Extra's Return with SSS Plunder System

- Huff, huff, huff -

By the time Theo emerged from the woods, the sun's position had shifted from the edge of the blue dome of the sky roughly to its middle, as the early morning of the day gave way to its afternoon.

Roughly four hours after the exam started, Theo was finally about to complete the run.

His muscles were burning. His throat was parched from all the intense breathing that powered his efforts, lacking even the momentary relief of lubricating it with a refreshing sip of water.

This run was designed to test the cadets' endurance. Their ability to overcome the great distance of the dash was supposed to be as important as their ability to keep going even under the harsh conditions of having absolutely nothing to drink while also overcoming the growing hunger, a result of the exam starting at the same time as when the cadets would normally get their breakfast.

In every way possible, save for magically altering the weather, this dash was designed to break a man, wring out everything there was from him, and then see how far he could go… And, with the degradation of the knightling boot-camp's understanding of the true essence of this exam, to see how fast the poor cadets could actually complete it.

But now, four hours after this hell began, Theo could finally see the finish line. And, with how he refused to speed up beyond the least exhausting pace possible, he could also see the four of his colleagues who were going to reach the finish line before him.

First, Antarex dashed past the spot where everything began, now transformed from just an empty part of the greater boot camp into a holding zone for the examiners, all of whom had gathered nearby a small rope drawn between two wooden poles stuck into the ground.

After a momentary cheer for the race's victor, the next two ran past the finish line, closing up the top-three lineup, fully consisting of the cadets known to have quite the history with the knights' corps.

It wasn't those three, but the very next contender crossing the line that was actually worth the praise, as they managed to stick to the three favorites even with all the training and experience they lacked in comparison.

Still, just as there was several seconds' worth of time difference between the third and the fourth spot, it wasn't until several seconds after the fourth cadet reached the end of the race that Theo finally approached the red-painted rope, only to then lightly jump over it before slowly slowing down in the space ahead of the finish line, already vacated by those who crossed the race's end in advance.

"Huff!"

Breathing out from the very depths of his lungs, Theo leaned down as he rested his hands on his knees, fully banishing every last iota of air from his system, only to then wait for the inevitable.

Theo's lungs exploded in pain as they searched far and wide throughout his body for fresh breath, only to find none. His vision blackened while his entire body grew weak. For but a short moment, his heart rate only accelerated…

Only to then slow down, as his body started to rapidly shut down in a desperate bid to remove the obstacle of his conscious effort that kept him from breathing.

'Good enough,' Theo thought, breathing out with all his might only to then finally allow himself a shallow breath, one that he exchanged with a proper, deep breath as soon as the first dose of fresh oxygen exploded within his bloodstream, staving off the process of him losing consciousness.

"You've reached the finish line fifth, with the time off…"

Theo raised his eyes right as the young knightling approached him with nothing but a piece of paper, a goose's feather, a small bottle of ink, and some sort of weird apparatus he then raised up to measure the position of the sun in the sky.

"With the time of four hours and a quarter," the clerk announced, only to dip the sharp end of his feather into the thick ink before scribbling some details into his paper. "Your points will be calculated once the first…" The young man hesitated for a bit, only to take a quick glance at his paper, smile, and then raise his eyes back up to Theo's face, "-first eight cadets finish the race. Until then…"

Theo took one more deep breath before straightening his back and affording the young knightling just a single look, then turning his attention elsewhere as he started to walk away.

"Huh?"

At first, the knightling only moaned in surprise, only to shake his head and perk up as he called after Theo.

"Hey! Where do you think you are going? How can you leave when you have yet to learn your score?"

The young knightling wasn't angry. There was no reason for him to be angry, after all. Now that the test was over, Theo had every right in the world to just up and leave… But with how much this exam would weigh on his total score, the soon-to-be cadet simply didn't expect anyone to leave the venue before learning their actual results!

Still, hearing the confusion in the knightling's calls, Theo turned his head over his shoulder and smiled at the kid… No, the young man who was likely to advance to the role of this boot camp's cadet sometime within the next two or three years.

"And what benefit would there be for me to stay?" Theo asked, allowing just the corner of his lips to twitch up into a small half-smile. "I will get my points whether I'm here to hear how many I've earned or not."

Theo shrugged his shoulders and looked away as he started to pace away from the test venue again… Only for the youth to call him again!

"Just wait…!"

Theo rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I have places to be and things to do, so if you wouldn't mind…"

Rather than finishing his words, Theo just looked away and picked his pace yet again.

But the young knight-to-be wasn't going to let him go that easily.

"And where do you think you are going?! It's not like there's anything you can do after giving it your all to this race!"

The young knightling's words certainly rang true… Or so they would, if it was Theo's original run at life. Right now, however, his assessment couldn't be any further from the truth.

"Oh, I'm exhausted, sure," Theo laughed it off, only to then wave the kid away, no longer bothering to stop for his calls.

He was just there to note his time and inform him of the result, holding absolutely no authority beyond that. And right now, it just so happened that Theo indeed had places to be, people to meet… and bullies, the wrath of which he was aiming to make the most out of.

"Wait, don't tell me…" The knightling's eyes turned wide as he stared at Theo's back, only to then break out in a dash, quickly running after the young cadet, only to catch up, grab Theo's wrist… And then end up staring at his empty hand, as Theo freed his arm with just a single swing.

"What the heck do you want?"

Theo didn't mind a few questions, but an attempt to stop him when he was in an actual hurry?

'This is starting to get annoying,' he thought, putting on an angry look on his face as he turned towards the young knightling, ready to scold him…

"You are not really tired, are you?" the teenager asked, staring at Theo with a shocked look on his face and a baffled look in his eyes. "But why…? If you tried just a bit harder, you could've…"

'His confusion is real, huh?' Theo thought, taking in a breath to calm himself down a bit.

"Let me clue you in on a certain secret, kid," Theo finally stopped and even went ahead and turned to face the young clerk. "Sometimes…" He reached out and placed his hand down on the teen's shoulder, prompting him to look up and lock his baffled stare on Theo's face.

"Sometimes, the visible opportunity is just there to hide the real thing from everyone's eyes and ears," Theo stated, only to then put on a vile smile as he thought about what fate likely had in store for his own near future. "And sometimes, the best possible opportunity there is can be hidden beyond the facade of getting your ass viciously stomped on by a bully no one else would dare to even approach."

With a mix of mature desire to just share his wisdom and experience with the next generation and the amusement of watching how the confusion only grew on the teen clerk's face, Theo smirked before tapping the kid's shoulder and then moving away.

'And sometimes,' he thought, the amusement vanishing from his face as he geared himself for what was about to go down soon, 'sometimes, you have to go and provoke that bully yourself.'