Penitent-Chapter 37: Run
After a brief break for food and drink, they moved on to the field that had been set up for the games. There was a massive track in a circle inside which there was a large rock wall, and a series of what looked like boulders set down in a pit. There was an archery range outside of the circle, and on the other end was what looked like an obstacle course with pounds of dirt, scaffolding, rope ladders, and a number of other structures. All six remaining teams arrived at the same time, and most of the audience was already seated.
Lance looked at them. “You all know what to do.”
They nodded, and all moved to their respective positions. Michael took his place on the track, Cohle moved toward the massive boulders, Jakub toward the archery range, Lance the large and high stone, and Leana toward the obstacle course. Their competition moved into place as well.
Michael looked at the others lining up on the track. They were mostly long and lean, runner builds, as he expected. He was a bit broader than most of them, and only one of them had a few titles and deeds based on what he could divine. They looked back at him with contempt, and one shook his head before looking back to the track.
There were no bleachers for this event, though a number of seats had been put in place for the generals and officers in attendance. The rest of the audience simply stood or sat in the grass. The announcer moved to the center of it all, near where Michael stood.
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“Contestants! This is your final chance to get in position!”
Michael nodded, and placed one leg behind the other. The run wasn’t based on speed, but rather the number of times he could run the loop. Lance had to climb a rock surface that would constantly change and move, Cohle had to hold a massive stone as long as he could, and Leana had to catch a wisp. Jakub’s archery contest was self explanatory. Michael was relatively confident in the rest of his team’s abilities, Lance wouldn’t have picked them if he didn’t think they could win. The two teams with the worst overall performance would be eliminated.
He was certain that he’d win his own event relatively handily thanks to his recovery abilities and the constant physical conditioning he’d been doing. Still, he wondered just how many loops he could do. It looked like a bit over a quarter mile track like he was used to seeing back on Earth.
The announcer's horn blew, and Michael started running before his bones ceased vibrating from the sound. He took off at a slightly faster pace than the others, but decided to hold onto it, reaching the curve of the track first and making sure to take deep breaths into his gut as he moved.
From his position on the track he could see everyone else’s events. Lance had started his climb off strong, with one of his opponents falling almost immediately after it began. The rock he was climbing on seemed to shift and changed, the face of it always seeming to slide down as the climbers worked their way up it, doing their best to keep pace. Based on the strain he was already seeing on the climbers faces, he guessed that even would end first.
At the far end, he could see a number of large men in the obstacle course with Leana, all smashing into one another as they pursued a large mote of green light. Leana herself kept her distance from them and seemed to be muttering something under her breath.
It was difficult to make out what was happening on the archery range, but he could see Jakub looking very calm and confident as he let an arrow fly, so he didn’t feel too much trepidation about his performance. Cohle on the other hand had lifted his boulder and was holding it on his shoulders as if he was Atlas. He and the others holding them had their faces contorted with strain and sweat was already starting to pour from their faces from the strain. Michael was feeling very grateful that he was not the one participating in that event.
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After a half dozen loops Michael heard a cheer on the opposite end of the field. He sped up a bit and saw Leana holding a glowing wisp in her hand. It seemed he’d been wrong about the climb being the first one to end. He held up a fist to her in solidarity, but she scowled when she saw him.
He ran another dozen loops, watching as a few men dropped their boulders. He was impressed they’d managed to keep them up so long. It seemed only three were left. On the infinite climb he saw that only Lance and one other recruit were still on the wall. They were both captains, and from what he could glean while running they had a similar level of Titles and Deeds, though he couldn’t tell how beneficial they would be on the climbing. He didn’t think anyone would be able to manage climbing the way they were at their pace back on earth. Lance’s face was calm even though he seemed tired. He was completely locked in to what he was doing, but his opponent seemed similarly focused.
Michael was still feeling relaxed, though he was starting to tire so he slowed his pace a bit to allow himself some brief recovery. The other runners were starting to tire as well, slick with sweat and panting heavily. He’d actually lapped a couple of them that had slowed to a painful looking jog. The only other one that seemed to be keeping up with him was definitely breathing more heavily than he was.
There was another cheer matched by a groan as the infinite climb came to an end. Michael saw Lance standing at the top of the stone giving a proper salute. The other captain was laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath and unable to stand. Shortly after that victory, Jakub returned from the archery competition having won second. With the victories they’d collected they would safely continue to the next round of the team competitions, but Michael kept running anyway.
As he passed by Cohle for the hundredth time he could hear him mocking the other two remaining competitors.
“Come on, you already know this competition is over.” he said, starting to squat with the massive boulder, raising up with enough force that his feet actually left the ground for a moment. After a few of those and a hardy chuckle he stopped and simply held it, his body not shaking, and his breathing steady.
It took less than two more laps for the other competitors to give up and drop their own boulders. They’d been shaken by Cohle’s display, though based on how wobbly his own legs were when he finally threw his boulder down, it had all been a bluff. In spite of that he still flashed everyone a smile and saluted with a flourish.
Michael was now among the last of the competitors. He realized that two of the other runners had lost, stumbling and falling, no longer able to keep moving. He still felt good, his major recovery abilities which had already contributed so much to his physical conditioning and allowing him to regain some of his stamina when he briefly slowed down. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d run the circle, but he was fairly certain he had run more than fifteen miles. The other three runners were slowing as well, even the one that had been keeping a fair pace with him was starting to slow. Michael knew that he could win, but decided he didn’t want to stop there.
Michael began to speed up, shifting from a light run to a near sprint. He lapped the recruit in last, then quickly lapped the others as well. He could see the disheartened looks on all of their faces as he passed them, and watched them lose even more willpower as he lapped them a second time. Surprisingly, the one that had been keeping up with him was the next to fall, then slowly the rest dropped off as well, to the jeering of the crowd, but he didn’t stop running. He shifted into a sprint, the cries against him and hateful calls in his direction fading into the background as his focus narrowed to only his feet hitting the track, his heart beating in his chest, and his breathing. He wasn’t sure how long he sprinted, but he didn’t stop until his legs and lungs gave out, and he fell, tumbling across the track. He lay on the ground, bleeding freely from a number of scrapes, and raised his hand to his chest, healing them with the last of his energy. When he was done he simply laid there with his eyes closed.
He could vaguely hear the approach of feet.
“The Penitent runs until his heart near explodes and you couldn’t manage to sink an arrow in the center more than thrice,” said Lance to Jakub as they approached him. His tone was jovial, but there was a hint of venom in his voice. “You alive?” he asked, leaning down.
“Very.”
