what I was going to have to deal with every day when I became a Contestant. It was a kindness, not something that I would resent them for."

"Hang on," Petra interrupted. "Didn't you say you were sent to the Arena because your family needed you to send money back home? You never said they were that supportive of you."

"Well, what would you have me say?" Jordan asked sheepishly. "You two looked like you wanted to be anywhere else except the Arena, well, him mostly," Jordan gestured to Titus, "and you want me to tell you how much I always wanted to be here? I think you would've never spoken to me again!"

"What about your brothers then?" Titus asked, remembering the conversation. "Are they at home training now, one day to grace us with their presence? Should I be worried that if I have to eventually kill you out there for the monster you are, you're half ogre, right? Then they're going to come after me. And... they aren't as big as you are, are they?"

"Nah, they're pretty small, like I said," Jordan said. "And they never showed an interest in the Arena. Michael's probably going to be a farmer; he loves the outdoors. I'd usually see him out there tending to something or other. Angel's most likely going to be a builder or an engineer."

"Quite the family there," Petra commented. "A fighter, a builder, and a lover. Seems about right."

"About right for what?" Jordan asked.

"About right for your average, everyday family out there in the City."

"Oh yeah?" Jordan asked, slightly defensively. "And what brings you to the Arena? Never heard you tell us your story?"

"Because I never told it," Petra said. "Nice of you to finally ask, though. If you must know, my father is a famous Hunter, so you know..."

"A famous Hunter?!" Jordan asked, his eyes wide, and jaw dropping. "Who is he?"

Titus couldn't help but watch as Petra's face morphed into a smile at Jordan trying to guess who her father was, but Titus could see something there that he understood right away.

"She's pulling your leg," he said. "Her father isn't famous. Is he?" Titus added just to be sure.

"Nope," Petra replied. "But that was fun. I thought the big man was going to get down on one knee and propose there and then."

"I was not... huh?... what?..." Jordan protested, not entirely sure what to be more embarrassed about.

"Never mind," Petra put Jordan out of his misery. "There isn't much to tell, actually. My parents died when I was young, and I moved in with my aunt and uncle. They're nice people, actually, and we got along quite well. They didn't have children of their own so I really was like a daughter to them..." she trailed off with a faraway look in her eye.

"But you weren't their daughter," Titus finished for her, sensing that was exactly what she was getting at.

"Exactly," Petra said. "I just never really warmed up to them properly, so I decided to learn to fight, and as soon as I could I came here and took the oath. Pretty normal story, right?"

Neither Titus nor Jordan had the chance to agree or disagree with Petra, though, because before them and onward to the next part of the circuit, footsteps came echoing towards them, quickly followed by the harsh tone of their annoying strength and conditioning Instructor, Miss Diana.

"I swear to the Gods one and all, if you three aren't passed out through exhaustion, I'm going to have you running the circuit until you empty the contents of your stomachs at my feet!"

The woman barrelled into view a moment later, her face red and she was clearly already sweating. It made Titus again wonder which joker put this woman in charge of this particular class.

"On your feet!" she practically screeched at Titus. "You think this is all a joke, do you? You think you can hide yourselves away up here and nobody will notice? Do you not see that there are others awaiting their runs around my circuit? Or are you too busy in your conversation and relaxation to give a damn?!"

"No ma'am," Titus replied, forcing himself back to his feet. He half wishing that the Instructor would have seen him a few minutes ago as he'd struggled to cling onto the very air around him.

"No ma'am?" Miss Diana replied. "That's all you have to say for yourself? You three should be ashamed! Now the three of you can give me three more laps before you leave, and I don't want to hear a single grumble from any of you!"

It took everything within him for Titus not to let out a groan. He hadn't even thought he would be able to finish this run alone, but another three? This was most likely the worst kind of torture that he'd ever had to endure in all his life.

"Ma'am," Jordan said purposefully and took hold of Titus' arm, leading his friend away from the Instructor and back into the hell that awaited them.

It took what felt to Titus like an eternity. At every obstacle he faced, be it alone or with Jordan and Petra by his side, pain was all that Titus knew, and pain was all that he knew was to come.

Three more laps.

Just three.

And those three laps proved to be a gruelling test of endurance and willpower.

Titus felt every muscle in his body ache and his legs threatened to give way with each step. He exchanged weary, broken glances with his friends, silently encouraging each other to persevere and he could see in each of their eyes that they too had passed the point of breaking.

Jordan, with his massive frame, led the way with Petra closely behind this time as Jordan's endurance and training shone through. Titus struggled to keep up with every step. He didn't know how he managed to stay upright. The finish line was in sight, and a surge of pure desire washed over them all. The desire to finish this and be done with it.

They all pushed through the pain, their steps becoming more synchronised as they approached the last obstacle: the series of five weighted walls they needed to slide up and scurry underneath before they fell again.

The first three walls were passed quickly with Jordan using his brute strength to hold the walls up for Petra and Titus so they could get through before he managed to weave himself underneath awkwardly behind them. But the fourth was more of a challenge. This one required the effort of all three of the friends, being significantly heavier than the last.

But they made it through. And they all stood to face the one final wall. The very last thing they needed to do before they could collapse and rest.

But they all knew this one was going to be the real test. There was no way that Miss Diana was going to make this easy for them.

"Well, might as well all get on it," Jordan announced. It was amazing to Titus that even though he was clearly exhausted, the large boy just seemed able to push his mind past that breaking point and fall into an almost robotic calmness.

Neither Petra nor Titus replied, but each took to their position at the wall and pushed their fingers as far as they could into the dirt underneath the thing.

"On my count," Jordan ordered.

"One, Two, Three!"

