With the rest of the slaves, Layah walked into the training ground and a deep breath exited her nose.
"Lines!" Leon yelled, and the hundred-plus slaves instantly formed a straight, neat line.
"Today is your second day of training. Now let's see those who will show deep potential and acquire special treatment," he said, and all the slaves balled their hands into tight fists with a fighting will visible on their faces.
Layah inhaled and exhaled deeply, then glanced at the girl who goes by the name of Aliya.
Her hands clenched into tight fists and she returned her gaze to the training course a bit distant ahead of them.
"Let's see how you do this time around. I won't be so magnanimous as to give you treatment."
A familiar voice suddenly flew into her ears, and she quickly turned her head to see Damien standing behind her with his mask covering his face as usual.
"Whatever." She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him.
Damien shook his head and returned back to the safe line where Hazel and Dorian stood to watch the performance of the slaves.
"Hang the flag?" Leon clamored, and the soldier at the far end of the training course raised the flag.
"On your mark! ready! Set!... GO!" He screamed, and the ground shook as the slaves began to race towards the training course.
Layah glanced ahead of her and her face tightened in displeasure on seeing that Mishak and Aliya were leading yet again.
"No! Not this time!" She disagreed within herself and, as though she had accumulated new energy, she dashed off, passing each and every slave till she arrived beside Aliya.
Aliya, who didn't expect it at all, turned her head to look at her and had a bit of a surprised expression on her face, while on the other hand, Damien smirked behind the mask he wore, seeming to be pleased with her fighting spirit.
The race continued until Aliya, Layah, and Mishak, who were leading, arrived at the training course.
They quickly climbed up, but before jumping onto the wooden pole, Aliya turned to Layah with a grin on her lips.
"If you successfully want to pass this level, I advise you to push fear to the back of your head, because I promise you, as long as you're scared, you won't pass this level. Talk more about the second level."
She said, with ignorance visible in her tone, and before Layah could utter a word, she jumped onto the first pole, landing perfectly on both feet.
Layah shut her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Fear will not let you move forward. Banish it out of your mind and heart." She said to herself and opened her eyes. Then, with a serious expression on her face, she jumped, successfully landing on the pole, but with one leg down and one leg up.
She immediately held her balance and slowly brought her right leg down.
She monitored the spikey pendulum swing left and right and the instant she gained enough courage, she jumped, successfully landing on both feet.
She took deep breaths and, as though having figured out how to avoid the pendulum, she glanced at the one swinging in front of her.
Two seconds to each side. Meaning, if she jumped in two seconds time, no matter which side it swung to, she would land perfectly on the poles ahead.
A smile emerged on her face and without wasting time, she began to jump onto the next poles, successfully landing without hurting herself or getting knocked off.
"Yes!!" She laughed after carefully jumping off the last wooden pole onto the next level.
She turned to look at Damien, and Damien tilted his head to one side, signaling her to continue as Aliya and Mishak were already ahead of her.
She nodded with a smile on her lips and walked forward, ready to begin the next level.
This level was completely different from the pendulum. It was much, much harder and required grip strength.
The course was a horizontal long rope with spikes underneath it.
This means the slaves needed to move horizontally with their bodies hanging upside down and both hands and feet gripping the rope.
Not just that, they needed to move carefully, because if any of them mistakenly let go, that would be their end as a result of the long spikes underneath.
Layah's heart skipped a beat as she gazed at the training course, and she couldn't help but imagine where she fell off.
"Oh gosh!" She quickly shook her head to shake off the thoughts. "You will be fine." She said to herself and glanced up to see Mishak and Aliya almost at the end of that level.
"I can do this." She said to herself, and with deep courage visible on her face, she proceeded to grab onto the rope.
"Move it!!" A young man behind her, who had already had enough of waiting for her to climb onto the rope, pushed her and, a bit displeased by such action, Layah turned around and glared at him.
"What's your problem?! If you're so eager to move, then go ahead. You can be the first. " She scowled at him and moved out of the way for him. "Go on, grab the rope."
She urged him, and the young man scoffed, then moved to grab onto the rope.
A few of the slaves, including Layah, who had made it to that level, gazed at him as he grabbed onto the rope and began to move horizontally with his hands and legs clenching tightly onto the rope.
Taking deep breaths, Layah took her turn to move. She tore off two pieces of her clothing and wrapped them around the palms of her hands so that they would prevent her from slipping even if her palms became sweaty.
"She's smart." Dorian, who was enjoying what he was watching, complimented Layah and Damien slightly nodded his head in agreement, but Hazel, who didn't seem to think the same, secretly scoffed.