Andrew prepares himself mentally to start the race, positioning himself properly. “Then start”, a loud voice could be heard coming from behind him obviously that of Michael. He stands up and starts running but on taking his first step, he slumps and falls with his face hitting the ground. This was disheartening, Michael’s voice came from behind at that moment, “What have been chained to your legs is no ordinary rock, it’s five times heavier than the normal rock and much studied also. I wish you good luck though, if you can’t pass then you are not fit to be a hunter”.

Andrew was at a stump for what to say or what to use in argument, understanding that getting angry won’t get him anywhere he stands up with his nose bleeding and then balances his body properly before setting off again. It was a very strenuous drive as he has gotten anywhere even in the first five minutes. Already understanding that he wouldn’t be able to complete the course with the speed he was taking it, he decides to increase his speed and it does help him for a bit through to the half mark of the lap, thirty minutes has already gone by and there was blood oozing out from his legs which showed how heavy things were even for him. Michael was watching this all without even a sign of encouragement for Andrew, just looking at him with a frown on his face.

It seems like Andrew doesn’t take notice of the blood on his legs as he continues trying his best to complete even a single lap barely walking down the lane with his body fully drenched in sweat. Just a little bit away from completing the lap, he falls down his legs doesn’t intend to move even a bit no matter how hard he tried and the hour given for the whole three laps has already been exhausted. Michael frowns deeply while looking at Andrew apathetically before saying, “Are you done so soon? You didn’t even get to complete a single lap. You want to become a hunter with this kind of resolve and strength. You did be an appetizer for the animals in the outer forest. I wonder how you were able to escape from the man eating plant with this kind of energy. Guess luck only exists for the fools indeed”. Michael obviously spared no room for his sarcasm as he spoke to Andrew in a very insulting tone. Although he didn’t complete a lap he did tried to get to where he was after all no matter how strong he behaved to be, he was after all a young boy of ten years whom was supposed to be playing with his friends but here he was running with weights obviously more than thrice of his weight, so he has indeed done enough but it doesn’t still seem to impress Michael who seems to expect more.

Andrew’s eyes where blurry as he was about to faint but the pains from his previous live jolts him into regaining consciousness. He doesn’t want to experience such pains of powerlessness anymore, he wanted to be strong and powerful to deal with any situation that comes his way. Seems his resolve started pushing him but he still couldn’t feel his legs, blood was still oozing out from where it was chained. But thinking about Michael’s words, he doesn’t need to stand up to complete the lap, even if he crawls or rolls, he just needs to complete it. It was a miracle that Andrew could think this far even though he was dense, seems like extreme situations can really bring out the best in you. Gathering his thoughts and resolve he starts crawling towards his goal with new found strength. Albeit slowly and although the time has long since passed, he crawls steadily towards the goal forgetting everything else other than getting there. All that was on his mind was that, ‘Just a little bit more and I would be there. Just a little bit more and I would be stronger. Just a little bit more and I would be a bit more powerful’. He repeated those words to himself as he was crawling towards the goal without pause.

After a long time of painful crawling, silent motivation and redness of eyes, he finally gets to the goal with the heavy weights still chained to his legs. On getting to the goal, as if all the strength which he used in crawling has vanished, he fainted almost immediately.

Michael still on the yard he looked at the body of Andrew on the floor before him, the chains tied to his legs and the blood flowing out such that the bones of Andrew was almost showing. Then a smile blossomed on his face before saying, “Kid you actually did well. I was at eighteen years before I tried this course after tempering my body rigorously in other areas and it still took me five hours to complete a single lap. Guess compared to you, my resolve is still lacking since you completed it in under four hours. I expect a lot from you kid, don’t fail my expectations”. It seems like Andrew heard all what he said even though he has fainted as a smile becomes plastered on his face at an unknown time.

In the span of a breath, Michael was already raising Andrew up with the chains unbounded. He took Andrew to his room, lay him down on the only mat on the bed then went out to get some herbs. Didn’t come back until when the day was getting dark then applied the herbs on the wound of Andrew whom throughout the process did not move a bit no matter how his body was moved and through the process it took to rub the wound with the herb and wrapped with it, seems he was thoroughly exhausted both physically and mentally and would rest for a very long while. After applying the herbs to the injury, Michael went to his kitchen to prepare something to eat for himself before eating then training a little bit before bathing and lying down in another room.