The Elemental Relics

The teenagers on the ground groaning from pain made Ali hesitant to proceed further. When he was told he was getting combat training, the teenager expected a sparring partner with supervision. Even performing drills on practice dummies would have suited him. The sight of earth golems brutally punching, kicking or even stomping the participants froze him at the door.

“Get in here, kid!”

The man was slightly shorter than him but he was built like a golem. Upon close inspection, Ali was almost certain the earth golems were modeled after the man who had a bald head. The only thing that didn’t carry over was his big beard which reached his chest. Ali walked slowly towards the man, careful to not step on any of the other participants.

“Rules are easy! A circle is marked on the ground. Stay within that circle and either defeat the golem or last until the golem duration expires. Do so and you get a prize. Fail to do so and…”

I will be groaning in pain like the others.

Ali’s first impression of the challenge was very negative. He saw the golems move faster than what humans were capable of and they didn’t hold back any punches. While HP regen could heal any broken bones or ruptured organs, the teenager wasn’t sure if he had the pain tolerance to not black out from those injuries. Sadly, this class was also mandatory so he accepted the fate of being a punching bag for the golem. Ali stepped into the nearest circle and, as soon as he did so, the golem woke up.

How is this fair?

Ali dived for the ground as the golem aimed for his head immediately. Before he could get on his feet, the golem was already stomping down at him. Rolling got him away from the stomp but the golem attacked relentlessly, never giving the teenager a chance to get back on his feet. Even the grazing punches applied enough pressure to knock him backwards slightly.

<

Hit by a punch. Lost 5 HP.

Currently, you have 15/20 HP

>

When fatigue settled in, the golem finally landed a punch on Ali’s shoulder. The teenager was sent flying but, before he landed, the golem slammed him in a downward motion with both fists.

<

Hit by a slam. Lost 10 HP.

Currently, you have 5/20 HP.

>

As Ali writhed in pain on the ground, he felt a kick to his side.

<

Hit by a kick. Lost 4 HP.

Currently, you have 1/20 HP.

>

Ali felt himself flying through the air until he landed near another participant. Every movement caused pain so he stayed still until his HP regen did its job of healing him to full HP. However, he tried getting up afterwards but his muscles refused to comply. A few attempts later, he wondered if his HP regen didn’t work. The instructor then stood over him.

“You might have noticed that, despite being full HP, you cannot get up. HP regen heals your HP and that’s it. Your stamina is something entirely different. If you can drain your opponent’s stamina, then they are at your mercy as even lifting a finger is difficult. I hope you learned your lesson today.”

“Yes,” Ali forced out the response. “What…do…I….refer you by?”

“You can call me Caelan!”

Ali tried multiple times but his body simply gave out on him. Seeing this, he knew that he needed to train even harder. His definition of doing well wasn’t good enough. If actual combat was more grueling than this, he had to step up his game. The fact that this was part of D rank combat training proved that he wasn't ready for C rank yet. For the time being, he couldn’t recover his stamina to step back into a circle again so he rested on the ground like most of everyone else. There were a few individuals who challenged the golems and were finding far more success.

I’ll be sure to last longer next time. Eventually, I’ll win against a golem too.

The walk to the cafeteria was very unpleasant. Ali, like the others, had to lean against the walls to ensure they didn’t fall over. The teenager felt like he just finished the most grueling endurance training when he joined Belen in the cafeteria.

“You look horrible! Are you taking part in combat training with Caelan?”

Ali nodded his head as he shakily put food into his mouth. He listened to Belen describe the unfair training exercise he just went through before she spoke of her special combat training that didn’t come close to being as grueling. At that, Ali perked his ears to hear what the girl had to say.

“My combat training involves my summonee. We train together so we can be more in tune and better understand one another. Why don’t you join us and avoid being punching bags of golems? Joining my class only has the requirement of possessing a summoner ability.”

Having stopped eating, Ali processed the idea through his mind. The idea of escaping his current combat training was a very alluring offer.

Tian, can we do the same training as Belen in the summoner realm?

Yes, we can work on that whenever you’re asleep and it won’t impact your sleep at all.

“I’ll have to turn it down,” said Ali. “I think the gruesome combat training will get me to S rank faster.”

Ali meant what he said too. By doing Caelan’s combat training during the day and working with Tian at night, he could effectively increase the amount of training he did each day. Therefore, there was a real possibility of him catching up to Belen who had several months worth of head start compared to him.

“Suit yourself! Don’t come and cry to me when it gets too hard!”

Ali told her to not worry about it but, following the painful walk back to his room, the teenager began having doubts.

Get to sleep so we can train, Ali!

The excitement from the air serpent made Ali smile. His companion reminded him about the important things in life like getting ridiculously strong.