Survival Week

First day

"Line up everyone and listen carefully!" Edward yelled as we got into our positions. Today was the first day of the tournament, we had no idea of the upcoming challenges, we were only informed to pack basic supplies that would last us a few days. Since the tournament was announced, over 1000 new recruits had joined the Academy; hunters, mercenaries, soldiers, and several hundred rookies all fantasizing about glory and gold. I could feel the adrenaline rushed through my veins.

"As you all know that the number of participants for the tournament has increased to 1500, therefore, we decided to hold a survival week at the beginning of the competition so that only the best nominees get selected and continue further in the competition, whereas the other's whose performance seems unsatisfactory shall be disqualified. By the end of the week, you will be categorized into different tiers (The Dragon Class, The Lion Class, The Wolf Class, The Boar Class, and The Rabbit Class) according to your points. Every 2 weeks candidates with the least impressive performances will be eliminated. Your first challenge starts today! You all have to cover the distance of 50 miles to reach the outskirts of the 'Glory Mountain' before the sunsets to progress further in the competition. You will face many obstacles in your way and this is where your creativity and skills will be tested. Got It?" He spoke with authority.

"Yes Sir!" The pillars shook with the unison of our roar.

"Okay, your time starts...NOW!" At the sound of the whistle, we bustled for the doors. As everyone shoved and elbowed each other, I looked around for other exits because I knew if I tried to push past them I would be squeezed into a sandwich. I discovered a sliding window near the ceiling. I ran from a distance and attempted a passe muraille but it was out of my reach, I looked around for objects of support but the whole academy has been cleared. Just then I heard a cocky voice from behind.

"Need help?" I turned around and recognized the guy as one of the new recruits.

"And why would you do that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because I have no intention of pushing through that herd of bullocks plus my genius plan needs a couple of extra hands." He jerked his hand towards the exit where everyone was still struggling to get through one another. He showed me the rope and bow, he was smart enough to pack those while I was a fool to think that the tournament would consist of normal matches.

"So do we got ourselves a deal?"

"Deal," I said as we shook hands.

"Wise decision. Rick Ryder, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Flair Manon, so what's the plan?" I knew the importance of alliances in these kinds of competitions, especially since my reputation was on the line after that incident with Evelin. I was determined not to be in that spotlight again.

He shoots the arrow at one of the trees outside while I tied the other end of the rope around my waist and climbed to the other side. I threw back the rope and waited for him, he finally managed to squeeze through the window. I crossed my arms and waited for his explanation.

"What?" He panted hard.

"Why did you need me for your 'genius plan' when you could clearly do it by yourself?"

"I wanted to make sure that the rope was strong enough to hold my weight, you thought I would risk my precious life without testing it?"

Great, he just used me as a guinea pig for his experiment.

I took in the view of my surroundings. Usually, the streets of Nuxvar (Capital Of Celion) would be buzzing with folks but because it was literally the crack of dawn, the whole kingdom was in deep slumber, making it more dreamy and bewitching. The sight of the lush green trees, the scent of the intoxicating rich flowers, the stroke of the light and gentle breeze, and the illumination of the soft twilight took my breath away. I was lost in own my world when Rick snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Hey I don't mind you staring like a creep but you literally look like you just found your lost lover." I rolled my eyes at his pathetic statement and looked at the map for directions.

The Glory Mountain has a pretty significant place in the history of Celion as the War Of Liberation was fought there 300 years ago that eventually led to the freedom of Celion. Even though the war did not settle the winner, it was enough to form a treaty between the Kingdom Of Hellen and the Kingdom Of Celion because it did severe damage to both sides. Even since the Glory Mountain has been restricted only for the warriors and other important officials. It is a legend that spirits of the dead warriors roam around the mountain and only the one destined for greatness can hear them. Therefore, I am surprised that it was included as part of the competition, maybe it will bring me good luck.

We took off at a slow pace because it was going to be a long day and we needed to conserve our energy.

"So what made you join the tournament?" I asked as we took a turn into the empty streets, we had to cross Nuxvar and reach the murky forest that was located 20 miles north of the city.

"Well, to be honest, I love thrill and adventure. So naturally, when I heard about this tournament, I was intrigued to find out how far I could go in the competition. What about you? You are not the typical dress-up girl that wants to marry her prince charming, are you?

