Chapter 84

In the monotonous life of studying at the church academy, it was indeed quite amusing to see the newly arrived young students lying on the ground, crying and wailing from exhaustion. So even if the old knight Sir Cel was there, they still mustered the courage to try and see if they could get a glimpse of the commotion.

Sir Cel snorted, bent down, and dug up a clod of earth with grass from the square's lawn, and threw it at the few students who were hoping to watch the spectacle from the side.

The clod of earth was soft, with tender grass growing on it. All the young students thought Sir Cel was just making a gesture; such a clod of earth couldn't possibly be thrown far, and even if someone had extraordinary arm strength, the clod's soft texture would cause it to crumble in mid-air.

But what happened next stunned all the young students.

The clod of earth, thrown out, was as hard as a crossbow bolt. It didn't crumble in mid-air as expected, but instead whistled through the air, heading straight for the few older students. These older students were hiding behind a tree, peering out, and didn't expect Sir Cel to be so unrelenting, throwing the clod directly at them. Before they could react, the clod hit the tree trunk where they were hiding.

A dull thud echoed, and Jiang Junming was somewhat taken aback. Was that a clod of earth? If he only heard the sound, it would have seemed like an iron hammer striking the tree trunk, producing a dull noise.

The tree trunk, struck with great force, shook violently. The treetop rustled, branches trembled, and leaves fell like a green rain. The birds and insects in the forest were startled and flew away in a panic. The scene was chaotic, and it was hard to imagine all this without seeing Sir Cel throw the clod of earth.

The few older male students were frozen in shock behind the tree, covered in green leaves, looking rather comical.

"Scram!" Sir Cel growled. His voice was authoritative, like a beast in the Magic Beast Mountains declaring its territory, allowing no infringement.

Only then did the older male students come to their senses and ran away in a disheveled manner. After a few steps, one of them stumbled and fell to the ground. The other male students didn't even dare to turn back to help him, focusing solely on running as far away as possible. The fallen student, also terrified, didn't bother to stand up but crawled away on all fours.

Seeing the surrounding students disperse, Sir Cel turned to look at the young students, who were stunned into silence. Jiang Junming's sensory abilities had been enhanced by the light brain, giving him much better vision than the others. While others couldn't see and assumed the clod of earth had shattered upon impact with the tree trunk, Jiang Junming clearly saw that the clod remained intact, embedded deeply into the tree trunk like a stone... no, like a crossbow bolt.

How much strength did that require? Not just physical strength, but the clod of earth was soft, which he had seen Sir Cel dig up from the lawn. If it were him, he wouldn't even be able to throw it that far, let alone keep it intact. Sir Cel treated the soft clod of earth like a crossbow bolt, even more precise and sturdy. Looking at the clod embedded in the tree trunk, with the grass still swaying in the wind, Jiang Junming exhaled, realizing how powerful Sir Cel truly was.

"Alright, brats, I hope you don't cry so much after the physical training that even your families won't recognize you," Sir Cel said loudly.

How brutal was this physical training that Sir Cel was so certain someone would cry? Jiang Junming pondered. His muscle fibers had been enhanced by the light brain, giving him both explosive power and endurance. Physical training shouldn't be a problem for him, right? Despite this thought, he still felt a bit uneasy, as his endurance hadn't been tested. Sir Cel's stern words also made him wonder what methods would be used for training.

The young students, hearing Sir Cel's words, began to discuss and speculate nervously about what methods Sir Cel would use for training.

"The task is simple," Sir Cel stood like a spear, seemingly impervious to anything, his voice steady and resolute. "Run thirty laps around the square, and after every three laps, cast a divine spell. Those who can't run or can't cast a spell will fail and face punishment."

As soon as he finished speaking, the low murmur of discussion erupted into a loud buzz. Jiang Junming was also taken aback. He looked at the square, estimating that one lap was at least 800 meters. Thirty laps would be 24,000 meters. Few could endure such a distance. Jiang Junming had been somewhat confident, given his enhanced muscle fibers, but 24,000 meters, with a spell to cast every three laps, was daunting. Faced with such a strict and even harsh training regimen, Jiang Junming began to feel uneasy, unsure if he could make it through.

This was to ensure that both priests and holy knights could maintain their combat endurance and still cast divine spells, Jiang Junming understood the purpose of the physical training at the church academy. Clearly, the division into the priest and knight streams after enrollment was not to make priests weak and unable to fight, nor to make knights mere melee fighters. In battle, knights also needed the support of divine spells.

Dwight looked excited, smirking at the priest stream students and taunting Jiang Junming, "Some of you are in for a rough time. Running thirty laps around the square, will you be so exhausted that you stick out your tongues?"

Although Dwight was looking at Jiang Junming, most of the priest stream students looked grim. These polite and refined young priests looked at the square with difficulty, and some were already feeling weak before they even started. Little Price looked at the square with concern and asked Jiang Junming in a low voice, "Junming, can you make it?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I can. I just don't know if I'll have the strength to cast a spell after running," Jiang Junming replied.

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Thank you everyone

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