The instant the bands were activated, a low hum filled the courtyard and then came the crushing weight.
Thud. Thud.
Several students grunted at once as their bodies dipped under the doubled gravity. A few staggered sideways, arms flailing to keep balance. Some nearly buckled outright, their knees trembling as though the ground itself sought to drag them beneath the stone.
"Ugh, what the hell?!" a student gasped, hunched forward.
Another clenched her jaw, fighting to stay upright. "I can't… even breathe properly!"
The sound of heavy breathing and boots scraping against stone spread like wildfire.
Darius was no exception. His teeth ground together as every muscle screamed under the sudden shift in weight. 'Shit… my body feels so fucking heavy.' His chest heaved as he forced his legs to lock in place. The weight pressed on him, but he endured better than most of the other students. Turning around slightly, he surveyed the others, there were so many students bent, trembling and struggling to stand.
A smirk crept across his sweat-streaked face. 'Hah. Pathetic. Can't even handle this much?'
But then his gaze found Ceyric.
Unlike the others, Ceyric stood with surprising resilience. He Whole body was tense, yes, but nowhere near collapse unlike other students. His stance was solid. Darius' smirk soured and twisting into a frown. "Tch," he hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Guess all that brawling actually came in handy after all."
What burned him more was Leo.
When his eyes found him, his face darkened instantly. Leo just stood tall with his arms crossed. Not even a bead of sweat on his face and not a crease of effort. He didn't even look like he noticed the added gravity. His gaze was cool, detached and almost bored.
And as if mocking him, Leo's eyes flicked toward Darius, unimpressed with a small smirk tugging at his lips.
Darius' throat tightened, jaw locking in anger at the truth. Leo was handling it better than him. He snapped his head forward to ignore it and then froze.
"What the…? Why… why the hell is that defect not on the floor?!"
Because there stood Riven.
The moment the bands had activated, he had felt it the pull, the drag, his body immediately became harder to operate, he was straining not to cave beneath the crushing weight. For a moment, his knees nearly gave way. Yet, as he steadied himself and found his bearings, he realized… this wasn't new.
He looked around at the others who were struggling to stay upright, groaning and even gasping for air, then back to the ground beneath him.
'Ahh… this weight… it isn't so difficult is it?.'
He had lived broken, weak, discarded and as a defect his whole life and the last few days of his life had been nothing but a fight to stay standing when his body wanted to collapse due to fatigue and all the accumulated injuries. Compared to that, this was almost nothing.
Behind him, Kevan shook slightly with sweat dripping from his brow. His body trembled in intervals, but he held strong.
"This…" Kevan chuckled weakly, forcing the words between breaths, "this isn't comfortable… at all!"
In front, Lynn turned her head, her eyes widening when she caught sight of Riven. She blinked rapidly, stunned. He looked… fine, no strain or shaking. If anything, he looked calm.
"You're… you're not even struggling?" she whispered in disbelief.
Kevan's head jerked up at that, his eyes widening. "Wait… you're kidding me?!"
'Riven's fine?! How?!'
Riven chuckled under his breath, folding his arms with a little effort. "Oh, that? Yeah. I was saving it for later. Wanted it to be a surprise to you both but..."
"What…?" Lynn stammered, her voice catching in her throat as her eyes locked with him in realization. "You—you've awakened…?"
A faint smile ghosted across Riven's lips. He gave the smallest of nods. "Yeah."
Kevan blinked once, twice then burst into laughter. "Pfft Hah! Well, damn! And here I thought I'd at least have someone to groan with. Guess I'll suffer alone!"
Both Lynn and Riven sweatdropped at his ridiculousness, exchanging a silent look before shaking their heads.
From across the courtyard, Leo's eyes narrowed as one brow arched. His gaze lingered on the three. Riven looked almost unburdened save for the sluggishness in his movements, the girl was in disbelief at the fact that the school's defect was now an awakened, 'Now how'd he manage that I wonder' Kevan was laughing like a fool, Leo ignored them after that before turning back to the instructors.
The instructors stood silently and watchful. This was all part of the assessment.
Already, six students had collapsed, sprawled on the stone, groaning in pain. The instructors didn't even flinch as the weight had increased again to three times normal gravity. Groans erupted across the line. More than a dozen teetered on collapse, legs quaking violently.
Arven sighed, his voice sharp with disappointment. "Pathetic. So many of you already folding under the smallest increase. Disgraceful."
His gaze swept the field then stopped on Riven. The boy spoke easily with Lynn and Kevan, only slightly strained even with the added weight.
For a moment, recognition flickered across Arven's face. 'So… his body can handle this much even after trippling the gravity. Just like before his awakening. While the others… these children have grown soft. They've forgotten what it meant to endure before power cushioned them. At this rate, they won't last a breath against a Deviant.'
The collapsed students were dragged aside by assistants. For them, the second trial had already ended.
Then Corrin stepped forward, his voice raised, clear and commanding.
"You will start with the stamina test. A run. Two miles."
A ripple of groans and disbelief spread through the crowd.
"Two miles?! With this weight?!"
"That's impossible!"
Corrin's eyes snapped toward the complainers, cold and sharp. "If you cannot withstand this much, then how do you ever expect to reach Astralis Vanguard Academy? Strength without endurance is worthless."
The courtyard fell silent.
Then Leyra's voice followed, crisp and commanding. "Enough chit-chat. Move."
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