Seth lead them to the challenge grounds nearby. This year a path had been selected between the North and South-East tournament zones, East of the education center. The path running through the man-made forest would take the challengers close to the demon shields, pass a couple of rivers and around a lake. The students would return to the campus clearing, where they would record their final time.

Small clusters of students stood in line along the path, preparing for the challenge ahead. Seth began his stretches, pulling at his legs and loosening up his body. "Remember this isn't a race," he warned his charges.

William cast a daring glance at his competition, who clumsily mimicked Seth. He had no doubt that she'd get tangled in her own legs if it were possible. "First-year students aren't required to finish the course. To be considered for Squad recruitment, you do need to finish within a decent time. I'd say about half of the second-year students are aiming to finish the course for just that reason. Your competition is increased with the third-year students. I'd say a good ninety percent of that group are trying to get in. Only a small percentage of senior students bother to try."

"But one of us is guaranteed a place on your squad, no matter what," William attempted to sound confident in his statement.

"I'd rather you make the effort. It makes arguing for your admittance easier," Seth replied.

"So it's not guaranteed." William narrowed his eyes, sensing that he was being played.

"I have a big say in who we recruit, sure, but I can be overruled by my team's coordinator. Astral has the advantage of having a large inheritance and political affiliations." Seth regarded Astral with daggers in his eyes, "You are not to use any of those ties with my team. No equipment upgrades, no under the table dealings, nothing. You are there to train, not to be taken advantage of."

That was a weird. It was like the only thing he needed her money for was as validation to have her on the team to begin with, despite her lack of talent or interest in the games. He watched as she failed to touch her toes.

"Most of your team is made up of the lower class," William's unspoken question lingered.

"I was recruited for my tech skills. Our captain at the time, my captain," he corrected, "wanted a winning team. We had too many players who had connections, but no drive to get dirty."

"I remember the story," William smiled. "Then you joined and turned things around."

"Not quite. Squad VII hadn't won a game in nearly a decade. We struggled to attract recruits, and the ones we could get, needed the appropriate incentive. The year I joined, we lost half of our team due to the reality that they weren't just going to win automatically. Besides, one year in the games looks better on the profile than no prior combat experience. Squad VII had served its purpose, and they moved on. It was expected. Some of them quit, others managed to transfer to a different squad. It's nothing personal." He stopped to snap at Astral, "If you stretch like that you're going to pull something, and God help me Daamon, I'll make you run the course anyway."

Astral's shoulders sagged like a child who had been caught reaching for the cookie jar. Seth continued, "My captain had a plan, he found the right recruits, and then he trained us hard. Some of them couldn't handle the training regime. We trained in the morning; we trained during break; we trained in the evening. It was incredibly difficult, but it paid off in the end." His dark blue eyes lingered over Astral, watching the way she moved. A small smirk appeared on his lips, but it did little to hide the sadness in his eyes. William wondered what he could be so sad about? And why did watching Astral make him feel that way?

"Astral's never worked hard a day in her life," William volunteered.

"It's true!" Astral chirped and presented her hands. "How else do you think I keep such immaculate fingernails?" Seth took one of her hands to inspect the quality of her nails.

Seth frowned. "Those are chipped," he reported and let go of her hand.

"Aw, I just got those done," Astral whined. Seth arched a brow, opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. The smirk returned to his lips, and the sadness that had formerly lingered in his eyes was nowhere to be seen.

"Next up!" The surveying instructor called, signalling for the trio to prepare. There were two more groups ahead of them.

"Right," Seth swept his dark hair from his face, recalling the points he needed to cover. "I'm obligated to stay with Daamon," he told William. "Take your time with the course. Stop frequently to catch your breath and refresh. Walk it if you have to, there's no need to run."

'Oh I'll run it,' William thought. 'I'll make the best time in the history of this school.'

"Remember to scan in when you start and again when you finish. If you need to rest, try to stop at a fountain where you can pause your time. You'll have to scan in again to stop and start the timer." Seth instructed.

"Next!" The instructor waved the trio forward.

Without warning, William dashed forward, scanned himself in and bolted down the path. "It's not a race!" He heard the senior student call after him. Like hell, it wasn't!

In his current state of mind, he could outrun the world. He tried to control his breathing, timing his breaths to rhythm of his feet striking the compact earth. The cooling winds soon became a welcomed companion, alleviating the heat that his body was creating. It wouldn't be long before the wind wouldn't be enough, and his lungs would begin to burn.

The rhythmic thumping of his pulse in his ear, drowned out thoughts of the morning's incident, the competition, and even his desire to join with Squad VII. He managed ten minutes at a full run. He convinced himself that he just needed enough distance between Astral and himself so that he could comfortably take a break. School records were for other people. He had managed a further twenty-five minutes at a slowing jog before he chose to stop. He gasped, clutching his knees, waiting for his body to realize that he had stopped so that he might be able to grab a drink before his competition caught up with him. He swallowed the fountain water in large gulps. His morning jogs all summer were paying off.

He sat down on the grass under the shade of the sparse forest canopy and shut his eyes to revel in his progress, listening for other participants in the distance. The forest was calm, relaxed. It was nothing like Clearwater, where it always felt like something was lurking. On many of his runs, he thought he could hear someone calling for him in the forest. Sometimes, if he ran far enough into the woods, he thought he might have been running on human bone. On those first few runs, paranoia toyed with him. It wasn't long into his routine before he could ignore the sudden change in sound or the way the forest had become oddly quiet. He had even managed to ignore the feeling of that someone was chasing after him, dashing from tree to tree to avoid being seen.

"William!" He jolted from his resting place and stared into the forest. The lighting was all wrong, hues of golden yellows and reds stretch across the forest, announcing that it was now evening. The breeze had died down with the setting sun.

"Shit!" William cursed, kicking the water fountain. He must have fallen asleep with his thoughts of Clearwater. To make things worse, he forgot to scan himself in. Now his score would look like he was getting progressively worse. Why didn't Seth or Astral wake him when they saw him sleeping? Of course, they wouldn't have stopped. Who was he kidding? They were stacking the odds in their favour. They wanted him to lose. Fine. Whatever. He had his own tricks. He'd get Liam to help him out.