Phoenix academy was located in Phoenix city in the middle of the Phoenix dukedom. The academy's director was the duchess herself. She made the rules, and one of them was that no outsiders could enter the territory during the week before the exams except for the students who were actually participating.

As such, Finn’s team had to abandon their comfortable wagons and continue on foot with only the road and luck as their guide. Unfortunately, their luck was terrible.

Michael had forgotten his backpack on the wagon and it contained most of the group's food. After a couple of days, they ran out of water too, and there was no river in sight to replenish their supply.

Fortunately, they weren’t the only teens traveling around these parts.

They met another group dressed in religious robes that was on its way towards the same destination. These kids, trained by the church to be future high priests or cardinals, knew of the dukedom's rules and were well prepared.

Thankfully, they were kind enough to share some of their food and wine, otherwise Finn’s group might have starved.

“I love you,” a half drunk Natalie gave their leader a hug much to Michael’s shock.

“We will remember your assistance,” Tommy bowed slightly and lost his balance.

They all sat around a bonfire made with the young priests’ flint and ate the dried meat the young priests carried.

‘Can we really trust them?... Do we even have a choice?’

Finn shook his head and dismissed these thoughts. The priests did not carry water, and their wine was strong. Although he drank only to quench his thirst, Finn's lips felt heavy and his eyes heavier. The last words he heard before falling asleep were:

“The lord giveth, and the lord taketh away.”

When Finn woke up, it was the middle of the day, and the priests in training were gone. The others were still asleep with only Annie tending to the fire.

There was something off about her. She was hunched over and had large bags under her eyes.

“Did you not sleep well?” Finn asked while stretching.

“You’re awake! Thank God you’re awake.” Annie ran towards Finn and shook his shoulders as if afraid he’d fall asleep once again.

“You’ve been asleep for three days! I had to catch food and guard you from wolves, and... and...” The girl began crying uncontrollably.

‘Three days!?’ Finn’s eyes went wide. A few minutes later, Annie calmed down enough to explain what had happened. 'Good thing we came with some leeway; we should still have around two days left.’

However, despite his and Annie’s best efforts, the others took much longer to wake up. Tommy took five hours, Natalie 12, and Michael 23.

“Ah, that was a good nap,” the boy yawned while someone punched him in the gut.

“About freaking time!” shouted Natalie. “Are you a log!? How can you sleep for four days straight?”

‘As if you did much better.’ Finn shook his head and stood up. They were behind, terribly so. His bow was in tatters and their swords were nowhere to be seen. If not for Annie’s freakish resistance to poison, they all might’ve been sleeping in some beast’s belly by now, permanently.

“Listen up.” He threw a rock into the fire. “We have 25 hours at best, so we should assume the worst. I’d say 18-20 hours if we’re lucky. We’re traveling on foot, and we have no weapons.”

Michael’s gauntlets were crushed, and the priests even stole Finn's knives.

“I have my blowdart,” said Annie trying to be helpful. She also pulled out her knife and gave it to Finn.

"There's still time." Finn grabbed the knife tightly. "Gather your things, eat whatever is left of the wolf, and let’s move out!”

With Annie sound asleep on Michael’s back, the group ran down the road towards what they hoped would be Phoenix city. The wheat fields which surrounded them from both sides indicated as much.

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‘We’ll ask the farmers.’ Finn picked up the pace, surprised they hadn't found some already.

Suddenly, an old man rose from the field and hurled an axe towards them. Tommy caught it midair, unsure of what to do next.

“Die brats!” Several other ‘farmers’ stood up with shovels and forks and whatever they could get their hands on. Some grouped up and attacked head on while others threw rocks and farming tools from afar.

“They’ve been paid off,” Michael grunted while dodging a flying fork.

“Guard Annie,” said Finn. He took out his knife but hesitated. These were normal folk using farming tools for weapons.

Two plump men with spades charged towards him, and he easily blocked and moved out of the way. They attacked chaotically from every direction, but to Finn, they might as well have been moving in slow motion.

"Don't take it personal," one of them got tired and took a moment to rest. "I have a family to feed."

'And I don't!?'

“Orders!” Tommy shouted. He too was facing multiple opponents. He could dodge them easily enough, but without killing intent, that was about it.

‘Do we kill them?' thought Finn. 'No. Then, do we try to knock them out?’ There were a bit too many for this.

To reduce one's strength, one had to lower his speed too. Finn could easily throw Annie's knife into one of their skulls, but approaching both attackers without the intention to kill left him vulnerable.

‘We should just run,’ Finn concluded while ducking away from a flying spade. The burly men in front of him were already breathing heavily, and even with Annie on his back, Michael could easily outrun them.

"Give up," he told them. "It's not worth it risking your lives."

Suddenly, Finn felt something warm on his left arm. A kid had swung a garden rake and stabbed him, and although the wound was not deep, blood started to flow.

Immediately, panic set in. Finn shouted at the top of his lungs and closed his eyes in pain. Adrenaline set in, numbing the feeling, but his body started shivering and he almost went into shock.

Seizing the opportunity, the burly men pulled their spades back with the intention of chopping the boy's head off. However, they never got the chance to swing.

Natalie appeared behind them, grabbed the front of one of the men's throats, and with her bare hands, she ripped it clean off. She then grabbed his spade, twisted her body and smashed the blade into the second one's head. The kid with the rake became pale and ran, and the girl almost threw the spade after him before stopping and letting out an angry roar.

“Idiot!” She slapped Finn straight across the face. “Lethal force is legal when attacked by an armed assailant. If they try to kill us, we must kill them back!”

Natalie left the rake in Finn’s arm and shouted at the top of her lungs: “Quit being whiny shitheads and kill these bastards!”

Jolted by her order, the boys remembered their training. Tommy swept a man’s legs with his axe and sliced his throat before he could hit the ground. While still carrying Annie, Michael kicked another farmer's head so hard he heard a crack.

The boys were brutal, merciless and highly efficient, everything Griffin had taught them to be (against monsters). However, when the farmers finally ran and the adrenaline faded, Tommy and Michael all but fell to their knees.

‘What have we done?’ Finn’s stomach churned. Natalie pulled the rake out of his arm and he all but screamed from the pain. While she roughly bandaged his arm, the other two approached.

“Was this really necessary?” asked Tommy. There weren’t just old men among the bodies.

“Yes,” Natalie answered categorically.

“Are you sure?” asked Michael. This time, Natalie trembled slightly and stopped bandaging Finn. She knew how he was looking at her and she could not bear to look back.

“What do you think a warrior is?” She looked each of the boys square in the eyes. “Do you think we just fight monsters, save princesses, and knock every bad guy unconscious so we can then take them to jail? Huh!? Grow up!!”

The past 10 minutes played inside Finn’s head. They were outnumbered and outgunned. If Natalie hadn’t taken control, somebody would’ve been injured or killed. ‘She’s right,’ he had to admit.

When younger, Finn thought his past life’s experiences would make this one easier. ‘I’ve seen so many funerals,’ he forced himself to look at the victims, ‘but nothing like this.’

“What now?” Natalie gave him a look. It read ‘Get your shit together and resume your role.’

Finn nodded. He took out Annie's knife and clenched it once more until his bandages became red. “We learn and we press on.” His eyes locked onto the boys. “Grab whatever’s useful and let’s go.”

They had less than 12 hours left.

[Three days earlier]

Annie knew they had been poisoned once everyone started wobbling. Thankfully, ever since she got that feeling a few years ago, she could no longer get drunk. There was this strange substance inside of her that eliminated poison the second it entered her system.

So the priests wouldn’t get suspicious, she pretended to fall unconscious the fastest. She watched with half open eyes as they destroyed their belongings. She hid her blowdart near her chest and her knife in her underwear, hoping they would keep to their vows towards the church.

For the next three days after they left, she did not sleep at all. She used her friends as bait to lure and hunt down predators. After catching a couple of wolves, she rubbed two sticks together for six hours trying to pull out a flame. Nothing happened, so she got angry, threw them on the ground, and the sticks caught fire on their own.

With wolf meat for sustenance, she managed to keep herself awake. And when her eyelids threatened to close, she summoned that mysterious feeling to give herself a jolt of energy.

A bluish light burst out of her body and she heard a weird yelp behind her back. When she turned around, Annie saw a large brown bear disappearing into the bushes.