''What about my brother? Does he hate me now?'' Belicia asked in a dejected tone.
When they heard this question, Karan and Dan shared a quick glance with one another.
''Well, about that...'' Dan said, his smile growing wider as he pointed towards a specific direction on the training ground. ''You can ask him yourself.''
''Hm?'' Belicia turned to see where Dan was pointing.
Her attention was drawn to a fat figure that was caked in mud from head to toe and was standing motionless with his eyes closed on the muddy patch of ground.
''Wait... Is that Fatty?'' Upon seeing this person, Belicia immediately recognized him and asked.
She recognized Sami as being just as rotund as she remembered, with additional layers of fat covering his body. Despite this, she was unable to deny the fact that his appearance had changed noticeably since the last time they had met.
"He looks somewhat different," Belicia commented, trying to discern the changes in Sami's appearance.
Even though Sami had not undergone that much of a transformation in terms of his outward appearance, he had acquired a certain allure. His dark brown hair, which moved gently with the wind like a river and complimented his all-black attire, was a perfect complement to his look. His facial features had become more defined and sharper.
After a brief period of preparation with his eyes closed, Sami suddenly opened them, revealing a pair of brown pupils filled with remarkable seriousness and focus. He started running across the muddy ground without any hesitation, displaying agility and speed that seemed incongruous with his overweight body.
"What is he doing?" When Belicia first observed his serious demeanor and focus, she assumed that he was participating in some form of training; however, when she noticed that Sami was simply running in a straight line, she questioned her understanding of the situation.
"He is attempting to reach the finish line at the end of the training area while avoiding obstacles," Karan explained, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
''Obstacles? '' Belicia could see the finish line a little further ahead, but what was confusing to her was the fact that there were no other obstacles besides the mud, which could only be described as slippery.
It did not take long for Belicia to realize that Sami had become an item holder as well. While she was thinking that this mud would not be an obstacle for an item holder, she suddenly realized what the real obstacle was.
Sami was running with all of his strength and seriousness when suddenly an arrow fell on his running path, causing him to trip and fall to the ground.
*BAM*
Sami was thrown to the ground with a jarring force, and his considerable body mass caused him to slide quickly across the mucky ground surface.
"Hahaha, at least he managed to reach the finish line," Karan burst into laughter upon witnessing Sami's slide and subsequent arrival at the goal.
Dan and Karan found the situation amusing, their laughter filling the air. In contrast to her companions, however, Belicia wore a look of bewilderment on her face.
The fact that the arrow had landed so precisely in Sami's path could not have been a mere coincidence, as far as she could tell. The archer who was responsible for the incident possessed extraordinary archery skills in addition to an uncanny ability to calculate trajectories with pinpoint accuracy.
Furthermore, this was very different from hitting the target because it was obvious that the shooter's only goal was to obstruct Sami's movement, which is a goal that is more difficult to achieve than simply hitting the target.
'How many techniques has this esteemed high-rank taught them?' Belicia wondered in awe. In addition to the movement technique that she noticed Sami using during his run, her shock only intensified as she witnessed the other trainees demonstrating a multitude of advanced techniques, surpassing what she had previously considered being of the mid-tier level.
"Puh... Puh... '' Sami struggled to stand up from the muddy ground, spitting out the mud from his mouth in the process.
''Hell, Rayn, how can you predict every move of this Great Fatty like that? You were just lucky this time, but you can not always be this lucky." Sami exclaimed in frustration, his voice echoing across the training ground.
Sami's outburst occurred in the middle of the silent training ground, where everyone appeared to be accustomed to this circumstance as they continued their training without paying much attention to his outburst.
But with the exception of one person.
"Rayn?" Belicia was taken aback and turned her gaze toward the source of Sami's frustration.
She uttered the words "No way" with a trembling voice as her eyes widened with shock and disbelief.
Her attention was drawn to a young man with violet hair and the expression of a child on his face as he stood on a nearby hill while holding a crossbow. As she looked at her brother, Rayn, who had been disabled for a very long time but was now standing on his own two legs, she felt tears well up in her eyes.
"H-he is?" Her voice was choked with tears, her words barely escaping her lips.
She knew very well who this person was, but seeing her long-time disabled wheelchair-bound brother standing now on his legs seemed like a dream to her.
Dan confirmed her thoughts, his voice firm and clear. "Yes, you are not dreaming. He is your brother, Rayn."
As soon as Belicia heard Dan's confirmation, she was no longer able to contain the tears that she had been fighting so hard to keep from falling. Overwhelmed with immense relief and happiness, she sobbed like a child.
In the end, the prayers that she had been uttering since the birth of her brother were answered, and her long-cherished dream, which she had always shared with her brother, had finally come true.
Falling to her knees, she wept uncontrollably.
"Thank God" was all that she could muster through her tears.
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