Most of the time, those who didn't want to participate in the simulation were told that their family would suffer the same consequences that traitors would. 

It insured obedience and respect in the ranks of the new recruits. 

They were groomed to become the loyal servants of the king. Most were recruited right after their graduation, half of the cohort would integrate the royal guard and the rest would either go back to their parents house in the hopes of finding a job in their village of origin. Some would go to one of the temples and try to climb up the ladder of the Church of Tryia. 

Some failed during one of the trials, whether it be during the first year in the simulation, orin the second year during the Gemsteps's ceremony. The Gemsteps's ceremony was when they tried to establish a hierarchy and create a climate of rivalry between the different packs that were forming in the remaining cadets. 

During the third year, the academy weeded out the remaining weak links, and in the fourth year where most of the cadets remaining were discriminated based on their intellectual potential and their ability to resolve enigmas and puzzles that could easily kill them by accident.

Out of hundred cadets that were recruited in the beginning, the biggest ending cohorts were composed of thirty people at most. 

The people who died weren't returned to their parents. All their family received was a paper with the words "The weak nourish Ioas, the strong protect him." 

Basically, they were telling the parents that their child only served to maintain the illusion of their false god, and that the ones who survived their murderous trails, could maintain their dear illusion that they had spent centuries to forge and maintain for its reputation to be as shiny as the gems that were hidden in the waterfalls of the caves of the Kuja mountains. 

The irony of this situation was that based on some sacred texts I had read; the myths didn't explain that there had to be any sort of trials to weed out the weak and to elevated those who were seen as worthy by the king and his counsel. 

The texts advocated an equality for all those who respected the creators and even told its readers that they owed respect and should treat those who didn't believe with the same care as they did with the ones who believed. 

Clearly, most of the temples decided to ignore the texts, as most children who asked questions about the creators were reprimanded and told to abstain themselves from asking questions and to just trust the priestesses and the priests of the temples. 

The temple in the second village I had lived in, was situated in the woods near our home and was only accessible by an old road that was made of broken grey rocks, we could see the plants running wild in between of each piece as they hadn't been installed properly. 

The trees bordering the way hided the sun as we walked, it was almost impossible to catch a glimpse of its rays as we walked, the amount of time necessary to reach the temple wasn't that long but the lack of sun and the solitude in which each had to travel, as no one was allowed to speak along the way to preserve our minds from the futile act of small talk. 

There were some flowers that were watered mostly by apprentices that tried to obtain the title of priestess or priest, some of those flowers seemed to try to sneak in between the trees to gather even the smallest amount of sun to stay alive. 

Being in the simulation, I could compare those flowers to the cadets, we both tried to survive and to prevent ourselves from withering away as if we had never existed. 

After all, who would want to disappear before having even the smallest chance to live? Never mind live, just survive, that's all we asked for, well not all, we all wanted prestige, prestige to create a name for ourselves, a name that would later on turn into a legacy and then become a heritage.

To be someone that was admired, remembered, and respected, that was the ultimate goal, but to reach that goal, smaller goals such as surviving would be necessary to survive along the way.

Those smaller goals took form in moments that some wouldn't expect such as another cadet trying to kill some of its teammates to be able to liberate a spot in the future, other goals would take form in the simple task of finding berries we could eat without dying or becoming sick. It could also be something as small, and insignificant as controlling our emotions to prevent others from knowing who you were and therefore putting a target on your back. 

As I heard noises, I started emerging from my slumber, I could feel a finger repeatedly touching my arm in an annoying sequence as I slowly opened my eyes only to see Eisma perched over me whispering "It your turn to guard the cave, it probably won't be a busy turn as most of the wild animals are sleeping at that time of the day." 

I nodded slowly as the information registered inside my brain, I whispered "thanks" while getting up as she directed herself towards the spot she had claimed earlier as hers. 

I looked outside the cave only to see a pitch-black exterior that resembled the wing of a crow except of course for the white spots shining across the sky as I lifted my eyes. 

I heard a noise coming from my right and turned my head only to find Jax standing up and walking toward me, he yawned and rubbed his eyes as looked at me with curiosity after seeing me staring at him. 

His smile curved slightly upward as he whispered, "enjoying the view, Ruby?" 

I turned my face toward the sky once again as I felt my face burning up, he was an idiot, couldn't he see the only reason I had turned my head was because he had made some noise, I would've turned my head for anyone, he wasn't special, well he was but not in that sense, he was an horrible person, someone I could neither forget or forgive. 

He was one of those I hated with every fibre of my being, the king and the High priest being the only ones above him on my list, if given the opportunity, I would kill all three of them, and with a smile at that. 

He walked toward me and stopped abruptly as he arrived next to me, he dropped to the ground and patted the ground next to him, he looks up and said "aren't you going to sit down? Its going to be a long round otherwise." 

I looked at him and made a point to stay up, he lifted his left eyebrow while looking at me and said "suit yourself" we stayed like this for approximately one hour and I could feel my legs getting tired as I was still sleepy. 

I refused to give him the satisfaction of going sit down next to him, and so I decided to go take a walk to check the perimeters, as I walked towards the entrance, he stopped me and asked "were are you going ?" 

I responded with a smile, "I'm going to check the perimeters, you should stay here since one of us has to make sure nothing happens to the others" 

He looked at me with a strange look in the eyes he said, "and might I ask who will look after you Ruby?" taken aback by his comment I replied"I don't need protection from anyone especially from you." 

