The scorching sun bore down on them as the recruits sprinted toward the distant tower, their weighted gear dragging at their bodies with every step.
"You’re insane!" Dean, running behind them, wheezed "How are you not out of breath yet?"
He knew Reid was strong, he had witnessed firsthand what he was capable of but this wasn’t a test of strength, this was an endurance test and he didn’t expect Reid to keep going for this long without breaking a sweat.
Reid didn’t reply. He simply focused on the run, the ground pounding beneath his feet.
The weak were already beginning to lag behind. So stumbled, others gasped for breath, but Ajax’s voice bood from behind, rciless as ever.
"FASTER! If you don’t make it in twenty minutes, you will wish you had died out in the Wildlands!"
"I wasn’t built for this" Dean almost cried. At this point his face was filled with sweat and he was severely out of breath.
"It’s actually not that hard when you get used to the weight" Lisa who was running by Reid’s side comnted.
She also didn’t look out of breath but that was to be expected. She, like Reid, had gone through training since she was young so the weights were only an inconvince at this point.
Dean didn’t bother replying or speaking anything else anymore, preferring to focus on not passing out.
The ti continued ticking as they quickly approached the tower only to be faced with an obstacle.
The reason the tower looked so high even from a distance was because it sat on the top of a really high hill which’s slope looked even more intimidating.
The recruits ca to a sharp halt as they faced the intimidating hill before them. Mostly were barely staying on their feet at this point.
"DID I SAY YOU COULD STOP?" Commander Ajax’s voice bood and the recruits could see him quickly approaching.
The recruits forced their bodies to move under all this weight even though they felt it getting heavier by the second.
Reid at this point was already climbing the hill with Lisa and a tired Dean following behind.
How Dean managed to keep moving was unknown to even him but he clearly knew that stopping right now ant fainting from exhaustion.
A sudden commotion started behind them and the trio glanced back only for their eyes to widen in surprise, well Lisa’s and Reid’s anyway.
Approaching them was a boy with green hair just like Lisa’s. He quickly overtook them and headed up the hill.
"That’s your brother right?" Reid asked. There was no way he would mistake the person he saw but he had to confirm.
"I think so?" She sounded unsure but even she knew that was definitely her brother.
He slowly turned to see Lisa’s surprise faced which proved that she had no idea he was going to be here.
"Let’s speed up" Reid suddenly said and Dean’s eyes widened in horror.
"Please no" he pleaded, his tired voice barely coming out as a whisper.
"Okay" Lisa answered, much to Dean’s dismay.
The two sped up, leaving him behind as he kept struggling to catch up.
"I hate you guys" he murmured but they couldn’t hear him since they were already halfway across the hill.
"MOVE, YOU MAGGOTS!" Ajax’s voice ca again. "You think the Primals will stop just because you’re tired? GET UP OR STAY DOWN FOREVER!"
His voice made Dean’s skin crawl and with the remaining stamina he didn’t know he had, he forced himself to speed up.
Reid pushed forward, his legs had started burning as he climbed. Lisa was still with him, her breaths heavier now.
One step. Another.
And then—
Reid reached the top.
His chest rose and fell rapidly, but he made it. Lisa arrived seconds later, collapsing onto her back with a dramatic groan. "I think—huff—I lost feeling in my legs."
Waiting for them at the top with heavy breaths, was the person who they had guessed, Damien Blackwood.
"huff—I won this ti Reid" Damien breathed out before plopping down on the ground since they had already reached the tower.
Reid at this point was tired of eting unexpected faces so he just shrugged off the fact that Damien was here.
"What— huff— what are you doing here brother?" Lisa asked, barely keeping her head up.
"I could ask the sa sister, why are you here?" He questioned back.
"I—" before she could reply, he interrupted.
"Mother knew about your little runaway so she tasked with either bringing you back or making sure you stayed safe until you were willing to return" Damien said.
"Then why aren’t you forcing back?" Lisa questioned.
"Because he’s here " he pointed at Reid who didn’t even seem interested in their conversation. After all, he was having his own conversation with Evo.
Dean, who had just reached the top, collapsed onto his knees, gasping. "I swear... this training... is inhumane..."
He noticed Lisa talking to a boy who had the sa hair and eyes color as her but he was too exhausted to ask, so he just lay on the floor.
