Celestia slowly turned around, "You… want me to train you?"

  Eclipse and Chael nodded vigorously.

  Celestia frowned, "Do I look like I have nothing better to do than babysit two children?"

  "Yes." Both of them responded simultaneously.

  "Eh? Really?" Celestia coughed awkwardly, "W-well, just because I have nothing better to do doesn't give me a reason to train you."

  Eclipse gritted his teeth, "Please train us! I want to level the Dracoferus Tribe to the ground… but right now I’m far too weak."

  "He’s right." Chael nodded seriously. "If you don't train us, I'll never be able to travel to further cities and meet hot women."

  Eclipse nodded, "Exactly… wait what?"

  Celestia stood there looking thoughtful for a moment. Although there wasn't much of a reaction from her, this silence was very intense for the duo… because her response may very well change their lives.

  Celestia finally looked at them with a smile, "Fine… I'll take you brats in."

  The moment she said these words, Eclipse let out a sigh of relief and smiled, whilst Chael grinned in delight.

  "Don't get too excited." She added, "You’ll have to do the hunting, cooking and cleaning. Oh… and you'll have to massage my shoulders every night."

  "How shameless…" Chael muttered, but neither of them complained.

  Eclipse suddenly jerked his head as if he had just realised something, "Wait, hold on. You said you'd take us in… not train us."

  The moment he said these words, a sinister smile formed across Celestia's lips. Looking at her expression, both of them tensed up.

  "Kahaha… exactly. You really think I'd take you in as my students just because of what happened today?" She said coldly.

  "What… do you mean?"

  "What I mean is…" Celestia slowly extended three fingers, "There's going to be three tests."

  "Tests?"

  Celestia smirked, "That's right. If you pass all three of them, I'll take you in as my students. If not, you have to just stay here as my personal slaves."

  Eclipse frowned, "What kind of tests??"

  "Test of physical endurance, test of mental endurance… and the third remains a mystery." She said, then turned her back on them, "rest up for now. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

  With that, Celestia disappeared inside, leaving the two alone outside.

  "I don't get it at all." Chael shook his head.

  "Tsk. I’m going to get through these tests even if it costs me my life." Eclipse gritted his teeth, “I have to.”

  Chael stared hard at him and simply nodded, “I’m with you.”

  "I'm going to bed." Eclipse then yawned and headed inside.

  Chael watched him go and then sat down on the floor and observed the far distance, deep in contemplation.

  Cock-a-doodle-do!

  The cry of roosters echoed across various villages and tribes in the Bloodmoon Region, marking the beginning of the day.

  "Hey, Eclipse?"

  "Yes?"

  "Isn't this supposed to be the first test?"

  "Yes." Eclipse yawned.

  "Then why the hell am I standing here half-naked when it's six o'clock in the morning?!"

  True enough, Eclipse and Chael were standing there topless and wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. Celestia was wearing sunglasses, for some reason, despite it being winter, and sat in a chair in front of the two, a long wooden stick in her hand.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "Hey." Chael growled at her, "What kind of test is this? At least give me my clothes.”

  Eclipse started then groaned when Celestia hit his backside with the stick, “Tch. Perverted old hag… ow…!"

  Celestia smacked Chael's butt with the wooden stick, too, then puffed, "Stop complaining! Old hag?? I look like I'm in my twenties! Call me big sister!"

  "Aaargh! This is so shit!" Chael complained, "We should just leave, right, Eclipse?"

  He turned over to look at Eclipse, but he was snoring away.

  "Ahah, what?!" Chael laughed, “How are you standing up and sleeping at the same time, you dumbass!”

  The snot in Eclipse's nose burst, and he regained consciousness, "Wha? Where am I?"

  "Hey, you two, quieten down," Celestia said.

  Her change in tone got Chael’s attention. Celestia was looking deep into the horizon, "In any second now…"

  Eclipse finally grew vigilant.

  Trees swayed as usual, but birds began flying away, and squirrels scurried away.

  Something was about to happen.

  Suddenly, the entire world turned into a shade of crimson, and an intense heat bore down on them. They were shivering from the cold moments ago, but they were already feeling like their skin was melting away due to the heat.

  "Just what…" Eclipse muttered and then followed Celestia's line of sight, who seemed completely unaffected by all this.

  When he saw what had happened, his pupils shrank… because the sun was blood red in colour. If it had just been that, it wouldn't have been such a big issue, but the sun was humongous, as if it were right behind them. They're eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as they saw this; after all, they had never witnessed such an incredulous thing in their lives.

