Free Web NovelChapter 210: Chapter 203: Fourteen Days
Day 9 — 04:35
Team One
The extraction marker appeared through the trees shortly before dawn — a strip of red cloth above a stone post, less than a kilometre away. After eight days in the mountains, the remaining distance should have been easy.
Instead it became the hardest stretch of Team One’s route.
Their exhausted candidate lay in the improvised drag harness, wrapped in the driest layers the team still possessed. Warmth had returned to his hands, but his eyes closed whenever the group slowed. The mountain veteran crouched beside him. "Stay awake."
"I am awake."
"You answered after five seconds."
"I was considering the question."
The court-trained knight lowered the front of the harness. "You may consider it while standing."
The exhausted candidate looked through the trees toward the marker. "You are not carrying me across."
The veteran studied him. "We carried you down half a mountain."
"That was different."
"How?"
"I could not see the end."
He pushed himself upright. His legs began shaking before he completed the movement. The others moved closer but allowed him the first steps without assistance. He managed twenty metres before one knee folded. Two candidates caught him beneath the arms. He tried to pull free.
"Support is not the same as carrying," the veteran said.
"It will look the same."
"To whom?"
The exhausted candidate looked toward the red cloth. He didn’t know that hidden observers had recorded every decision since deployment. He only knew that arriving unconscious inside a harness felt too close to surrender.
The veteran adjusted his grip. "You remain on your feet. We keep you there. That is the offer."
After a moment, the candidate nodded. They resumed moving. The last kilometre took forty-three minutes.
At 05:18, all six crossed the boundary together. The exhausted candidate remained upright for three seconds, then his legs gave way. His teammates lowered him as observers emerged from concealed positions. A healer reached him first.
The senior observer examined the remaining five. "All candidates present. Essential equipment retained except for documented losses. One candidate requires immediate treatment."
The court-trained knight looked toward the healer. "Does that disqualify us?"
"He crossed while conscious and moving under his own effort."
"With assistance."
"Yes."
"That answer sounds deliberately unclear."
"It is deliberately precise."
The mountain veteran looked back toward the marker. "We completed the route."
The observer nodded. "You did."
Team One became the third team to pass.
Day 9 — 07:40
Team Two
Team Two saw smoke from the extraction camp while descending the final ridge.
The shortest path ran through a narrow stone gully. The longer route curved around the western slope before dropping through the trees. Varro crouched near the mouth of the gully and examined the claw marks scarring the stone — several fresh.
One candidate pointed toward the smoke. "We could reach the camp within an hour."
"Something uses this route."
"We have seen claw marks throughout the forest."
"We have also seen what made them."
The candidate looked west. "That route adds three hours."
"Possibly four."
"We are almost finished."
"That does not make the gully safer."
Fatigue sharpened the disagreement. Two candidates wanted the direct descent. Three supported Varro. The sixth stayed silent while studying the ridge above the gully. A loose stone rolled down the cliff. Something moved behind it. The silent knight pointed west. "Long route."
The argument ended.
They turned away from the visible camp and continued around the slope. Halfway through the detour, a large predator entered the gully from below — shoulders brushing both stone walls as it climbed.
The candidate who had wanted the shortcut watched it disappear. "I withdraw my objection."
Varro adjusted the shortened rope tied to his pack. "Recorded."
Team Two reached the extraction boundary at 11:26, all six together — hands bruised from the gorge, rope nearly useless, one candidate still limping, but every member capable of moving and following instructions.
The observer inspected them. "You completed the route."
Varro looked toward the camp. "Were we first?"
"No."
"Second?"
"No."
The knight beside him sighed. "Did we arrive before lunch?"
The observer considered the question. "Yes."
Team Two accepted the victory available. They became the fourth team to pass.
Day 9 — 13:10
Team Four
Team Four had travelled through most of the night.
The water drawn from the abandoned well remained sufficient, though severe rationing had left every candidate thirsty. Rellan carried two containers — he had volunteered before anyone assigned the weight — and by midday his steps had shortened.
The engineer noticed. "You are slowing."
"I am compensating for my earlier mistakes."
"You are creating another one."
Rellan looked toward him. "By carrying water?"
"By treating exhaustion as repayment."
