~Aurora~

　　We've been taking nothing but the long routes for each of our quests. The labyrinth of the woods seems undying! Without the assistance of a wolf, my limbs have been aching like crazy. I would be much better off without limbs at this point! I was panting like a dog, walking behind my team members. They are quite well and have a lot of stamina. However, H kept insisting that we go by the longer, 'easier' routes for two of our side-quests. As a good team leader, I did follow his words...only to be called into bad, bad traps.

　　But, it was as if the longer routes had more traps than the shorter routes which I've planned on taking!

　　Exhaling deeply, holding the previous quests' rewards in my hand tightly, I looked at H. It is evident that he is trying to distract me, but I don't want to be a team breaker at the moment. It will be bad on my ranking.

　　"We...need to get out of here." Covered in bruises and cuts, I uttered. The rest three were fine, but exhaling after we've escaped the cave of the previous quest.

　　"Well, here." Fishing the rewards from the bag, I realized we had 2 rewards collected and handed the other one to Sea.

　　"Can I hold onto one as well, Cap?" Leaning against the tree, H asked as I smiled gently, hiding my dissatisfaction with him. He was unscathed, meanwhile the rest of us had bruises at one or the other point.

　　But each time I sense a trap...I'm the one saving the rest from them. Until now, they've been seven traps wherein H fell in none, Sea fell in three and J in two. I've fallen in two traps myself, but my reflexes were greater and didn't get my ankle bitten off nor my head separated from my body with axes thrown at a level in the shrine. In the previous quest.

　　"Everyone gets a chance with something. I am here to ensure all of us will be treated equally. The exit is around 4 miles from here, it will take around an hour or two to reach if we take the...long route." I said, looking at H who nodded curtly. He agreed with me for taking the long route.

　　"However. Since it is the final route, let me take the short route and reach the exit. Sea, you will have to shift into your wolf for the final quest. Are you okay with staying in the wolf form? The final quest will be dangerous." I asked her for consent.

　　"I will be fine, Cap. J doesn't have to stay in his wolf form this time, nor H." I nodded curtly.

　　"Give me a minute," Saying, I limped my way towards a tree, hiding behind the bark. I exhaled deeply, looking at the dark canopy above my head. This forest is as dark and gloomy as described in the books! Not a speck of light touches the ground, which honestly makes it hard for me to explore steps cautiously.

　　"Ha..." crouching down, I am bent against my knees as I shook my head harshly. I am too weak to lead them...

　　For every missed step, they point it out and have me feeling so self conscious while I'm only trying to keep them safe. It makes me wonder if I'm doing things right even...

　　'No.. Aurora. This isn't how you should think of yourself. Remember the training you've received from so many people. They're great leaders. Think about your parents, think about the only goal that's keeping you on your feet in these trials. Your loss can cost you a lot...' I said to myself in my head.

　　That was the last boost of confidence I needed,

　　'Think like a leader. Think like...Prince Emeric Wildhart. He's the best leader in the whole wide world. What would he do in this situation? When your teammates aren't trusting of you?' The question came to myself, I blinked at the trees in front of me. I was lost in my thoughts...

　　'I'm pretty sure he would comply with the majority of the team decisions than of himself. He is wise enough to make it work. That's right. As someone who passed the Trial of Wits, the leadership trial should be a breeze for you, Aurora. You can do this!'

　　Ah...I've got more than enough motivation now. I have figured out what to do with the situation. I'll just have to turn it into my favor!

　　Pushing myself off the trunk, I turned back around and reunited with my team.

　　"We will leave in two minutes. We can eat while walking to save time."

　　"But Cap, we might land into a trap and lose our food in the mishap. Can we have a little break here?" Sea insisted as I thought about it for a second,

　　"Alright. But to compensate, we will have to walk faster. Run faster, and take the shorter route." I said the last words looking at H, who seemed to smell my distaste with him.

　　"Agreed, Cap."

　　"Alright, Cap." Sea and J both agreed as they quickly settled down on the muddy floor. Meanwhile, H asked me before sitting on the protruding roots of a tree as well.

　　"Cap, aren't you feeling tired? Also, you insisted we take the route filled with traps."

　　"Hmm...I feel perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"

　　"You were panting with exhaustion just a while ago..." What was he even indicating?

　　"Yes, but I feel alright now. You don't have to worry about me, H. It's my job to keep you three safe throughout this trial. I'm fine." I've reassured him as he nodded curtly. He settled down on the forest floor as I stood up. I have to be vigilant, while having my food as well. It was a dry bar of crumbly proteins.

　　Added with it, there was tasteless, high protein milkshake which should help me gulp everything down my parched throat. I had nothing else in my backpack, except for them.

　　"Alright! Time is up. Let's get back on track." After my announcement, the three omegas quickly wrapped it all up. We were back in our formation, where I was at the back and J to the front. Sea was in front of me, H was behind J. The walk continued for fifteen minutes, before our first trap was discovered by me,

　　"J, watch out!" Saying, I warned J to not put his leg into the claw trap! He swiftly placed his foot away and the claw trap closed itself on air!

