For the first week of Keter’s training, Luke, Anis, and Taragon sprinted around the training ground like crazy. Their stamina increased daily, to the point where even a hundred laps posed no challenge.0

They assumed this meant there would be no more running, but they were wrong.0

“From now on, you'll take turns playing tag. I will chase Number One, Number Two will chase Number Three. If you're caught, you switch roles. When the clock strikes six in the evening, whoever is ‘it’ will receive a punishment, while the survivor will earn a reward. Sounds fun, doesn't it?”0

Tag was a game that both commoners and nobles alike played in childhood. But the version they remembered was nowhere near this brutal.0

The Seventh Training Ground was an artificial mountain range, designed to mimic real mountainous terrain. There were uneven hills, dense forests, trees, and even boulders. And here, they were expected to play tag for more than seven hours. 0

There was no room for slacking. Keter had made the rewards and punishments clear. Not that they needed incentives to push themselves—the trio would have done it for the sake of growth alone—but with stakes involved, their gazes sharpened. Keter hadn’t revealed what the punishment or reward would be, but everyone knew his punishments were always merciless, and his rewards were exceedingly generous. For example,...0