The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

Claire blinked. She handed the paste over without arguing. It was strange for a five year old to be so fiercely protective of her personal space, but Claire respected her boundaries.

’I guess one of her etiquette teachers taught her this... maybe before all the divorce mess happened with her family.’

Aria took the paste and rubbed it over her own thighs.

Her legs were still burning from the run, but the ointment created a sharp, minty sensation. It numbed the pain while simultaneously freezing her muscles.

It felt incredibly weird. Her muscles were burning, freezing, and numb all at the exact same time. She just sat quietly and let the medicine do its work.

The men ran for another two hours and the morning sun began to beat down on them.

One by one, their legs finally gave out and they collapsed onto the dry ground. They gasped desperately for air and by the end of the third hour, not a single man was standing. This was because they stopped jogging and began running properly once Aria left their ranks.

Claire walked to the center of the field. She looked at all the groaning, sweating men.

"This is your absolute limit!" she yelled. "Remember this feeling. Remember exactly how long you ran today. This is your starting line, and you will only go up from here."

She looked at the men trying to roll over or sit up.

"Stay exactly where you are," she ordered. "Lie flat on the dirt. Do not care if the ground is dirty."

She had expected some complaints. Noble recruits always whined about ruining their pristine uniforms or getting dust in their hair.

But these were commoners. They didn’t have the social stigma of dirt being beneath them. They just sprawled out in the mud without a single question or word of protest.

Seeing them follow orders so easily was a completely fresh experience for her.

"Close your eyes!" Claire commanded. "Take deep breaths. Try to sense the mana in the air around you."

The men followed her orders and closed their eyes.

Mana naturally existed in everyone’s bodies. When a person ran and consumed stamina, their internal mana passively replenished their stamina over time. But right now, their mana reserves were completely empty.

Claire didn’t know the exact scientific mechanics behind it. That was the kind of stuff Lord Adrian understood. She just knew that pushing a body to total exhaustion created a much higher chance of sensing ambient mana.

"You all had the homework of reading the manual last night," Claire said, pacing between the exhausted bodies. "Follow the steps. Three sharp inhales. Seven sharp exhales. Go."

Loud, rhythmic breathing filled the training field.

"Now pause!" Claire yelled. "Wait ten seconds before inhaling and ten seconds before exhaling. Use this silent gap to try and feel the energy entering your body."

The men lay completely still as they focused their minds. They would not let go of an opportunity to become a knight.

Slowly, some of them began to feel it. They couldn’t really tell where the energy was coming from or how it even entered their bodies. They just knew that there was something inside their bodies now that wasn’t there when they finished running.

The pain in their legs began to feel less severe and their muscles relaxed.

One man felt his muscles burning hot. Another man felt incredibly sleepy. A younger boy near the front felt completely refreshed.

The experiences varied, but the most common reaction was a deep tingling sensation underneath their skin. It felt like a current running all over their bodies, especially where their arteries where.

Two hours passed under the afternoon sun.

"Alright, stand up!" Claire shouted.

Out of the four hundred and twenty four men, only twenty stood up without a single issue. They didn’t stumble or shake. Their muscle tears had already healed.

The rest struggled in various ways.

"Line up and split into four groups!" Claire ordered. "Group one is those who feel perfectly fine and healed. Group two is for those who can stand but still feel a slight ache in your legs."

Men started groaning and shuffling around to form lines.

"Group three is for those who are fighting for their lives just to stay upright!" Claire continued. "And group four is for those who still cannot command their legs to move!"

The sorting took a few minutes.

Group one was small. It consisted entirely of the experienced adventurers who already had extremely toned bodies and continued to keep their bodies in shape.

Group two was a mix of teenagers and older adventurers who hadn’t kept themselves in perfect shape.

Group three was larger. Their legs shook violently, and they looked pale, but they managed to stay on their feet.

Group four was the largest. These were the men whose muscles were completely cramped or torn. They couldn’t stand even if they wanted to. Most of these men were out of towners who had come to Oresfall hoping for an easy life. They were either severely malnourished or overweight. They had crawled to group up while the others walked.

But there were exceptions. Claire noticed three chubby men who had managed to force themselves into group three. Their legs seemed to hurt immensely, but their bodies were strong enough to support their weight.

Claire stood in front of the four groups.

"Every single person has a different level of talent for learning the knight arts," Claire explained. "But this talent is heavily based on how strong your physical foundation already is."

She pointed to the experienced adventurers in group one.

"These men have trained their bodies for years. That is why they recovered so fast. Their bodies are already conditioned to withstand the damage that mana can deal to their bodies."

She then turned to face the entire crowd.

"Listen closely. Mages have something called a magic circle. It sits right next to their heart. They also have mana veins, which act exactly like regular veins and arteries, but they only carry mana."