The team leader called a halt beneath a sparse line of trees. "Redistribute the load."
Rellan opened his mouth, then stopped. He handed one container to the engineer without arguing. That mattered more than volunteering had.
They resumed moving. Small scavengers appeared among the rocks behind them — the same species that had followed the damaged container through the badlands. Four at first, then nine, staying outside knife range but calling to each other whenever Team Four slowed.
The engineer looked back. "The containers are not leaking."
"They smell the water on our clothes," Rellan said. "And advertise it to everything else."
The extraction region lay beyond a wide basin divided by three shallow channels. Rellan studied the ground. "We split the scent."
The leader looked at him. "Explain."
"We divide the containers. Each pair follows a separate channel and drags damp cloth across the stone, then circles back over dry ground."
The engineer considered it. "No water discarded?"
"None."
"Improvement."
They separated into two pairs and a central group. Each left a scent trail along one channel before returning across bare rock. The scavengers divided, their calls spreading across the basin, three confused groups moving in different directions.
The engineer looked toward Rellan. "You solved a problem without sacrificing a container."
"I am developing."
"Slowly."
"That has been mentioned."
They reached the final ridge near sunset, the red marker standing in the valley below with no beast blocking the route and no magical field bending distance — only a long descent and five exhausted knights.
Team Four crossed the boundary at 19:12, last among the successful teams.
The observer checked the candidates and their equipment. "All five present. Essential equipment retained. Team remains mobile."
Rellan looked toward the others. "We finished."
The engineer examined him. "You sound surprised."
"I remember our decisions."
"That explains it."
Team Four became the fifth and final team to complete the wilderness phase.
Day 9 — 20:05
Forward Extraction Camp
Twenty-eight candidates stood inside the central camp, arrived by different routes and in different conditions.
Team Seven looked almost recovered. Team Three still carried marsh mud in the seams of its boots. Team One had one candidate under a healer’s supervision. Team Two possessed enough rope to secure one particularly small package. Team Four arrived dusty, thirsty, and last.
Daren watched them enter while holding a cup of broth. "You are late."
Rellan looked toward him. "Who are you?"
Daren appeared briefly offended. Pell answered from outside the medical shelter. "He arrived first."
"That explains nothing," Rellan said.
"It has not stopped him."
Hot food waited beneath the main shelter. The candidates expected rest afterward. Some expected transport back to Elarion. A few expected an explanation.
None expected Malen.
He arrived after darkness in a plain military coat, accompanied by Cedric, medical officers, and twelve instructors whose expressions suggested that smiling had not been included in their orders. Conversation stopped.
Malen stood before the twenty-eight candidates. "You completed the survival route."
Nobody celebrated. They had learned that statements from Malen rarely ended where hope preferred.
"You reached the marked point while preserving enough strength, equipment, and discipline to remain operational. That was the first filter."
Daren closed his eyes. Arven glanced at him. "You knew."
"I feared."
Malen continued. "The next phase lasts fourteen days."
A candidate from Team Two raised his hand. "Fourteen days of what?"
"Training."
Several candidates relaxed. Cedric noticed. "That response will correct itself."
Instructors distributed fresh field uniforms, numbered cloth strips, and heavier packs. The previous team names disappeared. Each candidate received only a number.
Malen waited until the issue was complete. "You will receive limited sleep at irregular intervals. You will march, climb, navigate, recover equipment, carry simulated casualties, and complete combat drills while exhausted."
The formation became quieter.
"You will train in rain, mud, cold water, and darkness. Meals may be delayed when objectives remain incomplete. Rest periods may end without warning. Instructions may change while you are carrying them out."
The court-trained knight from Team Three raised his hand. "Will the changes be reasonable?"
"No."
Several candidates exchanged looks.
"The circumstances producing them will also be unreasonable."
Medical officers moved through the formation, inspecting old injuries and replacing bandages. "You will be monitored throughout. Permanent harm is not the objective. Concealing a dangerous injury is grounds for immediate removal."
The ten withdrawn candidates were absent. Their empty places gave the warning more weight than the speech did.
Malen looked across the formation. "Physical endurance alone will not carry you through this phase. A candidate who remains standing while becoming reckless is useless. A candidate who abandons another person to improve his own time is useless. A knight who loses control of mana because he is tired is dangerous to everyone beside him."
