Two years
After that little talk, Sam got closer with the kids.
He sent them away to relax, as he is sure that they wouldn't be able to relax after the competition ended.
And his guess was right.
The competition went on for over a week inside the forest patch as everyone tried their best to survive and to be the last one to leave.
Even though the students managed to stay until the last day, not all of them managed to become top ten.
Seven of them lost while the three of them only managed to luck out. They cannot use the beasts of their full power at the moment, so they are already troubled from all the pressure they are facing and they are only middle stage acolytes. The late-stage acolyte particularly the peak stage ones are extremely problematic to deal with.
They lost.
Sam met with them the very night after he rewarded the top ten and sent the schools away.