The sounds of birds chirping invited light winds and sunlight all around the estate. Small ponytails stared blankly at the boy sleeping soundly at the burst of morning.
"Why isn't he awake yet?" curious hands reached for a small chin.
Bubbles came from Keita as he snored, rhythmic–then a pop.
"I should report to papa," Sofia said before dashing out.
"Hey! No running in the halls," an annoyed Anya shouted while cleaning up a trail of dust left behind.
Keita woke up to the shout of Anya's voice. His body no longer felt stiff and all the pains were gone. For once, he felt refreshed and energized. He took one last yawn and stretched before standing up to embrace the ray of light from the window.
"My body feels… light," his fists clenched before falling back to his side. "Not light enough for that manic training," he let out a visible sigh.
Keita stepped beyond the door for the first time, dressed in nice fabric.
His nose twitched as he entered the halls, greeted by a strong scent of sweet herbs. He walked past doors, confused as to how anyone remembers these looping hallways.
"I've been walking for ages," the unfamiliar corridors felt nauseating.
He came to a stop, a dead end. His only choice was to turn around.
"Oi kid!" a voice coming from the end of the hallway.
"Huh… Who's there? " Keita's head snapped around. "Is that Master Jin?"
He was confused as to why the wall was speaking to him.
"...Oi Kid!" the wall said once more, irritated.
A muscular hand appeared and pulled Keita through the walls. A Scream left his body as he clutched his face, speeding into the wall.
He felt as if he had passed through water.
"Huh…" his eyes opened as his body dangled by the collar.
Jin dropped Keita on the floor before letting out a heavy sigh.
"You failed, kid," he said.
Keita responded, "What do you mean Master Jin?"
"That just now was a test of how you respond in unfamiliar territories," his arms folded. "How could you fail to realize you've walked past the same hallway fifteen times?" He buried his face in his palm.
"Did the fifteen family portraits not seem weird to you?"
"And besides that if you had inspected the wall a bit closer you would've realized that it wasn't real."
"I am sorry, Master Jin." Keita lowered his head in shame.
"It's fine, kid", Jin continued, "I was testing you to see if you had any talent."
Keita stared blankly at Jin before his head locked onto something. There he saw plates arranged in a circle on the table with all sorts of food.
"Kid… there's nothing for you here," Jin said, pointing a finger behind his back to the yard while biting on a large chunk of meat. "Make do with what's outside," he continued.
"...but," a salivating Keita said.
"You gotta prove to me that you're worth feeding first," Jin interjected.
A sullen Keita trodden outside like all light has left his life.
"Two hundred and fifty… two hundred and fifty… two hundred and fifty," he repeated as he began a light jog.
He ran past gardens lined with rows of beautiful flowers, trees filled with fruits of all sorts along the outskirts of the estate. Butterflies, colorful birds and other wild animals moved with vigor and freedom.
"Our farm back home doesn't compare to this," he thought to himself.
His feet hit the grass in a rhythmic thud-thud-thud. For the first few laps, he relished the scenery of the surroundings. The lightness he had felt when he woke up stayed with him.
"How long have I been going?" his pace slowed.
The beauty of the estate quickly turned sour. The colorful birds were too loud, the sun was too bright, and the scent of the flowers was being drowned out by his own heavy breathing. The light jogging has turned into a desperate shuffle.
"Pick up the pace!" Jin's voice drifted from the front porch, where he was lounging on a reclining chair, picking his teeth with a splinter of wood. "Even my grandma moved quicker than you… and she's dead."
Keita didn't have a breath to retort. He had just completed his thirteenth lap and his lungs felt like they were scraped by hot glass. Every time he neared the porch, he could smell the lingering scent of the honey glazed meat he had been denied, wafted through the air, acting like a cruel, tantalizing torture.
"Who… set… the difficulty… to this?" he wheezed, asked out of frustration, already knowing the answer.
"I'm so thirsty… but if I stop now he will add more."
Rounding a corner he saw small ponytails sticking up from behind the fountain. Sofia hid, placing a cup on the wall before dashing off.
