"Stop everyone! I will give the signal for the training challenge to begin. But, there are a few more things to consider before we begin. Mainly who the first "it" will be."

Everyone began looking around them in confusion. Not knowing why this was happening.

"What? Don"t tell me none of you thought about it when I gave the name of the challenge?It"s a game of tag... I don"t want to drag this out for you guys for too long.Meaning I will appoint three "its" in total

And just to be sure, I will explain the rules once more.

In the game of tag, one of you will be the "it" during this time the "it" will try to find and grab as many challengers as possible. Giving them one point per captured person. In turn, if the "it" completes the challenge meaning they will catch everyone then their point value will double as well as their score."

Geo"s agitation could be felt when he began talking to me once more.

"d.a.m.n hag... stopping us just when we all got pumped... I don"t like this, I don"t like this all..."

I turned my attention to Alexandra as she continued to explain what the rules of the game of tag were.

"Now, the challengers their objective is to try and catch the "it" in question. You may work together or even fight against one another. Beating another challenger will also award the other challenger a point, just like the "it". But beware, as this puts you and the other challengers in a tougher situation altogether.

When a challenger succeeds in catching the "it" the challenge immediately stops. Giving them 10 points.

Quickly after the new "it" will be appointed as we continue the challenge. Before each challenge, the challengers get the chance to create some distance between them and the "it" allowing for a fair match. Before I forget, let me announce June as the first "it"

The second one will be Ragnee and after that, the one with the most points is allowed to take their chances as the new "it". In an event where the one chosen last succeeds in catching everyone not only will their points

value double, they will also unlock the bonus event where they will be challenged by me personally.Now, are there any questions? No? Then let the challenge officially begin."

Alexandra raised her hands signaling the start of the challenge. Simultaneously the flame in the middle of the room spiked upward briefly lighting up the entire room.

*kaboom boom*

In that brief moment, it became clear it was just a wide-open area, showing the occasional staircases and higher areas there weren"t really many places for one to hide without the usage of the shadow principle.

Meaning... we really had to have faith in our own abilities. A few of the challengers immediately rushed towards the higher grounds hoping to get the chance to retaliate. While Geo just rushed towards the center of the room, I thought that was not such a good decision.

Quickly moving towards an area without light I began focusing on my essence. As I slowly blended with the shadows that surrounded me I could hear screaming around me.

the challenge had already begun...

One after another the challenger got beaten.Until only Ragnee, Geo, I, and someone I haven"t seen before remained.

June rushed towards the center only to find Geo wanting to confront her. But instead of engaging in combat June quickly turned tail. Only to reappear close by where I was standing.

In shock, my heart skipped a beat and I almost jumped up as the unexpected arrival startled the h.e.l.l out of me. I tried everything in my might to not give away where I was...

June came closer... now facing me staring straight at where I was standing she slammed her fist against the wall. I thought I was done for, that she had found my presence. Trying to calm down my skipping heartbeat it stopped for a short while as she slammed the wall next to my head in frustration.

"I really can"t stand that man... doesn"t he understand the purpose of this training?!It"s so infuriating raaaaghhh!!"

Soon after her frustrating outburst, she vanished like all of us, in the shadows. No presence could be felt... not even the wind pa.s.sing by.

"Was she... was she okay?? Hmm... to not have found me... she must be really frustrated,isn"t she? And now... is she really gone?"

Preparing for the worst I held my breath while trying to regroup my composure. It seemed she had gone to the upper floors of the area. When I suddenly heard a voice coming from behind.

"She is gone, right?"

At that moment my heart stopped and I jumped a mile in the air. Almost screaming my heart out of my lungs. But before I was able to scream my mouth got covered with a small soft hand.

"Sssttt, it"s okay, it"s me. Don"t you recognize the voice?"

When the person appeared in front of me the coin finally fell in place.

"Ragnee! What were are you doing? Thank you for holding back my voice,if you hadn"t done that I would surely have been done for."

"Michael, I have a proposition, knowing June she will keep Geo for last. We should bundle our strengths and I wish to suggest that we work together to take her down allowing you to take the first win.

"Knowing Alexandra either I or the winner will be the new "it" taking that into account I will strike down as much of the challenger as I can before having a 1 v 1 face-off with you, just so you"ll be able to catch your breath for a while. But... don"t let your guard down, who knows,I might find you sooner than you will find me.

As for our battle plan; we will wait until she starts attacking Geo and then we strike with a pincer movement, I take left and you take right. Because I know that"s the side you prefer."

I silently nodded in agreement to the plan. Soon after Ragnee vanished,allowing me to finally breathe again.

Other than us three there was another challenger left standing. It appeared June struggled a bit against him as he managed to push her back, making her fall down from the higher grounds.