Daren glanced toward Arven. Arven did not return the look.
"You will not remain in your current teams. Assignments will change repeatedly. Leadership will rotate. You will function beside candidates you dislike, distrust, or fail to understand."
Lucas’s voice came faintly from behind the gathered officers. "That describes most departments."
Malen ignored him. "The next phase begins tonight."
The candidates looked toward the field tents. An instructor stepped forward. "Equipment inspection in ten minutes. Every failed item adds weight to the entire group."
The formation dissolved immediately — packs opening, straps checked, candidates comparing issue sheets and searching for hidden defects.
Daren lifted his new load. "We have been here less than two days."
Pell secured a buckle with his uninjured hand. "You sound rested."
"I had begun to feel human."
"That was careless."
Day 9 — 21:00
Forward Extraction Camp
The first inspection failed.
One candidate packed his weather layer incorrectly. Another left a medical wrap unsealed. A third could not account for a tent peg that had never been issued.
The instructor examined the list. "The peg is absent from the issue record."
The candidate looked relieved. "Then I did not lose it."
"You failed to identify an impossible instruction."
The relief disappeared. Additional sand weights were added to every pack.
Daren looked toward the candidate. "Who are you?"
"Candidate Fourteen."
"I will remember that."
The instructor heard him. "Candidate Seven, take another kilogram."
Daren accepted the weight. "For speaking?"
"For promising resentment instead of correcting the problem."
Pell looked away before anyone saw his expression.
At 21:25, the candidates were ordered into their tents. Several fell asleep before removing their boots.
Day 9 — 23:10
The alarm sounded.
Instructors moved through the camp calling candidate numbers. Twenty-eight knights stumbled from their tents and formed uneven ranks. One arrived without gloves. Another wore his outer layer incorrectly. The mountain veteran from Team One appeared fully dressed.
The court-trained knight beside him looked suspicious. "You slept in your uniform."
"Yes."
"That is uncomfortable."
"It is currently efficient."
Cedric walked before the formation. "New assignments."
The candidates were divided into four groups of seven. Arven no longer stood beside Daren. Varro was placed with Rellan. The border veteran from Team Three received two candidates who had argued throughout most of the wilderness route. Leadership was assigned by number rather than rank or earlier performance.
Cedric pointed toward the road beyond the camp. "March objective: twenty-eight kilometres. Standard load plus inspection weight. Four simulated casualties will occur at unannounced points."
One candidate looked into the darkness. "Destination?"
"You will learn when you arrive."
"How much time?"
Cedric checked the clock. "Less than you would prefer."
The gates opened. Rain had begun outside. The first group moved onto the road. The remaining candidates followed. Behind them, the warm tents remained standing. Nobody was permitted to return.
Day 10 — 00:00
Attrition Phase — Hour One
Lucien watched the march depart from the command shelter.
The candidates disappeared into darkness under packs heavier than anything issued during the wilderness phase. Malen stood beside him.
"Twenty-eight remain."
"For now," Lucien said.
"How many do you expect after fourteen days?"
"I do not know."
Malen looked toward him. "That is unusual."
"The test only matters if we allow the candidates to answer it."
Behind them, Lucas examined the training schedule. "This document contains considerably more night movement than sleep."
"Yes," Cedric said.
"It also appears to contain three mornings during the same day."
"Operational scheduling."
Lucas set the sheet down. "You have weaponized the calendar."
A signal reached the command shelter from the road. Candidate Twenty-One had been ordered to stop and simulate an incapacitating injury. His new group had to recognize the casualty, redistribute his load, and carry him without breaking formation — less than two hours after the last time any of them had slept.
The fourteen-day phase had begun. None of them knew what waited at the end. They knew only that the wilderness had allowed them to arrive exhausted, and the instructors intended to find out whether they could remain useful after exhaustion became ordinary.
Knight Candidate Assessment — Updated (Classified)
Initial candidates: 38
Survival route completions: 28
Candidates withdrawn safely: 10
Attrition phase duration: 14 days
Candidates currently active: 28
Attrition phase elapsed: 1 hour
*Ninety-Day Review: 48 days remaining.*
*Arsenal Before the Breach: 2 years, 323 days remaining.*
