The Curse of the Versati

Chapter 10

The Keepers had sustained a lot of damage. A lot of them were injured and a big part of them had followed the bulky kid, thus causing the loss of their advantage in numbers. They couldn't retain their formation on the next run so the boy's group broke through much easier.

Most kids had nothing left to trade for food after all these days and most of them were now starving.

The chances of a new alliance was very low since most of them had been beaten by the Bullies. The Keepers weren't much higher in popularity after the latest brutalities.

With the exception of the Elites and the Grabbers, the only groups that were fine where the boy's and those that followed the bulky kid.

Day and night, there were constant fights all around them. Shouts from the kids getting beaten up kept waking up everyone. The next day even a couple of the Grabbers had bruises and limps when the others stole their food. After that moment, Leo and Mika officially moved to the boy's group and appointed guards to keep watch during the night.

By the 12th day almost 40 kids stopped participating. Some due to starvation, some due to injuries. The guards didn't reprimand them, but the next day, when they reached the fenced area, they were nowhere to be seen.

*

"General Renor, the 9th pen has completed the selection phase" the young soldier that seemed to be in charge on the first day reported to the one-handed man.

"Do you think we went a bit too far with this one?" General Renor asked while observing the remaining kids.

"When a country is invaded, the children there have to travel for days with even less. As future soldiers, even more will be asked of them. So, no, I don't think we went too far, General" the young man said sternly.

"Cut the crap Talin and call me by my name." Renor said with a glare.

"When my dept is paid, I will, General"

"You are an asshole Talin. I told you to forget about it" Renor grumbled but Talin just threw a glimse at the empty sleeve and remained quiet.

"Hmph, did anyone catch your eye?" Renor gave up and changed the subject.

"I'm not going to mention the first 15. They have obviously received previous training, either by instructors or by their family so they won't feel pressure by something like this even if it lasted a bit longer than usual."

"It is indeed rare to go over 10 days without most of them dropping out. This bunch should have some promising ones."

"Those that were in the next 10 spots*¹ until a couple of days ago all looked useful, it's a shame that two of them were too injured to continue. If they recover I'm going to recommend them as scouts. From the other 8, two are worth mentioning. One is the kid over there" he nodded towards Leo "He made connections with almost everyone, traded most of the food for clothes, shoes and protection. Later he initiated the creation of a new group and turned to them for safety near the end. Even if he doesn't finish the training he can be useful in working both as a spy or a head scout." Talin said nodding towards Leo.

"And the second one?"

"The girl with the dark hair." He pointed at Mika "Even though she sneaked in a knife, she used it discretely to ascertain her standing but didn't injure the thief severely enough for him to seek vengeance. She also took care of investing the portions of food without drawing attention and without endangering herself. If she continues in the same mindset she could at the very least become useful in supply managment"

"The latest parts of training might be a bit tough for her. We'll see how she will deal with them, what about the rest?"

"Not much to say. The short kid made some waves near the end and got to the top 30 but I haven't seen him taking an active role. I suspect he had something to do with the creation of the group he belongs to since a lot of times the child I previously mentioned was seen conversing with him before taking action, but he hasn't done anything truly remarkable to stand out. Its highly probable that he's just following instructions. Everyone in that group seems equally capable but they all received help to make it to that position, no one managed to work something out on their own. A few more days would probably be enough for that group to dissolve."

"I see" the boy was already a faint memory to the General.

"As for the rest they were mostly recruits by the first 15 and their families*² before even getting here. They don't seem to have received any training but they were instructed to stay together and protect the sons and daughters of the wealthy families so they wouldn't be in any disadvantage after the runs. Since we didn't see individual abilities and they didn't really have anyone to stand up to them, we cannot assess them at this point. The only other worth mentioning is the last one. Even though he created a group almost immediately, he didn't choose according to speed and ability but focused more on those that would follow him out of fear and looked intimidating. His group failed after a few days but he still managed to secure food packs by stealing and making deals. He even managed to disable a few that could challenge his position in the future. Even though his group broke down and he hasn't been able to get anything to eat for a few days, he's the only one that still competes. If there was no food reduction he would have made an even stronger presence. If he continues with the same strong mentality, we could make at the very least a great sentinel" his eyes stayed on the bully that had almost crippled the boy.

"Keep an eye on those three*³, you may start the next phase" the general said and walked to the next pen.

*

*¹Grabbers
*² Keepers
*³Leo,Mika,the bully