Chapter 17 - Endurance

Raiden tasted the familiar flavor of soil on his tongue, his white hair was sullied and his face bloodied, if only slightly.

Anwir had only hit him a single time, and yet his body ached worse than it had after the hour of sparring he’d had with Dilbert a few days ago.

His new teacher insisted that Raiden needed combat experience with a stronger foe since he’d likely been the most powerful among fellow students. Unfortunately, that stronger opponent was going to be said teacher, who Raiden could barely perceive when he moved. The professors that were teaching them were unreasonably strong, Raiden had seen the massive terra walls raise out of the ground in the distance. The veritable lakes that Loire Castillon had summoned when instructing her students. A raging inferno that Alex was attempting to dodge in the distance, and also the lightning-fast speed of his current mentor.

Such power was unimaginable for the students, and yet they would learn to fight it regardless. All twelve were limited strictly to body enhancement, of which Raiden was slowly; albeit surely, learning. He’d finished practicing imbuing his arms with lightning matter on Wednesday and soon continued to practice not only his feet, but his entire legs.

Dilbert was slightly behind, not having the same talents to channel into his matter-wielding that Raiden did. While Raiden was at a stage where he briefly understood the way that matter enveloped and flowed through his legs, he hadn’t yet reached a level of complete efficiency, nowhere near his arms and weapons.

Raiden lifted himself off the floor, where he stared at Zakari standing still. Dust didn’t cloud around the man, only Raiden’s trajectory across the sandy field. The massive arena was separated into five parts, and the division for water matter was populated by several students at a time, most showing themselves for medical treatment with Loire’s excellent capabilities.

His limbs were sore and his hair stood up from the static, it was similar to the day lightning struck Dalia, the day his father died.

Black lightning flashed around Raiden, small sparks continuing to envelop his being. While Raiden was fast, lightning imbued into his arms, legs, and two wooden daggers, he didn’t compare to Zakari.

As soon as he was standing properly, and back into his stance, he was immediately thrust back onto the ground. Raiden wasn’t so much as given a chance to strike, the man moved much faster than Adam, let alone himself. He attempted to pick himself back up and off the ground, but was slammed even harder into the sandy floor this time.

“Get up.” Anwir added, sternly and with no patience in his voice.

Raising himself off the floor, small cuts and bruises lined his body, his face was bloodied and his eyes swollen.

*ThWack!*

This pattern continued for a while longer, Raiden making attempts to move out of the way but only being bullied further. He knew the injuries were temporary, easily healed by the water professor who found herself only a small distance away, but that didn’t make them hurt any less.

...

“Again,” Anwir said, provoking Raiden once more. The boy tried to look at his professor, swollen eyes and small injuries making the small gesture all the more difficult. In what limited peripheral vision he had, he noticed the terror-stricken face of Dilbert, who was watching Raiden’s debacle in horror.

He made an effort to lift himself off the sand, but his body wouldn’t move. The determination he had to get stronger would only carry him so far, his physical prowess still limited by time, power, and capacity for improvement. Raiden uttered inaudible words, muffled by the bloody saliva that filled his mouth.

Impressive… Anwir watched the child continue to struggle despite the constant beating he was dealing out. The kid’s endurance is respectable, his determination even more so. Wonder why he’s so resolved on getting stronger…

Blood fell down the young man’s forehead, and sand was stuck to his countless injuries. The teacher glared at his student with an apologetic sigh, Zakari wanted to know the child’s limits before they got into the fundamentals of lightning matter-wielding. He’d test the other student when he finished learning to imbue his arms, but he assumed that it would take another day or two. It wasn’t a matter of Dilbert being untalented, it was simply that Raiden was a prodigy of sorts, most Superiors were.

Zakari had struck the boy to the ground a total of 26 times, a number that none, bar a single boy, of his previous students had bested on their first lesson.

Seventeen years old, that was when Zakari had first entered Frontline as a Pathfinder; back when Frontline was accepting just about any and all who auditioned. When the Wendigo appeared, Anwir was twenty-one, and he was one of the few Pathfinders to survive the encounter. Of the thousands across the world of Coranth who were sent.

Among him during those somber years were many young Pathfinders, there were children as young as thirteen who'd been subjected to mass killings and the death of their families. It was then that Anwir decided that he’d teach future generations of Pathfinders, make sure that they wouldn’t make the mistakes that would get themselves killed.

He felt his current train of thoughts go in a dark direction, so he motioned to go pick up Raiden.

Carrying the boy to Loire, Anwir heard a surprised gasp.

“What the- What happened to the boy?” Castillon said, looking at Anwir now.

“Endurance testing,” he replied simply, not adding any details.

The water elemental looked at the man in a shaken disbelief before she took the broken boy from his arms. Gently setting him down onto the ground, water enveloped Raiden’s body, the blood on his skin and clothes melted into the pool of liquid surrounding him. The boy’s cuts slowly mended and the inflammation settled. To Anwir, this was a common occurrence, being on the field made this an unremarkable addition to his afternoon.

After the boy’s wounds were mended, it was right back to training. This time, however, he wouldn’t simply be abused for an extended period of resistance testing.

Zakari’s student’s next task would be to successfully imbue the entirety of his legs with both types of matter, a feat he didn’t expect anyone else but a Superior to be capable of achieving in such a short amount of time. The only reason he placed such ridiculous goals on the boy was because the young man always seemed to go above and beyond expectations.

The child’s comprehension of his own matter archetype was superb, but that wasn’t the extent of his abilities. Raiden’s comprehension of all five primary elements could perhaps surpass the knowledge of the one who wielded it. There were multiple occurrences where he demonstrated his affinity for elemental combat, he was unmatched among his fellow students, to say the least. And that was not only because of his being a Superior.

Anwir’s class continued in this fashion for a while longer, Raiden practicing his matter-wielding for several hours. And Dilbert struggling to comprehend his teachings, saying that they were flawed on multiple occasions.

By the time practical class was finished, Raiden had gotten to a sufficient mastery when it came to enhancing his legs with lightning matter, his speed had increased tenfold. Where he could move as fast as a professional runner beforehand by imbuing only his feet, his speed was now near inhuman.

Raiden’s ability to pivot quickly and adjust his movements for efficacy was far superior to beforehand. Professor Anwir was giving him constant valuable feedback in an effort to further his ability. The only drawback of today’s class being the ruthless beatings he received.

The class was nearly over, and his teacher had just dismissed him, so Raiden found himself walking over to sit beside the wall. He rested for no more than fifteen minutes before he heard an anxious shout from his left.

“Hey! Are you alright? Raiden?” Kai said, closing the distance between the two.

“You really took a beating out there!” Alex chimed in behind him, following Salem to Raiden’s spot.

“I’m fine, I think he was just testing my endurance, or perhaps my pain tolerance…” Raiden replied.

“Your instructor’s name was... Ansir, Anwir?” he contemplated, “Zachery Anwir, right?”

“Zakari Anwir, but close enough.” Raiden corrected, looking to Alex who prompted him with the question.

“You both want to get lunch?” Salem added to the conversation, before gesturing towards where the dorms found themselves.

“Sure, sounds good to me. I want to wash off my hair a bit though, I’ve got sand everywhere…” Raiden finished, looking at the two who chuckled and made their way towards the gate.