Keita looked around to see Jin leaning back with a book covering his face as if he fell asleep.
"How not to Kill your Students?"
"What… huhhhh!" He looked in disbelief.
"Forget that… this is my chance," running towards the cup, he carefully snatched it up.
In a single gulp, he drank its contents before putting the cup back down—never stopping.
"Forever I shall serve you, Sofia." A faint holy aura shrouded him as he clasped his hands.
However the relief was short felt.
By the forty-ninth lap, His vision narrowed as he collapsed into a patch of grass.
…
"Please forgive me…" Anya hesitated.
She held her hand out before reciting a chant.
"[Create: Water]"
A ball of water hovered over Keita's head before crashing down.
Splash.
Keita choked as he tried to lift himself off the ground.
"I was just about to finish off the Demon Lord before a sudden tidal wave washed me away," he exhaled.
"Ohh… the sleeping princess finally woke up! I'm sure whatever you were fighting in there was kicking your ass kid." Jin laughed.
Keita smirked sheepishly, scratching his head.
"Listen kid… training isn't meant to be easy," Jin continued, "your body is your foundation and if you can't control that, you can't control anything."
"You want strength?... Then stand up and keep pushing forward. True strength comes out when you're exhausted… dying. Does a mountain look grand at its peak once you've conquered it?"
Brushing off the dirt, Keita stood up. The dimming flame, now burning brightly.
"Thank you, Master!... I needed that."
Each step now filled with life, he paced himself.
"Well whatever, make it back before dinner… or eat shit" Jin threw his hands behind his head before walking off.
Gyuuuuu~
Keita stumbled. "Eighty-eight!."
GYUUUUURGLE!
He looked down to see his own stomach, roaring with fury of a thousand starving dogs, trying to digest itself.
"Urghh… soo hungry?"
A new obstacle now hindered him from continuing. Keita could no longer run straight.
His body slightly bent to one side, folding his stomach on itself as a means to satiate hunger.
But he didn't stop running.
On the far edge of the compound stood a fruit tree. Its branches bowed under the weight of Glow Pears—thick, juicy, and radiating a golden light that seemed to scream 'Eat me.'
"Please, I can't stop," Keita wheezed, his eyes narrowing with predatory focus. "But if I jump… while running…"
He calculated the trajectory.
"I only have one shot," he gritted.
He lunged. His fingers brushed the waxy skin of the pear. He overbalanced, face–planting into the dirt, but scrambled up instantly to keep motion going.
By lap ninety-five, Keita looked visibly thinner. His cheeks were starting to sink. Every time he jumped, his hands clasped at air as a sudden gust of wind blew the branch upward.
Twenty laps later, he no longer looked human. His shriveled body resembled a collection of sticks held together by spite and sweat. His skin was pale–eyes bulging. Every time he exhaled, he sounded like a whistling tea kettle.
"I… am… gonna… die," he whispered, his voice thin as paper.
His ribs were so prominent they looked like a musical instrument.
"Is that an undead?" Jin raised a brow.
Keita approached the tree again. "Please…"
He didn't have the energy to growl anymore.
With a squeak that was supposed to be a battle cry, he used the last of his energy. Keita didn't just jump; he floated, his weightless, dried-out body catching an updraft.
Snag.
His fingers locked around the stem. He shoved the pear into his mouth, juice exploding across his parched tongue like a divine blessing.
"Victory…" he mumbled through a mouthful of gold, his stick-like body slowly beginning to re-inflate.
He would pick fruits until they were too high for him to reach.
"I'm halfway done. I just have to do this again." he sighed.
"I… can't go fur–"
Splash.
Keita gasped as he woke up. Running as soon as his senses returned to him.
…
Splash.
He ran until it hurt. But still, he ran.
Over and over he would pass out and Anya would revive him.
Finally, a few steps away from his two hundred and fiftieth lap.
Blinking dots slowly filled the sky as it went from orange to purple.
The boy's consciousness long gone, but he kept going. All the exhaustion caught up to him as he fell over.
Thud.
"Good job kid," Jin said, catching Keita on his back.
Just like the setting sun, Keita was done for the day.