Chase

As soon as he reached the middle area, Theo sat down as if he watched the others who still ran with their lives on the line. No one doubted him, even though the fact was him training his Awareness.

After the training was over, most people returned and had lunch first before the physical training. The lunch was just a simple military ration.

Theo ate his lunch alone as Alea found him again, grabbing his hand before he could escape.

"Hiya, we meet again. Don't run. I know that I'm annoying, but I will become more annoying the more you push me away."

"…" Theo's eyebrows twitched when he heard that and he couldn't help but ask. "Are you sure you are a third-year student?"

"I am. And I don't feel ashamed to admit it if that means I can get you to join my team." She smiled.

"Please spare me. I'm not somebody. There are more capable seniors there." Theo sighed.

"What I want is a first-year."

"… Do you swing that way? Going for an underage person." Theo knew that she would read his expression again, so this time he openly showed a disgusted expression.

"You don't need to show it openly…" Alea sighed and explained. "I already have a candidate for the other two grades. That's why I want you to form a pair with me. I will tell you the reason why after you accept."

"There are others—"

"As I said, I will tell you the reason why I choose you over them later. Join me, will you?"

"No."

"Then, I'm going to stick around until you accept."

"…" Theo narrowed his eyes and could see trouble was coming, but he snorted and left. "Are you trying to play ignorant about what will happen to me when you get close to me? If you think that I'm going to partner up with someone as clueless as you, you're wrong."

"Aiya." Alea could only scratch the back of her head, knowing that she had pushed him too hard. "Well, I still have five more days to do this. It's not like he won't give me a chance from his words. Since there is a possibility, I should take it. After all, he is the most interesting first-year in this group. Fufu."

Just like that, Theo escaped from her grasp and ran back toward the group, finding Major Sam preparing for the next training.

"Everyone, listen to me," shouted Major Sam while looking over the documents. "I have grasped your ability a little bit from the earlier training. Hence, I have decided not to do the physical training for today, allowing you to have precious time to get accustomed to living here."

The cheers erupted as they could take a break from that harsh training.

"However, you need to play a game first."

That statement bewildered everyone. Although they already knew about the schedule, they still couldn't see what kind of game they would play, considering they came here to train, not play.

"You will form two groups, boys and girls, and play a game of tag in this area for thirty minutes. To have women chasing you… You like it, right, boys? I know you like it because I do too. Anyway, you will play it. Whoever loses will face two times the amount of physical training tomorrow."

"Eh?!" The students shouted, complaining. The training was already harsh, and the Major actually wanted to increase the difficulty? It was the same as asking them to die.

"I don't care. You boys should start running now. One minute later, the girls will chase you. Go!"

"!!!" Although it was true that flirting with the girls in this game was a dream, they also didn't want to get that amount of training, so the boys spread all around the area.

Theo also took this chance to enter the Dense Forest.

"No skill is allowed, okay?" Major Sam didn't forget to set the limitation for this game.

Theo knew that the best place to hide would be the forest. There were many big trees over there and he could even climb them.

But he sensed someone staring at him as if he was prey. There wasn't a need to think who that person was.

Theo clicked his tongue and entered the forest before going to the very edge. He stood behind a big tree without anyone around him. This place should be able to hide him pretty long.

Meanwhile, Alea entered the forest and halted her movement. People wondered what she was doing, but they still didn't stop, not wanting to get the double training.

As for Alea, she focused her entire sense to control her Awareness, spreading it all over the forest. Obviously, her strength wasn't on par as Theo's master, so she could only cover a small portion of the forest.

'I couldn't find him at least one hundred feet around me. I need to move to another spot.' She took a deep breath and went to a deeper area.

A few minutes later, there were so many people that had been caught by the girls, while Alea had yet to find Theo until one moment… She picked up someone on her radar.

She couldn't contain her excitement and somehow sent that feeling to Theo.

Theo, on the contrary, shuddered as if he felt someone just found him. The feeling he sensed earlier was like a hand clutching his heart.

"This… Was this how you transmit your killing intent? But what I sensed was that of a wild beast…" Theo gulped down as he only had one person in his mind that had the ability to do such a thing.

Knowing that he was found out, he leaped to the side to avoid her chase, only to see her not far from him, charging at him at fast speed.

"You!" Theo gritted his teeth.

"Haha! As I said earlier, I want you to form a pair with me."

Theo looked to the front and jumped left and right, trying to shake her off but to no avail.

"After thinking for a while, I understand why you want to avoid me. That's why I came up with a proposal. You can consider it as me seeing you as my equal. Would you like to hear it first?" She suddenly changed her mind and jumped toward Theo, hugging him from behind before pinning him to the ground. "No? Well, you are going to hear it."