The task ended a few days later. 

Our group ended up winning by a slight margin because of the last bit of items we hauled from our base over to the town on the last day right before the deadline. 

Jayden came in right above the cut off for third place. He had paid our demands for the boy we had captured and that had helped us a great deal too. 

No one else tried to raid us, most likely because of how soundly we had beaten the other two groups. 

There was a cooldown time of a single day before the final challenge was posted onto the board in the middle of the town and another day before the actual challenge was to take place. 

We had all gone to the office with the remaining squads to get ourselves informed about what was waiting for us in the capital on the day everyone came back from the last challenge. It was hard to concentrate while Jayden was giving us dirty looks, but we managed. 

Apparently, in the capital, there would be around fifty groups there from all over the overworld competing for certain spots in the capital. It would be group emanations at first, all the way until there were only ten teams left- in total sixty people. 
Those sixty will eventually go through individual challenges to prove to the council they are worthy of a certain job.  

Once the council had confirmed that your strengths matched a certain position, they would put you there and your challenge days were over. 

It seemed simple enough when Kisha and Noah explained it after the meeting so the sleeping Ethan can catch up, but I suspected that there was more to it. 

"So has anyone checked the message board in the middle yet?" I asked on the following day.

"I heard Kisha and Ethan went, but I didn't bother." Theo shrugged "Too crowded."

"Are like, Kisha and Ethan a thing?" Noah frowned "I haven't been here for too long, but they would occasionally bicker like an old married couple."

I rose my hands in surrender "Noah, I'm almost just as new as you. But are they?"

"Wait you're just as new as me?"

"Almost."

Matthew grinned, leaning against the oak tree behind him. "They basically are a couple but neither of them would admit it. After watching them for who knows how many years, it gets pretty painstaking to try and get them to make it official."

Noah kept on staring at me but I refused to make eye contact. 

"Huh. Cool. When do you think they'll be back?" I asked. 

"I mean if they don't come back soon, we'll probably hear it from Jayden and his group. Do you think He had humbled down a little after his defeat in all the other tasks?" Theo asked. 

"probably not." I rolled my eyes and leaned against the tree, "but I'll enjoy rubbing it in his face after we win."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch" Noah warned me, but I shrugged it off. 

"And I think that's them-" Theo looked up, noting the two people that were walking up the hill. "So? What's the final challenge?"

"Good news- we are going to sweep this challenge with Jayden's face and ego." Kisha grinned. 

"Literally or figuratively?" I asked hopefully. 

"Figuratively." Kisha answered me "As the final challenge, it's going to be a team elimination fight thing where each member fights another member and it gets worked up until the finals and all that stuff."

"You... are terrible in explaining things." Matthew sighed. "Repeat? Please?"

"So what's going to happen is that the last four groups are going to go against each other in a tier list." Ethan sat down on the grass and pulled Kisha down so she was sitting too. "Whoever wins gets moved onto the next round, so on so forth. Last team standing wins and gets moved to the capital."

"And that's exactly why I'm saying we are going to sweep the floor with Jayden's face!" Kisha cheered, throwing her hands in the air. "We have Noah and Amythyest on our team! Carry us!"

"This does seem awfully unfair considering how us two are on the same team..." I paused, then grinned "But as long as we win I really don't care."

"And then after this, we move onto the capital!" Noah leaned back and then laid on the grass. "Oh finally. Finally, we get to go to the capital."

"And then comes the more messy stuff..." Theo sighed. "But this shouldn't be too bad, right?"

"Wrong." Kisha shook her head "All the squads that are going to the capital would be really good. There is no guarantee that Amythest and Noah would be able to carry us that far. At that point, it would be really relying on ourselves."

"Aww, but it isn't the solo stuff until there are only 60 people left!" Noah pointed out, patting Kisha on the back. "No need to fret!"

Kisha frowned. "Says the guy who is running after Amythest's title of the best fighter in the school. You don't need to worry but we do."

I bit my lip. It may be pointing out eh obvious but Kisha was jealous of Noah and I. Quickly, I looked at the other members, who were starting to seem a little uncomfortable. 

Ethan clapped his hands. "Okay! Before we get too diverted from the original topic, what do you guys wanna do in the capital? This town is really small and it would be a chance to see something as big as that."

"Besides trying to get an actual job?" Kisha frowned. 

"Yeah."

"I wanna see the architecture there." Matthew answered after Ethan finished saying his 'yeah'. "This town's resources are only limited to wood and stone. It would be cool to see their Redstone engineers at work."

I grinned. Matthew was the one who made our base in the last challenge, so it would make sense that he would be interested in that sense. 

Theo shrugged. "I just want to get my task assigned as soon as possible. I heard there would be public events there where you can get sponsors for different challenges."

Ethan nudged him in his arm. "So you plan to just attend as many parties as possible and try to boost your public image? You're way too serious for that."

"And you'll probably just wreak havoc the second you eat one too many cookies or slices of cake." Theo cracked a grin. "So I guess someone has to keep an eye on you."

"Though I'm definitely going to try and see if I can gain any sponsors." Ethan poked Theo in the arm. "Watch out! All the sponsors are going to love me-"

"The only  thing they would like about you is for your comic relief." Kisha folded her arms across her chest. "I wanna use and visit their armory though. I heard the Capital has the largest enchanted books library, selection for tipped arrows and enchanted bows? Theo, what about you?"

"I don't exactly have a preference. Though a place in their military would be alright." Theo shrugged. "I just want to get away from this small town, see the world."

"You know who would be great as a military commander?" I asked. "Theo."

Ethan laughed out loud. "Yeah, wouldn't he?! Theo, you are already pretty serious on your own, and not to mention you're really good at fighting! He has a sense of determination and everything, always keeping a level head in all situations."

Theo rolled his eyes, but his smile was for everyone to see. "Noah, Amythest, what about you?"

"I dunno... But a spot in the military would be pretty nice." I lied. I knew excatly what I wanted. It would be quite early, but if I can become anywhere close to the council members, I would be able to provide valuable information to my father about the plans the overworld had. Being there would also create a measure of danger, as Notch would be there...

"I don't care." Noah grinned. "I guess whatever's right for me I'll end up there. It doesn't really matter to me." 

Kisha rose her hand. "I'm willing to bet a quarter stack of iron to say that Noah and Amythest are going to get way ahead of us."

"Double that."Ethan grinned. "Noah's probably going to land in a military role, just like Amythest and Theo."

"Ah, you two flatter us." I batted my eyelashes. "But you guys have plenty of potential too."

Matthew nodded, looking up at the sun. "Well... the challenge is tomorrow. If we are going to make any of your dreams come true... it's going to all depend on that."

That seemed to be a good place to end. 

This was a filler chapter, kinda. And this was really short. 

Writer's block. 

and school/life work. 

yippie. This is completely unedited