　　"Phew!" I breathed out.

　　"Well, this is a small one. We could use it anywhere later to escape situations or slow creatures down."

　　"I agree, Cap." Sea agreed as she offered to carry the trap in her backpack. I uprooted it from the ground, which was pretty deep into soil. Looking into its mechanism, I close it and put the safety on it, to prevent any accidents. This trap wasn't connected to any land mines like the previous one, where my foot was almost blown away!

　　We continued our journey through the short course, several smaller traps were laid out and our bags are filled with three each.

　　'Ugh! This is taking longer than ever!' I spoke to myself in my head. However, I was assured we could reach the final quest safely if these are the only kinds of traps that shall bring us down.

　　"Almost two miles close now," I announced, noticing the map. We passed by a well, a deep one which had an earthy stench coming from it.

　　I groaned mentally, not knowing what would erupt from it after we have passed by.

　　My eyes widened, my senses alerted when I heard the slightest of shifting sounds behind me.

　　"Cap!" Sea turned around as well, her eyes wide as mine as we stared at the creature which emerged from within the well!

　　"It's a land kraken!" I yelled out loud. These tentacle-equipped creatures are fast! As horrifying they are in adult sizes in water bodies, land kraken are as quick as alligators and will squeeze their prey until they're the size of a thin stick which will fit their mouth!

　　However, most of their hunts are driven by bloodlust. Meaning...all four of us are in grave danger!

　　The land kraken emerged from the wide well, at almost fifteen meters wide and twenty meters tall! Every tree on its path broke, we kept running towards the final quest like there was no tomorrow!

　　"Cap! There is something around its neck!" Sea yelled from the other tree as we were trying to escape the land kraken which was running on its tentacles so fast!

　　I whipped my head around to see, my eyes widened!

　　"It's the final reward! Everyone, formation C! J, shift into your wolf!" Screaming on top of my lungs so my voice goes beyond the noises of crushing trees, I watched as J shifted into a big brown wolf.

　　"Bite a tentacle off! Do not swallow the blood at any cost!" I screamed.

　　His wolf growled loudly, his next action was to bite a tip off the kraken's tentacle as an unholy sound escaped its vocal cords!

　　"Argh!" I covered my ears, the kraken was way too close to me as I heard it scream!

　　"I'm going to cut you open, Kraken...!" Fishing two daggers diagonally from my waistband, I launched myself from the falling tree, up in the air!

　　It was as if the world has been moving so slow around me...everything was so silent.

　　"Argh!" I planted myself on the kraken's neck successfully! The daggers are dug through deep in its neck, purple blood flowed out of it.

　　"ARGHH!!" Applying a great, great amount of sheer power, I started chainsawing both daggers to pull out the piece of flesh with which the reward was attached!

　　"CAPTAIN!" I heard Sea screaming. The kraken had her in its hold! The tentacle must be wrapped around her like the tightest chains on earth. I could only imagine the excruciating pain that courses through her body!

　　"Fuck!" Pulling the reward by itself, I jumped off the tall creature and crashed on the fallen log beneath. However, the kraken was slowly coming down...and my eyes widened.

　　We...are near the exit! We've reached the exit already! All we had to do was connect three rewards in a pattern and the exit doors shall open for us to escape!

　　But I'm in a pinch.

　　Sea was slowly losing consciousness, the pain must have been too much for her to bear. The two male wolves weren't here, they were far behind.

　　We were...hanging by a cliff!

　　Chelsea was barely conscious to move, and to make matters worse, the tentacle holding her was hanging down, ready to drop her down the tall cliff! She might die if she falls from this height, she wasn't even conscious to save herself from the fall!

　　Tick...tock...tick...tock...

　　It was as if time was ticking in my head as I kept my eyes wide and alert, not once removing it from Chelsea who might fall from the gradually loosening grip of the kraken's tentacle...

　　"Chelsea!" I yelled, using my daggers as my maneuver to climb down the tentacle. I've reached her, and yelled her name all the way along in hopes of awakening her consciousness!

　　"Chel—" the grip was too loose to hold onto her now, her body started slipping!

　　"Fuck!" Digging the daggers deep, I used them as my levers to hold the back of my knees as I dipped backwards!

　　"Argh!" With every ounce of energy I had, I pulled her out of the tentacle's grip and threw her back onto the safe side, over the cliff.

　　"Oh shi—" before I could realize, one of the daggers came out, slime of its blood around the blade.

　　The time was so less that even tears didn't form in my eyes.

　　And I fell...

　　I felt as though...I kept falling.

　　My eyes have closed by themselves, as if I didn't want to spectate my own painful death...

　　But before everything turned dark, I saw a black silhouette standing by the edge of the cliff. It was of a human form...I couldn't be wrong about that…