Crashing into the center of the lower grounds. Struggling to get up it was clear to see June had met her match. Now surrounded by the four of us, we couldn"t pa.s.s this chance up.

Even Geo looked like he was in on the plan as we all took our sides to strike in unison.One after another she dodged only to be startled by how close Geo graced her face.

In a fight a true man always plays showing off his entire hand, not giving the opportunity for the enemy to prepare against it. I have found that catching them off-guard doing the unpredictable works best for me.

So June Serpentine, take on my challenge as we clashed our fists together.

Geo barely missed June"s face, but unable to stop crashed into the male challenger resulting in a knock-out making it an easy win for June.

Still, Geo wasn"t down for the count as he quickly jumped up and regrouped with us.But before we lost the momentum we slowly blended with the area trying to attack her once more.

Distracted by Geo June lost sight of our movements allowing us to strike once more.This time succeeding in our plan we had beaten June.

Ending the 1st challenge.

Alexandra called us all together to reveal the amount of points were acc.u.mulated.

"June 10 points as she has caught and beaten 10 of the 13 challengers. Michael for giving the last punch and beating June you are rewarded 10 points."

Moving on, our next "it" will be Ragnee. Seeing as how heated last battle was we hope you will be seriously partic.i.p.ating in the training now Sir Birchwood. As for Michael,I hope you strive for another victory."

Nervously I nodded hoping not to disappoint during the 2nd game of tag.

This time we got a shorter window of time to prepare, seeing how we had experienced the game before it was understandable. None of us had sustained any serious damage.

Looking around before the 2nd match was about to start. Several of the challengers got patched up if necessary.

Healers were dispatched from the church, in a sense... this felt similar to the tournament like they said. The only difference was that now, the focus was the nurturing of the pupils, both from the Rogues a.s.sociation and The Church of Healing.

It felt good to see how close the community worked together in this town, would it be the same in bigger cities? I wondered as the 2nd match was about to start.

Ragnee and Geo came by to wish me luck.

And the others... well, since I had won the last match my point value was doubled,making me a target for most.

"This time I will give it my all! So don"t hold back Michael!"

Geo said slapping the back of my shoulder full of confidence as he put forth his chest and raised his thumb.

"I second that notion, let"s give it ours all during this match! Knowing I am the "it" during this match I won"t make it easy for you. You better be cautious as I know your cloaking pattern already haha."

Ragnee too lay her hand on my shoulder hoping to break me under sheer pressure. Little did she know... that because of last match my anxieties had all vanished as if they were non-existent.

"Yes, let"s give it our all. No holding back."

Shortly after what I said the signal was given to begin. We all rushed back into the area, now knowing what to expect I quickly went towards the higher grounds.

This time, Geo couldn"t be found in the center of the area, instead, he too kept true to his word, giving it his all.

The signal for the "it" sounded. But nothing seemed to happen...

"Dangerous..."

I nodded to Geo hoping he understood to be cautious. Shortly after we heard a loud thud below.

*thud*

And another.

*thud*

Two of the thirteen challengers were already eliminated. Quickly Ragnee knocked down one after another. Whenever she got close to me I made sure to distract her using pebbles creating sounds at the other side. A few times this tactic worked.

But now doing it a third time, Ragnee smiled and walked in the opposite direction

"I know where you are, Michael... its no use hiding anymore."

I decided to not give in to her provocation no matter what would happen next not knowing what she would do. I looked straight at her.

She got closer and closer giving me no room to turn to. Still getting closer she almost b.u.mped into me. But before she could react someone gave away their presence down on the lower grounds.

Quickly she rushed to the edge. Only to stop and smile before jumping down towards the lower levels. It was now or never. I had to escape, but could I really? Ragnee was more ferocious than June. Knowing this I had to take my chances, if worse came to worst then I could even use the crystal to escape her clutches for the time being.

Now, my only objective was to get away and regroup allowing myself a chance to attack.

Quickly looking down it became clear there were others on the lower grounds.

Geo too was spotted and tried to get away. Only to rethink what he was doing and charge in headfirst. This time, wasn"t the same as last battle, now he approached her in the way it was meant to be, concealing himself and blending with his surroundings.

Ragnee was fighting with one of the female pupils who gave her something to fight for.It appeared the Serpentine sisters had their work cut out for them.

As Ragnee approached the female pupil, she quickly dodged to create some distance,hoping Ragnee came after her she followed up with a quick jump backward making a charge right back at her.

Not expecting the direct approach from this pupil Ragnee was barely able to dodge as she jumped into the air. The pupil grabbed this chance to blend with her surroundings and quickly attack Ragnee from above. She… was. .h.i.t.

