Tara and other contestants lined up at the starting line, and awaited the signal. "Three… Two… One… GO!", the announcer shouted, and the contestants ran forwards. Tara chose the difficult route as she said, but she wasn't in the lead position. That black and gold Lizard was, and he was quick. 'This guy is as good as Dawn… I have to try harder during the next two courses', I thought and had a better look at the easy route. I quickly realised that my assumption was incorrect. Those pools on the easy route, that wasn't water. It was actually some sort of slime, seemingly very sticky and hard to tread through. There was an advantage though. If the contestants were fast enough through the pools, they could overtake the difficult route no problem. 'There are only three such pools on the easy route. Most of it is hills and running… Maybe I chose the wrong route. Maybe the next course will have an easy route as well', I thought.
The contestants made their way through one obstacle after the other. Tara was third in the group of people on the difficult route, but that damned Lizard didn't play nice either. Just as Tara was crossing the pit, he broke her plank and she fell inside. "That bastard!", I exclaimed. Dawn grabbed my shoulder, "Calm down. She can still do it". I gave her a quick glance, but then focussed on the pit. Tara jumped as high as she could, then burrowed her arms into the wall of soil. With her hands anchored in the wall, she swung her body upwards and used her legs to grab the edge of the pit. She then freed her arms, and pulled herself up using her legs. She made it out, and made it look easy as well. "See, nothing to worry about", Dawn added.
Tara continued through the rest of the course without any issues. The wooden wall was where she made up her lost time. Although she didn't catch up to that Lizard at the front, she was second at that stage. The last obstacle was the spider web-like maze. The Lizard didn't seem to have any issues, but Tara struggled a bit. She took it really slowly, making sure she would finish. One contestant managed to overtake her at the end, and Tara came in third. Our times were not revealed, therefore we had no clue who came in what place. That would be revealed at the end of the contest.
From the group of twenty-three contestants in the second group, nineteen managed to finish the course. They still disqualified the five slowest times, but I got through to the next course either way. "This concludes the first course! While the second course is being prepared, our contestants will have time to rest and prepare. Please give them a round of applause as they leave the stage!", the announcer exclaimed. There were fifty-nine contestants who took part in the contests. Only thirty-one managed to get through to the next stage.
Me and Dawn were joined by Tara, who asked about my place in the group. "I placed eleventh, but Dawn placed first. She is really good. If we want to win, we have to beat her", I said looking at Dawn. She just smiled, and started walking towards the waiting room. "She doesn't seem that nice", Tara said quietly. "She might not be talkative, but I believe she is a nice person. Anyway, you placed third, that was great!", I added. "I might've placed second, maybe even first... But that guy played dirty. That Dawn was right about one thing, we need to be careful", she replied while glancing at the black and gold Lizard. "Tell me about it, to think Lizards were like this. One guy tried to make me fail a few times too", I added. "Heh? You too? These bastards…", she replied angrily. "Don't worry, he is no longer in the contest. He paid for what he did", I said and made my way towards the room as well. "Heee... I would like to see what happened to him… Hey! Wait for me!", Tara exclaimed.
The room wasn't packed anymore. Everyone could take a seat and relax, at least for a bit. I took out some food from my bag, and asked Tara if she wanted some. "Sure, I'm a bit hungry", she replied. Fortunately, mom packed the food very well, otherwise it would be all soggy and dirty. While we ate, I noticed Dawn sitting in the corner all alone again. 'That girl…', I thought and stood up. "Did something happen?", Tara asked at my sudden action. I shook my head, "Wait a minute, I will be right back"... "Hey Dawn, why don't you join us? It seems you didn't bring any food with you, but I have loads so we can share", I said while taking a seat next to her. She smiled, "It's fine. I like to be alone". "Being with friends is better, isn't it? Come on, join us. We don't bite", I replied. She shook her head, and just stayed there.
'She's stubborn…', I thought and opened my bag to take out a few things. "Here, you helped us, so I'm returning the favour", I said handing her some food. She tried refusing, but I stood up and said, "You don't have to be lonely, you can always talk with me". She didn't reply, and I didn't want to force her either. "You seem to care about her quite a bit", Tara said when I returned. "Heh..? Are you jealous?", I teased. "Hehe… Where did you learn to tease people like that?", she asked. "From my mom", I replied with a smile.
We talked for a good while, but no one was there to collect us yet. "It's taking them a long time, I wonder what sort of course will we face next?", I asked. "Hmm, I don't know really. I only know that the difficulty will be greater. No matter what, we have to give it our best", Tara replied. That was true. No matter what they threw at us, we just had to do our best and pass. The time slowly passed, until one of the judges entered the room. "The next course is now ready. Follow me to the stage, where we will introduce the new course to you", he said.
We followed him outside, and quickly noticed a brand new course. "They literally changed everything", I said in shock. Tara nodded too, as we didn't expect such development. Another group from the other waiting room joined us on the stage too. "It is time to start the second round! This time, the course will be much more difficult! The course has been changed, and all contestants will receive a map like previously. This time though, each contestant will attempt the course separately!", the announcer exclaimed. 'It's not that bad then. They won't be able to mess with me, and I can simply focus on passing the obstacles', I thought.
We were handed the map of the course, but this time there were no easy or difficult routes. There was only one route, and we had to get through all the obstacles present. "To give everyone a fair treatment, all but one contestant will wait off stage. You now have a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the map. After we collect the maps back, the first contestant can begin", he added. I studied the map, and made sure the route was clear to me. There were a few new additions to the course. They introduced the so called Elemental Obstacles. In other words, we would encounter obstacles that had something to do with Elements. They didn't specify what those obstacles were or did exactly, though we could expect Formations for sure.
A while later, someone collected the maps, and took us back to the waiting room. Everyone, except one person. It was an Atol, and he would be going first. Since we were not able to watch, we had no clue how he performed and what sort of time he got. 'I just hope I can get through this', I thought.