Two months had passed since that night, Vexana and Terrmomix's relationship was already very strong and it grew stronger every day. Every day he learned to love romantically by her side.
One afternoon during training Marco and Son were having a small fight while the other students and Son's daughters watched from afar, sitting on the grass.
Marco fought with his katana with which he could use his technique and Son used a wooden katana. Both were in fighting stance.
—Come on Marco. Let's see how much you've improved with your technique.—Son said with a smile.
Marco took a deep breath to concentrate.
—White fire technique: Burning projectiles.
Small white fireballs appeared around him to then be fired quickly. Marco also ran towards his master to deliver a double attack.
His master still smiling remained still in his position. The fireballs attacked him from different directions but Son cut them easily with his wooden katana
When Son turned around to cut a fireball Marco took the opportunity to attack him with the blade of his katana from behind but in a second Son turned again and clashed the blade of his katana against his student's. He pushed Marco's katana back sharply, leaving him in a vulnerable position
Son began to attack him with slow blows with his katana, slow enough for Marco to regain his posture and block the blows with his weapon.
Marco backed away from each blow and Son advanced towards him while continuing to attack. Marco held his katana tightly so as not to let go.
Son delivered one final hard blow but this time it wasn't aimed at Marco's katana, but at his hand. He didn't notice this so the attack managed to hit his hand causing him to drop his weapon.
The katana fell to the ground and he touched his hand where the attack had hit him, his hand was red and hurt a little.
—Are you okay? —Son asked.
—Yes, it just hurt a little.
-Good. You must take care of your katana, hold it very tightly and don't let go.
Marco approached his katana which was still on the ground and bent down to pick it up.
—Okay.
—Terrmomix! You're next.
Terrmomix grabbed his wooden katana that was next to him and quickly stood up from the ground.
—Yes!.
Marco joined the others to sit and rest. During Terrmomix's training with his master, he was able to hold out much longer than Marco.
Son attacked with a blow but Terrmomix managed to stop the blow with his katana matching his master's strength.
—Wow, you've improved a lot in such a short time.—Son said to him in amazement at his progress.
It was very hard for Terrmomix to stop the blow, he was using all his strength.
—I've worked very hard... And it's also thanks to you all.
Son smiled and stopped his blow to lower his katana and stand up straight again.
-—ood, enough fighting for today. Let's go back to the cabin.—He started walking towards the cabin.
Terrmomix sighed in relief and fell back to lie on the ground.
—Yes... Finally.
The other students approached Terrmomix.
—That's amazing Terrmomix, you've been here the shortest time but you're also one of the strongest among us.-Ben said as he held out a hand to help him up.
He accepted his help, taking his hand and standing up.
—It's not that big a deal but thank you very much.
Marco showed a small smile.
—Yes... you're very... Strong
Son turned his head slightly to look at them over his shoulder.
—You must rest well today, because tomorrow you will have your first real challenge.
—Real challenge?—Marco asked.
—Yes—He turned completely to face them-You will have to survive a full day in the great forest.
The six of them were surprised and confused. Even Vexana was surprised.
—Huh? In the great forest?
Son nodded his head.
—Yes, you will start at six in the morning and it will end at six in the morning the next day.
Brandon leaned slightly towards Ben.
—What is the great forest?-He whispered to him.
—It's a very dangerous forest, its trees can be up to 50 meters tall and it's also full of huge wild animals.
—You will be divided into teams of two, you don't have to fight if you don't want to, you just have to survive.—Son said.
The boys looked a bit nervous and worried, so Son smiled more broadly.
—Don't worry, I know you are capable of surviving, I trust that you will return safely.
The boys calmed down a bit. Vexana was also worried about Terrmomix, but he smiled and gave her a thumbs up. That calmed her down too.
Everyone returned to the cabin to rest. The next day, ten minutes to six, the students were in front of the forest entrance. The six of them had real katanas.
Vexana and Robertita were next to Son. He began to name the pairs.
—Good. The pairs will be these. Marco and Ben together. Jhonatan with Brandon and Terrmomix with César.
Vexana approached Terrmomix and hugged him tightly.
—Please take care of yourself.
Terrmomix was left breathless from the force of the hug but smiled and nodded his head.
—Of course I will.
She moved away after the hug. When the clock struck six in the morning Son gave the order to start.
—Now!.
The boys ran into the forest, the three pairs split up going different ways.
Terrmomix and Cesar went to the left of the entrance. Both were running on the ground.
—Okay, Now what's the plan?—Cesar asked.
—Let's avoid fighting, at night is when everything gets more dangerous. Let's find a safe place to hide.
Elsewhere in the forest Marco and Ben were running on the ground also looking for a place to spend the night. Along the way they encountered a wild wolf 1.50 meters tall and 2.10 meters long.
They just quickly walked past it, they didn't stop or want to look at it. The wolf was confused but suddenly its head fell to the ground. Marco's katana was stained with the wolf's blood but he just kept running.
Jhonatan and Brandon were moving forward jumping from tree branch to tree branch, suddenly a 3 meter anaconda jumped from the top of a tree towards them. Both quickly jumped off the branch to fall to the ground.
The anaconda turned to lunge at them to attack. Both drew their katanas quickly.
Brandon climbed a tree running up the trunk. Jhonatan ran towards the anaconda's tail to distract it. The animal attacked him with a bite but missed and hit the ground.
When he reached the tail Jhonatan cut off part of it with his katana, the anaconda screamed and writhed in pain. Brandon jumped from the top of the tree to fall and cut off the anaconda's head.
Brandon landed on his feet, the animal's body fell making the ground shake slightly.
Jhonatan sighed. Brandon turned to look at him.
—Let's keep going.
He nodded his head and they ran again in search of a place to stay and rest. The first challenge hadn't even started yet but the boys were already preparing.