The Spider Queen

"I…. I can't go on," Sophie panted as traces of exhaustion could finally be seen on her face.

They had been running for over five hours now and she had lost count of the sheer number of laps she had ran.

The crowd of students had thinned out considerably as more and more people could not go on with the rigorous challenge.

Astrid and Qiana were moving at a slower pace now as the wolf girl had underestimated the mana consumption of her new spell and had emptied her qi reserves by accident.

"Are you feeling okay?" Cleo asked as she looked at Sophie with worry in her gaze.

She was currently hanging on to Sophie's back as her legs had given out some time ago.

In ordinary circumstances, being so close to her beautiful girlfriend would have made her overjoyed but it was clear that Sophie was running on her last vestiges of strength.

Ethan had also passed on his advice to other students and some agreed with his theory while others dismissed it as nonsense.

The remaining students were split into two main groups.

One group of students were carrying their tired partners and running together while the other group were running by themselves even when their teammates already dropped out.

Pain.

Every muscle fibre in Sophie's body was screaming out in agony as she relentlessly continued to press on under the watchful eye of Instructor Selvon.

"Sophie the challenge should be over soon. If you can make to the end, I will promise you a surprise," Cleo clenched her fists and tried to be encouraging.

"That reward you promised better be very special," Sophie growled.

Cleo started to blush as dirty thoughts ran through her mind and she whispered some extra motivation in Sophie's ear in the form of certain promises.

The hybrid girl's pace rapidly increased as if injected with a fresh burst of energy.

"Sir are we going to end the challenge now?" one of the assistants asked curiously.

Instructor Selvon paused for a moment and swept his eyes over the students still participating in the challenge with an approving gaze.

These were some good seedlings!

He activated his megaphone and yelled out an announcement,

"Alright maggots you can take a rest!"

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"The challenge is over!"

Joyful cheers could be heard from the weary students as they stumbled and barely managed to walk back to the camp entrance to meet up with the rest of the students who had quit the challenge.

Sophie and Cleo managed to find their two other friends and the four moved towards the crowd together.

"I just want to go home," Qiana groaned as she buried her head in Astrid's fur.

Her always neat and tidy appearance was long gone as her black hair drooped messily down her shoulders and her glasses were nowhere to be found.

Instructor Selvon waited until the last student had arrived before grinning savagely and reaching for the megaphone once more.

"Congratulations maggots! Everyone who ran together or dropped out together with their teammates have passed this challenge."

His casual statement infuriated some students who were shocked and confused over the results.

This was a slap to the face to those who lasted to the end without the aid of their partner.

"Damn that Ethan guy was right," Sophie whistled in shock as furious whispers erupted from the crowd.

"This is unfair! How could they pass?" one girl was livid and voiced out her complaint.

Instructor Selvon remained silent and asked a familiar line,

"Does anyone else have a question they want to ask?"

Maybe it was the strength in numbers, but other students were brave enough to give the instructor several replies.

"You never said that we needed both members on the team to run together!"

"I can't accept this!"

"Why should I be punished for my teammate's uselessness?"

Instructor Selvon stood firm but Sophie could detect that under his calm surface was a volcano that was waiting to erupt.

"Are you finished?" Selvon finally spoke after several moments had passed.

"Do you want to know why I designed the challenge this way?" he asked the crowd in a dark tone.

"On the battlefield there is no such dream as overturning the tide of battle by yourself. Especially low cultivators like yourself who are no more than pieces of shit anyone can kill."

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"Your only security will be the members of your squad who will be the difference between life and death."

"But what does that have to do with this challenge?" one student asked in a perplexed tone.

Instructor Selvon sighed as this behaviour was to be expected. These geniuses had been praised since birth and naturally their ego would not accept the help of others.

But he needed to drill into their minds the need to stay together with their comrades on the battlefield by the end of the training camp.

Selvon's hands trembled slightly as he remembered the heartbroken faces of the parents he had to bow down and apologise to when their child died in battle.

He rather his students hate him for his harsh training than die due to incompetence.

"Think about this reason when you return to your tents," he spoke in a heavy voice.

"Do you think any squad will want a member who abandons their team to move alone by themselves? That behaviour will get you killed or sent straight to martial court."

"Now get some rest… we have some more fun challenges planned for the rest of the two weeks."

Instructor Selvon dismissed the students and walked off with the assistants to double check the preparations for the upcoming weeks.

The crowd left in different directions as each student headed towards their tent.

Sophie wanted to find Ethan to offer thanks for his advice, but she could not spot him anywhere.

Astrid and Qiana bid the duo goodbye as they returned to their tent which caused Sophie and Cleo to follow suit.

She would just need to find Ethan tomorrow and repay this debt of gratitude.

It was fortunate that their wristbands showed the location of their tent as neither one of the girls could remember its location after a night of running nonstop.

The white tent was just as plain and simple as they remembered.

Cleo was exhausted and just stripped off her outerwear and crashed on the sleeping bag with a sigh of relief.

Sophie decided to brush her teeth before sleeping as there was a small water storage device located at the corner of the tent.

She pressed a button and the memory foam clothes that coated her body turned into a liquid form and was sucked back into the device.

Sophie was now clad in nothing more than her undergarments and she headed for her luggage bag to get her pajamas when a thought occurred to her.

Didn't Cleo give her a promise of a special surprise?

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She immediately walked away from her luggage bag and moved towards the princess with a glint in her eyes.

"Cleo I'm ready for my reward," Sophie swayed her hips seductively as she approached the sleeping bag with dark desire surfacing in her heart.

"Hey Cleo…. Cleo?" she poked the figure laying down on the spread.

There was no response as her princess had fallen fast asleep!

Sophie felt a small sense of reluctance, but she could not bear to wake up her peacefully sleeping girlfriend, so she gently pressed a kiss on her forehead and crawled into the bag.

"Goodnight sleepyhead," she whispered lovingly.

"Sweet dreams."

(Planet Gaia – Unknown Location)

"This way please your royal highness."

The two servants bowed respectfully as they opened a door to let the guest inside to meet their master.

Their master had attached great importance to the occasion, so the servants did not dare to offend this esteemed guest.

A veiled woman wearing a dress adorned with precious rubies, sapphires and other expensive gems entered a private room.

The room was quite luxurious with a golden floor that screamed wealth and prestige. In the center of the room was a dinning table with several chairs placed around.

There was only a single inhabitant inside the room, and it was a handsome middle-aged man with a roguish smile and attractive features.

He wore a jacket that fit his body perfectly with an elegant striped patterned tie that somehow added to his incredible charm.

"You truly are a difficult person to meet," the man chuckled lightly and motioned for the woman to sit down.

The woman removed her veil to reveal a face that was similar to Cleo's, but harsh lines and a permanent frown gave her a gloomy disposition.

Her piercing green eyes scanned the room for any monitoring devices before she sat down with grace and dignity befitting the high nobility.

"I never expected the great Duke Peterlor to take interest in an abandoned concubine like myself," the woman remarked in an even tone as she poured herself a glass of wine from the bottle in the middle of the table.

Despite being in the presence of the youngest god stage cultivator in history, there were no visible changes in the expression on the woman's face.

"Oh please," Rokan leaned back in his chair as he continued to observe the woman thoughtfully.

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"I think you know exactly why I called this meeting Concubine Sisrelis."

The woman acted as if she never heard the words that the man spoke and took a small sip of wine from the glass.

As the shadows beneath her feet started to twist and lengthen ominously.