  "Ahaha… just what is this?" Chael laughed anxiously, pupils trembling as he saw the vast sun shine ominously in front of him.

  "Just… what the hell… Is this the first test?" Eclipse groaned, already unable to bear the heat. After going through everything that he had, Eclipse thought that nothing in the world would move him, but at this moment, his jaw was completely agape.

  "No way…!"

  "Oh no. Not at all. That'd be way too easy."

  Eclipse’s face grew solemn. "What do you- UGH!"

  Before he could finish his sentence, Celestia brought her stick down on Eclipse's body at an inconceivable speed, and pain flared through his being as he staggered back.

  "Huh, what the hell-" Before Chael could finish his sentence, he too was whacked with Celestia's stick. With the pain he felt right now, coupled with this sweltering heat, he wanted nothing more than to scream.

  "Here are the rules," Celestia smiled, "For every drop of sweat you shed, that's going to be one whack of my stick. And if you drop to your knees even once, you've failed. If you last an entire hour, you pass."

  Eclipse's pupils shrank when he heard this.

  “Ah…haha. That's a… good one." Chael forced a smile, his morale completely in an abyss. Celestia didn't play along and continued smiling before promptly lashing Chael with the stick.

  He groaned in pain and then stumbled back.

  "Chael… keep calm. If we mess this up, we're done for. The more control you have over your mood, the less you're going to sweat."

  Just as Eclipse finished his sentence, Celestia lashed at the back of his leg. He groaned in pain.

  "C'mon, it won't be as easy as controlling your mood, right? You seem to have forgotten about the sun behind you." With that, she lashed at him again across the shin, before promptly smacking Chael right in the face.

  "Tsk. you devil!" Chael gritted his teeth, his knees wobbling. As he tried to ready himself, Celestia lashed at him again.

  Soon, a new change started to happen. Coupled with the scorching sun and the immense pain they were feeling, they started to sweat uncontrollably. And what was equivalent to a single drop of sweat was returned to them with a lash of the wooden stick.

  "You guys already seem broken, and it's just been three minutes."

  "Th-three minutes?! No way." Chael grunted, his body full of red marks.

  "I-It's at least been twenty!" Eclipse shouted. They were barely standing at this point. Eclipse was half squatting, hands on his knees, while panting for his life, and Chael was bent so much that his hands were nearly touching the ground. Despite this, he gritted his teeth and used every fibre of his being not to fall to the ground.

  Celestia smiled sadistically and landed another barrage of lashes on the body of the duo, simultaneously, one after the other. Chael let out a roar to compose himself during the wave as sweat streamed down his forehead, while Eclipse gritted his teeth as hard as he possibly could with bloodshot eyes.

  As the hits kept coming, Eclipse’s vision grew more and more blurred, and he slowly began to lose consciousness. His body then drooped towards the earth.

  Celestia raised her eyebrows, "Already? Guess that's one down… oh?"

  As Eclipse centred towards the earth, Chael appeared in front of him, stopping his fall. Eclipse slowly opened his eyes, and seeing Chael stand in front of him caused him to feel incredible guilt and frustration. Chael was biting his lips so hard that blood came out of them, and his fists were clenched so much that his fingernails dug into his palms. He looked over at Eclipse and muttered one word, "Focus!"

  This one word instantly sparked something in Eclipse’s mind. He growled weakly as Celestia's hits kept on relenting and stood up, balancing himself despite the unimaginable pain he was feeling at the moment. It was quite possibly the most pain he felt in his life, as if he was being crushed under a thousand elephants, but he took a deep breath… and focused.

  As time went on, Eclipse's willpower diminished little by little. Every muscle in his body felt like it was melting, and he was unsure of how many of his bones were broken or fractured at the moment.

  At one point, his vision had turned completely blurry to the extent that he would only see tinges of red. He saw the unclear silhouette of Celestia stroking her stick at both of them like a windmill, not even giving them a second to rest as they poured down buckets of sweat. He didn't know when, but at one point, he even wondered if he would ever run out of sweat to end the terror he was experiencing at the moment.

  Celestia's claps echoed throughout the courtyard. "You've passed the first test, congratulations!"

  Eclipse and Chael's bloodied figure then crashed onto the floor, staining the earth in blood as they did so. Chael shivered for a moment before he completely passed out. Eclipse was on the floor, his eyes slightly open.

  "Did... we… pass...?" He muttered.

  "Yes. You passed. You crushed my expectations, well done." She whispered into his ear as he slowly drifted away into a deep slumber.

  After he had passed out, she looked at the red coloured sun, and in that instant it diminished, turning the ambience back to normal.