Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

"We will begin with the 2nd part of the Practicals — Speed!" Orion glanced coldly at the participants. "Much like strength, speed is also an important combat factor."

"There will be times when you will meet an enemy you can defeat. They will force you to flee and if you're not fast enough, everything will be for naught."

Orion waved his hand and all of a sudden, the scenario changed once more. Everyone suddenly found themselves standing in front of a wide maze.

"This is where your next test will take place." Orion declared. "This winding path is about five kilometers long. As you all can see, there's only a single path to follow and that will take you to the exit."

"There's all sorts of traps and hazards along the way. For the sake of fairness, everyone will face the same traps and hazards in the same order."

"Your task is to naturally reach the exit as quickly as you can." Orion stated, "Your time will be recorded, if you can't clear this passage within a minute and a half, you fail."

As soon as he announced that, Cedric felt a sudden wave of panic oozing out of his fellow participants. Their hushed voices reached his ears...

"That's so strict! It's like he doesn't want us to pass at all!"

"I'm doomed! This is it for me!"

"I can't possibly go that fast!"

"Maybe if I trade some of my lifespans, I can explode with a passing speed."

"No way! There's no way I can do that!"

Cedric blinked at this. From what he heard, it's clear that some participants here didn't even bother training their speed at all, which was a rookie mistake. And for people like them, who should be considered geniuses amongst their peers, this was unacceptable.

On the contrary, Cedric felt that the requirements to pass this test were quite generous. However, he also realized that this might be his biased opinion since he's one of the few ones who did not mind this at all.

Despite their clear despair, Orion remained heartless and indifferent. He unceremoniously called out the first participant to start the Test of Speed.

The poor chap was shaking in his boots as he approached the entrance to the maze. Cedric could see him sweating and cursing his luck for being called out first.

Still, the guy slapped himself awake and shook the jitters off. Since he's already here, he might as well do his best.

"Begin!"

As soon as Orion yelled that, everybody knew that the timer had already started. The first participant wasted no time and began accelerating at his top speed.

He met all sorts of traps and hazards along the way. He did his best to evade most of them or work his way around them. Everybody watched with rapt attention until the guy reached the exit panting and looking pale.

"2 minutes! Fail! Next!"

Those words were akin to a death sentence for the poor chap. He was too slow. He did his absolute best yet his dreams met an unexpected end here. It was too cruel.

Everyone watched as the first participant downtrodden-ly left the stage to make way for the next participant. He looked as if he aged several years right then and there.

They couldn't help but pity him. However, they also knew that if they didn't get their shit together now, they too would share his fate. So they could only sigh in secret while bracing themselves for their turn.

"1 minute and 45 seconds! Fail! Next!"

"1 minute and 28 seconds! Pass! Next!"

"1 minute and 31 seconds! Fail! Next!"

"No! No! Please give me another chance! I'm only late by a second! Please!" The latest participant practically groveled in front of the instructors after hearing his results.

"No redos! 1 second late is still late! You fail. Make way for the next participant!" Orion coldly scolded.

"T-That's unfair! I'm only late by a second! Please, give me a chance! I can certainly pass this! Please, I beg of you!"

"Take this kid away." Orion ordered the guards, not even bothering to reply to the begging participant.

Said participant kicked and fussed as much as he could yet nothing changed. He was dragged away by the guards and he was powerless to change anything.

This display greatly shook the confidence of many participants who had yet to take their turn. The instructors were really strict with their rules. They didn't even spare a single second of lateness.

Despite that, the instructors continued the exam like that didn't just happen. They look like they couldn't be bothered at all. It might be because they're used to it by now. It wouldn't be surprising if this wasn't the first time this kind of thing happened.

One participant after another went up the entrance to take their turns clearing the test.

So far, the fastest still was a minute and some seconds, nobody was able to go any lower than that.

...that's until Isabella Frostwind took the stage.

As soon as Orion gave the signal, she turned into a streak of blue light, flashing past the winding path and the numerous traps and hazards.

Gasps of surprise were heard amongst the participants. She was too fast! They could barely follow her movements at all.

Eventually, she reached the exit and Orion announced her results:

"57 seconds! Pass! Next!"

That announcement caused another round of gasps to echo amongst the participants and the audience. Isabella was the first one to achieve a result below one minute, causing people to admire her excellence once more.

This result truly cemented her as one of the geniuses of this batch.

Of course, the test continued even after that. As per Isabella, she looked mildly disappointed by her results it seems because, underneath her veil, a mild frown marred her face.

This was only discovered by Cedric though since his senses were just that sharp. If the instructors noticed this too, they didn't bother saying anything at all.

The next one everybody looked forward to was of course Garrick Earthshaker, and the guy certainly didn't disappoint.

"59 seconds! Pass! Next!"

He was only two seconds slower than Isabella but to rest, this disparity might as well be non-existent. After all, in terms of strength, Garrick completely outclasses her.

Sure, that two seconds might be fatal in a real battle but the gap wasn't all that much so Garrick still has the upper hand if he were to face her. All of this was just speculation though. Nobody would really know unless they fought for real.

Aside from the two of them, some surprising participants make themselves known in this test.

"Martin Danver! 58 seconds! Pass! Next!"

"Ulfric Hawkeye! 57 seconds! Pass! Next!"

"Eleonora Weiss! 55 seconds! Pass! Next!"

The latest participant, Eleonora Weiss, turns out to be the fastest so far. It surprised a lot of people since she was an unassuming girl at first. Her results during the previous round weren't too impressive, she barely crossed 75 layers. But her speed makes up for that though, so she was dubbed as a dark horse.

Martin Danvers and Ulfric Hawkeye were also considered as hidden tigers by the rest. Their speed matched the proud geniuses after all. They might not be as strong as Isabella or Garrick, but their speed makes up for their shortcomings.

The test continued and many participants despaired. Compared to the previous test, this one shaved their numbers even more. It was really strict. Out of 10 participants, only 2 or 3 will pass the Test of Speed.

"Next! Cedric Stormrider!"

Just like before, Cedric calmly marched towards the entrance of the maze. He heard several people whispering behind him but he didn't pay them any mind. He could more or less guess what they're talking about anyway.

He took a deep breath and waited. Unlike the rest, he didn't feel nervous at all.

"Begin!"

As soon as he heard that, Cedric began to move. He runs at the maze at a shocking speed, dodging the traps and hazards. Even those that were meant to immobilize him failed horribly in the face of his speed.

He was running so fast that he even bypassed sensory traps. By the time he made his way out of the maze, Orion already announced his results:

"30 seconds! PASS! Next!"

There was a pin-drop silence even after that announcement. Everybody, even the academy staff, and the City Lords, were too stunned with his speed.

Don't get these experts wrong. This speed was nothing to them. What surprised them was that a 3rd Tier Lv.1 kid having this speed.

"REINER! Where in the ever-loving fuck did you find this kid!?"

Their reverie was interrupted by one of the City Lords cursing.

"Like I fucking said earlier! Don't look at me! I didn't teach him that!"

Reiner truly felt the world spinning around him. These results are just way too absurd, aren't they?

One could only really imagine his reaction if he learned that Cedric severely downplayed his speed just now. Because if he really wanted to, he could've cleared that maze before anybody could react.

After all, his pace as he cleared the maze was only comparable to a brisk jog compared to his actual speed, which is fast approaching the speed of light.