"Landon, stop. Look I'll do whatever you say for the rest of the exam so-" she spoke with a trembling voice trying to make it sound as normal as possible.

"I don't care. You see I heard a tempting secret a few days ago. If you get the chance to kill your teammate, you get your partner's points after they die."

"Zion, that rat," Skylar smiled, gleaming with amusement and arms crossed as she watched Landon, "he just wants a show to entertain himself."

Landon grabbed the arm of Kathy roughly slamming her body against a nearby tree. He put a hand on her mouth quieting her from talking or screaming. He took out a dagger from his pocket and stabbed her abdomen making her breath hitch and tears roll down because of the pain. He smiled seeing every expression and movement of her resembling the pain she was in. He stabbed her abdomen a few more times until he was satisfied and then let her go. Her frail body fell to the ground, the blood spreading on the soil around her. She screamed in pain, her vision distorting slowly. Landon cocked his head to the side and grabbed a huge rock with both of his hands from the ground. He positioned it above Kathy's head and dropped it.

"What a gruesome thing to do to a girl," Skylar sighed looking at the bloody mess and fragments of the skull scattered in front of her. "Your expression is scary you know. You did all that with a smile and those hollow azure eyes."

"And you watched all that with a smile," he wiped the blood on his hand on a cloth and walked toward Skylar, "I need your help. I'll probably faint soon cause of that poison you stabbed me with. I need the antidote."

"Why would I have something like that?"

"People who deal with poisons, also keep its antidote so they can use it when it benefits them."

"True enough," she smiled brightly looking into his eyes, "and why would I help you? Killing you right now benefits me in multiple ways."

"Think and you will know that I can be of benefit to you if you can tame me," he held his head with a hand feeling a surge of nausea and dizziness wash over him. He felt the ground move beneath his feet and fell to the ground passing out. He knew that he took a risky gamble and left his life practically in Skylar's hands.

Skylar released her wavy auburn hair tied up in a ponytail and let it fall on her back. She pushed back her soft hair with a hand and licked her lips as a cool breeze blew past her. She let out a sigh of annoyance looking at Landon's unconscious body still deciding what action to take.

On the other side of the island, the sound of ocean waves in the distance curling and crashing ashore could be heard by Karma and Damien. Damien attacked Karma with his swift dexterity in wielding his knife. He used the jab-type hit that focuses on speed rather than power but none of the single hits landed on Karma. His skilled footwork predicted correctly just what Damien's next move would be. His evasive attack style was starting to annoy Damien, but he shot him alternately and repeatedly not losing determination. Karma didn't even bother to try and attack him, he just evaded all of his attacks with a bored expression visible on his face and eyes. Their attention shifted a little as they hear a notification sound ring on their watch, indicating the ending of time for the task.

Karma exhaled wearily, his eyes and movements calm and composed, "so, you don't have any reason anymore to keep attacking me. Like an idiot when you know you can't even touch me."

"You really do piss me off though," he spoke with his toneless voice looking straight into his eyes, "but you know that this was just testing the waters. You are just as Skylar said though."

"You got an idea of what you are dealing with," he inhaled the smell of the earthy aroma of soil washed by seawater, "stay out of my way or I'll show no mercy next time."

After 2 hour

Landon slowly opened his eyes finding himself in a dark and damp cabin. He blinked a few times to get over the dizziness in his head and slightly blurred vision. The first thing he saw in front of him is a dead body, blood spread around him, flies, and ants here and there. He sat up with a jolt holding his head still feeling a bit sick and nauseous from the smell of blood and moss nearby. He got up and rushed to the door of the cabin to get out for some fresh air. The room didn't have any windows whatsoever resulting in a suffocated damp atmosphere with a sick filament bubble hanging in the middle of the ceiling. He thudded loudly on the metal door with both of his hands but it didn't budge.

"Am I supposed to rot with this dead body here or what? Ughhhh, c'mon," Landon groaned again banging on the cold metal door. He knew that his body is weak from everything he went through the entire day and before. He bit his lip in frustration fatigue taking over and thinking of how to get out.

Skylar smirked looking at Karma as he pointed a knife to her throat pinning her against a wall. They met in the cabin they spent the night before as planned. But as soon as Karma entered the cabin, he attacked Skylar with the edge of his pocket knife grazing her neck. Skylar looked at him amused while his eyes remained unfazed.

"Quite a way to greet your partner, hm?"

"Not like I'll believe everything you say but I need explanations," his voice completely nonchalant yet his intimidating gaze made her shiver, "first, why did Damien cross paths with you, and still he came after me when you were an easier target? Second, the watch notified everyone that Landon killed Kathy in front of you. So why did you just watch the show instead of killing Landon?"

"First, Damien was too damn interested in fighting you so-"

"Why didn't you stop him then? You should have done that as my partner, no?"

"Landon and Kathy were the only pair yet to take an action so I was worried I would have my hands full once they arrive. So, I let Damien go after you knowing that you are more than capable of beating him. And second, my abdomen pain was welling up when Landon was finishing off Kathy. It would be suicide to fight him then."

"Why didn't he attack you then?"

"Ask him. I just did what I saw fit for me. Now can you put away the knife?"

Karma put it away and walked to the fireplace and ate some of the grilled snakes. Skylar sipped some water and asked him, "what about you? Why didn't you kill Damien?"

"I wasn't in the mood," he spoke without even looking at her but she could feel the serious tone in his voice. He had his guard up. "Skylar, I know that you are up to something. Something that pisses me off. But I suggest that it would be in your best interest if you stay on my good side."

The golden rays of the sun entered the cabin and even the frequent wind blowing felt warm. Skylar felt her skin coating with cold sweat gulping a lump in her throat knowing that the outcome of this entire exam wasn't gonna be feasible for her.

{Damien POV}

I took off my shirt and sat on the stack of hay on a side of the room. It's so hot today and I'm pissed. I couldn't tell if Skylar was being overly cautious or just a coward. I hated it even more that Zion is just letting her be. My skin was coated with sweat and my mind kept going back to the fight with Karma. His movements and fighting style, how he predicted all of my moves like I were an open book and he was bored. I didn't go all out on him but I wasn't going easy on him either. I let out a frustrated groan and look at my watch as it rings off. Another task. Give me a break.

'Dear candidates, everyone is requested to be at the hummingbird covet marked on the maps in 30 minutes. Gather at the entrance of the mansion located there and further details will then be revealed. The penalty for not reaching the designated location in time is expulsion from the exam.'

He should have just said that we will be killed if we don't reach there on time. This was gonna be a hectic day.

{End of Damien's POV}

Some people including the exam candidates and administrators stood in front of a large old haunted-looking mansion as the sky turned grey and watery blur above them.

"1 minute left until the deadline and Landon isn't here yet. Let's wait for a last-minute miracle," Zion smiled and looked at the woods expectantly.

As the timer counted down the last 10 seconds, Landon finally ran to the spot panting with heavy breath. Zion nodded seeing him and started the explanation, "so, for this task, the teams will be annulled and everyone will participate individually. It will continue till midnight and will take place inside this mansion. Your watches will have a scan set up for some stickers that are inside the mansion at various places. For each sticker you scan, you get 30 minutes to live. If you scan 2 within 30 minutes, the time will add up. And if you fail to scan any within your collected time, the nano chips installed in your bodies will send an electric shock to your heart, strong enough to kill you. That's all."

Karma walked over to Skylar and gently whispered to her before walking inside the mansion, " Don't die or get hurt. There's still a lot I want to do to you."