Chapter 41 #2
“Thank you,” he said, giving a little bow.
Then he looked at me and smiled in that very Hiro way of his.
“At first, it was to impress Aish, but then my reasons changed.” He scratched Kiara's head and looked at me cheerfully.
“Now I'm by your side because I want to be, Kay.
Because I'm tired of pretending I don't care.
I don't want to spend my life hiding, and I've discovered that I like who I am when I'm with you, Breno, and Aish.
We're in our last semester, and I got a letter from the army.
They want me to join the troops and offered me a good salary.
Not much can go wrong now, and I'm ready to deal with anyone who has a problem with that.”
Finally, he threw the stick one more time, winked at me, and left without saying goodbye.
“That's so stupid,” I muttered, watching him go.
At that moment, something hard, rough, and wet hit my face, catching me off guard. It fell into my lap and I picked it up to examine it. It was a slobbery piece of stick.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kiara snort indignantly—I'd driven away her new friend.
Δ
“I need you all to be quiet and listen carefully,” Zion said from atop the ring.
It was Monday, the start of the afternoon training session, and he'd asked us to gather there. We quickly lined up in rows, watching him in expectant silence—we knew this would be about the final tests.
“The test field has already been chosen.” Some students whistled in approval while others, like me, shuddered at the challenge.
“This year's test will simulate a typical day in the forest, and like the other tests, your gifts will be nullified by power blockers.
The idea is to see how you'd react in a wild environment, since that's where the armies operate.
You'll start at the edge of a circular area covered by a protective shield—nothing gets in, no lamias, nothing that could interfere with your performance.
You'll have three days to reach the center of the region, where a helicopter will be waiting.
You'll be armed only with the knowledge and natural skills you learned at the academy. You can also choose one weapon to bring—but only one.”
Around me, the students were stunned. I'd heard about this type of test before—every year they rotated the location and format.
Sometimes it took place in forest clearings; other years, it turned into an open tournament in the new arena outside the walls.
There was also the chance it could be a competition with various combat and weapons categories, but the field test had always been the hardest.
Lorena raised her hand beside me, and Zion nodded for her to speak.
“The only objective is to reach the center?” she asked hopefully. I heard Adrian and Naoki booing from the other side—Lorena should've known by now that nothing was ever easy.
“No. Forty vials of incandescent substance will be scattered across the terrain.
Since there are twenty of you, the objective is to arrive at the center with at least one vial.
Final rankings will be based on who arrives first and who has the most vials.
Anyone who arrives empty-handed will be eliminated and fail—they'll have to retake the test the following year.”
I shuddered at the thought. If I stayed another year at this academy, I'd completely lose it. Zion gave me what seemed like a reassuring look, and I could've sworn I heard a “You'll make it” through the bond.
“Fighting for possession of the vials is permitted, as is theft. You're free to do whatever it takes to achieve the objective, as long as you don't use your weapons against each other. The only prohibition is murder—you'll pay with your own life if you cross that line.”
The truth was that death wasn't permitted in the tests, but students routinely got into bloody fights.
There had been cases of mutilation, and beatings weren't rare.
The test took place during Lúmiran—five days when the veil between the physical and divine worlds was at its thinnest, while the aurora borealis lit up the skies and its magic left the fae more sensitive.
In those chosen locations, students gave free rein to their most primitive instincts, and the exams ended up being even more dangerous.
“There will also be obstacles and traps—simple things you shouldn't have trouble getting past. You'll be required to wear a heart rate monitor, and you'll be tracked from start to finish. Physical performance will factor into your final grade.”
The students began murmuring among themselves, already forming alliances and sizing up who might be dangerous. Zion cleared his throat to get their attention, and everyone immediately fell quiet.
“So, given the nature of the test, these last two months will focus on survival, endurance, and weapons training. I advise you all to find ways to keep up your combat training on your own, since we won't have as much time for it. We'll only do physical combat once a week, on Fridays, no knockouts.”
