Chapter 262: Running Track

After seeing the setting that Kalli was on, everyone else in the room began to question their own physical condition. This woman was supposed to be the shopkeeper, the one who stood behind a desk all day, organizing supplies for the ones who did the actual fighting.

But she was at this level of physical conditioning?

The only one who didn’t hesitate was Yara, who set a slightly less intense slope to her treadmill as she got her run started.

Unlike Kalli, she hadn’t gotten a constitution point every single day. She had quite a solid physique, but the Coordinator was definitely favoured by the System. Far more than everyone else, it seemed.

But Yara had no way of knowing that Kalli had been boosted by the System when she ran over the points cap, and it converted points into stats for her.

So, she was more than three months of training ahead of everyone else.

The group began their morning run, all with weights in their hands and on their backs, sweating profusely as they tried not to let the dainty form of the Coordinator show them up.

However, that was a lost cause.

Kalli was a robot in the training room, her pace as steady as a metronome, never slowing, even when she was joking with the men on either side of her or suggesting that they change the scenery to outdoor trails next time, to excuse all the stumbling.

That had Yara laughing, and the Cleric changed the scenery from city streets to a wilderness running trail setting, and then put Kalli as a lead runner so that everyone was chasing her in a perpetual state of second place.

Kalli chuckled as she watched the scene, while one of the men beside her whistled in appreciation.

"Yeah, sway those hips."

Kalli laughed, as the image also had the weights in its hands, and the backpack. It wasn’t a live image of her, but a computer generation of her image.

"Just be glad that she set it to be a lead runner, and not show my actual pace, or you’d lose out on the eye candy. Next time, you can ask Yara to set it to have the runner in battle armour instead of training gear.

Trust me, it’s worth it."

Curious, Yara changed the view to Kalli in light composite battle armour, instead of training shorts, and then began to laugh.

"Oh, I see how it is now, I bet you keep Sanchez on the screen, don’t you?" she joked.

Kalli sighed dramatically as she jogged. "I keep telling you, there are so many better options out there than me. But look how motivated they all are? I swear, Matteo just turned up his running speed, like he might catch up."

The Techno Wizard laughed at the banter as he panted and tried not to die.

He had actually turned down his treadmill speed because his heart rate kept increasing, and he thought that he might die, but it had only been sixty-two minutes of the ninety.

The System had informed them that they had met the minimums, but Kalli clearly didn’t care about that, and was going for whatever the maximum training level for the mission was.

By the time that they reached the ninety minutes, they realized why Kalli had told them to bring leftovers for after the run. They were going to need a whole second breakfast just to get moving again after their showers.

But before they all went to change, Kalli raised a hand to stop them.

"Matteo, bring the tinkers and the other Techno Wizard to me after you shower. The others can prepare for the dungeon run, I’ve got other tasks for you. Yara, since you’re here, can you make sure that all the dungeon teams are prepared?

Perhaps find them an experienced team leader from one of the other groups? Someone who has been in the Swineherd Dungeon before so that there are no mishaps?

Yara nodded. "Of course, Coordinator. We won’t have any issues this morning. Everyone is excited to bring home the bacon."

The teams headed for the showers, and Kalli noticed how all the women were sizing her up.

"The System doesn’t bulk you up just because your strength went up. You have to actually do dedicated weight training and focus on muscle growth exercises for your body to bulk up. If you do exercises like this all the time, you’ll just end up lean and lower body fat, without any risk of excess bulk.

We’ve gotta keep looking our best, right?"

One of the younger ladies, a dark-haired woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, smiled back at her. "It’s good to see that Marimgar has a properly strong personality in charge. I was a bit worried that my husband would just steamroll over the locals, and end up making all the decisions again with no time for himself."

"Oh? You must be Yara’s mother, then. See, she wasn’t kind enough to introduce us earlier."

The woman shook her head. "No, I’m the new wife, only the youngest two boys are mine. Or were, as they didn’t make it out. They didn’t awaken a class, and they weren’t old enough to be proper fighters. During the escape, they didn’t make it out of the rubble after the giants collapsed the building."

"My condolences on your loss.

But it’s good that you understand. I had worried that some might think I was just picking a fight or challenging him for no reason. It’s good to establish dominance, and remind everyone that there is an order to the city of Marimgar.

I might not be the one making all the decisions, but I am in charge of all the supplies and city upgrades.

If you need anything, let me know.

What class did you get, anyhow? If there is something specific that you need, I might be able to help you out before you head for the dungeon."

"I’m one of the fire mages. I don’t think there’s anything particular that I need. I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Yara, and for putting Vinnie in his place.

He needed that reminder, or he gets a big head."

The other ladies chuckled. Overconfidence was a hallmark of the men in the family. As were pride and physical strength. All things that Kallista De Marimgar did not seem to lack either.