"W-wait a minute brother, do you an you’re not taking back because you want to spend ti with Reid?" Lisa stared at her brother in disbelief, her exhaustion montarily forgotten.
"No-no way!" Damien practically scread. "I’m not dragging you ho because I know you’ll be sad if I separate you from Reid."
Lisa’s face turned red in an instant. "WHAT?! That’s NOT true!" she shouted, sitting up so fast she nearly fell back again.
Damien smirked, clearly enjoying the advantage he had gotten. "Oh? So if I drag you back ho right now, you wouldn’t mind?"
Lisa opened her mouth, then closed it. Her eyes darted to Reid for a second before she huffed, crossing her arms. "That’s not the point."
"Let get this straight, both brother and sister are interested in you" Dean who was silently listening to their drama while resting, turned to Reid.
Reid looked at him with a disappointed expression before turning to Damien.
"I’m straight" he suddenly said and both Lisa and Damien heard it clearly.
Damien choked on his own breath, his smirk vanishing instantly. If this was ani, he would have turned grey with a crack appearing on his body.
Dean, despite his exhaustion, let out a weak, wheezing laugh.
"You—!" Damien pointed an accusatory finger at Reid, his face a mix of outrage and embarrassnt. "That’s not what I ant!"
Reid simply shrugged. "You said ’he’s here’ as the reason you’re not dragging Lisa back. I’m just clarifying before you say anything weird."
Lisa buried her face in her hands. "I hate you all," she groaned.
Dean, still lying on the ground, grinned. "No, you don’t."
At least this little break ca with so entertainnt so maybe the run was worth it after all.
Damien took a deep breath, clearly trying to regain his composure. "Listen, I’m not here because of him," he gritted out, glaring at Reid.
"I’m here because Mother ordered to ensure Lisa’s safety. If that ans letting her stay, fine. But don’t get the wrong idea."
Reid, unbothered as ever, just nodded. "Alright."
Lisa peeked between her fingers. "So... you’re really not going to drag ho?"
Damien sighed. "Not unless you want to go back."
Lisa stared at him for a mont before relaxing. "Thanks, Damien."
Dean, who had finally regained so strength, pushed himself up and stretched. "Well, that was fun. Can we never run like that again?"
At this point, most of the recruits had made it up the hill
"You better hope there’s no second round," Damien muttered, standing up.
Dean paled. "There’s a second round?!"
Before anyone could answer, Ajax’s booming voice interrupted them.
"YOU LOT THINK THIS IS BREAK TI?! FORM UP!"
Dean let out a quiet sob. Lisa groaned. Damien sighed. And Reid?
He was already moving. He hadn’t pushed himself this much in training, for a while so he could feel so soreness in his muscles but he didn’t mind.
The recruits that had managed to make it up the hill at this point were roughly 50 out of the almost 300 that ca.
They scrambled to their feet and lined up in front of the tower as Commander Ajax addressed them.
"Congratulations on being the first 50 to complete my test therefore you get the right to choose any of the five floors of this tower according to the ti you arrived." he pointed to the tower that stood behind him.
"As you’ll find out soon, each floor has a total of ten rooms and the higher you ascend, the better the living conditions" Commander Ajax continued.
"Living in this tower automatically marks you as an elite and the expectations and training would be increased to match" He finished explaining.
"Now, step forward as soon as you hear your na" Commander Ajax pulled out a writing pad (a crude tool in this age of technology but whatever) and started calling nas.
"Damien Blackwood, Reid Fletcher, Lisa Blackwood, ..." They stepped forward as soon as their nas were announced "you ten will be at the top floor".
The recruits murmured in surprise hearing the last nas of the first three. There was no one who didn’t know about the great families so they instantly recognized the last nas.
"Dean, Alex, Jerry Brown, Richard Mason....." He announced the next set of nas and assigned them to the fourth floor.
Surprisingly, Alex had made it to the top twenty and the twins were also placed in the third floor.
Ajax wasted no ti after assigning their floors. "Enough chit-chat! Enter in order, take your rooms, and be ready by sunset. Training isn’t over just because you survived a hill climb."
The recruits groaned, but no one disobeyed. As they walked into the tower they could hear Ajax’s voice addressing the recruits who couldn’t get a spot in the tower.
"As a punishnt for failing my test, you all will run back to the barracks where you will be staying.
So felt their skin crawling at the thought of running again while others thanked their stars that they were able to make it to the top 50.
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