Hello everyone. I wonder how many would be reading this? The story is finally starting to get interesting (self-proclaimed interesting!).

There are more characters appearing, and yeapx, although they make not look like it, they actually do have a major role in the later parts of the story you know…

Ahh I don’t know if I can continue to write this story all the way till the end. It seemed so long more, and my life is kind of filled with other things. This seems like an excuse isn’t it?

I had actually hoped that I can earn a living through writing stories. But well, I guess reality is always different from the dream world.

So, if anyone is reading this, I hope you enjoy what I have written. Whether it is nice or not, I am proud of my work.

See ya!

Dawn came, and the sun began to get hotter as it rose up from the East. Once again, that cold desert began to get warm, and then hot, and it will get cold again in a few more hours. The cycle repeats everyday, without fail, without end. It is an endless cycle.

Kelf made some ice and shared with Lin. They had just eaten. Kelf had the nerve to steal the food from the soldiers at the stations. Instead of being afraid of them, he went right into their midst and stole their food, and they did not even know it.

When Lin saw the food he brought to her, she could only ask, ‘Were you a thief before or were you just looking for trouble?’

Still, she ate it. Despite what she said she was happy that man beside her actually went out of his way to bring her some food. She was hungry, and though she tried her best not to show it, she knew her partner had noticed. They were not even supposed to eat during the race, for it was planned that way, and almost everyone else was hungry. No food in the desert, and no time to search for food in the forest. The organizers had not counted on anybody stealing soldiers’ rations.

They were just finishing their food when Kelf gave her the ice. He told her to wait a bit more before they cross the line.

‘Just go to sleep for a while, I will wake you up when the time is up.’

She knew Kelf was also tired, but she went to sleep, knowing that Kelf would not accept her offer to take over the watch for a while. If she offered to keep watch for a while, knowing that she would be turned down, that would make her sound so fake, like a hypocrite. So, she just went to sleep.

Meanwhile Xel and Xue were slacking in the desert and taking their own sweet time. They were reaching too. Although everyone else was rushing, they were strolling. Because they kept their distance up until near the end point, no one found it necessary to attack them since they also had their boxes. The ones who could not get the boxes were far away, and there would be no need to worry.

Still, strolling in the middle of the desert in the middle of a race looked very odd. They did not seemed to notice their strange behavior, and continued as if no one else was around. Well, in actual fact, literally no one else was around them. Those in front had already crossed the line, those behind could not be seen.

Xue asked Xel, ‘What are you going to do about the water supply since there is no ice to steal now?’

Xel smiled and told her, ‘Think on your own.’

‘I have an idea, that is to take your blood and extract the water so I can drink.’

Xel pretended to be fearful and said, ‘How scary.’

Then he took a water bottle from inside his jacket and passed it to her.

‘I stored some water in the stream we passed by in the forest.’

Xue was looking at him with an impressed look and was about to praise him when he continued to say, ‘But I don’t know if it is drinkable. The water from the stream may not be clean.’

The impressed and cheerful look on Xue’s face turned into a scowl and she threw back the bottle at his face and said, ‘I am going to run across the finishing line now.’

‘Why? There is still some time left.’

‘Because I don’t want to be stuck with you in the middle of nowhere!’

So they ran past the line and handed 2 boxes, one each to the officer in charge.

‘Here officer, our boxes,’ Xue said.

The officer recognized the 2 as the last to run off at the start of the race and raised his eyebrows in an expression of mild surprise and curiosity.

‘Looks like I have underestimated the both of you.’

‘We just got lucky, officer,’ Xel told him with a smile.

Then they got some water from the refreshments area.

Xue said to Xel, ‘You are not dependable at all, and any girl who married you would be making a wrong choice. You totally do not know how to take care of a girl.’

‘I did not prepare anything because I had complete faith in the both of us,’ he said that in a mockery tone and expression.

He continued to say, ‘See, we made it past the second round.’

Xue turned away from him, determined not to talk to that blockhead.

At the same time Xel and Xue crossed the finishing line, Kelf decided it was time to finish the race. He woke Lin up and the both of them returned to the station. There they met again, with the guy who snatched their ice and the childish teenager who carried a doll wherever she went.

Lin made an irritated face when she saw them, Kelf showed no emotion. Xel held up his bottle and said ‘Cheers’, but the 2 did not bother him.

