For forty counts, she held the colossal weight at her chest. Her arms shook. Her back ached, her vision tunnelled. Then, with a gasp, her strength vanished. The stone crashed down, shaking the ground.

Silence followed, broken only by Saphy's distant cheers.

Her teammates stared. Gideon's confidence was gone like the wind. Se'raf simply watched, a satisfied gleam in their mismatched eyes, Ester stood trembling, arms limp.

"The goal was sixty counts," Burnad grumbled after the switch to the second circuit. "I'll let it slide since you didn't cripple yourself. Let this pain be a lesson to you. Only arrogant fools care for their image."

He glanced at Gideon, who'd started the sled drag with too much weight, veins bulging, face purple. Burnad just sighed.

The rest of the circuit blurred into shared agony. The sled drag made her legs burn. The sandbag carries wrenched her shoulders. Each station was a new flavour of pain.

She stole glances at Saphy's group. Geire did the bare minimum, constantly looking to Saphy for approval like a lost puppy. Saphy tried to smile, but Ester saw it, the nervous laugh, the slight flinch when he got too close. Something was off.

"Focus, girl," Gideon hissed behind her during the rope climb, startling her fiercely. "We're on the last exercise. Hurry up"

Ester turned, a calm anger flashing in her eyes. "Don't startle me."

She saw his face morph into what resembled a surprised smiling shock.

"What…?"

She didn't let him finish, turning toward the tower. It was more than a climb, a seventy foot structure with platforms and ropes, a weathered brass bell at the top. Burnad's warning echoed. No one goes beyond the voice point. No harnesses.

Fifteen feet...how hard could it be?

She soon it realised it was hard. Lifting her arm felt like fire erupting from her shoulders She managed four shaky pulls. On the fifth, her grip, sweaty and torn, simply gave way.

She fell heavily, the wind knocked out of her. She lay there for a moment, staring at the cloudy sky, pain searing through her body.

Gideon's laughter was the first thing she heard, hysterical, pointing as If she'd fallen from the heavens. Her teammates looked embarrassed. She felt the mud caking her back, the shame sticking to her.

Burnad approached. "Are you done?"

She looked at her trembling arms, then up at the rope. She couldn't even make a fist. She gave a silent nod.

He sighed and gave her a heavy pat on the back that almost set her back on fire. She trudged to where the others waited and stood besides Se'raf. The mud on her back itched. Their presence made her itch more.

"You managed more pulls than I expected," Se'raf said, their eyes focused on the other initiates, their voice muffled by the mask.

Ester, too tired for pretence, managed a weak scoff. "Am I under observation?"

Se'raf was silent for a while, her gaze glued to the others.

"I know you're a murderer."