Falling to the ground Ragnee tried to neutralize the blow by taking a roll which allowed her to decrease the momentum of her fall. It seems I have to get a bit serious here… I like it!

Ragnee dodged the pupil and quickly counter-attacked with a strike to the temple with her knee. Instantly knocking out the pupil. Now only Geo, June, I and five other pupils remained.

"Hahaha! I am fired up! Who is next?!"

Knowing how this would turn out it was wise not to approach Ragnee yet.Looking around the other pupils had formed a team of five.

It was clear who the leader was, seeing as a tall man with short brown hears stood in the center of the five-man strong team. Ragnee saw them approaching from above and a.s.sumed a stance similar to the serpent style of martial arts back in my world. But could it really be?

The team had successfully surrounded Ragnee and began attacking her one after another.Staying calm and collected she finished the team off in less than a minute, her arms flowing like water and stinging like the bite of a snake. Throwing the pupils towards one another from left to right. When they landed on both their feet she quickly pushed them backward making them fall over.

Now as she was busy with the others this was the best chance we had to take her down.She didn"t try to show it, but that last fight drained her energy.

Unaware of my approach June and Geo both approached her from different sides.

I tried to jump in and take her down only to see that June and Geo did the same thing and decided it was best to stay out of the way, this was a chance to see them both fighting together.

The group was taken down and before Ragnee could take a breather both June and Geo rushed in. Anxiety took over because of their unexpected approach making her react faster,while at the same time burning twice as much energy.

June didn"t expect Geo to pop up at the same time and didn"t know how to react.In the heat of the moment, she decided to attack him instead of Ragnee.

Both of them kept fighting giving Ragnee room to move as well as wasting their chance to take her down. Ragnee fled to the upper levels, where I followed her.

Right, when she thought she was alone I jumped up and kicked her in the temple, winning yet another match. This time gaining 20 points. Geo had won against June rewarding him a single point. Alexandra let everyone rest for a little while she approached me.

"I think it is clear who has won the Game of Tag if I say so myself.Michael Shadowfang, first of the three representatives. What is it you would like to do for the "bonus game"?"

Would you rather have the entire group have one last match against me waging the opportunity to be chosen for the expedition, or do you have a better idea?

I looked around thinking, what was best to do. When it became clear I had to think of something else. "I do wish to wager my selection for the expedition, but not with another game of tag…

I"d rather have you included in the 2nd challenge. Meaning you fight the one who remains after everyone has fought one another. You must be thinking, why do this?"

"yes?"

"Well… Look around, not many are in fighting shape, and knowing the way training goes around here, the 2nd challenge will probably take place tomorrow."

In amazement, Alexandra congratulated my perception as I thought about the wellbeing of the group.

Amusing, to think about the group in a time like this, you must be a born leader!

I will take your wish into consideration and prepare the possibility for the one who comes out on top of tomorrow"s challenge. If everyone would please follow June and Ragnee to their resting area"s I"ll take my leave as there are other matters that need to be taken care of.

Please take over for me girls!"

Alexandra took her to leave as her compliment kept ringing in my head, Geo approached me.During this time we followed June and Ragnee to the resting area.

"Say… didn"t her behavior seem suspicious to you in any way?I mean… officially now we would have had the final match against the one with the most points, that would have been you, but instead she has been sucking up to you since you arrived…I find it rather strange… To even disregard the rules and give you a "bonus game" I don"t get it...I don"t get it at all..."

I looked at Geo in disbelieve as I couldn"t believe my ears.

"What? Do I hear some jealousy, my man?"

"No! that"s not it… But really… she has been bashing us all except you. Together with Ragnee, June, and me, she is the only one who knows about the seal, right?I tell you, something doesn"t feel right about her… promise me you"ll be careful around her."

I pulled up my shoulders and shrugged off what Geo was talking about not knowing why I should be on guard that much.

"Hmm… I dunno…"

Geo looked al worried, this wasn"t like him. Nothing like his usual approach.

"I"m serious, man! Dead Serious!!"

"Okay… okay… I"ll be careful, let"s rest up for the day. We have a lot of training waiting for us tomorrow, better to be well-rested am I right?"

Shortly after our conversation, we arrived at the resting area.At the same time, the girls stood next to each other wanting to create two lines.

"If everyone can divide the group into two. Girls will follow June to the left as the boys will follow me to the right."

We followed Ragnee to the living quarters, she kindly showed us around and a.s.signed a bed and desk to each of us. Giving us a chance to prepare for tomorrow if need be.

"Well then gentlemen, if you would be so kind to yourselves and rest well for tomorrow, then I"ll see you all at daybreak."

That was when Ragnee left us allowing the rest of us to rest up for the day.Thinking about what Geo told me, I went to bed early.Someone so kind couldn"t have ill intentions towards me, wouldn"t they?