Marathon Test Part 1: Unexpected Outburst

In the vast training ground of the military fortress of Anfang was a group of recruits known as training regiment 69. They were preparing for their first test. A marathon test with the goal of reaching 100 kilometers before 8 the next morning.

For many, it might be easy especially combined with the long amount of time they were given. But for some, it signifies their greatest challenge. After all, there were those who didn't have good stamina, and Dante was included along with them.

'A 100-kilometer marathon. This body will die before reaching half of that.'

Dante quietly thought to himself as it was improbable for him to achieve the 100-kilometer goal. He closed his eyelids as numerous thoughts passed through his head.

He never thought that he would have a rocky start, but there was nothing he could do about it. Dante could only grit his teeth and find some way to last long enough to reach the goal.

'There were many things I learned from the military in my past life. A 100-kilometer marathon is normal for me in my past body, but before that, I didn't have good stamina.'

'My captain before taught me breathing techniques and the ability to run in a stable and less energy-consuming manner. I used that to make my body gain some body.'

'Though, this is a different situation.'

'I wasn't fat before, and my stamina wasn't 6 feet underground. I'm sure that techniques and skills wouldn't be enough to make me reach the goal.'

No matter how many ideas Dante had. They were always a bust and were not comparable to his past experience. He was in a different body in a new world. Of course, not everything would be synonymous with each other.

'No need to lose confidence, Dante. I simply have to push past this.' Dante shook his head to disregard his worries and gain some confidence.

While Dante was going through every experience in his life to pass the marathon test, there was a group of recruits looking at him from afar. They had discovered his identity as an Astarte and were quite shocked about it.

"He's an Astarte?"

"I thought that an Astarte were demigod beings slightly behind the God Emperor?"

"Isn't he the third son? The failure of the Astarte and the Pig Bastard of it?"

"Oh, he's the one that got exiled."

The recruits were having a discussion about the third son of Astarte, and they didn't even bother making their voices and tones quiet. It appears that they were trying to mock Dante.

"His appearance resembles not that of an Astarte."

"Looking at him now, you're correct."

"Does he even have the Astarte bloodline?"

"You mean his mother went outside for a while?"

"Haha, yeah, rig-"

They continued their mocking conversation and insulted Dante. But when they began insulting his mother, Dante's body moved in instinct and punched the one trying to insult his mother.

*PAM!*

He used his heavy body to force the guy onto the ground and kept punching his face violently. *PAM!* *PAM!* *PAM!* Dante had a cold expression on his face as blood covered his knuckles.

"This body might have been a bastard asshole, but you can never insult my mother." Dante coldly said as he kept punching the face of the insulting bastard.

*PAM!* *PAM!* *PAM!*

His punches echoed throughout the training ground, though no one could clearly hear them because of their noisy conversation.

A while later, the ones near the commotion pulled Dante away from the severely injured young man. The young man's face was heavily blooded beyond relief as his nose was broken sideways.

Dante immediately backed off after standing up as he coldly looked at the young man who was crying his heart out. He turned his gaze towards his hands, noticing blood splattered on it. This was the first time he went violent.

Even if he was severely bullied in his past life, Dante never went into an outburst. This was the first time he used his body to hurt somebody else severely. It was a strange feeling to have, and he expected to regret it.

But deep within his heart, no regret could be found. No matter the scenario, it would always end up like this.

'How did I act that way for a woman I never saw?'

Dante furrowed his eyebrows as he was a bit confused. He never saw the current body's mother despite delving into the halls of memories. That would mean that within the hall of memories. There were some locked doors waiting to be opened.

"What happened here?!" Phaton arrived at the scene and crouched before the injured young man. He checked for the young man's vital and noticed that he was alive. This made him sigh in relief and ask once again.

"I'll ask again. What happened here?" Unlike his past words, the tone of his voice was cold. He had a serious expression plastered on his face, and even then, none of the recruits answered.

