After packing all their luggage, they made sure there was no trash left in the area since they didn't want to destroy the environment.
Alea then took out glasses from her pocket and handed them to Theo. The glasses had a rectangular shape with a red frame which would look good on Alea but weird on Theo.
Either way, Theo didn't care about his appearance, so he took the glasses from her and put them on. The frame seemed to be adjusting its size to match Theo's head. Even when he shook his head, the glasses didn't fly away, so it would be fine even if he used his full speed when running back.
Surprisingly, the dark world which lowered his vision range to only ten feet in front of him had brightened to the point he had no problem in seeing somewhere around fifty to sixty feet in front of him.
"This is…" Theo drew a gasp. The scenery he looked at was certainly not like when the sun was up. It was filled with blue light from the moon. Yet, it was bright enough to find anything he needed.
"It's good, isn't it?" Alea smirked.
"Yeah. As expected from a rich young lady… Should I grab your thigh right now?" Theo threw a joke with a poker face.
Alea surprisingly didn't answer him as she looked at Theo with eyes wide open, wondering if she heard it right.
Glancing over her, he frowned. "What?"
"No. I'm just surprised that you can joke."
Theo's eyebrows twitched as he really wanted to hit this girl for thinking of him as someone who couldn't even talk properly. "Is that a problem?"
"No, I am just glad you can do something like that. After all, it means you trust me a bit, right?"
"…" Theo turned around, added another minus on the point, and started running to their camp. "I was wrong. I shouldn't do it since you would make fun of me."
"Wait! I didn't mean to. Wait for me. I apologize okay? Theo! Sorry!" She hurriedly chased Theo, trying to talk it out during the journey. Although it was annoying to have someone's voice echoing in your ears continuously, the journey, at least, wasn't that boring because of it.
…
The next day, Major Sam had gathered them in the middle area. Unlike the previous day, Theo could find a bracelet on the side.
"We have measured your strength, stamina, and other things during the first week. For this entire week, you're going to wear this weight all the time, including sleep. This is where the real training starts, so come to me if you feel like quitting." Major Sam shrugged. "We will be calling your name. The people with the name start from A to D follow me. I will be handing the weight."
Most of them wanted to complain since the training was already hard enough. Yet, it would become even harder from this point on. Some of them already had a thought of giving up because they couldn't find a need to get some extra points by working this ward.
After all, it was just a matter of a few levels. It would be easier for them to get levels instead of training like this.
Theo, on the other hand, was amazed because his master truly predicted it. He should be asking about the training again to his master to know what kind of training he needed to endure next.
Either way, he followed the person who seemed to be handling him. It was the bald soldier that questioned Major Sam a week ago.
"This is your weight. You need to wear it all the time. Don't worry. It's waterproof, so you can wear it when you take a bath in the river during the night." The bald soldier smiled and handed four bracelets to him.
"I understand. Thank you very much." Theo nodded. But as soon as he grabbed those bracelets, he stumbled to the ground and dropped the bracelets. "Eh?"
"Ah, you need to be careful. They are heavy, you know."
'What the heck?' Theo screamed inwardly as he looked at the bald soldier with a shocked expression. "May I know their weight?"
"Haha. Major Sam seemed to like you, so he watched your performance more than anyone else. He ordered the headquarters to give you 40 pounds each. Don't worry. It's possible with your physique." He smirked and patted his shoulder.
'Seriously?' Theo just got the fright of his life. His weight alone couldn't even be compared to these weights, and they wanted him to wear this? Although his body seemed to be more powerful than normal humans, it would surely take a toll on him. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't rant at all and accepted it with a smile. "Ah, I see. Thank you. I'm just wondering whether I can do this or not. Ahaha."
"Don't worry, Young Man. I have confidence in you." The bald man suddenly got closer and whispered. "It seems that the Major has prepared body armor for next week. The weight is around 100 pounds."
"…" Theo facepalmed and quickly took the bracelets with him, leaving the place as he didn't want to think about it. Although he'd realized how dangerous it was to get into someone superior's radar due to Alea, he never expected Major Sam to favor him like this.
He recalled the first time he met Major Sam during the first run. It must be where he entered him.
'I truly have no luck with this.' Theo sighed and reluctantly put on the bracelets. One in each leg and hand.
He then tried to move his body around to see the difference. As expected, it reduced his ability for about half and he would become tired faster. The situation was truly dangerous to him.
After everyone got their portion, the training started with the same schedule. The first was running. As one would expect, the training became harder and harder.
The dense forest became harder to dodge because their feet refused to move, the gentle slope turned into a dangerous zone because the weight pulled them down faster than their body normally reacted, the sprint exhausted their stamina, their feet sunk even deeper in the swamp area, and their body refused to climb the steep hill.
It was a disaster for most people, making them wish to drop out of this training. However, Theo kept his belief, and since he already had gotten the strongest partner, there was no way he would throw this chance.
And another disaster occurred on the other side where the principal was going to meet the one in charge of all this training.