He sighed and walked back into the cave, I continued walking outside the cave and pondered for a few moments whether I should go west or east, as I choose to go east. 

I heard footsteps coming from behind me. I turned, ready to defend myself when I saw Jax coming I could see the grin he had in his face even at this distance.

 What was he thinking?! 

He was supposed to stay with the others, not follow me when I clearly didn't want his company.

I grunted as I asked, "What do you think your doing here? you were supposed to stay with the others!" he answered with an amused look in his face "Relax Ruby, I woke Masov up so that he could temporarily take my place". 

I felt frustration rise inside me as I spoke "for the last time don't call me Ruby and just why did you wake up Masov instead of staying in the cave?" he laughed softly as he said "would you rather I call you love? As for Masov, he told me yesterday to wake him up if I ever need his help for our round" 

I looked at him strangely as I asked, "why would you need help for our round?" he looked at me while saying "do I really need to tell you?" 

Why would he need to follow me? 

To speak to me? 

But what would he want to speak with me of that he couldn't with the others?

No it couldn't be.

There was no way.

He couldn't know what I felt.

I made sure to prevent any of my feelings from leaking. 

He had no way of knowing I hated him to death. 

I couldn't prevent him from attacking me here. I took a step back as he took a step forward. 

He said looking almost disappointed as he said, "Do you truly dislike the idea of me appreciating you?"

"What?!" My mind raced at his words, did he really just -- I probably misunderstood something.

He responded to my odd expression with a mocking grin, and  by using a humorous tone as he said "I mean isn't it obvious? I asked him if he could help me out to take you somewhere I could talk to you, he said yes and told me I could wake him up anytime." 

He took another step closer as he lifted his hands to touch my chin with the tip of his fingers, he whispered "can't you feel it, Ruby? The pull, the desire slipping from me? Can't you see I like you?" 

I pulled back as my back entered in contact with the rock behind me, I whispered "I don't like you so stop telling me that, you don't even know me, you can't like me if you don't know me." 

He looked at me straight in my eyes as he said, "I know you very well Ruby whatever you might think, and I shall prove it to you until no doubt persists in your mind." 

Anger took control ever my body as I blurted out a response "well I don't want you to prove yourself, and I never will no matter what you shall do or say, my mind will never be swayed. You are a coward and an asshole, you shall never be more than that in my mind, I shall never permit it." 

He whispered in my ear "you will see, I will change your mind so that you end up being mine, just like I am yours." 

I slipped away and turned my back to him as I walked back to the cave, what an idiot, did he really think he could manipulate me to take down my guard?

 No matter how handsome and charming he might be, my mind will never be swayed, and my objectives will forever be the same. 

I could hear him in the distance following me back to the cavern, I could see Masov standing in the entrance, guarding the others, he looked at my face and then looked at Jax's face, he made the wise decision to go back to his sleeping arrangements as I sat down next to the entrance for the next hour. 

After a while, the sun had began to rise as the others did too. Nila looked at my face and frowned she whispered "are you okay", I whispered "yes" not having the energy to develop more, we waited until everyone was up to start moving again. 

We continued down the same path as yesterday, and it became apparent that Jax's group wasn't going to leave any time soon. 

I could feel Jax's presence next to me as he walk, I tried to distract myself from him by looking at the others, I saw a strange pattern in Eisma and Byhn's way of walking. 

They walked simultaneously as if their feet were tied together. 

Either it was their wariness of each other or a newfound trust in each other, but it seemed to have connected them on a deeper level, they walked as smoothly as trained soldiers during a military march. 

The two groups seemed to have merged together as one, we all walked at the same pace, we helped those who had more difficulties while climbing up one of the biggest parts of the Kuja mountains. 

We crossed multiples animals during our ascension, to be able to eat during the trip, we alternated between who would go hunt them, and we no longer created a separation based upon our previous groups. 

After all, we had better chances at finding Skisla flowers if we were more, but we would have to find double the original amount of it to be able to save all of us. 

A problem seemed to arise about halfway up, as we realized we would need more water to be able to sustain the heat that intensified with every further step we took. Being halfway into the climb into the mountain. 

We couldn't waste any time and go back down, but at the same time, we wouldn't want to take the chance of suffering from dehydration when arriving at the top. 

After a while, I could feel my throat burning from thirst, we were almost at the top of the mountain, but I felt myself becoming dizzier as we walked up the trail and I could feel my focus becoming less and less present, my legs began to shake and to become weaker by the minute, Masov seemed to realize it and handed me a fruit he had probably picked up earlier, I didn't ask any questions as he seemed to think it would help, after all, most fruits contained a lot of water, I would just need to hope it would permit to last until I arrived at the top. 

The others also seemed to have decided to rely on fruits as I could see different colors changing hands, I could feel most of my symptoms vanishing, but some still remained as we arrived at the top. 

Although they weren't rare in the Kuja mountains, lakes were still considered small compared to the ones found elsewhere in the kingdom, they couldn't keep a group like ours alive for more than a week, but we couldn't even consider staying at the same place for that amount of time, we headed west just as Vreia had told us to try to find the cave. 

Now that we were on the top of the mountains, we shouldn't have anymore problems finding the mythical cavern as it was supposed to be flowing with endless water and plants. 

We would be able to stay there for the rest of the trial and be able to reach our quota while staying alive, to me it seemed like a winning plan.

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Thanks for reading this far! I hope you're enjoying reading the story just as much as I enjoy writing it!

Question time! (comment your answer below to let me know!)

What do you think will happen between Makya and Jax?