Forgetting her own determination not to socialize with that blockhead, Xue asked why they were so unfriendly and seemed not to like him more than when the competition started.

Xel replied, ‘That’s because the ice you drank came from them.’

For a moment Xue stopped moving and could not say anything. It certainly looked like they kept crossing paths. First Xue had made a scene and caused the girl some trouble, now Xel had taken their ice.

‘I think we might really get into trouble with them, one day.’

[author's note: oops i post it one day late today. spent the night at a friend's house and did not post it in time.]

The race continued. One by one people reached the turning point which marked the halfway point of the course. And one by one all 24 boxes were taken away.

Seeing that all the boxes were taken away and there would be no point staying any further, the soldiers in charge of that station put up a ‘NO MORE BOXES’ sign and left their station.

It certainly looked like the people who would enter the final rounds would be more or less determined by now. That station was empty, except for that sign, standing in the middle of nowhere where the boxes were just a few moments ago.

One guy came late, and saw there was no more box. He looked at that sign and made an irritated sound. He had to go and snatch his box from others now. It would be troublesome.

He went back and chased after those who had the boxes. The last person who took the box would be the easiest target, since he would be the nearest to him as well as the weakest out of all 24 people who had the boxes.

He began to run back in search of that last person. He ran, and soon he found that last guy. A small fight began. Maybe he got lucky, he won. He took the box and ran, with curses from that guy he defeated.

This was just one small scene involving all the competitors still in the race. There would be no space to write about each and every individual’s experiences. That would be too long, nor would it be useful to the military records.

Night came. The running and keeping alert had made people tired. People were beginning to rest. Those with partners took turns to keep watch. Some hid in a place to rest.

What a cold night. Most of the people were in the desert. The desert, so hot in the day, so cold in the night. Extreme temperatures at different times of the day, and neither of the two extremes are very friendly for life.

That night, it was a clear sky. Because the desert was so dry, naturally there would be practically no water at all to be evaporated, so there would be no clouds.

No clouds. What a clear black sky. There was no moon that day. Only stars. Some twinkling, some not. Some bigger, some smaller. Some brighter, some not so. Countless stars, yet at the same time, beautiful. So beautiful, it looked like the world did not come to be by accident, but by hands delicately, and thoughtfully, made and put together into this wonderfully made creation that whoever took the time to admire it could do nothing but gaze in wonder. The beauty of nature.

At least that was what Lin thought. She would not believe the fact that the world came to be by such a random explosion that some others believed it to be. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, so too was Lin. And as she looked, she firmly believed that this world was created, not by a random accident from nothing, but by a pair of hands who had the foresight and the wisdom to put together everything so beautifully. Yes, she had believed in an existence called God.

Despite what happened, she had believed. Some say she needed an assurance that everything would be fine for her at the end of the road, some said she was weak that she needed to hold on to something so intangible and something not scientific.

But in her heart she knew, she knew there was an absolute existence. Just a random thought. The clear and beautiful sky made people think of things they usually would not under such a peaceful situation. And then she thought, humans are so easily influenced by their external environment, so easily affected. It did not really matter, but for now she would just sink herself deep in her thoughts.

Because, in such a beautiful night, wasting it by sleeping or by staring into the air thinking nothing would be almost a crime to her. Such a night should not be wasted. Well, she would let herself be a bit more philosophical tonight.

Xel and Xue slowed down, and rested occasionally. Xue had said they could take their own sweet time as long as the time was not yet up and that there could not be anyone who could take their boxes away, since those good ones must have gotten their boxes at this stage and would want to avoid fights with those who are good too.

They had already kept their distances such that they were about in the middle of all 24 people. Those in front would not come to attack them, and those far behind who did not have the boxes would attack those with the boxes but were behind them.

All they needed to do was to keep going with a little rest to ensure their position. And so, they had rejected the idea of resting for more than 30 minutes.

It should not matter for Xel and Xue. Xel apparently had gotten used to this kind of thing for some reason, and Xue had been trained to undergo this kind of situation too. She remembered grumbling and complaining when Xel had trained her to keep on moving under exhaustion, and had made a scene. Now she was actually grateful to him for doing that.

