Legacy: The Unravelling

IX

Next morning you could only hear grunts that the twelve candidates let out, but nobody could blame them for whining, they had been running for a little more than two hours without a rest. Soon enough some of them started ringing their bells to take a rest and all of that was closely monitored by Kiara and Liam.

-I understand that they are cadets.- said the grey-eyed.- but they should be able to withstand that since it was only the warm-up.-

Some minutes later Kiara blew her whistle making the few that were still running to stop and, once again, she took note of their physical condition. While she did that, Liam instructed them all to immediately go to an obstacle course that was the size of a third of the whole floor only giving them the time they took from one place to the other as a break.

By the end of the day, two of the twelve cadets were throwing-up, four of them reported to be dizzy and the rest were either handling the burn or not feeling anything at all besides a slight muscle pounding, and just like that the first day of the physical assessment was done.

Day two was no easier for the candidates, that day was all about obstacles. Kiara and Liam had prepared different obstacle courses that they were to complete in the slightest time possible, but not only were they expected them to complete the courses quickly, but they were also supposed to compete with each other to retrieve something hidden there, but they did not tell anyone about it as their intuition must have told them that there was more to the obstacle races than just that.

You could clearly see their proud looks when Reyla Farren and Jasper Black returned from the courses with the little objects they had hidden there, but at the same time, it was difficult to know for certain because they were also disappointed that only two of them seemed to had noticed. When a frustrated cadet asked Kiara what her average was, some of them became sceptical and thought that the Alphas were simply fooling around asking them to do the impossible.

That was until Kiara actually completed the obstacle course in lesser time than her average with no injuries whatsoever, also taking note of their behaviour.

By day 3 half of them were unable to walk properly as the pain in their legs was unbearable and what seemed to be relief vanished at the sight of what they were supposed to escalate that day. Once again, feeling that they were asking the impossible from them.

Finally in day 4, the Alphas appeared to slow down their pace, and instead watched the techniques each individual possessed and their preferred fighting style while distracting them just to see their reactions.

Normally people in Khaeron were used to seeing cadets all around the place on their weekends so it came as a surprise to some of them, not to see some iconic figures running around the realm, but it was expected as Kiara and Liam had kicked their arses on those physical assessments so most of them simply slept the whole day, while they shared their remarks regarding each candidate inside Liam's room because Kiara insisted that his room was the cosiest.

-I still can't believe that one of them said that we were asking the impossible.- he said moving his arms in frustration.-

-It's obvious that he won't get in, not with that mentality.- she replied carelessly stroking his messy hair.- And stop it, you are going to slap me in the face.-

-Sorry.- he laughed while shifting to a comfier position on her lap.- I am glad that at least half of them proved to be competent.-

-It's too early to say that.- she said now laying down on his bed, motioning him to move from her lap.- we still need to evaluate them mentally.-

-I should feel bad for them.- he spoke nonchalantly while moving to lay his head on her chest.- But the truth is, that the test would be nowhere close to being tortured.- he mumbled.-

Kiara tensed slightly at his statement but instantly relaxed when she noticed him staring at her from her chest. He smiled softly when he noticed her watching him calmly, and proceeded to lay down on her chest again, pouting as to get her to stroke his hair.

-Love deprived aren't you.- she softly laughed, starting to caress him.- I need to get you a girlfriend.-

-She would be in danger, should anyone associate her with me.- he replied with a sleepy voice.- Besides, you are way better than most girls out there.-

She did not move until long after he fell asleep on top of her, but when she did, she placed him back on his bed and quietly directed herself to her room, sitting right away on her desk carefully inspecting the reports that she would provide the supervisors of the candidates. When she finally convinced herself that they were more than good, she changed to a loose dress she sometimes wore to sleep and proceeded to do just that.

The next morning, Liam carefully entered her room and after confirming that the lump in the bed was his red-headed friend, he took the reports and left her a note instructing her to reheat the breakfast when she woke up so they could eat together, and just like that day 7 of the first week of assessment was over, but he figured that he should have woken her up because the minute he entered the Alpha Complex, he was greeted by a messy-haired redhead whose golden eyes shone with mischief.

Nobody dared to look at Liam the following day since he was modelling a broken lip, courtesy of the very smiley teenager beside him and nobody wanted to know what had happened for someone so tall and strong to suddenly greet everyone like that. The cadets immediately forgot about the matter when they were explained in detail what their first assessment would be, obviously catching them off-guard.

-Sorry, alpha.- said a girl.- did I hear you say an exam? -

One look from the teenager was enough to send shivers down their spines and that alone was somehow scarier than the exam they had to take, though some of them were secretly glad that they were starting with one.

Some of those who entered the exam hall confident ended up in denial, the ones who were scared by the thought of the exam came out frustrated and the few who were neutral somehow managed to exit the hall proudly. It was an extremely difficult test on purpose and that was only the beginning.

By the end of the assessment period, more than half were traumatised but that did not matter as they would promptly learn the reason behind such difficult tests and once again, Kiara stood in Liam's room on the rest day, with the only difference that they were both in the floor completely surrounded by parchments.

-So, we agree on who our new members are right?.- Kiara asked.-

-Yes.- he smirked.-

Smiling to each other they laid on the floor discussing the details of the next weeks to come with their new members agreeing that they would later clean the Complex since the members would be moving in the same day after the meeting with the Commander.