Sweat covered the bodies of all the kids, even though they were just sitting down, just by this one could imagine how hot it was on this sunny day.
But the students weren't the least bit bothered by this at the moment, after all, the third elder was calling out the names of the top fifty starting from the bottom.
As Survath called out one name after another, Sundrin noticed that the kids whose names were called started smiling like idiots,
'Is it really that big of a deal?'
He thought to himself as he continued to focus on his teacher, who was calling out the names,
"Now, finally, the top five of this session for now."
As soon as Survath spoke these words, the kids broke out into whispers,
"Who do you think will be first among the four great warriors?"
One kid asked another sitting next to him, the "four great warriors" he mentioned, referring to the top four kids that Torvyn had mentioned before,
"I can't be sure, but my bet is on Sir Surakar."
The kid who was asked expressed his opinion, but one of the girls sitting beside them didn't seem to like the answer,
"What are you mumbling about? Isn't it obvious it is Miss Solenya who will be first?"
She said fiercely, only angering the kid. But before he could retort,
"Silence! All of you!"
Survath screamed at the kids, and the mumbling ceased immediately,
"Now fifth, Helisra"
Upon hearing her name, Helisra gave out a little wry smile. It would be a lie to say she wasn't a little sad that she was the last among her companions, but the others around her quickly tried to cheer her up,
"Fourth, Thalvior"
Survath continued, and this time it was Thalvior's turn to raise an eyebrow, but he still smiled composedly as if it didn't bother him,
"Third, Surakar"
Surakar's eyes widened, and he was about to scream at the third elder, but a glare from Survath was all it took to calm him down and sit back in his place, only being able to mumble in frustration helplessly,
"Second, Solenya"
This time, all the kids frowned, even the dejected three, and the expressionless Solenya looked up at their teacher in surprise and confusion.
Who was first, then? This thought entered all the kids' minds, but their questions were soon answered by Survath,
"First….. Sundrin"
A small smile couldn't help but emerge on his old wrinkled face as he looked at his students, who were so confused that it took them a few moments to process the situation.
They were surprised, to say the least! After all, although Sundrin was getting famous, he was nowhere near the level of the four great warriors, and the fact that he was very inclusive didn't help the situation either.
All of their heads turned as they looked at Sundrin, who was just sitting there with just as much of a bewildered expression,
'What the hell?!'
He thought in his mind as he tried to understand what was going on.
But before he could even do or say anything, Survath got up on his feet, which caused a chain reaction as all the kids also stood up,
"Now that we are done with this, I will allow the top fifty to enter the waterfall of pressure."
"Follow me, and if those not in the top fifty want to watch, they are welcome to do so."
Having said that, he didn't wait for a response as he started walking away.
The children who were dazed just a moment ago quickly followed their teacher, not wanting to miss such an event.
And although their confusion wasn't cleared even a bit, they were excited at this new turn of events.
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If someone walked for a bit towards the back of the cottages where the kids stayed and entered the forest, after a while, they would come across a huge waterfall with the stream flowing forward from it.
This is where the kids usually took baths and cleaned their clothes. The silence of this tranquil place was disturbed by the appearance of Survath and the kids.
The old man walked before everybody else and soon was close to the waterfall, staring up at the place from where it fell,
"There is a cave behind this waterfall. Right now, all of the chosen candidates will enter it and try to survive under its pressure, The further you go in, the greater the pressure, so be careful and know when to call quits."
He said seriously as his face turned from the waterfall to look at the kids.
The top fifty nodded as they started heading towards the waterfall with a determined and burning gaze.
Even Sundrin felt a bit excited to try out this new training method as he dipped his feet into the stream and started heading towards the huge waterfall in front of him.
As he got closer and closer, he could hear the loud sounds of the water coming crashing down on the rocky floor even more clearly, and as the water droplets that flew out falling on his face, he continued on, finally standing just in front of the waterfall.
The buzzing noise was now so loud that even if someone screamed towards him from the land, he wouldn't be able to hear them.
Taking in a deep breath, he took one step forward and entered the waterfall.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he felt the crushing pressure pushing down on him, as if a mountain was placed on his shoulders.
He tried to stand straight, gritting his teeth, but the pressure was so great that his back started bending slightly,
'No!'
He screamed in his mind, refusing to bend down, he clenched his teeth harder, and balled his hands into fists.
Burning energy started coursing through his veins as he felt the inner flame light up with a fiery glow.
Beside the original flame was another flame half its size, and as the first flame glowed, the second followed right behind as it too started to glow like crazy.
Sundrin calmed down his beating heart and opened his eyes as a decisive look flashed in them.
His right leg rose and then slammed onto the rocky ground before him. The ground seemed to shake, and Sudnrin's back became straight as a pole.
Then he took another step forward, and then another. Sundrin could feel the pressure increasing but he also felt the inner flames inside him were being strengthened at a break neck speed.
He was facing a minor bottleneck for a while now, and his second flame wouldn't grow anymore than its current state, where it was just half the size of the first one.
So he saw this as a golden opportunity to break through the bottleneck and reach for even higher.
He forced himself to think about any unnecessary thoughts and focus his mind solely on enduring.
But after he had taken fifty or so steps, he found it quite hard to push beyond,
'No, this is enough, I just need to survive here and focus on increasing my body's endurance.'
After having made his decision he sat down on the rocky surface slowly and got in lotus position. He quickly started practicing the breathing technique taught to him, and the flame within him started to surge as it circulated in his body.
Closing his eyes, his mind seeped into a trance, it was as if nothing could disturb him, as if he and the world were in two different planes.
Time soon started to trickle away, just like the water falling down from the waterfall.
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Suddenly, Sundrin's eyes jolted open as blood started oozing out of his eyes, nose, and ears.
He fell down on the ground and started puking blood, the waterfall's relentless assaults didn't make it easier either.
He felt like the life was being sucked out of him, but all he coulksd do was endure.
After a while, he was done puking, and as he sat down, he could feel his body become light.
Red veins had popped out in his eyes, and his head was ringing like crazy. He closed his eyes and tried to focus.
After a while had passed, the water washed away the blood on his body as he opened his eyes.
He breathed in deeply as he got up.
A huge, mouth-splitting grin appeared on his face as he clenched and unclenched his right hand.
He could feel the power flowing through him was greater than before, although not by much, it was still there,
'Besides, that wasn't the point, I don't feel the bottleneck anymore, meaning i can progress smoothly again'
Feeling satisfied with his gains, he started walking back towards the entrance of the waterfall.
The gains here had been by no means small, without the help of this waterfall, it would have taken Sundrin ten or fifteen more days to break through this bottleneck,
'I should ask master if I can come here often'
He thought with a satisfied smile as he exited the waterfall, drenched in water.
He shook his body to get the water off as he walked across the stream and got out of it to stand on the rock solid ground.
But as he was about to move toward where Torvyn was, he felt something off. He looked up and saw that all the kids were looking at him in silence.
The atmosphere was heavy and some of them even opened tehre mouth to speak but hesitated and stopped. He frowned feeling something was amiss.
He looked around him and saw that all the top fifty who had entered along with him had already come out, and even their clothes were dried up.
A bad premonition overcame him as the only thought that entered his mind was,
'What did I do this time?'