Endurance

The recruits gathered around the treadmills, each selecting their own machine as the captain indicated, "I will come back after you finish the test. A staff member will be watching you."

He left while the staff member explained, "As the captain said, your objective is to stay on the treadmill as long as possible, whose speed will increase from time to time."

Kayden's eyes widened in amazement when he looked at the treadmill. Its sleek design and high-quality screen displayed intricate analyses of the user's body, far surpassing anything he had encountered in his previous training.

'To think that a treadmill could be like this. In none of the gyms I visited before the Awakening was there a treadmill that came close to this one.'

"Before the test begins, there is a small tube on one side from which you can use to drink water if you need it," she announced, making everyone glance at their treadmills. "Now, let's start."

The anticipation and nerves were almost palpable when the treadmills started up.

With the sound of their accelerating motors filling the atmosphere, the speed reached 15 kilometers per hour within moments. Despite this pace would be impossible for the average person to maintain, the recruits endured without a problem.

Kayden settled into a steady jog, his mind briefly wandering to inconsequential thoughts. As time passed, a few recruits showed sweat on their brows, and their breathing grew more labored. However, everyone seemed unwilling to show any signs of weakness.

After running for fifteen minutes, the treadmill surged forward, reaching 20 kilometers per hour.

This meant they were covering a kilometer in just three minutes, a feat reserved for Olympic-level athletes.

As the minutes passed, more recruits started to show faces of difficulty, gasping for breath. From the way they looked at each other, it was clear that none of them wanted to be the first to give up.

Eventually, one of them could not hold on any longer, stopping the machine before lying on the ground, panting. As if it were a signal, shortly after the first recruit gave up, a few others followed suit, their bodies exhausted, and their wills momentarily broken.

The rest of them kept running, some with more ease than others. As time passed, more people failed, leaving around half of the recruits.

'Most of them probably have barely ten unlocked nodes, so it's normal that they can't keep up with me and the other talented people, especially if their determination wavers.'

This showed once again the harsh truth behind cultivation society. The gap between those talented and those untalented would only increase in an exponentially way, until the second ones would not even be worthy of looking at the first.

Of course, other important factors like willpower or discipline could reduce this gap or even completely erase it. Yet, in the face of absolute talent, everything else would be useless in virtually all cases.

When minutes finally turned into a grueling half hour, the speed increased once again, reaching a challenging 25 kilometers per hour.

In an instant, many of the recruits began to breathe heavily, their faces contorted with exertion and beads of sweat dripping onto their treadmill. A few even stumbled, barely managing to catch their balance before continuing.

A short time later, finding themselves in an endless race against their own physical limits, more recruits failed, leaving less than ten still participating.

Fewer and fewer people remained. Kayden watched out of the corner of his eye as Alice, Josh, and some others gradually failed to keep up with the speed.

While breathing heavily, Alice had a satisfied expression on her face, although there was a trace of anger in her eyes.

Josh, on the other hand, showed an expression of utter disappointment and helplessness, clenching his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white.

Forty-five minutes passed, and the treadmill sped up to a dizzying 30 kilometers per hour.

The remaining recruits fought against exhaustion, their bodies now fully immersed in the battle of endurance.

As the minutes ticked by, the intense physical exertion took its toll on the recruits. With each step, the air turned thicker as their lungs gasped for it.

Kayden was now completely focused on running. His muscles started to burn, but he could still endure with some difficulty.

Pushing down the discomfort, he focused on maintaining his form, synchronizing his breathing with the rhythm of his steps.

Time appeared to stretch as the minutes dragged on, each second feeling like an eternity.

Kayden's focus narrowed, shutting out the pain and exhaustion that threatened to overpower him. He heard gasps and grunts along with the smooth sound of the treadmills coming to a stop, but he paid no attention to them.

Finally, the counter reached the one-hour mark, and the treadmill gradually decelerated to a stop.

Kayden stood there, his body drenched in sweat, his heart pounding in his chest. Despite the physical strain, a sense of accomplishment coursed through him when he realized he had endured until the end.

'I guess this is a perfect score,' he thought.

The staff member approached, a mix of admiration and approval evident in her eyes. "Well done recruits," she said. "I will show the scores as you take a moment to recover before you move on to the next test."

Just like when the captain announced the ranking after the sparring, the staff member started from the lowest score.

While she talked, Kayden noticed how many of the recruits gave him looks of admiration and envy, with which he was becoming familiar.

"Alice, 60 points."

The recruits in her group complimented her, with admiration in their gazes since she had gotten the best score of all of them.

Her gestures showed that she was satisfied with the result, as she had made the group trust her even more, making them believe she was the most suitable for the role of leader.

Kayden saw her smile as she replied happily, telling them that they had done a good job too, making them smile, thrilled as if they were dogs receiving praise from their owner.

The staff member continued, calling Kayden's attention with her words.

"Claire, 63 points."

Kayden raised his eyebrows, not expecting the girl following Audrey to achieve such a good result.

She had achieved a score significantly above average on the test, a complete surprise especially considering that her results are the sparring was unremarkable.

'It looks like I'm not the only one surprised,' Kayden thought, amused.

He noticed Alice's face had twitched as she listened to the staff member's words. It seemed that due to the fatigue just after finishing the test, she had not realized that Claire had endured a little longer than her.

'She probably doesn't consider the more talented ones a threat to her leadership since we are more solitary and the other recruits don't feel comfortable around us, but the situation is different with Claire.'

"Let's continue," the staff member said, looking at her screen before resuming the results announcement.