Physical Training

"There will be a trip for you to experience hunting the aliens. It will last for a week. The teacher will be following you to ensure your safety, but remember that those who make a big result will be rewarded.

"And two weeks after this trip will be the day for your second summoning. It can be said that the amount of cores you get from this trip will influence your second summoning. If you manage to get a lot of cores, you will have a lot of Ena to sacrifice.

"For this second summoning, the school will be helping you to acquire an item for your sacrifice. Of course, those in the top five will receive the best option. Those two weeks are for the school to acquire that item.

"To prepare you for the hunt, we'll be starting with physical training." Jason had brought all the students to the field with a giant circle in the middle. "The task for today is simple. For the next two hours, you will run until you can't do it anymore. Any questions?"

"Teacher!" August raised his head. "What are we supposed to prepare or bring for the trip? Can we bring anything?"

Jason understood where August was coming, considering August was the successor of the Blacksmith Guild. His equipment would definitely be top tier. 

Jason explained, "Yes. You are free to bring any equipment with you, but only equipment. Other things will be provided by the school, and you're only allowed to choose ten items. As for the details, it'll be explained once we're about to go."

August lowered his head once he understood the explanation. Since no one raised their hand anymore, Jason continued while pointing to the left, "If you don't have any questions, you may start now. Run in a circle!"

A lot of people reacted almost immediately, running before anyone else. 

Nathan remembered that Vivian offered him a weapon. It seemed that the others understood the importance of their own abilities. Some of them had been training since young, so they didn't have any problem when running like this. 

However, the majority of students had crappy stamina.

They barely ran for several minutes and started dropping to the ground.

"What are you doing? Keep running!" Jason shouted. 

"Teacher. This is hard. Why would we do all this? We are summoners!"

"That's right. Our summoned familiars will be the ones doing all the fighting." 

The students complained.

"The familiars will do all the fighting? Let's assume that's true. Then, how about you? What if you are the one targeted by those aliens? What if you are surrounded and outnumbered? Can your familiar fight all of them? No, can you actually run away from such a situation? No, why? Because you can't even run for several minutes. Summoners like you are the first ones to die on the battlefield." Jason didn't hold back with his lecture.

Those who had trained their bodies had a smug smile on their faces, looking down on these students. 

However, it became more and more apparent that as time went on, the students started using their Ena to boost their physical ability. In other words, the first week's lesson was actually used to supplement this week's training.

All except for Nathan. 

"Ha… Ha…" Nathan was already panting heavily. Even though this body was a farmer, his stamina couldn't keep up. In the end, he only started his proper training ever since he came to this world.

'What is this…' Nathan didn't bother to look around, but he could feel the mocking gaze of people. In fact, Raivan, who was beaten previously by him, couldn't help but sneer.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, due to him beating Raivan completely, his academy's life became peaceful with no random person challenging him out of nowhere.

At the same time, no one actually came closer to Nathan. They were just staring at him from a distance as if he were a rare animal.

The only person in the class that would talk to him was actually Selena, but because she had been using her Ena to supplement her physical ability this whole time, she had been running much faster than him.

After noticing what Nathan was currently doing, she couldn't help but approach Nathan and match his pace. "Why aren't you using your Ena? While your Ena Manipulation is not the best in the class, you should be able to enhance your physical abilities, no?"

"Why would I do that? The purpose is to train your stamina, not to see who has more Ena to boost one's physical ability." 

"!!!" Selena's body twitched as she came to a realization. "Using Ena defeats the purpose?"

Nathan didn't say anything more, but that should be clear enough for Selena. As expected, she immediately retracted her Ena and said, "Thank you. I'll be sprinting for now to fix my mistake from using my Ena."

Little did he know, there was one person who had been observing him during the whole training. As soon as he saw Selena retracting her Ena, he immediately caught up with Nathan.

"What did you say to Selena to make her stop using her Ena?" 

Nathan was startled, not expecting that someone would talk to him. The person had yellowish white hair. His pair of eyes were gentle but seemed to be able to see through a person. 

'Isn't he the second prince of the Liaystian Kingdom that Selena mentioned before? No way. Is this it? I have read hundreds of stories about this kind of situation. The prince is going to get angry because I talk to her, and he will challenge me because of the 'I'm breathing' situation!' was what Nathan thought.

To his surprise, Rudeus actually chuckled, saying, "Ah, I apologize. It seems that I startle you. Yeah, I was rude. I am Rudeus, I'm a prince, but I come here as a summoner, not a prince. So you don't have to give me a special treatment."

'Isn't he kind of a decent person?' Nathan was taken aback. He hurriedly replied, "It can't be done. Even though I'm not a citizen of the Liaystian Kingdom, I can't treat your highness like that."

"Heh? Your manner is on point, even though it's a bit rough. As expected, it seems that someone has taken a fancy to you and taught you a lot of things." Rudeus smirked before waving his hand, signaling to him that it wasn't a big deal. "If you give me special treatment, my family will be the one to punish me, so it'll be fine to talk casually. I'll do the same to blend in."

'Why is he smart? No, more like, why is he a decent prince?' Nathan smiled wryly. "I understand. I thank you for your understanding."

Rudeus nodded. "So what did you tell her to the point where she retracted her Ena? Since I got the first place's reward in the first lesson, I will give you ten cores if you answer this simple question." 

"You don't have to. I just told her that if you were in a dangerous situation where your Ena ran out, what would you do?" 

"Hmm…" Rudeus looked up and down as if he were contemplating his words. "I see. Thank you for the answer. I have promised you, so don't reject it anymore."

After saying those words, Rudeus sped up while retracting his Ena, leaving Nathan stunned. 

'He is actually a decent guy? Maybe I shouldn't see people with such prejudices.' Nathan frowned. 

Jason couldn't help but smile when he saw what happened, thinking, 'Yeah. That's it. Unless you are a completely sheltered human, there will come a time where you will run out of Ena. People often neglect their own physical strength and end up dying during that time.'