Chapitre 26: _ Run the tracks
Even though Afina was in wonder, she allowed herself to listen to the coach still.
"Each group will divide themselves. One girl would run from here to half of the track then after shaking the hands of the second girl in each group who will be waiting in the middle of the track, she runs and try to get to the deadline before others" Coach Jedrek announced.
Afina gazed at Gia with an inquiring brow. "What?" Afina blurted in a whisper when she saw the uneasy look on the face of the girl.
Gia was rubbing her two palms together. "I'm nervous. I might cause you to fail" she supplied.
"Don't worry Gia. Just be you. It doesn't matter if we take the last position. This is just a workout routine and is not a competition" Afina reassured the girl.
Gia was relentless though. "But it's good for you if you win these things. It helps boost your profile"
Afina was about to say something else when divine coach Jedrek's voice broke all the whisperings.
"The second team members gather here" he pointed beside him.
"I will go," Afina informed Gia. "Don't be hard on yourself. I really don't mind if I take the last position" she reassured her.
Gia only nodded but Afina could see she was scared still.
Afina walked over to the spot divine coach Jedrek had pointed at and stood with the other girls who would wait for their partners in the middle of the track.
Giada was among too and so was Hera.
"Everyone of you should pick your tracks" the divine coach instructed.
Simultaneously, the girls stood on the tracks closer to them.
"Know the track your partner had picked," he said to the group where Afina was. "It will help them better in finding you" he announced.
Gia who had stood on the last track by the left strained her neck out to Afina to see.
Afina in return gave her a nod that she had seen and understood where to wait for Gia.
A long white SUV drove to them when they had all gathered.
"Please, board the car. The driver will drive you to the middle of the track where you wait for your partners and get ready to run after shaking hands with them. Remember, you must shake hands with them. No cheating because the camera will capture every single moment of the game" he cautioned.
The girls seemed less concerned about all of that and were about to hop in the car while Afina stood behind just to allow them all to board before she did so.
The voice of coach Jedrek stopped them again.
"You can showcase your powers and use them to your advantage to win without hurting anyone. If you hurt any of the other divine girls just to win, the whole line will see and you will get expelled with immediate effect" he told and warned.
How could the fire element help her in such a case?
This rule wasn't for her. Only the sand-line girls could do with it and maybe Giada too.
Even Giada could not bend the tree element to run, could she?
"I haven't leveled up to the stage!" Cher raised a complaint.
As though she was the one the other girls were waiting for...
"Only divine persons with green qi can summon the sand when it is not in view!"
"This is qi discrimination!"
"So unfair!"
The other divine girls protested.
With the way coach Jedrek sighed, Afina could tell it was hard on the man to maintain his patience trying to deal with the brats.
"I'm sure divine scholars, I do not make the rules. I hope in the future you would all have leveled up enough to acquire that skill" he consoled.
"How on earth can I level up to the green qi?"
"Yeah, level up maybe in my dreams!"
The girls were relentless in their protests.
Afina wondered if they were complaining, how about she who had the green qi but could not bend the fire element to win the race?
If there was a way to, she would think of it along the line.
"Please, hop into the car girls" Coach Jedrek pleadingly said.
Reluctantly, the girls boarded the car. Afina, after seeing she was the only one left, she hopped in.
She ended up sitting beside a divine girl she do not know.
Very soon, she would know them all after they had all introduced themselves to the butler.
The car drove off with silence prevailing inside of it.
The girls were acting calm and collected again. Not that she wanted to converse with any of them.
Being the last person to board the car, she ended up sitting by the windshield.
It took them the best of two minutes to arrive at the spot. After the car made it parking, the girls alighted the bus, Afina going first.
Just as the helicopter was whirring above the sky in the starting line, it did the same here also.
The girls all stood without saying a single word to one another in their respective tracks, waiting for their partners.
The sound of the staring whistle was so loud, they could all hear it from where they stood.
Afina firmed her legs on the tracks, and with steady breaths, she waited for Gia.
.
The camera flashed in quick succession when the first divine girl became visible. She was still some miles away but her figure could be seen running very fast ahead.
Following behind her closely was another one and then another. All three were running with too much vigor just to be the first to arrive at the middle of the tracks.
Suddenly, the second girl was able to raise a heap of sand up which she bended into a small cliff, and athletically, she jumped on it.
The moment her leg stepped on the cliff, it dissipated and formed into its sand form which blew up right under her feet and sent her thumping forward.
She had professionally landed– careful not to fall and when she landed on the ground, she was very far a distance away from her opponents.
Afina's eyes shone watching the girl as she stood up immediately and ran with all her might to meet with her partner.
She could not run with the same vigor as before as the bending had probably exhausted a fair portion of her energy.
Still, that sole skill had gained her the upper hand and she was a few steps away from her partner now.
Finally, a few seconds passed and she was right in front of her partner who turned out to be the girl who hushed Afina when she cursed on the bus.
Swiftly, she shook the hands of her partner and the latter dashed away as fast as she could.
There she goes. They were the leading team now.
The girl who bended her sand skill dropped to the floor, exhausted and gasping for breath.
Afina decided the girl had a yellow qi of the ninth stage. It was what permitted her to summon the sand element but it also drained almost all of her chi in the process.
Yellow qi at the ninth stage could perform that trick but not without draining almost every ounce of the energy of the bender.
The girl who was leading before continued to run but the one in the third place who was at the second place now also tried to use the skill but only ended up making herself pass out.
Oopsie.
She and her partner just lost the game.
"Shit!" her partner cursed.
Afina turned to look at who it was and found out it was one of the girls who revealed Giafa's identity.
And they were reprimanding her for cursing on the bus?
Afina knew their polite outlet was all a pretense and once their guards were down, they would showcase their true nature.
This girl just did that.
"How can a first-stage yellow qi divine person try to use a skill that belonged to the ninth stage upwards?" she fumed, visibly angry as she stormed away from the tracks.
The second girl had arrived and shook the hands of her partner who had also run off with immediacy.
The second girl won the second place fair and square. Only relying on her chi while she ran without bending her powers.
She also walked to slump on the carpet grass by the side track as some groups of security guards ran to them with water bottles containing glucose and water.
Now, it was seven of them remaining who were waiting for their partners to arrive.
"Where the hell is she?" Cher's friend blurted annoyingly as Cher wasn't among the four girls who were approaching.
Afina's face stretched into a smile when she saw Gia at the far end, behind the four approaching girls.
She was not the leading one but at least, she was approaching.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone