Soral could not forget the scene he saw at the briefing that night. If he was to guess, a third of the teams had left with Paz. If Paz had returned, did that mean he had already recovered the secret weapon? He hadn’t seen anything that looked particularly secret or weaponlike. Maybe Jazz had?

After the mass exodus, all eyes turned back to Ronda for any further instructions. “For this mock battle alone, we will allow you to reclaim the armor, and only the armor you brought with you. No weapons.”

The part of the crowd who did not know about the threat were excited. Those who did felt it was an obvious bending of the rules. It was yet another proof that the threat was real. Ronda helped everyone retrieve their armor. Ruena had some light armor she happily reclaimed, but the rest of their group didn’t really have anything. Soral and Rosalie both used magic for defense, after all. Janon’s armor was a bit too complex and ruled out since they couldn’t tell if it was more armor or weapon.

Once the armor was reclaimed, Ronda left them to their own devices. They still seemed intent to treat this like a test. Some of them gathered to try to plan, but how did you plan for a surprise attack, even if you knew one would be coming? There were still many things they didn’t know, such as when and where the attack would come.

The night passed with nothing happening. Jazz returned in the morning, but he hadn’t seen Paz bring anything particularly secret or weaponlike. Perhaps it was disguised as something ordinary? Unfortunately, Paz was in charge of all of the supplies that came and went so it would be difficult to pinpoint the weapon among them.

Nothing happened during the day either, or that following night. They were now three days into the week long test, but it felt like all they were doing was wasting time. Had it just been a scare tactic from the enemy, rather than an actual threat?

“If we waste our time waiting for a surprise attack that may never come, we will fail this test,” Ruena told them, after gathering them together at the table. Somehow, Ruben had joined them this time as well.

“What do you suggest we do, then?” Ruben asked, the first to speak up.

“If they won’t set up the tests for us, we will pass the criteria on our own,” Ruena explained, “Once the enemy sees us thriving, they will feel threatened, and attack.”

“We also need to make or find weapons,” Dillon agreed, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am hopeless without one.”

“I’ve got the weapons covered,” Ruben announced proudly, “One of my friends settled in the mountain and there are tons of tools in there.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Like an abandoned mine?” Flame asked with interest.

“Is it all crazy stuff like axes and pickaxes?” Liza questioned, a sparkle in her own eyes.

“And shovels and torches and things,” Ruben confirmed, “They can be used as weapons if we can’t find anything else.”

After the last day of waiting in tension, it felt nice to be doing something. Before they knew it, others joined them and two more days passed quickly as they busily trained and prepared. With everything now ready, the fourth night of the test was filled with the same nervous tension from before.

==========

Each night, the judges took turns keeping watch. It was now deep into the fourth night, and nearing the end of Ronav’s turn to watch, when he heard frantic footsteps approaching him. It was one of the testees. She was small, and looked rather young to participate in such a test, but the kid from earlier had been even smaller. Ronav knew from experience that it was a mistake to judge others on appearance alone.

The girl skidded to a stop, panting uncontrollably. Her eyes zipped around just as frantically as her feet had earlier. “Mister Ronav,” she managed, “I need to tell you something. There are enemies inside the test, in the forest! I overheard them talking.”

Inside? “Go on,” Ronav prompted. If they were inside, that meant Mack was involved.

Mack was in charge of patrolling the walls for a reason. He had more than just sharp senses on his side. He had created a kind of barrier that detected anything that came through it, whether in or out. That was how they knew whether a testee had tried to sneak out during the middle of a test or not. It did nothing to actually stop anyone, as that required the kind of magic from legends. No one had magic like that anymore save the Black Wolf himself. Well, maybe that crazy kid who had built a house from nothing on day one might be able to.

The girl quickly told him her tale. In her team, she was the scout. They were one of the ones who had set up near the edge of the forest, and she would often delve deeper to find useful items, clues, and forage for food. Her team was one of the ones who had yet to align with the crazy kid’s team on the hilltop, so their food situation was pretty bad.

Ronav was unsure why she began her tale there, but he had certainly noticed that the food quality surrounding the hilltop had improved considerably. Especially considering everyone had to forage and cook for themselves. There must be a reason she was starting there.

As the girl went into the forest for her usual late night sweep, she smelled something delicious coming from deep within. She must have approached because of hunger, then. As she got closer, she began to hear voices. At this point the girl hesitated.

“I didn’t realize what it meant at first. I heard rumors that the mock battle was covering up an actual threat but…” she shuddered, “I didn’t believe it until I heard what they said. They were talking about how they were going to create a tragedy so jarring no one would ever run this test again. They said it would work extra well if they made sure to target the nobles that had joined.”

Targeting the nobles was certainly a surefire strategy to make sure the powers that be shut everything down for good. It was the harsh truth of the world that noble lives meant more. The girl’s story didn’t seem to be done, though. Whatever else she had to say had her more nervous than ever.

“I-I heard something else,” she managed, “They thanked a man named Mack for getting them in safely. They said he would not regret his betrayal.”

Ronav closed his eyes for a moment. First things first, he needed to remain calm. “Did anyone see you? Did they know you were there?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” she replied, “They would have come after me if they did.”

“You did well,” Ronav told her, gently touching her shoulder. He needed to be the calm adult who had everything under control, “Go back to your team, and rest well. Tomorrow, we will raid the forest and surprise them before they can surprise us.”

The girl skittered away just as fast as she had come. She didn’t look any more calm, but this wasn’t a situation where he could assure her with sweet words of safety. Whether this was truly the last test or not, Ronav thought it might be best to quit after this year. As for Mack, he would make sure everyone knew he was a traitor. It was the best option to ensure their safety.