The First Trial

The next few days passed by in the blink of an eye. The notice for the personal guard had been put out and it was also noted that anyone could apply, regardless of their job or profession. This leads to a small outcry among the higher-ups, but their complaints were soon overwhelmed by the shouts and cheers of joy from the common people.

It had seemed that over half of the expedition had signed up for this. In reality, however, it was much near to that of a hundredth or even less. Most people were just happy that they had been given the opportunity, though they knew that they were not ready or fit enough to actually attempt it.

So on a week after the notice had been given, Shourya and Pavitra were both standings on an empty field. Well, it was not so empty, the field itself had been filled up by the various people who had applied. Soldiers, mercenaries, adventures, the dead Counts guards, and there even were some normal people. They were all standing there in complete silence and had been doing so for the last 10 minutes since they had arrived. Then as they stood there for a few minutes until it had been fifteen minutes, Pavitra finally spoke.

"You have all come here today, to attempt to join the training of my personal guard. This does not guarantee you a place within the guard, only a place on the training course. Those who wish to step out now, will not be judged."

Not a soul stepped out of line. After all though, why would they? They at least wanted to attempt the trial. For the soldiers, it was to see if they were better than their comrades and for some others it was for the money or fame. Whatever their reason though, none stood out of the line. Seeing this Pavitra smiled for a second.

"Now we run. Follow me!"

With that, she ran off into the woods, with Shourya right behind her. The rest of them quickly began to follow. Going through the woods, not many people fell behind, the only ones who did were those who were fat and incredibly unfit.

Then she ran out into the grassland which ran before the city. She slowly began to pick up the pace, which leads to people slowly falling behind. Now there was a clear, separation between the groups of people. The most notable person though was an ordinary well girl by the look of it. As she looked back, Pavitra realized that it was Aarna. She was right at the front of the leading group which was comprised of just soldiers.

Her presence there seemed to annoy the soldiers a bit as they all began to speed up to try and overtake her and yet no matter what they did, none of them could overtake her. This only leads to them getting more and annoyed.

Pavitra laughed a little, with Shourya as they both saw this. Then Pavitra took a turn towards where a stream ran. Quickly she reached the edge and jumped in. The water was not that fast and yet it came up to her hips.

She slowly waded her way through, and then once on the other side continued to run on. Behind her, she could hear the splashing of water as more and more people followed her and did exactly what she had done.

Then after running for a bit longer, she reached the field where she had started.

As she stopped and turned around, Shourya finally caught up to her.

He walked over so that he was next to her, though he was seriously panting a lot. Pavitra patted him on the back a little. "Come on commander, you have to look good." Her teasing annoyed Shourya a little. Clearly, she was a lot fitter than she let on.

Then as they both watched the first group began to appear, it was the soldiers as well Aarna. They were all still just behind her, she herself had a massive smile on her face as she watched them all arrive.

They all slowly formed a line in front of where Pavitra was standing. She didn't say much but looked over to the smiling Aarna and gave her a small wink. Then more and more people began to arrive. Some adventures and some mercenaries arrived. Then a smaller group of mercenaries arrived. Pavitra frowned as she saw them coming. Once they had all stopped, panting like the rest of them she walked over. They were bone dry.

"Cheaters will not be accepted. Leave now." The mercenaries looked up at where to protest, but that was when they saw that everyone else was soaking wet. Seeing at how obvious it was that they had cheated, the small group walked off with their heads hung low.

Pavitra then walked back to the front and continued to watch the people, sending a few cheaters away as they arrived. From that run alone, a quarter had dropped out and never returned. Or at least that is what she had guessed.

Just as she was about to speak though, a small boy broke through the tree line. He soaked head to toe and looked like he needed a good meal. As he approached the group, Pavitra could hear some people whispering.

"The kid will never be let in. He was so slow."

Just as the boy was about to join the back of the people, Pavitra called out.

"Come to the front boy."

The boy not sure what exactly was going on, looked worried as he walked forwards. Once he was in front of Pavitra he did a terrible bow, but one never the less.

Pavitra just patted his head.

Then she indicated for him to join the others. They were all surprised. Seeing this Pavitra smiled a bit.

"The role of this run was not to test your speed and who was the fittest. It was to test your will. Your determination. I want people who will do their tasks no matter what, Determination means everything. Not to mention that boy looks like he hasn't had a proper meal in ages and that he is younger and untrained. If he was like the soldiers, he could have won. What matters is the group...not the person."