Monster

The physical evaluation began shortly. Apprentice Tarrokov began with basic stamina evaluation. Stamina was not only the foundation of Martial Art but all physically intensive activities. He gathered up all the freshmen and assigned them to a treadmill and had them all begin simultaneously at an identical speed. The freshmen were even provided with potions at the start to eliminate the variable of fatigue from travel and other preparation for the Martial Academy's first day.

Rui tried minimize his movements and energy expenditure while inhaling and exhaling at measure intervals, maintaining a constant but low consumption of energy allowed one to last longer than a higher consumption of energy, this also minimized the build-up and accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles which was the cause of muscle pain and soreness that one experienced from over-stressing.

Behind each freshman was an evaluator that made notes, carefully observing and scrutinizing the freshmen they were assigned to. The data they provided would impact the freshmen significantly so they were very careful about their documentation.

In ninety minutes, most of the freshmen had stepped off due to overwhelming exhaustion. The pace of the treadmill was not low, it was set at a medium jogging pace. Soon enough Rui followed suit, laying flat on the ground, drenched in sweat. Kane followed as well, thirteen minutes later.

It couldn't be helped. They were thirteen. The biggest difference between eighteen and thirteen-year-olds olds was stamina. Kane compensated for it with training and growth resources, while Rui had compensated for it with for a lifetime of training with cutting-edge research on stamina-building. Rui's performative attributes were hindered initially because of mismatched muscle memories which took him a long time to overcome, his physical attributes were well above average.

"Huff... huff..." They panted as they were provided with stamina potions, which they immediately inhaled.

"Phew..." Rui stretched his invigorated limbs. "It never fails to amaze me how useful this is both to us and the evaluaters, now we can move on to the performative stage immediately."

Kane nodded, before shrugging. "Well, not immediately. There's still those four."

It had been a while since both of them dropped off, many had followed suit after them. But there were still four students who were going.

"Nel and Fae are too be expected..." Kane continued. "Milliana is also pretty unsurprising." He said, pointing at the blue-haired girl they'd met earlier.

Rui had recognized her from the second round of the Entrance Exam, but he'd forgotten her name.

"You know her?" He asked Kane.

"Sure, she's the daughter of a Martial Master. She's pretty good." Kane replied.

"Hmmm..."

"Dalen is pretty good too." He gestured towards the fourth freshman, another top-ten ranker that Rui vaguely recognized.

Rui turned to Kane with a hint of dismay.

"...What?" Kane retorted.

"How do you know all of the top rankers from the Exam personally?"

"Through our parents. We generally accompany our parents who are part of this community-ish group. Occasionally we spar. I don't know those two as well as I do Fae, though. Sage Dullahan and my father are extremely close."

"I see..." Rui sighed helplessly. This was the power of connections. Just being the child of a Martial Sage meant Rui would regularly run into bigshots and titans of the Martial World.

('Then again, his dad is among the biggest of bigshots, maybe Kane even views them as bootlickers." Rui mused.

Just then, he'd noticed both Fae and Dalen had gotten off too.

"Damn, Fae actually didn't last as long as Nel and Milliana, huh?"

Kane nodded. "It makes sense. Her Martial Art focuses on relentless powerful offense, designed to pummel her opponent down as quickly as possible. It's not a Martial Art that is conducive to stamina..."

"She's probably not as accustomed to maintaining a low output of energy over longer periods of time due to that." Rui agreed.

"Yeah, on the other hand, Milliana's also a Martial Apprentice. But her Martial Art is stamina oriented. She drags and prolongs the battle immensely. Her stamina is incredible, the longer the battle goes, the more her opponent is at a disadvantage." Kane explained.

"Interesting..." Rui's eyes glinted with curiosity and excitement. "I wonder how she'll do against Fae in the next stage."

"Who knows." Kane shrugged.

"It's a matter of compatibility. She did better than Fae here because this test is centered around evaluation. She'll most certainly do worser than Fae when we reach the performative stage based on their performances, and what you told me." Rui analyzed engrossed in the matter. His background helped him in this matter. He continued.

"Based on this, it can be hypothesized that Milliana has a low quick-twitch to slow-twitch muscle fiber ratio whereas Fae likely has a high quick-twitch to slow-twitch muscle fiber ratio, that would certainly explain the differences in their metabolisms which wou-"

"Dude." Kane stared at him with confused expression. "What are you even talking about?"

That broke Rui out of his reverie. "Ahhh, well, you see, it's just some some random thoughts that hit me." He fumbled, scratching his head.

('Damn I lost awareness of my surroundings thinking about this.') He had a hard time controlling his curiosity and attention. They were fueled by his immense love and passion for Martial Art, and the flames just grew stronger feeding on any topic they could find, this topic was one such thing.

"You really are a weirdo." Kane commented, before turning back to them.

"Haha..." Rui laughed awkwardly.

Time went on as they bantered and chit-chatted for quite some time after. Until finally, one of the two remaining freshmen jumped off, collapsing to her knees.

"Huff... Huff..." Milliana turned back, looking at Nel. She couldn't see even a hint of exhaustion on his face. Here she was, a specialist dedicated to stamina, exhausted to the point of visual disoreintation, and this boy was running like it was nothing.

Unfathomable!

"You monster...!" A hint of shock coloured her otherwise impassive expression and reserved demeanor.