Dante sighed to himself as he stepped forward and stated to the training officer.

"It was me who punched the living out of the bastard, captain." His words were clear and concise. They were direct to the point, and from the looks of it, no regrets could be seen through his eyes.

"So it was you." Phaton stood up and walked towards Dante. He stood before the young Astarte and expressed. "For what reasons did you violently attack your comrade."

Dante looked at the captain and calmly replied. "For reasons you can never understand. But if you do want to know, you can ask them for your answers."

"At the very least, they would come from an unfiltered witness." Dante didn't know what he was talking about. This unhinged arrogance came out of nowhere.

The confidence, pride, and slyness were something he never thought he would feel. Was this the persona of the past owner of the body seeping through him?

"My comrades, what do you think to happen to him?" Dante asked towards the group of recruits who were previously mocking him. Their body flinched upon hearing his words, as they never thought the fat man would be extremely violent.

"He- He mocked the n-name Astarte a-and insulted the wife of the head of i-infidelity." One of them answered with a shaky voice as the others nodded in agreement.

They had to avoid being dragged along the problem, so they had to throw away their supposedly comrade in order to save themselves.

"T-this…" Phaton raised his eyebrows as a complicated problem had emerged before him. He thought that it would be interesting to have problem children. But he never thought of the problematic things they could do.

The first path was punishing Dante for excessive violence against a fellow recruit, but this would result in him downplaying the insult. If the higher-ups heard of this, the problems that would emerge throughout his life would be astronomical.

The second path was not punishing Dante for the excessively violent response. This would throw his reputation down the drain, making him seem like the dog of the third son. This kind of situation was something he had never walked through.

Fortunately for the captain, Dante brought a third path for him.

"I'll accept any punishment given to me after the marathon test. I'll accept the responsibility of excessive violence." Dante lightly bowed toward captain Phaton.

Phaton looked at Dante with a scrutinizing gaze. Seconds later, he answered. "The two of you will be held accountable for the things you have done."

"You two will be sent to the guidance."

"Bring him to the infirmary, and you, continue on."

"You will be debriefed afterward."

Phaton ordered the group of recruits to drag the injured young man to the infirmary. Meanwhile, Dante would be sent to the military guidance office after the marathon test.

Outside of the commotion, other recruits were wondering what had happened. They noticed a figure on the floor with an excessively bleeding face, and they wondered if an accident had happened.

Despite the punches echoing throughout the training ground, it was unnoticeable compared to their voices and the background noises. The training regiment was also spread out a bit far away from each other and already began forming groups.

Ruby and Gremar, who considered themselves rivals, turned their gaze toward the commotion. Ruby furrowed her eyebrows while Gremar raised his.

"What happened over there?" Ruby questioned as Gremar shook his head and replied. "Don't know, an accident, maybe."

"And the kind of accident that would destroy that guy's face would be?" Ruby said as she lifted an eyebrow wanting to question Gremar about an accident that could do such a thing.

"We are in the middle of flat ground. Either that guy fell into the ground and smashed his face on a rock, or someone in that group beat him senseless." Gremar explained while surveying the commotion.

"Other than that, I'll beat you in this race," Gremar smirked while looking at Ruby.

Ruby slyly smiled after hearing Gremar and replied. ." You think you can defeat me in terms of speed. I'll get that Arcana before you could even think of getting it."

The rivalry between the two was still ongoing, and captain Phaton left the commotion and stood before the front of the training regiment.

"An abrupt accident struck our students. In the meantime, they will be out of the test."

"Now, since all of you have already prepared."

"It is time for the marathon test to start."

Phaton stated in front of them as he turned his gaze upwards to the sky. The recruits followed suit, wondering why their training officer was looking upward.

It was then a flying warship emerged out of nowhere.

The flying warship was the platform where Phaton would observe the marathon test.

He looked at them and announced with a cunning smile.

"I will be explaining the routes you would pass in the 100-kilometer marathon."