Chapter 5

The training continued without stopping and with each passing tension, the burden on Alexander began to increase. The training were already very difficult. Too much for an ordinary child to handle!

The content of the training was simple. After the morning run, there was a simple strength training and forty-five minutes of breakfast time immediately... After breakfast, a series of basic bodybuilding movements were performed with high repetition, forcing Alexander to bleed his nose.

Time continued to flow against all odds, and a month was left behind. By the end of a month, about fifty children had survived. However, with another group of fifty people who merged with the group, they again became a hundred.

This proved that they were not the only group trained in the Black Dragon Camp.

Alexander has acted to increase his communication with people and to get as much information as possible. Although he will not be able to see the person he saw the day before the next week, nothing has happened to Noah, the most important source of information. So it was comfortable.

Noah was unexpectedly strong. Although he painted the image of being small and cute, he was always close to first place in training results. He was also the winner in some training.

Alexander was also developing, of course. He could be considered one of the most powerful people in his group. The results were worse than only Noah and a few others.

Training continued, and his relationship with Noah changed from friend to friend. Thanks to the groups of friends they formed at breakfast and other meals, they were able to motivate each other. This was the main reason why they did not lose their joy despite all these difficult conditions.

"Alexander, listen to me well."

Between meals, which felt like a blessing after hard workouts, Noah leaned over to Alexander and began to speak in a low voice.

"Let's hang out together from now on. Polarizations began to form between the group. You know what a competitive environment this place is. Conflicts between Maverick and Zachary have now spread to neutrals. I know he just wants to focus on education, but things are starting to get out of control."

Maverick and Zachary were well-known to everyone in the group. Maverick was the first member of the group, while Zachary was coming right behind him. The difference between them was so small that they were in constant competition.

Of course, this rivalry turned into war in a very short time.

"Do they have time for such stupid things?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to warn you. They say we will start training with the team soon. That's when the competition will come to a head."

"You don't have to worry."

For Alexander, there was no difference between being first or not. Ranking had lost its importance because he had gotten all he wanted.

After staring at Alexander for a while, Noah sighed and focused on eating his food. Alexander ate his meal without further ado and continued the painful training from where they left off.

Their training time continued to increase day by day, and Hell Week began when they were only allowed to sleep an hour a day.

Alexander realized that day that he had just tasted the real hell. Even previous training, which were considered harsh, were also very humane.

On the second day of Hell Week, a boy named Henry suddenly collapsed to the ground and blood began to flow from his seven holes. At first, he struggled a little, but after a few seconds, he didn't move again. The instructors called a few men and ordered them to take Henry away. Neither Alexander nor anyone else saw that boy again.

Deaths had become so normal that most of the children had reached the point of losing their sanity. This education was very heavy for these children in their early teens.

On the third day of Hell's Week, they were ordered to go over the coals that had fallen to the ground. The coals were different from ordinary coals and had officially turned into a fireball. Moreover, almost all of the children had their feet collected water.

They couldn't cross this fiery five-meter-long road.

While the children looked at each other and waited for the first victim, a child took his first step on the fiery path. He stepped in with an emotionless expression. When he pressed the coals, whose waterlogged bottoms were nothing like fire, he exploded and put the unprotected leather underneath in front of the fires.

After taking a deep breath, the boy closed his eyes and took the second step.

Coss!

With every step he took, his skin was scorched, causing unbearable pain. However, his small body stood motionless like an unshakable mountain, moving forward with his steely will despite the sufferings he had suffered. Everyone knew this child. He was someone most people knew intimately.

Although his exam grades took him to the highest levels, he would never attract attention. He smiled a lot, acted stupidly, and mostly moved last.

Who would volunteer for something so painful?

The boy advanced with heavy steps, taking deep breaths, and finished the five-meter path. His feet had already changed color, and his small and adorable face was wet with sweat.

He turned around and looked at the blue-haired boy who looked at him with eyes wide open among the children.

"What are you waiting for, Noah? Real training is just beginning."

The instructor, who watched them from afar, smiled brazenly.

---

Late at night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, Alexander took off the cloth that wrapped around his feet and applied the ointment that the instructors had given them. Even though his body was dying of exhaustion, he knew he had to not sleep and apply the ointment. Otherwise, he would not be able to complete the education of tomorrow.

In the Black Dragon Camp, at least in the part where it was located, a group of hundred people was counted, and this number was always kept constant. Whenever the difference exceeded him, the new children would immediately join the training and pick up where they left off.

Alexander was used to changing the people around him. He was now much more emotionless, mature and cruel to himself. The pain had become a necessity for him. Strangely, these workouts weren't cutting him off.

There had to be ways in which he could become stronger.

The ointment he applied to his feet hurt him more than when he walked on the hot coal path, but Alexander didn't even have a frown on his eyebrows. The pain had long since ceased to be a problem for him. Sometimes he even tortured himself.

After wrapping his feet in bandages, he looked at Noah's feet, which were falling asleep on his bed. His feet were bruised, and pieces of dead flesh turned into coal-black were hanging between the bandages. It was a more disgusting sight to look at, and if it continued like this, it would get worse.

Others were not aware of this, but if they did not apply ointment, their wounds would become more severe and they would not be able to survive the next day's training. These ointments were very effective if they made people suffer which would make them desire death. In just one hour, he was healing everything, including cut wounds.

He nudged Alexander Noah's feet and woke him up. Noah was so tired that he couldn't open his eyes and responded in a low voice.

"What happened?"

"We must apply ointment to their wounds."

Noah's sleep ran away when he heard the word ointment and slowly straightened up on his bed. Although it only lasted for a while, the ointment had entered his nightmares. It hurt so much that the wounds he healed remained like angels.

Of the entire group, Alexander was perhaps the only one who drove him.

This pain was too much to take away all their energy.

What masochist would he use?

"Don't be a kid, drive it. You have to get used to the pain to survive here. Don't let the pain hold you back."

At these words, Noah could not say anything. Alexander, whom he thought he knew very well, was suddenly so mature and said things that were not expected of him.

"You're so different today."

Noah removed the bandages that had wrapped his foot and showed his wounds to Alexander. Although his condition was slightly lighter than Alexander's, it was a terrifying sight. It was too horrifying for a ten-year-old to bear.

He took Alexander Noah's cream and torched it to rub it on his feet. This has been repeated many times. Noah had cleaned his wounds, Alexander had cleaned his wounds. Until now, they were the only partners who remained intact.

The reason for this was that they constantly supported each other.

Noah was already covered in sweat as he took a breath through his teeth. He was squeezing his quilt and teeth to avoid screaming.

Luckily, Alexander was close to specializing in this business, and after finishing applying the ointment, he quickly bandaged the wound with a clean bandage.

While Noah was hissing in sweat, Alexander put his head down and began to stretch where he was to rest his muscles as much as possible. They had only fifteen minutes left of the sleep time given to them, and fifteen minutes later the workout would begin.

'I must fight to become stronger.'