Chapter 18：The Desert

?"To survive for 10 days?" All children were confused. Although Tobu said it was "simple", but after three months' time spent with him they already knew that his concept of "simple" meant; it remotely far from the original meaning of the word. All of them had expected the assessment to be a paper test, but each were worried about which subject would be tested. No one had expected that this time it would be a practical one.

Obviously, to survive for ten days, you must have grasped all the preliminary details of four courses from "foraging" class.

Soon, some calculations were made.

If there is water, the body's hunger strike limit was around seven days to fifteen days. If the willpower is extremely tenacious, it's possible for a person to live up to for a month without food. As such, the children only need to find a water source. There was a hope to pass the practical exam!

If the person was lucky enough to find some small amount of food, they would be able to survive ten days without any problems!?Such a thought had greatly increased the confidence of many children.?Dudian frowned slightly. He was not too optimistic about the situation. If he knew anything about Tobu's style, then it was that Tobu would never test them with such a simple assessment.

"Children, come with me." During this time Kris who was standing next to Tobu spoke, "This sister will take you to a fun place. I guarantee that you will like it."

For some of the big boys, after they heard her words, light shone from their eyes.

"Line up." Kris smiled and turned to lead the way.

Kris led the children who walked side by side as a long team. They arrived over to the school field. There were dozens of black carriages parked near the field. A single carriage was big enough to accommodate seven or eight adults, as for children around probably 10 to 11 of them could cramp into it.

"Get on to the carriages," Kris smiled.

Dudian saw the youth who had arrived to pick him up from his house as a coachman was sitting in one of the carriages.

"Dean, come here," Mason greeted Dudian.

Dudian looked around and before he went inside.?In addition to Mason, the other two children who shared the room with Dudian were present in the carriage. Mason had convened them to act together in the test and mutually care for each another. Obviously, as the people from the same room were the most trustworthy ones.?"Damn, the curtains are sewn here." Mason tried to lift the drapery to look out.

A bad feeling emerged in Dudian's heart. Is the test venue... outside the giant wall?

...

...

Dudian closed his eyes, quietly listening and calculating everything ever since carriage had left the school field about 20 minutes ago. In the beginning, he could hear the voices of passer-by people, but gradually the noises quieted down. After some time, Dudian heard nothing but hoof sounds of horses and crackling of wheels.

This silence lasted for another half an hour. The carriage gradually slowed to a halt and it came to a complete stop.

Dudian slowly opened his eyes: "Twenty-eight turns, three times short stops. The route taken should be to the west direction from the school ... ..."

His mind repeatedly recalled every single previous detail. The carriage sped very fast so it when the carriage turned to the right or to the left, it was obvious.?If at the moment Kris knew about what Dudian did, she would be stunned. It was not difficult to do what he did. If enough attention was given any of these children could have done that. However, from the moment the children entered to the carriage to the blockage of the windows, as well as the psychological pressure via possibility of elimination, it was specially designed to put psychological pressure on them. The children were filled with apprehensions and worries, so no one paid any attention to small details the way Dudian did. It showed how calm he was.

The was the most important thing. The calmness of the mind.

The carriage's door was opened. Dudian immediately knew that it the purpose was not to inspect them but they had finally reached their intended destination.

The children quickly alighted down the carriages, eager to look forward to the place which they had to survive for the next ten days.?It turned out to be ... ... a desert!

The sand covered any and every place that they saw.?Survive ten days in the desert?

All the children wanted to vomit blood.

Dudian leaped from the carriage to see this endless scorching hot desert. He could not help but sigh deeply. Surely enough, if Tobu said "simple", it can never be so "simple"

"Kids!" With a charming smile on Kris' face she clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention. "For the next ten days you will be here. If you can't hold on any longer, then just draw an "X" sign on the ground and you will be rescued. Of course, if you are rescued it means elimination. Similarly, it means the costs of the special training will be bore by your family. I believe you know the approximate numbers. If you don't want to ruin your homes, then do what you have to do and survive!"

She stopped for a moment, blinked for a few times and said, "I wish you good luck. By the way, this is the first test and the most simple one." Then, she turned around to jump onto a nearly three-meter-high dark coloured horse. Dudian had seen this type of horse before. It was the same one as Fernando had used.

Obviously, this also represented Kris's identity as a hunter!

Dudian narrowed his eyes staring at Kris as she whipped the horse and went away. The rest of the carriages also turned towards the same direction, maintaining the same formation, and left away. Gradually they disappeared into the horizon.

For now, in this huge desert, slightly more than 300 children were present.

"Is this..... how to survive?"

"This is murder!"

"I knew it was not going to be so simple ... ..."

The children's anger was directed at Kris who led the carriage away.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A physically strong, tall child loudly yelled out, "We have to unite! The first thing to do is to find water. If we can find a water source, we can survive. Strength lies in unity!"

Other children who heard his speech did not complain. Some heeded his words while a few others began to think about a way on how to survive for the next ten days. They began to skim through the knowledge that they had gained in the previous three months. Everyone learnt not to ask Tobu for advises, because every time they did with their mouths Tobu only answered with his fists. It was a kind of mental training too. The point was to raise individuals who could critically think for themselves in cases such as this.

"Dean, let's go with them," Mason suggested to Dudian. Ever since from day one, Mason and other children in the room were used to consulting Dudian for his views. In their room, even though Mason was the most charismatic person, without a doubt, the most prestigious was in fact Dudian.

"No, the four of us will stay together to form a team." Dudian shook his head in disapproval.

Macon was stunned: "Why?"

The other two children also were also puzzled. It was an absolute truth that if they grouped together with everyone their strength would increase. Even the core of the course was based on this idiom: in harsh environments, when united then everyone would have a much better chance to survive!

They did not immediately question Dudian.

"It is easy to find water. But do not forget that we are in the desert, not a jungle nor a swamp. Even if we find water easily, it would be scarce. It would only be enough to supply the needs of some and ultimately the unity what you talk about will disintegrate because of uneven distribution of resources", Dudian directly replied.

Mason and the other two children immediately woke up in realization.

"Let's go, we have already wasted a lot of time." Dudian looked around, and then found a direction to move to and left the place.