Obstacle Course

Ayan desperately moved through the pathway, his movements were slow and labored. Despite the struggle, his eyes shined with a steady determination.

Soon, other participants started overtaking him, one by one. Some looked at him with pity, others with disgust, while most showed an indifferent attitude.

Undeterred, he reached a slippery path that was filled with some kind of substance, turning the ground into an ice-like surface. His already sluggish paces slowed even more as he carefully placed his steps, barely finding enough grip to inch forward. He nearly managed to reach halfway across the slippery way with his great focus when he heard a sudden...

Whoosh

The sound of wind produced by another participant moving rang out. He turned to look at this last participant, the lady who had given him a familiar feeling earlier. He noticed that she was wearing an indigo robe, unlike him or other the participants. He wanted to ask her about it. But her speed increased instead of slowing down on the slippery path.

She intentionally moved beside him, causing him to lose balance and fall due to the wind caused by her movement. He tumbled and slid down all the way back to the start of the slippery path, wasting his previous effort. Yet, before Ayan could even express his anger, she had already left him far behind, vanishing like a shadow in the wind.

"Damn it!" Ayan muttered, forcing himself up. His frustration erupted, and he spat out a string of curses through gritted teeth. With a great struggle, Ayan pushed on, balancing himself despite stumbling several times before he finally crossed the slippery way. He had only walked a few minutes in joy when he stumbled across the next challenge—a tall wall, looming like a giant before him.

With a deep breath, he started his grueling ascent. The muscle in his body strained as he dragged himself upwards, using the grip of his fingers, clutching at every small crevice he could find in the wall. As soon as he reached the top, he was greeted by narrow logs stretching over a deep, dark chasm whose depth, he couldn't fathom. His heart pounded in his chest as the logs wobbled when he tried to test it. But, with careful concentration, he stepped onto it. Each step felt like walking on the edge of a knife, but he crossed it with shaky steps.

No sooner than he cleared the logs, a burst of flame roared in front of him. Without any moment to think, he quickly leaped through the fire. His body twisted in the air, feeling the fire dangerously close to his skin. When he landed on the other side safely, he quickly patted out the small flames on his clothes, feeling regretful about his clothes.

Finally, he reached a water crossing. Despite being inside a tunnel, the currents in the crossing were unnaturally strong. Ayan gritted his teeth and jumped as far as he could into it and swam as fast as he could pushing himself forward against the current.

Exhausted and drenched, he reached a door at the end of the crossing covered in dirt, ash, and water. He looked amazed at his robe which was strangely as good as new despite all the water, fire, and dirt from falling on the slippery surface.

He pushed the door open to find that he was back in the massive hall. There was only the operator lady present waiting for him.

She smiled warmly at him as if his ordeal had been nothing more than a mild inconvenience. "Congratulations on completing the obstacle course. We've recorded your data for today," she said. "We'll monitor your progress every day to track any improvements."

"You mean we'll have to go through this every day from now on," Ayan asked in a frustrated tone.

She nodded calmly. "Are you ready for the next part?"

"Yes," Ayan said in a disheartened tone.

Before he could proceed, he remembered the last participant—the lady in indigo robe. "I understand why I got these different robes. But, why did that last lady have the indigo robes, different from others? Did she also have problems like mine?"

"No, you're the only anomaly here." She chuckled and explained, "There are many different types of robes depending upon the material used and their weight capacity. The black one's the lowest holding up to 100kg, the indigo can hold from 100kg to 500kg and the dark-blue robes, like yours, can go up to 1000kg. Sara, the lady you saw, got that robe because her body's capacity was beyond 100kg. If the participant's body's capacity improves, they'll be given different robes accordingly."

"Tsk, the more capable you are, the more burden you get," Ayan demurred.

She sighed and added in a low voice, "If you were in the Indigo training, you would have gotten several generous privileges, depending upon the type of robe you can handle. Here, you won't get such privileges but the improvement of the body itself is a great benefit. Research indicates that you can improve your body at least 10 times faster with the robe than without it. Also, for higher-quality robes, it can go more than 100 times."

Intrigued, Ayan asked, "You mean those indigo children all train wearing these robes for seven years? How strong are they on average after the training?"

"Except for a few exceptions, all those children are at least able to wear the Indigo robe. But these are only about the body's physical capacity, there are several other aspects to their training," she generously replied.

Ayan remembered the speed at which other participants moved and compared them to Sara's speed even with the indigo robe. He sighed. "She's far stronger than all of us, already comparable to Indigo children at least in terms of body capacity."

The lady didn't deny it. "She is indeed impressive."

"Can you tell me about the other aspects of the Indigo training?" he continued his inquiry.

She shook her head. "Those are classified information. I told you about the robes only because you are already exposed to them. If you encounter another aspect in this training related to them, maybe then I can tell you."

"What material are these robes made of?" Ayan asked caressing his robe.

The lady smiled knowingly. "I can't disclose about the materials. You might not find or hear about it anywhere else even if I tell you."

"But, let me tell you something interesting," the lady leaned closer and whispered. "The robe that you're wearing was actually designed to be an upgraded version of the dark-blue robe, able to hold more than 1000kg. But, because of some unknown reason, they limited it to a dark blue robe despite being made of higher material. Also, it developed a strange defect that it couldn't adjust itself according to the wearer and it had no lower limit to its base weight though it had to be adjusted manually."

Ayan's eyes lit up. "So, I'm wearing the highest quality robe capable of more than 1000kg."

"But are there people who can wear the robe with more than 1000kg weight?"

The lady nodded. "Indeed. Every few years, a few individuals appear among the Indigo children who can handle more than that."

Ayan listened intently, realizing how far behind he truly was. He clenched his fist, determination surging through him. He knew he would be facing such monsters in the ranger's examination. He was ready to push himself to the limits and grow as much as he could in these training sessions.

"By the way, I don't know your name," Ayan asked in a polite tone.

A strange emotion flashed in the lady's eyes. "I'm called RO-232."

Ayan looked doubtfully at her. "Are you a robot or an AI?"

She chuckled. "I'm a human like you guys. That's just the name I was given."

"Such a weird name. I'll call you sister Rowen then," Ayan said softly.

"It's time for you to go and finish the next phase. All the others have already finished and went to their living quarters. If you don't rest properly today, it might affect your sessions tomorrow," she said while pushing a button.

Another door opened. It looked pitch-black from the outside. Feeling doubtful, Ayan asked, "Is this really where the next phase is?"

She nodded and gently pushed him towards it. After Ayan went inside and the door closed, a melancholic look appeared on the lady's face.