Allefin joined us after a while and just like that, the torture began. We were told we wouldn’t be sleeping in the house as it was for the general and staff. We would be sleeping outside in tents and were expected to set them up ourselves. 

I, of course, had no problem with setting up tents but the royals looked mortified. If we couldn’t make our tents, we would have to sleep outside on the floor and the unused tent would go to someone else who then wouldn’t have to share.

As there weren’t enough tents and most of them were given to the girls, the boys had to group up into threes and share which was convenient for us as Allefin and Jace would share mine.

I tried to observe the place while the explanation was going on. None of the obstacle courses looked hard but they still looked challenging.

The boys huddled together like penguins before being separated. Since there were thousands of boys, we were all split into our schools and weren’t allowed to mix with the others, just like classes. A man was assigned to Xanxus academy and took us into a cabin of supplies. He took a trolley of about 30 tents and told us to follow as we walked past different courses and fields.

I felt a glare from the side of my head and turned to the direction of someone who I forgot existed. Taejun Park. He had his hands in his pockets, walking alone but confidently. It gave me a bad feeling. He was definitely up to something.

Luckily, our campsite was on the opposite of the Xanxus girls’ campsite. The only thing separating us was a fence made of wire.

Like everything was synchronised and assigned a strict time, the girls walked alongside us on the other side of the fence, led by a female instructor.

Both instructors nodded at each other in acknowledgment as they walked the same pace, wearing the same expression.

Suddenly, we came to a stop, both of the instructors turning around at the same lined point.

“Alright, listen up girls and boys!” our instructor yelled.

“You have 15 minutes to set up your tent and get your things inside! Girls, pair up. Boys, into threes!” The woman from the other side of the fence spoke even louder, almost like she was asserting competition between both sides.

They both blew a whistle that sounded horrible when synchronised and everyone grabbed a tent together, running to the best spots. I, of course, chose a place with shade, making sure to give a signal to Malia to plant hers directly opposite. 

Malia grabbed a tent, the girls following her every step like lost bunnies. She set hers opposite mine and the others got into pairs, lining up their tents in a row opposite ours.

Soyeon and Malia started to set up theirs and next to their spot was Naz and Sara’s tent. Their tent was placed in the middle and Leilani and Rakeria were next to them.

Sara and Naz struggled but after mirroring everyone else and Malia double checking theirs was okay, they were fine.

“Excuse me but you will have to share with an extra person. There are not enough tents for threes so there will have to be a group of four. Taejun Park wants to join your tent.” The instructor said, his tone demanding and asserting dominance. 

It’s not like we had a choice so I just nodded, glaring at Taejun.

What was this guy up to?

The instructor left, leaving him with us.

“What do you want?” Jace squinted his eyes in suspicion.

Taejun shrugged, smirking. He liked the fact that he got on our nerves and enjoyed our annoyed expressions.

“I’m here because your tent is opposite my sisters and I need to keep an eye on her incase she gets hurt.” he said in honesty which made Allefin roll his eyes.

The park siblings must be really close for him to be this concerned for her.

Soyeon giggled on the other side of the fence, talking to Malia while coming out of the tent. Her eyes clicked onto her brothers and something cold was exchanged in their eye contact. Her smile faded before she forced it back up, sighing.

“Damn she didn’t even wave.” Allefin teased after raising enough courage to speak to Taejun. Jace burst out laughing, making it awkward as I continued setting up the tent.

He ignored the remark, walking off with a darker aura then when he came. He was in a bad mood. What did that eye contact mean? It looked like a disagreement… I couldn’t be sure but I did know that they were both planning something and couldn’t be trusted. How do I warn Malia? She was shaking hands with the unknown enemies and I couldn’t afford to risk her getting hurt.

“Okay time is up! Get in a line now!” the instructor yelled as everyone scurried to comply.

I stood in the middle of the line and Allefin followed whereas Jace ran to the back.

“Where are you going?!” Allefin whispered to him.

“I am going to the back so whatever course we are doing, I can go last.” he winked and for a second I thought it was actually a smart idea, until the instructor made everyone turn around 180 degrees and now Jace was at the front.

He looked at me with a scared look on his face, trying to walk to me but the instructor held his collar firmly, smirking. Poor Jace was terrified, following the instructor to wherever he was taking us.

He took us down a long hill and I could tell everyone was exhausted even though we haven’t even got to the course yet. Jace was luckily fit enough from when I advised him to do 100 pushups, pull ups and squats a day so he found no trouble keeping up with the instructor, which earned him a look of surprise. 

I guess the instructor was fooled by Jace’s goofy front, he didn’t expect him to actually turn out to be keeping up with his pace. I could tell the instructor wanted to pick on him as he kept quickening his steps which Jace easily lapsed into, still with a nervous face of course.

We stopped at a field, the only thing visible was the barbed fence but there was a gate. It had a large warning board on it but the instructor ignored it, fumbling in his pockets for a large key attached to many others.

“Now I want everyone to take a big step back,” he instructed before everyone eagerly followed, coming up with the worst case scenarios of what could happen if they didn’t.

I put my hands behind my back, furrowing my eyebrows as the key was forced into the door and a spark lit. The gate shook and then I realised, not only was this a gate separating us, it was a magic barrier. 

The bubble shimmered and shook from the impact before exploding and creating a strong wave of power that blew into us. The instructor was unphased but all the people behind me flew back onto their bums and some even rolled  on the floor. I peered down at them then looked at who was standing. Just me, the instructor and Taejun.

Taejun and I looked at each other at the same time and I realised we were both mirroring each other’s stance. He also stood with arms held behind his back with a furrowed expression. 

“Get up! It’s open.” he said as everyone groaned.

He didn’t wait, swinging the door open and stepping into the girls field. I followed after him, the boys scurrying to their feet and also crossing. The gate slammed shut behind us but the instructor paid no mind to it, leading us to what looked like a team activity.

Xanxus academy girls stood in a row opposite us as both instructors met once again.

“Today will be an easy activity as you have just gotten here. It will be a friendly and safe game of capture the flag.” the female instructor yelled.

Kids turned to each other with determined faces, whispering amongst themselves.

“The flag will be hidden by a chosen person on each team on their side of the forest. All the other team has to do is find and capture it. No rules except don’t… kill each other.” my instructor continued.

I’m guessing this game isn’t that ‘safe’ after all if the only rule they had to mention was not to kill each other. I was guessing the previous years faced some challenges with this game because both instructors looked at us with great seriousness about that one rule.

“Losing team will wash the other team’s clothes for a week.”

Both sides groaned, putting their most determined faces on. I looked at Leilani who was pouting at her chipped nail while Naz examined it. They definitely weren’t listening. I mentally rolled my eyes at the team opposite us. 

None of them were focusing or taking this seriously. Some were scratching their legs from a mosquito bite and some were just staring into the trees and yawning.. Others just talked amongst themselves and it looked like the only people listening were Rakeria and a few other frightened girls.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep