Leon picked up his tea.
Empty.
He looked at Jasper.
And smiled.
Not a nice smile.
A _disciplined_ smile.
Jasper immediately sat up straighter.
“Master Leon… I don’t like that smile. It looks evil.”
Leon tilted his head, unbothered by the noise around them.
“My smile isn’t evil, Jasper. It’s disciplined.”
Jasper’s shoulders dropped.
“…So what’s your training program?”
Leon leaned forward on the table.
Elbows down.
Voice low, like they were talking recipes.
“Oh, it’s nothing much.”
He counted on his fingers while a waitress ran past with a tray of rice bowls.
“One hundred sit-ups. Every half hour. Then a thousand push-ups. Then we run seventy miles. Twice. Back and forward. Then shower. Sleep. Repeat the same process for ten days.”
Jasper blinked.
“…Then?”
Leon’s smile didn’t move.
“Then comes the fun part.”
Jasper’s eyes twitched.
He lowered his voice so the table next to them wouldn’t hear.
“You… you’re trying to kill me. That would kill a normal person.”
Leon shrugged.
Around them, a group of guards laughed at a bad joke.
No one was listening.
“Ah. But you’re not normal now, are you, Jasper?”
“But but I’ve only been training for three days, Master Leon!” Jasper hissed.
“I can barely hold 10 fries without dying! How how are you expecting me to do this?”
Leon reached into his coat.
Pulled out a small vial.
Glowing blue pills inside.
“Don’t worry,” he said, tapping it against the table.
“I have these. Energy pills. Every time you get tired, I pop one to you. Restores your energy. Good as new. We can keep going.”
He slid the vial across the sticky table.
“So rest up. Enjoy your little downtime.” He glanced at the wall clock above the bar.
“What time is it now?”
Genevie yelled over the crowd without looking: “10:02!”
Leon nodded.
“Good. The hard work begins at eleven o’clock.”
Jasper stared at the vial.
Then at Leon.
Then at the door.
“…Can I negotiate?” Jasper whispered.
Leon picked up the empty tea cup.
“No.”
He stood.
“Eat. Drink water. 11:00 sharp. Outside. Don’t be late, Jasper.”
He walked off to settle the bill with Genevie like he’d just ordered dessert.
Jasper sat there.
Alone.
With a vial of blue pills and 58 minutes left to live.
Jasper was sitting alone at the corner table.
58 minutes left.
He was panicking.
Hard.
“How am I getting out of this?” he muttered.
“100 sit-ups every 30min? 140 miles? I can’t outrun Leon. I can’t out-argue him.”
He looked at the door.
Looked at the vial.
Looked at the door again.
No plan.
No escape.
He took one of the blue pills.
Popped it in his mouth.
Chewed.
Swallowed.
Instantly, his body lit up.
Energy flooded back in like he hadn’t been half-dead from ketchup fries 20 minutes ago.
His shoulders straightened.
His head cleared.
His legs stopped feeling like noodles.
“Oh,” Jasper whispered.
“Okay. That’s cheating. That’s illegal.”
*10:59 AM.*
Leon didn’t walk over.
He just called from the bar where he was paying Genevie.
“Alright Jasper. Time’s up. It’s time to train.”
Jasper stood up.
The pill was still buzzing in his veins.
He followed.
They left Fang & Flame.
Walked through Bridgetown.
Then Leon took a different turn.
Not the old courtyard.
Not the field from before.
Jasper stopped.
“Master Leon… this isn’t where we were before.”
Ahead of them: a giant racing track.
White stone lanes, glowing markers every mile, archways that looked like they belonged in a sect tournament.
Leon looked at him.
“Of course I know. I decided to get the seventy kilometer marathon out of your system first.”
Jasper frowned.
“Seventy kilometers?”
Leon corrected him.
“Seventy miles. Back and forward. 140 total. Because to be honest, that’s the hardest thing to do.”
He gestured to the track.
“This entire track is 365,000 kilometers long. But it has markers. Once you pass your seventy mile mark, it’ll go off and let you know you’ve reached it.”
Jasper’s brain blue-screened.
“This track is… what? How long did you say this track is?”
“Three hundred and sixty-five thousand kilometers,” Leon said, like it was normal.
“That’s impossible, right?”
“Yeah I know,” Leon continued.
“But you can get started now.”
Jasper pointed at the track, voice cracking.
“You expect me to run three hundred and sixty-five thousand kilometers?”
“No,” Leon said.
“I expect you to run seventy miles. Don’t stop till you reach that mark. Start.”
Jasper stepped onto the track.
The stone under his feet flared red.
A calm system voice spoke from the track itself: *”Welcome, new runner.
How many miles would you like to run?”*
Jasper stared.
“…Whoa. Okay.”
He blinked, then said, “I will be running one hundred and forty miles.”
The track hummed.
*”Would you like to split it?
Run seventy miles, stop at the seventy mile mark, then run back in the same direction?
That would be one hundred forty miles total.”*
Jasper nodded fast.
“Yes. That.”
*”Would you like a counter to see total time, or a reminder every mile you pass?”*
“Uh… tell me every mile,” Jasper said.
*”Please state your name to register.”*
“Jasper Crimson.”
.
*”Registered.
Marathon Runner Crimson.
Begin when ready.”*
He started running. This story is hosted at g.com.
*”Mile 1.”* Light.
Easy.
The pill made his legs feel like wind.
*”Mile 2.”* Still fine.
He was actually smiling.
*”Mile 3.”* He slowed to a jog for half a second, breathing steady.
“Not bad,” he muttered to himself.
“I can do this.”
Leon watched from the sidelines.
Arms crossed.
Then he snapped his fingers.
The air behind Jasper rippled.
A monster appeared.
Big.
Claws.
Too many teeth.
Low growl.
Jasper didn’t hear it at first.
He was focused forward.
*”Mile 4,”* the track announced.
That’s when he turned his head.
He saw the monster.
20 feet back and closing.
His eyes went wide.
Leon called out, voice carrying across the track.
“Jasper! That monster disappears after you pass the seventy mile mark. But if it catches you before then… it will eat you.”
Jasper’s brain broke.
The fear of God hit him.
The blue pill kicked into overdrive.
He shot forward like he’d been fired from a catapult.
*”Mile 5.”*
*”Mile 6.”*
*”Mile 7.”*
He wasn’t jogging anymore.
He was a blur.
Leon folded his arms again, watching the dust trail.
“That’s more like it.”
The monster roared and kept pace.
Never closer than 15 feet.
Never farther than 20.
Jasper didn’t look back again.
*”Mile 8.”*
*”Mile 9.”*
61miles to go.
*”Mile 10.”*
*”Mile 11.”*
*”Mile 12.”*
Jasper was burning through distance.
The monster stayed 15 feet behind him, matching every burst.
He didn’t dare slow down.
The blue pill was starting to fade.
His lungs were hot.
His legs were heavier.
*”Mile 13.”*
*”Mile 14.”*
Leon called from the sideline without moving.
“You’re pacing better now, Jasper. Keep it up. Fifty-six miles to the turn.”
Jasper didn’t answer.
He couldn’t spare the breath.
*”Mile 15.”*
The track voice stayed calm.
The monster kept growling.
Leon just watched.
He was at mile 15 of 70, with the thing that would eat him if it caught him still on his tail.