Training was always tough, but the rewards were always worth it, that was what she was told. She hated it, but Xel was always right. In all the arguments they had, Xue could not win. Not because Xel forced his idea on her, but time and situation always proved that Xel was right and Xue was wrong. Always. But there was nothing she could do about it, since she was never right once in all the arguments they had.

Meanwhile Kelf told Lin to continue and that they could rest properly once they were near the end point. They would go to the finishing point just before time was up but they needed to be near the place. He wanted assurance to win but did not want to attract any attention.

And the time goes on, from midnight, and steadily but surely going towards the new day when the sun would once again rise from the East. They found a place to rest where no one can see. They took turns to sleep, since they were hours ahead of the deadline.

From where they were, they could see the people who went past them and past the finishing line. Some of the top few went through the finishing line as fast as they could, and met the cheers of spectators. The few who had returned first had raised their popularity among the spectators as the potential winners.

Everyone’s eyes would be on them to see how well they do. The 3 soldiers did not rush but manage to finish in time. They reported to Narf what they had seen, and about the hooded kid.

Finally they reached the forest and rested a while inside. There were trees around where they were. Of course, that was natural. They were in the forest. What was strange was the place itself.

The desert ended suddenly, and the forest sprung out. You could have one foot in the desert and another in the forest. There was no gradual change in the terrain, it was just a sudden change.

The competitors had already thinned down to only a few. The distance between the first few and the rest were already very wide. Some competitors even gave up halfway.

Looking around and seeing no one, Xel told Xue he could use his powers to move faster now since no one could see them. Xue asked if it was alright since there were so many obstacles.

‘There are trees all around, vines and branches.’

Xel asked her, ‘Do you even know who I am?’

‘Ok, you win.’

Xel created a few arrows, and stuck a few together. There were two sets of arrows. Xel and Xue jumped on one each and sat down on it. The arrows started moving.

‘That cost me quite a fair bit of mana, you better thank me.’

Xue ignored him. Of course it cost a lot of mana. Arrows are supposed to fly without anyone sitting on top of them, yet these arrows flew with such a heavy load. Regardless, Xue knew Xel had a lot of unused mana, using a fair bit would mean nothing to him.

Kelf asked Lin to scan the whole area. Lin closed her eyes. Instantly her vision became different. It was not pitch black, but almost there. The whole background was black, and in place where there were people, trees and obstacles, they were outlined in white. A black background with white outlines where there were obstructions.

She said, ‘There are a few people near us, but at a place where they should not see be able to notice us.’

Kelf said, ‘Since we are in the forest where there is water and the air is humid it should be easy for us to go faster.’

So he created a path made of ice that led straight to the front. And underneath their shoes he created a blade like object made of ice. They jumped up and used it to slide the length of the ice.

After they passed by a section of the ice, it melted into water and in the front more ice formed, continuing the road. They kept repeating the process. It was 2 times the speed and lesser effort was needed.

Meanwhile some of the others also started using techniques unique to them to help them go faster now that there were lesser people around. It was done at this time so no one would see their own powers, in case they would need to fight someone who happened to know of their techniques.

The 3 soldiers reached the checkpoint. The station officer there told them that 4 boxes had already been taken. They were stunned.

Although they had not gone over to the station at full speed and had gone around testing the other people, they had not expected anyone to reach before them. They were now expecting people with potential that they could recruit. All was well. You could call that a pleasant surprise. Then they turned back.

Soon after they turned back and went a little distance they saw the hooded kid who had already attracted so much attention came running in the opposite direction towards the station of the parcels.

They passed by each other, and they saw the kid smiling from under the hood when they turned to look at each other at that instant when they were just beside each other.

The kid would be the first person after the 3 soldiers. One little kid, faster than so many other adults. Even if he did not manage to win the final round, maybe the General would consider taking him in. He had a lot of potential which could be tapped. They would take note of it and reflect back to the General. They did not manage to see his face though.

The kid started on the return journey and caught up with the 3 soldiers, faster than they thought. It seemed like the kid had increased his speed. When he returned he rushed at them and took away one box from them. He landed a hit on Tor when he was yawning from boredom.

Suddenly realizing that the kid had went for him, he had attempted to block but it was too late, because he did not expect a person with a box to attack, and also because he had not expected that the kid dared to attack when he was only one and they were three.

Not that he could not block it, he had treated the kid as a fly and not to be noted of. But although the hit did not have any serious damage, they decided to give chase, because the kid had taken Tor’s box. The kid kept a distance between them. They then met a crowd going in their opposite direction.

Suddenly he threw the box up and the crowd rushed to get it while he ran off. The soldiers had to fight and take back the one box. The other two still had their boxes in their hands. Unlike Tor, they had guarded their boxes pretty well. Maybe that was the reason why that kid chose to attack Tor instead of the others.

After they cleared the crowd the hooded kid was nowhere to be seen.

Bor told Tor, ‘Be careful with your stuff you moron, and don’t play around too much. Getting played by a little child is downright embarrassing.’

All Tor said in reply was, ‘Damn prankster. This is not a playground for you.’

But instead of fighting, Xel gave a big smile, apologized, thanked them for the ice and ran off. Lin wanted to chase after him, but Kelf told her to keep in mind the goal.

‘Remember the goal. I can make the ice again. Also, you do know that taking him down may be a little hard. Although that was a surprise attack and we had not guarded ourselves properly, you could tell from the way he snatched the ice away that he is not a weakling on the streets. Making into the second round would mean he is of a certain standard.’

‘Whatever you say,’ Lin replied with a sour face.

She had not expected to be attacked so easily and not able to defend herself. One could say she was humiliated, although the intention was not there.

‘I will make you pay for it,’ Lin thought to herself.

Xel went back to the still running Xue and gave her the piece of ice.

She asked him, ‘Where did you get the ice from?

But he only said, ‘From someone.’

She gave him a suspicious look but kept quiet. It was definitely suspicious. This was a desert, and he got a piece of ice. From the way things looked, it would not be a very wrong guess to say he robbed or stole from someone.

Just as she was thinking this, Xel said, ‘There are some good people around. Be careful.’

He had said that because the two he met just now had discovered his arrow. More specifically, the man discovered him. Of course, it was perfectly possible to notice the arrow he shot out even when their back was facing him.

But that would be because they had discovered a change in the flow of wind around them, even though it was little. Even if the body discovered it, the brain might not register it.

Furthermore, he used to shoot arrows in a way people would not discover it, in a way which minimized the disturbance in the air, at a speed which most people should not be able to react to it in time even when they finally noticed it at the last moment.

And just now, his arrow was going with the flow of the wind, not against it. It meant that the disturbance in the air was further reduced. Given his skill, which Xel was confident of, he had not expected the stony-faced man to discover it.

Not that he was proud. His experiences told him a normal man would not be able to detect that arrow so fast, and still able to give warnings to his targeted partner. More so, the one who was targeted was not him.

Meanwhile the group of kids except the one in the race were also running around and scanning the people around them and those in front of them, taking note of their capabilities. They were also observing how the people in the race fought. They themselves only sent one person down.

In the competition, some decided to use their own powers to fly or run faster already. Others were attacking those around them. At this time, everyone of the kids were still wearing cloaks with their hoods on. Someone tried to attack the kid in the race but he just got beat up and defeated easily without much effort. What a kid, attracting so much attention, asking for trouble.

In the race there were some who wanted to lie low, while there were others who tried to attract as much attention as possible. Why? Just a difference in character, perhaps. Or maybe they had a different purpose.

One of the 3 soldiers in the race caught up with Kelf and tried to attack him. Of course, he had noticed him in the first round. They were there watching, but did not enter the first round of the event. They had noticed and were going to test out the potential of those whom their eyes caught. And so, in the second round, they had jumped in.

But Kelf defended with ice and ran off with Lin, and did not attack.

The soldier was stunned and exclaimed, ‘Ice? In the desert?’

‘Excellent. Looks like we might be able to get better people in this round,’ another one continued.

Lin asked why he did not fight, and Kelf told her he was not an ordinary person, but one he could not defeat if he did not go to primary mode of attack if he decided to play serious. The ice as secondary mode did not have much use against him.

How he knew, he did not really know the process. People often say, at the highest level, when two people fight, their thoughts get communicated to each other with each and every clash of their weapons. They might sound exaggerating.

But one thing he knew, was that when two people came together to fight, the level of the person’s ability could be relatively estimated with regards to one’s own power. It was just a rough estimate, not definitive, but still, could be used to roughly gauge where your opponent stood compared to oneself.

The best course of action was to run. There was no point trying to take them down when the objective was to get the box and return back to the original position.