The group jogged behind Scathach as she slowly picked up the pace, running from the courtyard and along a grassy riverside.
Ahead of Ivy was a man wearing all black with wide padded shoulder armor. An empty sheath for a massive sword was swung over his back. Earlier, she heard Scathach say his name was "Taber."
After about twenty minutes of running along the river, it fell away into an underground waterfall, leaving them running alongside the forest, Scathach picking up the pace even more.
Ivy looked over and saw the girl with blue skin next to her. She looked absolutely bored out of her mind.
"Hey, are you a famous fighter or something?" the girl asked.
"Uh," Ivy cracked a smile, her cheeks a bit red. "I did just win a fighting championship," she offered. "I don't know if I'm famous or anything."
"I overheard some people talking about it a few minutes ago…How old are you?"
"I'll be thirteen soon!"
"Me too…huh."
Ivy looked at her again, "Is your skin blue?"
"It's purple, but yeah. I mean, where I'm from, it's somewhat common."
"That's so cool!"
The girl laughed, "I'm Kaly, by the way."
"Ivy."
After about five more minutes of sprinting, Kaly asked, "So, why are you here?"
"I need to get stronger. A lot stronger. Why else would I be here?"
Kaly shrugged, "Eh, I'm just bored, I guess. I heard that this is supposed to be crazy dangerous and thought it would be fun."
They continued to talk and run for almost an hour, not realizing that time had flown by so quickly. Ivy was so busy talking and laughing that she didn't notice that they had entered a small village and Scathach had stopped. Ivy proceeded to run face-first into her.
Scathach turned around and surveyed the group. They seemed to be missing one or two of them—oh well. Some looked like they were about to pass out from exhaustion.
"We have run a little over eighty-five miles," Scathach said. "I hope you're warmed up cause now, you're gonna have to activate your energy."
Pearson gasped for breath; his hands were planted on his knees as his face slowly dripped sweat.
"Space out with at least ten feet between each of you, then activate your aura and output as much of your energy as possible. You will hold this level of exertion until I say stop."
Ivy found a good spot, conveniently next to Kaly, and she took a wide stance. After closing her eyes, and a deep meditative inhale, white bubbles of energy began escaping through the pores of her skin.
She opened her eyes, to see Kaly looking at her curiously, energy that resembled strands of smoke or steam rose from her skin.
Scathach's eyes narrowed as she looked over the crowd of energy users. She finally pinpointed what she was feeling, looking at the two girls several yards away from everyone, almost in their own world. 'That girl, Ivy, her energy feels off. I know I've never seen her before, so I don't want to say her energy signature feels familiar…but it resembles one that is…' Scathach thought. "Alright," she called out. "Start!"
The earth seemed to bubble and shake. Nearby tree branches split and fell, crashing to the ground.
'Timber!' Pearson thought as a nearby tree snapped, landing a few yards away.
"Wow!" Ivy said, looking at Kaly. Her tendrils of energy arched high into the air.
Kaly looked at the ground, seeing the ground around Ivy's combat boots crack and fissure.
Scathach glanded into the sky, seeing the position of the sun, indicating almost thirty minutes had passed. "Alright, you can relax."
"Oh geeze!" Ivy fell to her knees, drenched in sweat, attempting to catch her breath. During this time, her energy had created a mini-crater around herself.
Kaly stood nearby, 'She should learn to pace herself,' she thought, looking at Ivy from out of the corner of her eye.
Ivy got to her feet, hands and knees muddy.
A dark purple energy burned around Scathach as she pointed into the sky with two fingers. Several black orbs the size of baseballs shot from her fingertips, hovering once they reached fifty feet in the air.
Kaly's eyes shot around, seeing her braids floating as if they were now weightless. She turned, seeing Ivy's hair doing the same thing.
Stone and dirt ripped from the ground around the group and launched at the black orbs, until there were several boulders now handing in the sky.
