Stay! Away... from the sociopath

Six: V|: The Star Of Sparta

The jog lasted for an hour. Raven felt Al getting weaker by a pant, behind her. She slowed down her pace for him to catch up.

"Are you alright," she asked.

"Yeah. I'm just getting pumped," he said confidently, not wanting to appear weak before the lady he wants to woo. "Jogging isn't my forte. I guess I'm experiencing the first time sweat, but I'll be fine." he winked.

Raven wanted to smack herself hard in the face for offering to help. Clearly, he doesn't need it.

She jogged back to her row, of which her partner was a male elf and a female mermaid. After a while, she felt the space behind her, again. She turned her back to see Al crouched, far behind her, panting.

"Do you even exercise?" she asked him. He didn't reply, still panting. "Take off your cloak," she instructed.

Al tiredly did. Raven used her telekinesis to steal a bottle of water from a werewolf's pocket. She opened it and poured the liquid over his face and head. She stole another from a halfling, and offered it to him with Tendril's help.

"Drink slowly and catch your breath. You'll be fine," she said and jogged off.

Her bracelet beeped. She'd earned a mark. A small smile formed on her lips.

"Woo-hoo!" Tendril hollered. Raven slightly chuckled.

"Nice." she said.

"Kindness pays. I told ya." Tendril said.

"Shut up," Raven said, as she finally caught up with her mates.

~~§~~

At last, to everyone's relief, they returned to the training hall, immediately collapsing on the floor. Everyone except the captain. Natalina sat comfortably, watching them as she downed a bottle of water like she felt nothing.

The bottle was empty and she sighed. "That was good. No one fainted-"

Melissa rushed out of the building and hurled over, emptying her guts.

Natalina swung into action. Standing behind her, she held back her hair as she soothingly rubbed her back.

"There, there. It is alright. You'll get used to it." she said. She offered Melissa a bottle of water to rinse her mouth. "Drink slowly," she instructed and returned to her former position, her blank expression had returned.

"I was going to say impressed, but I can see it's too soon for any comments." She stared at her students who were sprawled on the floor, very exhausted and looking useless. She grinned. "Vampires, how do you feel?"

No reply.

"No reply? Perhaps extra fifty laps can fix that."

"No. Please." they chorused in groans.

Natalina chuckled. "You remind me of cubs," she said. "I'll give you forty-five minutes to rejuvenate, then we can move to the next lesson." she stood up and glanced at Melissa who was panting heavily. "I hope you have learned your lesson. Because I don't like to punish unnecessarily. I feel you are mature young adults."

Forty-five minutes passed like a breeze. Natalina returned from wherever she went, and they were back in their former vertically-arranged-gear-like formation.

"I'd like for those of us who claim to be good in combat and weapon skill to fall out," she said, and they obeyed aptly despite the hesitation in their hearts.

Natalina snapped her finger and two walls filled with weapons of all kinds, emerge out of the ground.

"Well, I'm testing your skills and strength. Giving Crepuscule Eve Academy, what they want, the best of the best," she said. "You may pick whatever weapon you want. They are all fabricated for tests and sparring but they do hurt though."