Andrew prepares himself mentally to start the race, positioning himself properly. "Then start", a loud voice could be heard coming from behind him, which was 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 has been chained to your legs is no ordinary rock, it's five times heavier than the normal rock and much studier 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 not 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 halfway mark of the lap, thirty minutes have 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 and 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 exists for the fools indeed". Michael didn't spare any energy to berate Andrew as he spoke to him in a very insulting tone. Although he didn't complete a lap he did try 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 who was supposed to be playing with his friends but here he was running with weights 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 were 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 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 bring out the best in you.
Gathering his thoughts and resolve, he starts crawling towards his goal with newfound 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 toward the goal without pause.
After a long time of painful crawling, silent motivation and redness of the eyes, he finally gets to the goal with the heavyweights still chained to his legs. On getting to the goal, as if all the strength which he used in crawling had vanished, he fainted almost immediately.
Michael still in the yard 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 were almost showing. Then a smile blossomed on his face before saying, "Kid you 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 that 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 with the chains unbounded. He took Andrew to his room, lay him down on the only mat which acted as the bed, and then went out to get some herbs. Didn't come back until when the day was getting dark then applied the herbs to the wound of Andrew, who throughout the process did not move a bit no matter how his body was moved and how much pressure was put into applying the herb on 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 the kitchen to prepare something to eat for himself. After eating, he trained a little bit more before bathing and lying down in another room.
