Just as Alex expected, they only made it to 8th ce, which wasn''t even that bad, with seven more pairs behind them.


    But what surprised him was that Sophia and Mary got second, being the only girls to reach the top four.


    "Miss Luqing, what''s the point in this?" One of the students asked, with most of the ss having the same sentiment.


    "It''s to help you all understand teamwork... It may seem unimportant now, but Amy told me it''s super important for mages.


    I hope you all take this seriously. I''m not going to babysit you all... Anyone who refuses to work with their partner will be reported."


    Within seconds, half of the ss who reached the bottom half blushed red in embarrassment.


    They were the ones who carelessly tried to run and made their partner trip, with some almost boiling into fights.


    "Luqing speaks like Miss Amy so much," Alex thought to himself as he noticed her tone shift.


    "Everyone. Three moreps before you all can be untied. Last ce will suffer the consequences!"


    This time, everyone was much faster than before, partially because of the experience and teamwork they already had.


    But more so from her sudden outburst that distilled fear into everyone''s mind.


    "Chloe, I''m going to speed up a little, okay?'' Alex warned as he began to move his steps faster and faster.


    "Okay."


    As the two began to speed up, they were rtively safe in the seventh ce.


    Still, their speedwalking was nowhere near as fast as everyone in front of them, who kept a rtively steady pace.


    Suddenly, just as they got to the secondp of the track, Chloe started to slow down drastically.


    "You okay?" Alex worryingly asked as people began to pass them.


    "My legs are a little sore. Sorry..."


    Alex didn''t say anything as he slowed down.


    He could feel that his walking had tripled the amount of steps needed for oneppared to just walking alone.


    Seeing more and more people pass them, it became obvious that they were going to reachst at this point.


    "Chloe, can you hold onto my arm?" Alex suddenly asked.


    Within seconds, she made her decision, grabbing his arm and letting him do the heavy lifting.


    Their cement began rapidly improving as they went fromst ce back to 10th ce.


    Even though they were nowhere near where they used to be, they were at least safe enough away from thest ce.


    "Alex..."


    "Don''t worry about me. I''m fine."


    Seeing his breath start to get heavier and heavier as he tried to keep the right pace while maintaining his posture motivated her.


    Chloe finally started moving faster on her own, allowing Alex to ease up a little as he no longer had to slow down a little constantly.


    With the secondp done, they were now on the finalp as Alex and Chloe both strengthened their resolve.


    However, everyone was trying their best to win.


    The people in the back began to attempt running again, ignoring their lesson from earlier as passed Alex and Chloe.


    However, they were met with the harsh reality of the floor as soon as they reached the second corner of the track.


    Several people who were running immediately went back to walking, ying it safe as thest ce was now clearly determined.


    At the same time, everyone in front of Alex was starting to slow down, as it was now safe to resume walking normally.


    However, just as most people reached thest turn of the track, a strong wind suddenly blew across it.


    Even the trees just a few steps from the track were angled backward by the strong wind.


    "Ah!——Ouch!"


    With more and more people falling onto the track, Alex quickly grabbed onto Chloe, forcing her to stand still with him.


    Meanwhile, everyone who hasn''t fallen in front could barely advance any further.


    They couldn''t even open their eyes and look forward as the piercing wind was burning their eyes.


    The people who tripped earlier also started getting back up, catching up to those who had fallen.


    Just as Luqing was about to intervene, a voice suddenly appeared above them.


    "Miss Luqing, let these students try to finish the track themselves."


    As a middle-aged man descended from the sky, everyone was shocked.


    It was the school principal who had shown himself in front of the entire school building a few days before the winter break.


    With no intervention from Luqing, everyone bit their lips as they got back onto their feet and tried to advance.


    But the strong, constant wind blowing against their path just made it almost feel impossible.


    Some t-out untied their clothes and started trying to advance by themselves, only to be blown off of the track.


    "Who told you all that you can untie the clothes?" The middle-aged man asked out loud.


    The rest of the ss, who was still on the track, remained silent as they tried their best to move forward.


    Some were quick to realize hunching down made it much easier, with the 1st ce now only less than a hundred steps from the finish line.


    Alex and Luqing were no exception as they hunched down and started moving forward slowly.


    "Chloe, you okay?" Alex asked, noticing her legs starting to tremble.


    "I-I''m too exhausted. I don''t think I can go on anymore——"


    "You''reing with me. We can''t just give up now!"


    As Alex tried to yell through her in the wind, it was clear she was just too tired to advance any further.


    "Fuck! Just sit down for a bit. I''lle up with an idea."


    As the two of them sat down on the track, everyone was still advancing before them.


    Soon, they had be thest ce as everyone had officially passed the two, with all of them reaching thest corner.


    However, seeing the first-ce pair now crawling to advance thest fifty steps, it was clear there was plenty of time.


    "Chloe, you feel better now?" Alex asked as the two had been sitting for almost a minute.


    "Y-Yeah. I think I can walk again now."


    Alex helped Chloe slowly get back up into a hunching position as they advanced at a steady pace.


    But just as they passed around thest corner themselves, the wind became drastically stronger, forcing them to fall just like everyone else.


    However, the crawling was much more painful than Alex imagined, as the small stic-like material was printing onto their arms and knees.


    "Alex, I''m just too tired. I''m sorry..."


    Seeing Chloe on the verge of tears as she sat down on the floor, Alex stopped as well.


    "It''s fine. Those people who got knocked out are already inst ce... I''m happy to be a partner with you, Chloe."


    "Same to you."


    As the two sat down on the track, seemingly giving up, the people ahead were still trying to beat the challenge.


    Evelyn and Luna had seemingly given up, however, as they sat just a few steps ahead of them.


    Meanwhile, Sophia and Mary were in 3rd ce, trying to pass the two pairs ahead of them.


    They were slowly advancing, partially standing up and partially with their hands on the floor.


    It almost looked like a resemnce of an Ape advancing,pared to the snail crawling at 1st and 2nd ce.


    Seeing their ssmate trying so hard, Alex felt he just couldn''t give up like this.


    But looking over to Chloe, who still looked exhausted, he quickly dismissed the idea.


    He didn''t want to hurt her for just pointless cement that wouldn''t make a difference anyway.


    However, as he watched Sophia and Mary advance closer and closer to the 2nd ce, an idea began to form inside his head.


    Not wanting to let go of his chance, he turned over to Chloe again.


    "Hey Chloe, you want to try something that will allow us to reach 1st ce?"


    "What?"


    "I said, do you want to try something that will allow us to get 1st? Just don''t question how I do it."


    Chloe waspletely caught off guard by Alex''s suggestion, but she nodded in agreement in the end.


    "Okay, just don''t move until I told you so..."


    As Alex reached over to her shoe, he grabbed onto the cloth tie, moving it up all the way to her knee.


    Next, he moved the tie-up to his knee as well, forcing their thighs to be together instead of their shoes.


    "Alex... What are you doing?"


    Chloe asked as her face started to blush a little, but she didn''t stop him from doing it.


    "Don''t question it. I think this is going to work... Okay, I need you to hold around my shoulder and use your knee to wrap around me, okay?"


    As Alex slowly turned around, Chloe was instantly dragged around to his back by the cloth tie.


    It was finally clear to Chloe what Alex was trying to do as he lowered himself before her.


    "Come on, we can''t waste any more time."