loud banging and screaming awakened winter from her deep slumber. she slowly opened her eyes and looked around the cabin that she was staying in, sighing in relief when she realized that nobody entered without her permission.

the noise was obviously coming from outside.

she proceeded to head towards the window to check but she was only welcomed by the sight of demigods her age, creating a ruckus by playing with their swords.

it always annoyed winter how they swing their swords that way whenever they're not training. it was as if it was just a toy and couldn't hurt other people.

“what a chaotic morning,” winter whispered to herself before heading inside the small bathroom located on the center of the cabin.

as soon as she was finished bathing and fixing herself to get ready to start a brand new day, winter stepped out of her cabin and went to the training field where the other demigods were.

a small smile curved up her lips when she saw giselle battling in a sword fight with ningning. as she watched, she noticed how ningning gets so distracted whenever giselle speaks.

well, winter thought that she did underestimate giselle's skills too quickly.

on the far right side of the training field, winter saw the raven-haired girl once again. her heart immediately went crazy and she felt blood rising up to her cheeks,

specifically because the said girl was also looking at her.

winter was about to walk away from the field when giselle and ningning finally approached her, both sweaty but still looked extremely beautiful.

“good morning, winter!” are you ready for the main training today?” ningning asked, her silver sword now settled on her back.

“main training?” winter repeated. she wasn't informed that there will be something like that today.

“chiron will be explaining the rules later. the last fifteen minutes will just be the same thing we do everyday, sword training and obstacle courses.”

winter sighed.

“if you do not feel better yet, it is fine to rest for a while. chiron would still understand you since you are new to this situation,” giselle uttered.

“no, it's fine. i think i can handle it now.”

“WARRIORS! ASSEMBLE!”

winter, giselle, and ningning all looked to where the voice came. they saw chiron in his centaur form and it still surprises winter how the man manages to hide the part horse that he had.

the three of them went towards the center of the field where all of the demigods assembled.

“for today, we will be having our main training. all of you have been doing this for years but since we have a new demigod in this camp, i will be explaining the rules once again.”

winter felt anxious. 

all eyes were on her again.

all eyes,

including karina yoo's.

“miss winter kim, please come here in front and introduce yourself.”

oh gods, no.

winter walked to where chiron was and stood beside him. she cleared the lump that was stuck on before speaking.

“uh, hi. i'm winter. i hope we could all get along well.”

silence.

complete silence.

it made her feel even more anxious.

“very well then. now, i would like to ask both of the teams if any of you would like to take winter with you?”

ryujin, daughter of hermes, stepped in front with a sly grin plastered on her face.

winter didn't really trust the girl fully but she just tried her best to be friendly.

“i'll take her. it'll be fun having a new girl on the team,” ryujin uttered.

the short-haired girl grabbed the nearest leather vest, helmet, and silver sword and gave it to winter.

“alright, now that everyone is set, i shall explain the rules of this training once again. there are two teams, the blue and red. each of you must fight to capture the flag of the opposing team. of course, you must look for those flags so always keep your eyes open. i have placed them somewhere in this forest so make sure to always use all of your senses. the first team to capture the flag of their opponent, wins.”

winter felt her palm getting all sweaty. she didn't know how to fight, heck, she couldn't even carry the sword without unintentionally dropping it.

a sigh of despair escaped from her lips, knowing that the other demigods would just crush the living life out of her.

she looked at the other side where their opponents were standing.

unfortunately, ningning, the daughter of ares, was her opponent. she noticed the young girl smirking at her so she immediately looked away.

“don't be nervous, winter. you will be fine,” said giselle who was constantly patting her back.

“oh well, i'm still glad we're teammates. i'll surely die here if i don't get to be with you.”
giselle chuckled.

“you will be able to find out who your godly parent is because of the main training. who knows, you might be the daughter of the strongest god there is. everybody in this camp will surely bow down.” 

“that's the last thing i want them to do. i don't need the attention and i surely won't want them worshipping me or something. i just want to live a normal life here, at least.”

chiron settled on the middle where the other centaurs were. he took a deep breath before raising a small pistol up.

“on your marks..”

winter held onto her sword tightly.

“get set..”

she looked around, only to end up staring at karina yoo once again. 

the raven-haired girl stared back.

winter couldn't even read her facial expressions.

“GO!”

the warriors all ran towards the forest. winter decided to follow giselle since she knew that the girl was skilled enough and won't leave her like their other teammates.

their opponents appeared one by one.

winter hid on giselle's back.

“ah, daughter of aphrodite with the new girl. tell your final words before we kill you,” yuno, another spawn of ares uttered in such a boastful tone.

“my, my.. why must everything end in violence?” giselle uttered, her voice as sweet as honey. winter noticed yuno and his other teammates gulp at giselle's charmspeaking.

“tell me, son of ares. do we really have to hurt each other? we are