26 How it feels to be needed
Don saw this happen but did not pay too much attention to it. After eating his lunch, he and Lars went to support training class together. They had brought their PE clothes and were waiting for Teacher Brooke to show up.
"Oh hello students!" The students had wanted to greet her but as soon as they saw her, they were lost for word. On her back, she was carrying a huge bag that could not be carrying less than 200 kg of weight. Teacher Brooke dropped the bag only to reveal weight straps.
"Um Teacher Brooke...what is that for?" A student said nervously. Brooke smiled as she heard this.
"Weight strap. Each weighs about 10 kg." Everyone's mouth dropped as they heard this.
"Now that you have seen this let's walk to the track. By that time the shock should already fade. " Teacher Brooke, an 80 something old women picked up the bag as if she was picking up a baby. Everyone followed her as she walked to the field. As she dropped the bag again, the students could hear the sound of the earth shaking. Brooke turned to them with a smile.
"Aren't we lucky? I was able to snatch the field for every Tuesday. I would have gone for Monday but that husband of mine beat me to it..." Lars, Don and the rest were still trying to process what was going on. Many of them had heard about the other Brooke. They had acted smugly just the other day to their friends and how they had to go through such torture but now it seemed like they were going to get the same treatment.
"You goal for today is to run around the track for the whole class or until you collapse or until you run 50 full laps whichever comes first." Everyone had already expected this and were nodding their head.
"-With 4 weights on."
" What!??" Suddenly they had to do a double take. 4 weights...that was 40 kg. Teacher Brooke hand each of them 4 weights. 1 for each arm and leg. Don could barely handle it. Since he hadn't fully awakened yet, His strength rank was limited to the villager level which is G5. Although he had trained hard to reach that level, he was not able to break from his limitations.
What happened in the fight against the beast hordes was an odd technique his powers had. It could let him steal the life essence of a living thing and in turn inherit their power, some of their skills and even a bit of their personality. The effects do not last though and the after effects landed him in a 1-month coma. Other than that, once he takes the life essence of the creature, the creature died.
"Ok kids! I want to see all that you got!" Brooke made a whistle sound with her mouth and increased its volume with null magic.
Everyone started to run. It did not take long for the strong to separate from the weak. Lars who has just broken through to F6 was in the lead. Many of the 2nd years lagged behind. Although they had cultivated their strength longer, they focused most of their attention with support and support only while Lars has been trained in the art of healing and martial arts so that he could become a well-trained monk.
Don on the other hand was in the back. He had to push everything he got. At 5 minutes he was already sweating heavily. Although the other kids felt the pain, they were not suffering as much as Don was. Lars slowed down a bit as he was approaching Don. This would be the second time he was passing him.
"Are you ok Don?" Lars asked a little concerned.
"Y-yeah, keep going." Don said quickly. He did not want to slow Lars down. Lars looked at him for a second before he ran ahead.
"45 MINUTES!" After 1 grueling hour they were woken up from their daze. 5 people had already collapsed. No dared to lie or give up. This was the academy. cutthroat. Teacher Brooke looked in wonder as she saw Don barely running.
He had already lost his energy to talk long ago. Now he was just going off momentum. if he stops, he probably would collapse.
30 minutes later, Lars finished 50 laps. Teacher Brooke looked impressed as she saw this. She was a little nicer than her husband by giving them a max amount of round but in return she gave them 40 extra kg to carry. Although for supporter's this was very hard, if this was given to offense students or Defense focused students, they would be able to do this easily.
As Lars was about to rest, he saw Don going around for another lap, at this point his face was paler than white. From his calculations, he should have already gone down. There was only 4 more people on the field. 3 of them were close to finishing 50 laps. 16 people were off the field. After they fainted, Brooke boosted their vitality and hydrated their body and so they were watching the rest on the field.
He knew how the strength of Don was not big and yet he was still pushing through. Lars could not help but want to see Don go all out until the very end. Instead of resting, he went back into the field and ran along with Don.
Other people that had fainted felt something as they saw Don trying his hardest. They could not help but think 'was I trying my hardest?' 'Could I have also gone for so long?' 'Why did I stop? Why did I not hold it in for longer?'
"5 minutes left!" As soon as Brooke said this, all the suppressed feelings that had bottled up finally popped out.
"You can do it kid!"
"Don't give! You're almost done! It's almost over!" As the crowed went into a riot, the 3 other students had already finished their laps. At this moment, Don could not even hear what was being said. He was too tired to feel anything. All his senses had dulled in order to make more energy for his running.
He did not even notice that Lars was running right beside him. Lars did not try to get don's attention either. He knew that Don's was in focus at this moment. His face showed a complicated expression as he looked at Don.
From a young age he had been called many things. Genius, Kind, perfect, Buddha incarnate, handsome etc etc. With all these praises he never became narcissistic which made people praise him more. Although he acted humble, in fact he loved the praises and the attention he got. He truly believed that he was special and in the end of the day, everyone else were just today's competition and future nobodies.
Even though he thought this way, he had always kept this inside until now. From the beginning this kid had made him feel not so special. Not only was he personally picked by the Principle but was also bright beyond his years. A truly kind individual and one that does not give up. At this moment Lars could feel the distance between the two grow. He felt like he would lose to the small boy one day....
"And time!" As soon as Brook said this, Don collapsed and was caught in lars's arms. Brooke smiled brightly as she saw this seen. 'One man creates a landfall'. Brooke could not help but think that. She quickly took away Don's exhaustion and boosted his vitality. He sprang up from Lar's hands like a spring chicken.
"You all have done well. Actually you all have done better than I expected. The reason I told you all to run is because running is an important skill to have as a supporter. Another important trait to have is awareness. What you are carrying are 4 weights. In a common party, you will be supporting around four people. No matter what, they will be your responsibility. You have to be aware of the weight you carry as a supporter. If you go down, so do the weights. Even if you're in a desperate situation, don't fall. Even if you can't help others with magic, encourage works too. It increases moral." Teacher Brooke smiled at everyone when she said that. It seemed like everyone became enlightened by her speech.
"Now change up. You don't want to be late for your next class. By the way, tomorrow we will be in the classroom." Everyone smiled as they heard this. They said farewell to their teacher as they changed and headed to their next class.
As Don arrived at his last class, he felt energized. The boost in Vitality may have worked a little too well. Before their teacher even arrived, they had already started to work on their project. once Mo arrived, they said their greetings and continued their focus on the brick.
While everyone else were working, Don happily handed over his finished work. (Which literally looks like the yellow smiley face emoji) Mo almost fell over his desk when he saw this. He looked at the marking in the structure. Although they were definitely from an amateur, he could tell that each swing was made with precision. Mo nodded as he saw this.
"You did well. This is definitely an A in my book."Mo said out loud. As people heard this, they looked in disbelief to see that one person had already passed the test.
"How could he finish so fast?! H-He must have cheated Teacher!" A student said with anger. It could not be helped, being so frustrated and seeing someone else doing better than you; it makes some people jealous. Mo looked at the student and smiled lazily.
"If you have an eye for forging it is easy to tell that this was a thought process. A finished item is like a story, I can tell where he worked out the strength needed and when he started making the smiley face and finishing his piece. The marks were all definitely made by one person I could tell right away." The student stopped talking as he heard this.
Don interest was piqued. He wondered if he would ever be so good at forging in the future. He also wondered if he would ever be so good at support as well.