Everyone nodded, accepting the new arrangement.
“You're dismissed. Head to the grove—I'll be waiting.”
We stood up, a little overwhelmed by all the information. This time, no one spoke or murmured. We'd retreated into our own heads, digesting everything.
Still lost in thought and worried, we ran to the grove.
Δ
“Hold on!” I shouted through gritted teeth at Breno.
We were hanging twenty meters off the ground, our feet swinging free in the air. My fingers had gone white from gripping the tree trunk. Breno seemed to be having more trouble than I was staying in position.
“Holy shit. He's going to kill us,” my friend grumbled, breathless. His face was red, veins bulging from the effort.
“Wrong, Lutieve.” I heard Zion's voice from below. I tried to look down but couldn't. Holding on was hard enough, and my fingers ached as they scraped against the rough bark. “What I'm doing is preparing you not to die—something that's proving to be an arduous task.”
Breno was sweating and cursing from the effort.
Around me, I heard groans and curses everywhere.
The Silent Woods no longer lived up to its name—it had become a cacophony of complaints.
Zion figured that if we were going to spend three days in the forest hunting, fighting, running, and who knows what else, then climbing trees, jumping rivers, and enduring an insane obstacle course was the bare minimum we should know.
Aish was three trees over, eyes closed. She was murmuring something—it sounded like a prayer—and sweat cascaded down her neck, soaking her shirt.
Hiro was nearby, watching her with concern, ready to help if needed.
In the brief moments when our eyes met, I saw a flash of understanding, as if we were accomplices in a crime.
The truth was that despite our aching fingers, we didn't struggle nearly as much with climbing trees and holding on.
The genetics in our blood won out. We were children of the forest peoples, and muscle memory was written into our DNA.
“Stronger than the walls!” Zion shouted from below. He walked among the students with the shadows and Kiara, making sure we weren't cheating.
“We endure!” all the students shouted, and the shouting made us lose control.
I heard a body plummeting from the tree, bones smacking against branches like a pinball, before finally sprawling onto the leaf-covered ground. Then Zion blew his whistle one last time, marking the end of the tree resistance training. Today he'd increased the duration to ten minutes.
I climbed down quickly to help the student.
Unfortunately for me, it was Adele who had fallen on the other side of the stream.
I made a face as soon as I noticed Zion and Kiara waiting for me to heal her.
She'd hit her face on a trunk and her nose was bleeding profusely.
Apparently she'd fallen badly and dislocated her left arm—she was clutching the limb, her face contorted in pain.
I approached and crouched beside her, and she looked at me with a terrified expression.
“No, I don't want you to touch me.” Adele struggled away. Her nose had already stopped bleeding, but her voice faltered with pain. “I want to go to the hospital.”
“And why should you be any different, when all the other students are healed this way?” Zion asked from behind me.
I stayed crouched and looked from her to Zion. He stared at her with a hard expression, his lips pressed into a firm line. I was afraid he might do something that would damage his reputation.
“You don't get a choice, Adele. Stay still—it'll be quick,” I said, moving closer.
She kicked at me, screaming like a pig at slaughter when I grabbed her limp arm.
“Get away from me!” she shouted again, and I pressed her against the ground. I noticed Adele was applying healing to herself, but if the arm healed in the wrong position, it would take surgery to break the new cartilage and reset it properly.
“Stop using your gift! Do you want to make this worse?”
She seemed to understand what I said and released her power.
Her eyes were wide with fear, and something in that genuine terror made me feel bad as I pinned her down.
She writhed beneath me, her good arm flailing to push me away.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow slithering toward Adele's body, and when I pushed her arm to the ground, the shadows grabbed her, holding her still.
I sat on her stomach and she avoided looking at me while I pressed her chest with one hand and set the arm back in place with the other.
The crack of bones snapping together echoed through the entire forest, along with the scream that tore from her lips.
As she screamed, I scanned her entire body for more injuries.
That was when a painful cold pierced my chest.