I want to be friends with her!

One lap….

Two laps….

Four laps….

There seemed to be no end in sight as Instructor Selvon kept a watchful eye on the students with no indication of eventually letting them rest.

Many students were beginning to feel the burn and those with weaker stamina had already dropped out to let their partners run in their stead.

The challenge stated that the teams who came in last would be eliminated so it was only logical for the weaker members to drop out to not burden their teammates.

Sophie was still running at a steady pace with not even a bead of sweat running down her brow.

She just felt a constant surge of energy as her eyes shifted in colour to a darker hue of scarlet.

It was almost like she was on a….

Hunt.

Maybe it had something to do with her hybrid body, but physical challenges had never been much of an issue.

Cleo on the other hand was not faring so well as she could feel her legs slowly begin to cramp as the challenge continued.

Stamina had never been her weakness when she took the entrance exam as her opponents would either instantly lose due to her mental abilities or she would face fellow psychics who would fight in the mind realm.

Sophie noticed something was wrong and slowed down her pace to draw closer to Cleo.

"How are you feeling?" Sophie asked with concern.

"Tired as hell," Cleo cracked a weary grin as she continued to press onward while pretending to be fine.

How could she lose face in front of her girlfriend?

Sophie appeared to be unfazed lap after lap and Cleo was unsure if she was feeling envious or delighted.

Her darling having such great stamina was certainly a…. welcome surprise. Cleo blushed as certain dirty thoughts flashed across her mind.

[Ring! Ring!]

[Ring! Ring!]

[Ring! Ring!]

The familiar blare from the megaphone echoed around the camp as the students were in for another helpful pep talk by the head instructor.

"Come on maggots pick up the pace!"

"My granny bless her soul, can outrun you pieces of dog shit!" he bellowed.

Instructor Selvon was not pleased that certain students had slowed down and decided it was time to gently encourage them…. well relatively gently

…. okay maybe not so gently.

"God, I hate that son of a bitch," Cleo grumbled to herself.

Sophie gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement and the duo continued to run while circulating their qi in a regular flow.

(At a different side of the camp)

"Fac me gravitate!"

Astrid chanted a new spell she had learnt from her mentor and cast it on herself and Qiana.

Qiana gasped in surprise as she felt her body had suddenly become much lighter and it was now much easier to run.

Astrid was not the only one with this idea as students used qi techniques from movement abilities to spells to even bloodline skills.

No one wanted to be eliminated and Selvon was pleased to see the students incorporate those techniques while under pressure and constantly moving.

It was easy to unleash qi techniques when in the peace and stability of a training session whose environment would not drastically change, but real fights would not be so kind.

These students may be the top of the Earth Federation's younger generation based on the results of the entrance exam but Selvon still saw them as nothing more than rookies.

Students would need to learn how to draw out their potential even in the most trying of circumstances.

In war, even a genius could die to an ordinary man.

Eight laps….

Ten laps….

Twelve laps….

Cleo was now panting and struggling to breathe as the hot environment was not making the challenge any easier.

She was finally approaching her limit.

"Sorry I'm can't seem to make it anymore," Cleo apologised to Sophie as she turned around to walk back to the camp entrance.

Sophie gave her a short peck on the cheek to cheer her up and the princess felt her spirits recover instantly.

"Don't worry I'll go all the way," Sophie pledged.

The duo were about to separate when a random students darted over and yelled out,

"Wait you're making a mistake!"

Sophie glanced to the side and saw an attractive male student whose appearance was something straight out of a fairy tale.

Brown, curly hair gently drooped over a masculine face with a sharp jawline and a muscular body. His lively black eyes glinted fiercely as he rushed forward to stop Cleo.

"Who are you?" Sophie pulled Cleo behind her protectively as she remained wary.

'Never trust a boy who looks that good!' was the mantra drilled into her head by her father.

"Oh, I'm Ethan Kneyre," the boy introduced himself as he saw the two suspicious stares directed at him.

"Let me offer you some advice…. the instructor said whichever team comes last will be eliminated. I think his emphasis on teams means that he wants us to stick together with our partners," he explained.

"Why give us this hint then?" Sophie asked cautiously.

"Aren't we your competitors?"

"To test his theory out," Cleo frowned as she answered Sophie's questions.

Cleo was familiar with the dark nature of people from years of living in the royal palace, so she usually assumed the worse when it came to a person's character.

With some exceptions of course.

She saw through this so-called friendly advice and had no problem with directly explaining the scheme to Sophie,

"Carrying an extra burden will definitely slow down the stronger teammate and cause the overall ranking to drop if the results only matter based on one person."

"But if his theory is correct then you need to finish the challenge with your partner."

"I think that you are thinking too much," Ethan laughed nonchalantly with a carefree grin.

"Your partner is probably still in the race so you either want us to get eliminated as your competitors or see if you are correct," Cleo attempted to tear off his mask directly.

She did not like how this strange boy was constantly watching Sophie ever since he had approached them.

"Well you can choose to believe me or not," Ethan shrugged with no apparent change in his expression.

Ethan's smile remained on his face as he waved goodbye to the duo who were still musing over his information and he blended into the crowd of other students.

His partner was a Mendolesa warrior named Terrance who was still running with great determination.

Terrance sniffed the air a few times and looked over when his teammate arrived with a confident spring in his steps.

"Why did you go to tell those random girls your actual deduction?" he asked in a puzzled tone.

"That hybrid girl came in third place in my testing site for the entrance exam," Ethan replied.

"I want to be friends with her!"