All three of the friends grunted at the effort the wall required of them to even move it. They had been right to think that Miss Diana had made this one the real test because it was easily twice the weight of the last wall.

But they were working together. And nothing was going to stop them from finishing this.

Inch by inch, the wall raised, and eventually there was a gap underneath large enough for them all to fit through.

"Now!" Jordan grunted through gritted teeth, and Titus didn't need to be told twice. He was the weakest of the three, so taking his effort away from the group first made the most sense.

Jordan and Petra locked their bodies into position and braced for Titus to make his escape. A moment later, he was on the far side of the wall back in position helping to hold the weight.

And then Petra made her move.

More nimble than Titus by some stretch, she was in place a moment later, and all that was left was Jordan.

They all knew that Jordan was doing most of the work, though they weren't going to simply give up and leave him there, so the three all braced themselves again, and Jordan slowly lowered his body to the ground while still holding onto the wall.

"Ready?" he asked with a grimace. He knew that if he wasn't fast enough, this was going to suck.

Petra and Titus nodded in sync, and Jordan blinked once, then threw his body into the space below the door.

He rolled completely over and made it through to the other side just as the wall slipped from Petra and Titus' fingers, slamming to the ground with a loud crack and a puff of dust.

The group had made it, and they had crossed the finish line together, albeit gasping for breath and in Titus' case only moments from passing out.

Miss Diana watched them with a hint of grudging approval.

"Passable," she grumbled. "You three might have potential after all. Now go and collapse somewhere out of my sight and then come and see me once you can talk again."

Titus, Jordan, and Petra stumbled away from the circuit, their bodies drenched in sweat and their muscles trembling. They found a cool spot to sit and catch their breath, and Titus couldn't help but chuckle weakly.

"Well, that was... fun," he said between deep breaths.

Jordan let out a hearty laugh, his usual jovial spirit returning. "Fun, you say? Titus, you have a strange definition of fun."

Petra, too, managed a tired smile. "But we did it. And we did it together."

"But why?" Titus asked with his eyes wide. "Why would anyone do that to themselves?"

"I'll tell you why," Petra said, her own eyes wide too. "Take a look at your stats."

Titus, not wanting to be left out of the loop quickly willed his statistics into his field of view and looked over them carefully. Everything seemed to be in order until he reached the end of the text, within the Secondary stats section. Specifically, his strength.

Titus: Level 1

Exp: 6/100

Class: Capacitor/Human

Profession: Arena Contestant - Blue

Primary Stats

Health: 50/50

Mana: 10/10

Stamina: 15/15

Secondary Stats

Constitution: 1

Wisdom: 1

Agility: 1

Strength: 2

Defence: 1

Magical Defence: 1

Skills

Sacrifice

Items Equipped

Blue Arena Contestant Armband

Wooden Stamina Ring

"My strength..." Titus said. "It's gone up, I think," he added quickly because, truth be told, although he was sure it had been at one before, he wasn't one hundred percent sure.

"Yeah, it's the same for me," Petra agreed, and Jordan grunted in agreement too, though Titus wondered if he was just going along with the other two.

"When do you think it happened?" Petra asked. "You don't think..."

"We need to ask about this," Titus said immediately. "Come on."

The three all raised themselves back to their feet and walked slowly back to where Miss Diana had just sent another group of Blue-Rankers on their way.

"It gave us a point in strength," Titus said before Miss Diana had even turned around to face them. "All of us. That's right, isn't it?"

Miss Diana didn't smile as she turned to them, keeping a straight face, and she raised a finger.

"If you'd have been paying more attention earlier and if I hadn't had to have taught you that lesson, then you'd already know all of what I am about to tell you."

She paused for a moment, and Titus wondered if he should apologise, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Strength can be increased by taxing your physical body, but don't get too excited; any further increases won't be so easy to achieve."

"Easy?" Jordan scoffed but caught himself.

"Yes," Miss Diana replied. "With each rank in strength you achieve, gaining the next in this manner becomes more difficult. You are still able to use your attribute points at your next level to purchase points in strength without the effort of course, but if you are willing to put in the effort, this is something you can do for free, leaving your attribute points available for use elsewhere."

"Right…" Titus said. "But we're all level two in strength, and Jordan's definitely stronger than me…"

"That is because you don't listen," Miss Diana said. "Everyone, awakened to the presence of the God of Balance or not, has a starting strength of one. It is not a finite ability but rather a basic range. At level one, everyone has the ability to lift a stone of let's say one hundred kilograms. Some will fall below that number but none over. Of course, I am simplifying things for you here. At level two, now that's where things start to get interesting because this is where the difference between awakened and unawakened is truly seen. Because at level two in strength, an individual can lift up a stone of let's say one hundred and twenty kilograms. At level three perhaps it will be one hundred and fifty, and so on and so on."

"So someone could just spend their life training like this and keep getting stronger and stronger?" Titus asked.

"Yes and no," Miss Diana replied. "Yes, technically an individual could do that, but if their life's goal was to be as strong as possible, it would no doubt shave decades of effort to simply spend the attribute points on the stat, because as I already said, this will get harder and harder with each new level. For now, you are all stronger than the average unawakened, or at least have the ability to be so, and it will be up to you all to decide if this free method of advancement is something that is worth your time or not. For a Spellcaster, you're going to want to use your points at level up to increase anything but your strength, so think that perhaps this training could give you that slight edge to help you survive out there in the arena."

"And I could increase my strength and spend my points on defence," Jordan said.

"And I with agility," Petra agreed.

"Good, I'm glad you have grasped this most basic of concepts," Miss Diana said. "Now if you're done with my lesson, I believe you have somewhere else to be?"

It was true, they did. The lesson had already been technically long done, and they'd already missed the start of their human evolution class.