The next day, just after the crack of dawn, Aiden was woken up by Oliver's rough shaking of his shoulder.
"Get up! We can't afford to be late on the first day! Who knows what punishments these vicious bastards could cook up for us."
Aiden heard this and shivered.
Yesterday, Oliver had told him about the training he had endured with his own family and reminded him that the training at this camp could only be worse.
Who knows what sort of old and archaic punishments these weirdos could cook up
The two boys quickly got ready and changed into their newly picked out training clothes before rushing to the training field.
They had only stood on the training ground for a short while when a familiar figure walked out. It was the man who had given their introductory speech yesterday, and it didn't take long before he started speaking once again.
"It's good to see all of you out here again. I am the chief instructor of your training camp, and you can call me Instructor Kyros. I take it you had a good time yesterday. Awakening your divine blood must have you feeling an immense amount of power, but you are still new trainees after all." As Instructor Kyros spoke, a slight smile appeared on his face. "Your first task as trainees will be something simple, a warm-up if you will. Your task is simply to run a short distance and go from point A to point B."
After saying this, Instructor Kyros raised his hand and pointed into the distance.
"Your goal is to reach the marked destination at the top of the cliff."
As the trainees looked over, they could see Instructor Kyros pointing to a cliff in the distance. Between them and the cliff was a lush, packed forest with hilly terrain leading up to a distant and tall cliffside.
"The faster you arrive, the better your rewards will be. Additionally, there will be a penalty for all those who finish later, so you better get a move on."
After saying this, the instructor's figure flickered before disappearing from the spot, leaving the group of trainees looking at one another completely confused.
It was only after a few moments that someone finally began to start moving. That one action was like throwing a rock in a pond. Instantly, the entire group of trainees began to move and head for the forest.
Aiden and Oliver were no exception. After taking a look at each other, the two also headed toward the forest.
It didn't take long before the large group of trainees quickly split up. Shortly after entering the forest, the group of trainees saw many different paths branching out and scattered across the various paths in front of them.
Aiden and Oliver didn't think too much about it and headed toward a random path, running alongside each other at a steady rate. But as they ran further and further, Oliver suddenly noticed something.
"This fog, it's suddenly becoming strangely thick all of a sudden."
As Aiden heard this, he finally noticed the gradual change in their surroundings and the fog. But just as Aiden was about to speak, Oliver's face suddenly hardened as he dived toward Aiden, dragging him to the floor.
Aiden was about to complain, but that's when a large wooden tendril swept over where their heads were just a moment ago.
"Fuck!" cursed Oliver. "If I hadn't felt something, we would have lost our heads."
Aiden listened to Oliver, and his skin crawled.
"This forest, no, the entire area to the cliff, it's all filled with traps!"
Just as the words escaped his mouth, Aiden was suddenly filled with a strange feeling. The strange feeling he had only felt during the awakening process was vaguely activated, a fuzzy feeling crept into his mind.
"Move now!"
Aiden didn't even think and dragged Oliver to his feet and ran, just in time.
"Boom!"
Another giant tendril slammed out of the mist, crashing down onto their previous spot! Aiden and Oliver just couldn't get a break. They started running through the forest, with strange objects breaking out of the mist trying to attack them.
Fortunately, with their newly awakened divine blood, their senses had been boosted to near unimaginable levels, and when put to the test, they were forced to activate and were slowly being polished and refined.
At the same time, every time Aiden's senses were activated and he dodged, a warm and fuzzy force started swirling inside his body, slowly growing stronger with each passing second. Aiden didn't need a teacher; he instantly recognized what this feeling was.
Divinity.
The mystical power was coursing through his body, and even with Aiden's current primitive and rudimentary control, it had a clear strengthening effect on his body.
Sayings don't get passed down for no reason; the best way to learn is truly with experience. Aiden only wished that this "experience" wasn't giant objects trying to crush his bones.
Just as Aiden had this thought, the ground beneath him started to shake.
Aiden and Oliver could only watch wide-eyed as what could only be described as a wave of earth rushed toward them. It was like someone had grabbed the earth and shook it like a dusty blanket, causing ripples to rush forth.
Oliver's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"What the actual fu—"
But Oliver didn't even get to finish his sentence before he and Aiden were flying into the forest with a panicked scream.
The two friends landed harshly on the ground, and Aiden was certain that if it wasn't for the transformation he had undergone yesterday after the divine awakening, he would have broken several bones by now.
But just as they were getting themselves together, they suddenly heard some rustling in the forest around them as a group of creaky wooden puppets walked out from the tall grass and started approaching them.
"You've got to be kidding me."
This time, Oliver wasn't even shocked; he had really seen it all at this point. Aiden looked at the group of puppets, his face showing confusion before a sudden light flashed in his amber eyes.