Riley had been on the move since the beginning of the survival trial. After defeating that emerald viper, she had run into a couple more beasts. She spared no effort on them, choosing to retreat when there was no need to fight.
She had only one goal, and that was to find Adam wherever he was hiding. The few applicants she had run into proved their resourcefulness as well. Some tried to rob her, only to find themselves beaten into a pulp.
Others attacked her simply because they could; they wanted to test themselves and establish the pecking order once they were accepted into the academy.
Unfortunately for them, they found that task impossibly difficult. None could go toe-to-toe with her for more than a few minutes. As for the other elites she ran into, a nod of acknowledgement was all she exchanged with them before moving on.
Riley eventually found a place to rest when night came. And like many other applicants, she could not afford to sleep. She was too hypervigilant to close her eyes for more than a few minutes.
And sadly for her, her resting place was discovered by a nocturnal beast, forcing her to move rather than fight. She was too tired and hungry to afford wasting any energy or Spark on fighting.
Before morning came, she continued moving from her new resting place, unwilling to allow her target to get any farther away from her. But try as she may, she could not find that boy.
Then there was the fact that her stomach was rumbling, demanding its due. Riley had to choose between searching for the boy and finding food. She chose the latter and went in search of something edible.
Before long, she stumbled onto some wild berries. At the sight of them, her stomach made another embarrassing sound, making her face flush briefly. Knowing she was being watched made her really conscious.
With her survival training, Riley was able to gather a few good berries and washed them before tossing them into her mouth. As she wandered the wilderness, she came upon a vast plain with a stream running through it.
’Finally. Some water.’
Riley let out a small sigh before making her way to the stream. She spotted a few students scattered around, but paid them no mind. Once at the stream, she took out her water bottle and crouched to fill it.
The Ashford girl then scooped up some water to wash her face of the dirt and sweat off her face that she had accumulated over the hours.
’This trial is more draining than it looks.’ Riley thought to herself, looking around with a tired gaze.
The trial did not demand too much fighting. But the fact that they had to be on high alert at all times made the trial a lot more challenging. Just because she had been prepared for it did not make it easy, especially with almost no essentials on hand.
She had to literally speak out loud into the surroundings for some privacy when she needed to ease herself. It was one of the most embarrassing things she had ever done in her life!
Never had she felt so self-conscious.
Just thinking about it made her face burn again. Riley sighed as she splashed water over her face. As she rose to her feet to continue her search, a commotion uphill the stream caught her attention.
Curious, she made her way there.
What she saw, however, left her momentarily stunned. Some boy was running with something huge over his shoulders while several applicants chased after him.
Upon closer look, she realised it was meat. And right at that moment, her stomach protested once more. The chase finally made sense. But then...
’It’s him!’
The realisation hit her as her eyes widened and narrowed in tandem. Before conscious thought could even guide her, she took off.
’I’m not letting him out of my sight again!’ She silently vowed as she ran to intercept him.
Her stomach, however, was unwilling to be forgotten. It refused to be abandoned, rumbling once again to remind her. ’Tsk! I might as well claim that meat for myself.’
She looked at the competition and frowned. The Ashford girl recognised many of them, realising the chase for the meat would be challenging. Gritting her teeth, she circulated her Spark and burst forward at greater speeds.
And the moment she employed her abilities, the other applicants caught on. Without hesitation, those with speed-boosting abilities increased their speed to catch up.
As Riley closed in from the right of her target, the boy noticed her presence and turned to look at her. The boy momentarily raised his brows before flashing a grin in her face.
’Bastard!’
Riley inwardly cursed as she combined her movement technique with her gale, almost instantly closing the distance to the boy. As she reached him, she swung a right high kick at his face.
There was no way the boy could evade her attack when she utilised everything to forcefully approach the peak of the first realm; a calculated move that drained a lot of Spark for a momentary explosion in speed.
A smirk graced her features as she saw Adam’s eyes widen at the suddenness of her attack. But somehow, the bastard managed to evade just in the nick of time!
The boy bent backwards as her kick zoomed over his head, the air whistling violently. Though Adam managed to evade, his momentum and the sudden switch from running to bending caused him to stumble.
Riley spun on her heel and dashed forward, her eyes gleaming with hunger as she focused on the meat. She saw Adam abandon the meat to free his hands.
His hands slapped the ground as his feet shot upwards, riding the motion for a backflip. Riley’s eyes widened for a split second, impressed at how he switched from falling on his head into a backflip.
But now was not the time for delay. The meat was free for the taking!
Without hesitation, she closed in on the meat as she once again channelled what was left of her Spark into a wind blade. She blurred past the meat, slicing a sizable portion for herself, the move clean and efficient.
Riley was not greedy enough to believe she could take it all for herself. Knowing an angry and hungry horde was after the meat, taking it all would have been suicide.
Moments after she sliced her portion away, the others rushed in. Dust and screams echoed as the applicants fought for a piece of the remaining meat. Before long, abilities began flying around.
Riley looked on with a satisfied smile and then turned to see a furious Adam glaring at her. Her smile grew as she returned the glare.
"Why the long face?" Riley taunted with a wicked grin. "You didn’t believe you could take all that meat for yourself, did you?"
’Just stay put, bastard. You won’t be here for long.’ She thought smugly as she maintained eye contact and took a bite of the meat.
The blandness hit her like a slap, making her pause for a moment. Her quick thinking, however, soon filled in the gaps, understanding dawning on her.
’There’s no salt.’
"!"
Suddenly, her eyes widened as her heart skipped a beat. A fist was closing in on her face. Adam had closed the distance in that split second her attention went to the meat in her hand!
Without hesitation, she snapped her head to the side. The suddenness of the act strained the muscles in her neck, causing her an agonising whiplash that forced a groan out of her.
’He’s fast!’
The Ashford girl swiftly distanced herself from Adam, her eyes trembling at the sight of her opponent. She could not understand how Adam closed in on her that fast.
Before Riley could even recover, Adam dashed forward once more, completely ignoring the commotion caused by the other applicants fighting over the ruined meat.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
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