The room Toby entered had a familiar feel to it. It literally looked like a school’s gym - the floor was wooden with all kinds of markings on it, different stations were set up with tires, climbing walls, balance beams and vaulting boxes. It looked like an ordinary obstacle course from ever P.E. lesson ever.

“Hey there, champ!” He was approached by a tall, dark-blonde man in the Morpho Defenders gym uniform. “I’m Shawn Tucker, I’m the P.E. teacher here~"

“Uhm- Hello- Sir! I’m here for the challenge!”

“Yes, that’s what I thought~” Mr. Tucker pulled up his clipboard. “Your task is easy, just go and do the obstacle course, as many times as you can, within the time limit of the challenge. You don’t have to rush yourself if you become exhausted.”

“Oh, okay!”

“Go into the starting position - your time will start when I give you the signal. You’re warmed up, right?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Alright!”

Toby did as he was told. Mr. Tucker blew his whistle, and Toby started the course.

Jumping through the tires, no problem.

Climbing up a wall, no problem.

Walking over the balance beam, no problem.

Jumping over the vaulting boxes - a bit of a problem, he wasn’t the best at jumping high as his legs were relatively short. But he handled himself well.

He’d never really had any problems in P.E., he skated regularly after all, which kept him in form. Fifteen minutes passed, and the whistle sounded again.

Toby slowly came to a stop, panting. Doing this for an entire 15 minutes was pretty exhausting. “So?” Toby looked up. “How did I do?”“Good! Good.” Mr. Tucker wrote something down on his clipboard.

“Did I pass?”

“There isn’t really a pass or fail with this challenge... but it will influence your end result.” Mr. Tucker smiled. “Don’t worry. So far it’s looking good~"

“Th-Thank you sir!!”

„SECOND CHALLENGE: PASSED“

“Now go~,” Mr. Tucker said. “You got one more challenge to go. I wish you the best of luck.”

Toby nodded, waved him and left the room.

„PARTICIPANTS: PLEASE ROTATE YOUR DESTINED TRAINING ROOM.
YUNAN TEBERITZ: ROOM 03
RANDALL DOYLE: ROOM 01
TOBY WILLIAMS: ROOM 02
YOU NOW HAVE A FIVE MINUTE BREAK.“

Toby sighed in relief when he heard he had a little bit of time to take a breather.

He looked around. Yunan wasn’t to be seen, apparently he’d returned to the changing room. Randall, however, was sitting in front of Room 03, hunched over, with closed eyes, covering his mouth.

Toby got worried. He went to Randall and squatted down. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Mhhg--” Randalls breathing was short and trembly, his body was shivering. When Toby talked to him, he looked up. “Gh- Pl- Gh- Please-- Leave--”

“Are you kidding?! Y-You look terrible! Should I get help?! Do you need an ambulance?!”

“No!!-- Ghh--” Randall closed his eyes. “Ghhh… my--- gh-- inh- inhaler…” His breaths were getting shorter. “My… jacket…”

“O-Okay- Stay here!” Toby quickly got up and dashed to the changing room, climbing over the closed cabin door to get to Randall’s cabin. His leather jacket was hanging there, he searched its pockets and quickly found a blue inhaler. As quick as he got in he climbed out and rushed back to Randall, falling on his knees. “Here!!”

“...” Randall quickly grabbed the inhaler, brought it to his mouth and pressed for two puffs. His breathing normalized, and he inhaled and exhaled deeply. “...” He got back on his feet. “Thanks.” He made his way to room 01.

“Eh?!” Toby jumped up. “Are you for real?! You almost died!!”

“I didn’t. It was just an asthma attack.”

“Why didn’t you bring your inhaler with you to the challenges?!”

Randall stopped in his movements and turned around. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Besides…” He turned around again. “I can’t fail this exam. I have to join the Morpho Defenders. And I can’t have them think I’m unfit or weak because of my sickness.”

“... Are you out of your mind??” Toby crossed his arms. “Treating your disease isn’t a weakness!!”

“Tcheh. You wouldn’t understand.” Randall faced Toby one more time. “People will judge you for anything. Even things that are out of your control. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. And this time, I can’t let that happen. I can’t let them think I’m weak.”

Toby gulped. “I don’t think you’re weak… And I don’t think it’s in the Morpho Defenders’ interest to fail you for something you have no control over.”

“... I wish I had your optimism.” Randall turned back and went into room 01.

“.....” Toby took a deep breath and headed to room 02.

“FINAL CHALLENGE: START“