The rune energy here follows the mechanic of water which means...
Drip!
Tring! Tring!
Simultaneously, the bead of sweat falls and the alarm rings.
His eyes snapped open and stared blankly, and sometime later, he shook his head regretfully.
"Time sure flies fast."
Getting up, he shut down the alarm and went to refresh himself, since this exercise mentally drained him, leaving him only with sweat and a hurdle of obstacles he had yet to figure out.
...
The flowing water cascaded through his body to the ground, and it appeared that his thoughts were still somewhere else.
"I'm missing something!"
Muttering under his breath, he completed the bath and dressed himself for the upcoming training.
With a refreshed mind, he sat down on the bed and calmly inhaled and exhaled.
On the other hand, time continued to tick and pass with every moment.
"Now, I'm feeling energetic!"
Stretching his body, he got up and moved toward the door before taking the key which lay under the pillow.
Clink!
The door faltered and he locked it before moving toward his targets.
...
Sword Training Center
Taking a deep breath to calm down his turbulent heart, he strode into the building.
Hushh!
The sound of tearing air reached his ears and many peers of his age, with swords in their hands, were already training and sweating.
Retracting his gaze, he marked his attendance at the entrance and entered the hall.
"Good evening, Sir."
With a low whisper, he greeted the teacher before moving back to his position.
Retracting a step back, he lunged forward with the sword.
Hush!
"First time!"
A low whisper entered his ear.
Giving a light glance, Sam nodded and returned to his previous task.
"Isn't it the formal step which was already taught in matriculation time?"
The thought rose in his mind, but squeezing out all doubt, he continued the task until half an hour had passed.
Sweat had already buckled up on his forehead, while his fingers were slowly trembling and the calves of his legs were also ready to give out anytime. But somehow he managed to hold on, while half of them had already failed and were resting on the side table.
"I understand why they are doing this."
Continuously repeating the same task bores or tires one out quickly, and this exercise is meant to increase endurance. The result was already shown before him—why it's necessary to build up the body before entering any battle, because you can't always sustain in battle using only skill, so having the endurance to use basic skills without tiring out is crucial.
Time soon passed and this time only 10 peers along with him were left in the hall, mindlessly repeating the same task.
"Only 10 minutes more passed and 15 peers backed down..."
Drip!
The tirelessly falling sweat had already formed a small river on the ground, as if someone had peed on it.
Nghh!
Trying every effort to breathe using his nose—since using his mouth would increase the respiration process and would wear out residual energy more quickly.
Realizing the other side of the dream, he sighed.
"I'm only able to hold due to my will and the hell I spent in my dream!"
Time continued to pass, and only the ticking of the clock reverberated in the hall as the sound of swords tearing the air was diminishing with time.
"My body! Feeling weak! Can't bear!"
"My vision... blacking out!"
Thud!
Worn out, Sam slumped to the ground with the sword in his hand, tightly clutching it, unwilling to let go.
The instructor gave responsibility to the resting peers to handle the slumped Sam.
"Wake him up!"
"Yes, Sir!"
...
The eyelids quivered and his vision was restored.
Sitting on the table in a dazed manner, he groaned.
"Ahh! My body is tearing apart!"
Getting the gist of the matter, he couldn't help but let the words escape his mouth.
"What happened to me?"
"Don't you remember?"
Massaging his temple, he frowned.
"Did someth—"
His eyes widened and he stared with wide open eyes.
"In the end, I failed?"
Every peer of his age stared at him incredulously with wide open eyes.
"Do you even understand what you're talking about? We spent weeks to reach this goal, and today's just your first day and you…!"
Sam gave them a bitter smile as he realized that they didn't know his situation or they would sneer at him.
Clenching his fist, his eyes grew firm.
"No, I can't compare to this boy!"
Resolving his goal, he picked up an energy juice and gulped it down in one go, since his throat was begging him to wet his mouth.
"I've a long way to go."
Tik!
His eyes unconsciously went to the hanging clock and he regretfully shook his head.
"One and a half hours passed."
"Okay! Your training period is completed and tomorrow the result will be known."
Panting, all the trainees wiped their sweat and strode to hang the wooden swords on the sword-stand.
"Result? What's that?"
Sam's face unconsciously shrunk.
"Today was a test for reshuffling to the second floor, and passing this hurdle is the minimum threshold."
"That means I should have been admitted a week ago..."
The voice unconsciously escaped his mouth, since he didn't know when the next test would be held.
Thump!
The other peers patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry. This test is held every month."
He nodded his head half-mindedly, since he himself knew what he missed, and he also didn't have much time to spend, but soon he shook his head.
"I should focus on squeezing all the endurance and stamina out of my body."