'Screw the test and the evaluation. Albo is in danger and his rescuer is nowhere in sight.' Josiah thought to himself. He couldn't stand watching his friend be pestered in that manner.'Ok. Think. If I try to draw its attention it's going to turn against me. But can I win…? No. My best chance is to climb on the block and help Albo kick it down. I'm going to silently climb on the other side.'Josiah rushed to the other side of the block and started.'Hang in there, Albo.'As an equipped human who trained in the army for eight months, the task was way easier for him, so he got up pretty quickly."Albo!""Dude! Help!" Luckily the scene was still the same. Albo was kicking the things' front while his hands were tied up, and the creature hadn't managed climbing up yet."Leave it to me!""Don't you dare! He's MY hostage!"Josiah heard.Right next to the block where they were standing, there was an even taller block. Josiah saw the owner of the voice above it, he was sitting down, watching t
"Oh, look! It's a gauntlet! This one is mine!""Hey, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? Who's the one who dealt with most of the thing?""My hostage. My monster. My business. My item.""Tell you what: since they are bound to the blood of someone who strikes it, wy don't we test whose blood it's bound to?"Reeve couldn't argue with that logic. If it wasn't bound to him, it'd be a useless item for him anyway.They did the test. And the gauntlet ended up with Reeve.'Damn it.' Josiah thought."Dude! Are you ok?" Albo appeared right behind him. He had descended his block and climbed up on the one Josiah was on."I'm ok. And you too seem fine. Go… I still need to find 'my' hostage.""I know where she is!" Albo exclaimed."Is it ok for the hostages to help the participants? I don't think so.""Relax. It was all against the rules to begin with, anyway. Do you know soldier Yvone? She must have misheard the instruction and hid some of the hostages who weren't their number in the beg
"What are you doing here!?""Shhh! They're going to hear you." She said.She smiled big and bright right after. Lenny started speaking on a low, whispered voice, trying not to be overheard:"I told you, I'm going to follow you wherever you go.""But… I'm in the army. I'm a soldier. And we are in the middle of a camp. If the sarg finds out…""Don't worry. Sargeant Koda knows me. He is also my Sargeant.""What?""After I found out you sacrificed yourself and enlisted for the sake of the people in the village… I followed suit. And did the same thing.""You did what!? Do you know what happens to child soldiers in the army?""Sshhh!"Josiah got closer to Lenny so that they could talk on a lower voice."I know what happens…" Lenny said, "That's why I don't want to stay in the village knowing you are a child in the army."'Silly girl. I'm not a regular child. You should have known better…' Josiah thought to himself."Anyway, why did you show up now of all times? You need to get out. We are in
"Good fight, pal." Watt pat on Josiah's back as he left the arena. "Now, watch the pro."'I better see this. Not only for Watt, but to see what he has prepared for me.' Josiah thought.The fight took place right after Josiah's. Watt's opponent was soldier Lawrence. A reserved man in his early twenties who didn't talk very much to anybody. Lawrence's weapon of choice was a crossbow.Meanwhile, Watt was carrying a small wooden weapon with some heavy ball tied to the edge. The ball seemed to be something that came out a morning star, but the whole weapon was far smaller and didn't pass the same dangerous vibe an actual morning star did.'I wonder what those are called…?'The whistling sound from the instructor started the fight. As soon as it started, Watt let his weapon purposely fall on the floor. A huge crater opened up and several pieces of compact soil fell all over the place in front of Watt's feet.'Such strength… But I bet he can't hit the opponent with that strength, otherwise, h
"Are you kidding!? You shouldn't even be in the army in the first place! Don't you know who these guys are? They are our enemies! E-ne-mies!""And yet you are with them…""I…"Josiah wanted to say he was qualified because he was strong to endure and decided enough to turn against them when the time came, but knowing Lenny… She was the exact same."You clearly need me around. I've been watching your test. You always injure yourself. Didn't you know bathing the weapon on blood to withdraw more power is bad both for you and for the item?""Yeah, but… How am I supposed to outfight people who clearly also do the same? This is an important test. It's a special occasion.""Liar. If you do this now you do this always. I know.""…""You need someone to support you over your wounds and dumb decisions.""… Look… Let's talk about this later, ok? I need to prepare something to eat and rest for the fight in the afternoon. I'm going to be the first one to fight.""Ok. Later you tell me you accept me
"Next two!" Koda shouted.Reeve and Dave Johnson stepped up to the circle.Josiah was tired of his own fight, but he also wanted to witness that one. It could be that he'd be matched with the promising son of the lieutenant like they said, after all.The two young men were about the same size and had a pretty underdeveloped physique. Someone who didn't know them wouldn't give much to them. They stood still facing each other and waited until the whistling sound marked the beginning of the fight.And it soon started.Of course, Dave Johson knew all about Reeve's weapon. It caused the pain to be transferred to the attacker. With that prior knowledge, he charged in bare-handed, striking for disarming the opponent before he could draw his. Dave had all of his weapons firmly tied to the back and the hands-free. The whole way he carried his armor around was made for building up speed.They were taught how to disarm a man with a knife on the army. Theoretically, it was no big deal.'That's wh
"Lenny?" Josiah almost couldn't keep the low tone as he asked for her, after entering his tent.There was nobody in.'Of course, she wouldn't be here anymore. If anything, she must have left and his somewhere…'Josiah stood silent for a moment so he could hear the instructor and Koda talking to each other outside the tent:"The infiltrator was last seen running to the west.""What's west?""Nothing. The fields proceed to the west up to two thousand miles.""Do you think there's any place to hide?""At this point just running on a random direction is hideout enough.""Do we send a group to…"With the duo walking away, the voices started getting to low to be heard.'Lenny… Where did you go? I hope she doesn't get treated as a deserter or something because of that… I wonder if the team is going to start searching for this so-called infiltrator?'Since there was nothing to do inside the tent, Josiah walked away and went on a quest to finding more information around.'Maybe Watt knows somet
The rest of the tournament took place in the afternoon and for Josiah, it was very underwhelming. Reeve didn't ever recover his condition in time so he had to withdraw, thus causing Josiah to be the winner of the tournament for abandonment.The overall results of the tournament were as follows:First Round:A) Josiah vs Greg — Winner: JosiahB) Watt vs Lawrence — Winner: LawrenceC) Ellis vs Douglas — Winner: DouglasD) Teagan vs Daniel — Winner: TeaganE) Quinn vs Reeve — Winner: ReeveF) Brooks vs Dave Johnson — Winner: Dave JohnsonG) Yvonne vs Will — Winner: YvonneH) Kyleigh vs Austin — Winner: AustinSecond Round:1) Josiah vs Lawrence — Winner: Josiah2) Douglas vs Teagan — Winner: Douglas3) Reeve vs Dave Johnson — Winner: Reeve4) Yvonne vs Austin — Winner: YvonneSemifinals:Josiah vs Douglas — Winner: JosiahReeve vs Yvonne — Winner: YvonneAfternoon:Third prize. Reeve vs Douglas — Winner: DouglasFinals. Josiah vs Yvonne — Winner: JosiahJosiah still doesn't know whet