Endurance

Looking around he realized most of the kids still had fierce determination on their faces. Nathan could tell from a single glance that they had yet to realize the underlying meaning of those sentences. Some of them had furrowed brows while some were indifferent to the sentences. Their identities were obvious at first glance.

Nathan looked at the ones from the big clans and imprinted their faces into his mind. After all, these guys were his competition. He needed to reach S-grade from the beginning. He knew that once he fell behind, there was a very small chance to climb back up again. So, he needed to work extra hard from the beginning.

He couldn't just underestimate the other people here. Even though he knew he was confident in three topics among the four, he couldn't say he was among the best in the place. He needed to observe the other kids and then act accordingly.

Julie saw the expressions of the students but didn't say anything.

"We'll start our class today. First, we'll have the endurance training first and then we'll practice hand to hand combat. Everyone is required to wear these weights from now on. You'll wear these all the time during these six months and you may be checked for the weights at any time during these six months. If these weights are not found on your body at any given time, you'll be punished."

Julie took out a thick band that looked pretty light at first glance. Looking at the band that obviously went into their waists, the kids were skeptical. These bands didn't look that heavy at all. The kids took the band and wore them in their waists. Surprisingly, they were quite heavy. Nathan estimated the weight of those to be almost five kilograms which were quite heavy for a ten-year-old kid considering they would wear that at every time.

"Now all of you are required to hold on a horse stance for as long as you can. Remember, the teachers are always monitoring you, and your performance counts in the monthly test as well. If you slack off and perform poorly, you'll get fewer points in the exams." said Julie with a gloating voice.

The kids immediately got into their stances and they felt the difference from the weights immediately. Nathan's record for holding the horse stance was seven minutes before this but now he could only hold on for five before collapsing. He couldn't hold on after that at all. Even though that was an amazing time for a ten-year-old there were still three kids holding on. The final kid collapsed after lasting for six minutes and twenty-six seconds. Nathan immediately memorized the three of their faces.

Nathan had already categorized the aristocrats from the groups. He had observed their movements, their expression, and their reactions to various things for that and he was fairly certain that the two of them were aristocrats while the final one was from the ruins.

"Six and a half minutes, huh. Not bad. Not bad at all. Now we'll go out to the fields for the rest of our activities. Each of you'll have to run around the fences three times for now. That's fifteen kilometers for each lap. Do your best."

Nathan wasn't that bothered by that. He wasn't burly but his endurance was not that weak, especially if they were running. He had learned a special breathing pattern on his own in the wildlands that helped him preserve his breath and stamina while running. Even though that was not a big deal, it still helped him a lot.

The exercise started and Nathan discovered that he was the best in this exercise but he didn't want to stand out this early. He lowered his pace and quickened his breathing on his own. This was enough to fool the other kids but Julie wasn't. She had her eyes on the best performing ones from the start and she spotted Nathan's change at once.

'Quite smart indeed.'

She had already noticed the boy earlier. He was observing all the other kids from the start and he always did those in a subtle way. The boy was interesting. He seemed completely ordinary at first glance and he always concealed himself. He didn't stay in focus and blended with the crowd whenever he could but his eyes were always cold and emotionless. He also had a slightly bloody aura around him. Even though that was not rare at all, he had concealed it the best among the others. Of course, his concealments were nothing in front of Julie.

"Master Berus would like that kid." said one of the two people beside Julie. Clearly, they had noticed Nathan's tricks as well.

The aristocrats in the front were quite surprised to see Nathan at the top at first but now looking at his slow pace and inconsistent breathing, a few of them scoffed with disdain while others didn't show a single reaction.

Nathan didn't mind the reactions from them. He simply kept his position and kept running while observing everyone.

Two hours later, everyone either completed the task or fainted on the way.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. We'll have a break for an hour and then we'll continue. It is time for your breakfast as well so you can go to the cafeteria and have your food. Everyone is expected to be in class within an hour. If anyone is late, I'll be very angry and you won't like that at all." said Julie with a ruthless glint in her eyes and a faint killing intent which immediately made a few kids alert. The killing intent was very vague and according to Nathan's observation, only seven people reacted to it.

'Seventeen out of a hundred huh. Just like the dean said, this batch is quite amazing.'

Julie's observation was naturally way better than Nathan's as she immediately judged the kids in front of her. Unknown to the kids, they had already been graded by their teacher on their first day. The kids had their own thoughts towards their classmates. The nobles saw Nathan as the best among the non-aristocrat students in the endurance test and looked at him as if he were a prey which he immediately noticed.

'Looks like maintaining the S-grade standards in a quiet way would not be possible.'

Nathan didn't mind standing out but this was not the time to do so. Even now he saw himself as an assassin and everyone as an enemy he needed to strike down. What kind of assassin would stay in the spotlight and attract all the attention? Nathan knew that fame among the students had no meaning at all. He needed to polish his blade in the dark and strike his opponents when they were least expecting it.

He went to the cafeteria and ate his breakfast. It was a cup of warm milk with a few slices of bread and an omelette. It was a basic meal for the aristocrats but for people like Nathan, it was one of the most delicious meals they had ever had in their lives.

Nathan didn't eat much just because it was good though. He knew there was more training coming up and overstuffing himself was a very bad idea. Looking around the cafeteria, Nathan saw many kids stuff themselves with food. Just one look was enough to tell him that things won't end well for them. He hadn't forgotten what Berus had said back then. Eighty percent of the kids here will die before graduating.

Nathan ate the food quickly and went to the class without bothering with anything else. He hadn't made a plan for what to do in the future as of now. He was waiting to see the intensity of each training so he could focus on a particular topic.

As of now, Nathan was quite confident in reaching the S-grade in a month. His melee combat skills were good, his language skills would certainly be better than a bunch of kids who are just starting to learn the language and his assassination skill was the one he was most confident in. After all, that was the one thing that he did the most in the wildlands.