"No, I am not. I am here to win the tournament and earn that title." My eyes burned with determination.

"My money's on you." He winked and I smiled.

We finally made it to the mouth of the forest, the sun was shining bright and we had to take a water break because of the humidity. We both were sweating and gasping for breath. I am glad that weeks of training improved my stamina or there was no way I could have made it this far.

"There's no point in carrying extra weight, let's check our supplies and see if we can dispose of something," I said as we began to unzip our bags, we got rid of some clothes and other unnecessary stuff. In the end, I stuffed my bag with our water bottles and canned food while he packed our weapons and survival kit. We ventured into the forest. The name of the forest complimented its features, it was dark, gloomy and we could hear eerie sounds from within. We had to be careful of the prickly spikes, but as we commenced into the forest it finally opened up for us to move freely. However, the temperature was dropping by the minute and I was having trouble breathing. I cursed myself for leaving my spare clothes behind and paused to tear the bottom of my shirt and wrapped it around my mouth. Just then we heard a brisk rattling sound, we turned around and saw a ferocious-looking rattlesnake. Rick gestured me to step back slowly while I was rooted to the spot because there wasn't only one, there were dozens hanging from the branches of the trees. My mind went completely blank as one of the snakes shot forward to strike. And then I saw everything in slow motion as I felt an arrow zipped past my ear and plunged into the snake. It hissed and fell from the tree with its limped body whilst the other snakes began to rattle their tails furiously.

"Move your god-damned ass Flair or I'll let them have you for lunch!" I snapped into action when I heard Rick's assertive tone and sprinted after him. We ran for a while but then I recalled that we were not following the directions of the map. I stopped him to examine the map with my torch.

"Shit! We are lost!" I yanked my hair out of frustration.

"What are you talking about? Show me that blasted map." I gave it to him as he scrutinized it. "Are you blind?! Can't you see it tells us to go north for 4 miles and turn---Damn it!!" He roared. We knew the course but unfortunately, while we were running away from the snakes, we lost track of the direction.

"What should we do?" I tried to keep my cool.

"I think the snakes were around here somewhere so we should go back and--." He traced the map with his finger.

"We have already lost so much time, if we retrace our steps we will never be able to make it on time." I cut him off.

"Fine then what do you have in mind?" He asked irritably. I thought for a second and then inspected the soil, I broke the branch of the nearby tree and showed it to him.

"See this? I think we should continue on this path because I know that there is a river nearby."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Look at this map, if what you said about our current position is correct then the river should be just around there, if we cross the river we will be able to cut down our distance and besides did you noticed the moisture in the soil and trees, they were dry when we started off. Just trust me on this." I pleaded to him. He sighed and nodded for me to continue on our journey. We walked for another mile or so when we finally heard the gushing sound of the river.

"Wow, you were right!" Rick nuzzled my hair out of excitement and I breathe in relief. We reached the river and looked for the means to get across. We noticed two trees at both sides of the river, joining to meet one another. I bit my lip as I realized that the river was quite rugged, and a fall from this height would definitely lead to severe injuries but this was the only option to get past it.

"Don't worry, we can use the rope to tie around the branch for safety," Rick said reassuringly. I nodded as I did not want to hold us back. Rick went first so that he could shoot back the rope while I watched as he carefully locked his feet and inched to the other side. He shoots back the rope and I progressed towards the bough and interlocked my legs and arms. I slipped once as the bough was too thick and soaked for me to lock my arms securely. But I managed to make it to the bank of the river. I felt my knees shaking and my heart pounding against my chest as I took deep breaths to calm down.

We ran the rest of the journey, barely taking pauses for water or food because we needed to make it to the finished line on time. We made it just as Edward blew the whistle to signal that the time was up. I was over the moon to see that Felix, Alex, and Evelin had also passed the test, I waved at them but Alex and Evelin ignored me while Felix just nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"You must be glad that you accepted my offer otherwise you would be dead meat," Rick smirked while I huffed in amusement.

"You are more delusional than I thought, if you're not careful you might get eliminated by me," I said as he rolled his eyes. I was feeling excited as I gazed in awe at the mystical mountain just a few miles ahead.