Scathach let her hand fall, and the boulders smashed into the ground. "Ahead of you is a row of eight boulders, each weighing a bare minimum of one ton. You will each line in groups and use your energy at a distance to attempt to shatter it."
"Now, this might actually be tough," Kaly said as she got in line ahead of Ivy and behind Pearson, who was on high alert.
Pearson thought, 'I don't wanna be seen by Ivy. Colson and Zoe seemed to like her for some reason, but I've heard nothing but bad stuff about her. I'm just gonna keep a low profile, and keep an eye on her. The last thing I want right now is for her to see me, and it to be a whole thing.'
When it was his turn to go, Pearson exhaled sharply, holding his palm out, as a small golf ball-sized ball of energy flew toward the boulder.
A small crack appeared as it connected, surprising Pearson, as he fell back in shock.
Kaly quickly stepped out of the way, and crossed her arms, so she didn't have to touch him, and Pearson hit his back, looking directly up into the sky, as Ivy looked down at him, her head blocking the sunlight, head tilted, and a look of recognition playing across her face.
Kaly stood beside him, feet wide apart, and pointed at the boulder. From her finger, a projectile as fast as a bullet slammed into the rock, sending fissures throughout it, causing an especially large crack to move down the middle, almost bisecting it. But still, the stone held together.
Kaly looked back, saying, "Well, I tried," shrugging. "Ivy, you're up."
Ivy stared down at Pearson. She reached out to give him a hand up but rolled out of the way, briefly getting into a fighting stance. Then, his face turned red. "Oh…you were trying to help me up…I thought that was going to be an attack." Seeing Ivy's confused face, he mumbled, "My bad," and shuffled to the back of a different line.
"What a retard." Kaly said.
"Yeah…" Ivy nodded. Stepping forward, she took a deep inhale and clapped her hands together, forcing the energy from her fingertips to stretch forward.
"Ivy, what are you-"
"No!" Scathach seemed to materialize next to Ivy, causing her to jump so hard that her energy flickered off for several seconds. "You are meant to detach your energy."
"I can't really do that…ma'am," Ivy said.
"Do you have trouble with energy manipulation and control?"
Ivy clicked her tongue in thought, "I've never really put words to it, but yea. Anytime I've needed to use energy, I can usually just brute force it."
After everyone had attempted multiple times to destroy the boulders, Scathach led them all back to her castle, running all the way back, allowing them all to use energy, arriving in half the time.
Sniffing the air, Ivy grinned, as they walked through the back gate of the castle, "You smell that?"
"Oh wow," Kaly said as the group of trainees stepped into the courtyard, seeing several rows of cafeteria tables, each piled high with piping hot food. Roasted meats—succulent lamb, golden-skinned chickens, and whole pigs—were the centerpieces, their juices dripping onto platters adorned with fresh herbs. Around these meats were heaping bowls of ripe fruits, their vibrant colors a feast for the eyes—juicy grapes, sweet figs, and plump pomegranates spilling over the edges. The tables also groaned under the weight of freshly baked bread, the crusts crackling as they cooled from the oven.
Taber was the first of the group to sit down, grabbing a large tentacle from what he assumed was some type of sea monster, and took a large bite.
After taking what she wanted, Kaly sat across from Ivy, as she held a silver pitcher of velvety wine, sniffing it cautiously.
"What are you doing?" Kaly asked.
"I don't think we can drink this stuff. I think it's like illegal."
"What are you talking about?" Kaly gestured to some of the other tables, "They're drinking it. What even is it?"
"Yeah, they're a bunch of old geezers. We're too young to drink wine."
"Oh." Kaly scrunched her face in confusion, "So, you have like laws for age and stuff? This place is weird."
The conversations at the tables died down as Scathach stood, ready to make an announcement. "Today's training is officially over, and you will have the rest of the day to do as thou wilt. I hope you enjoy the meal since it will be the last and only one you will get from me. From now on, it's on you to find something to eat. If you go hungry, it's tough shit because I don't wanna hear your crying."