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A glance at Granite showed only his usual stoic face I struggled to my feet and li our bodies in a full plank position, balancing only on toes and fingers as Granite piled rocks on our backs

I don’t kno round, but with each failure, my confidence slipped further away How could I make my father proud if I couldn’t even handle the physical side of things? The part that Granite thought would givebut

Yet I couldn’t give up, and I wouldn’t stop trying

The hours stretched until the six of us were laid out on the floor, unable to , and even souys lost control of his bowels That had been in the swi portion and he’d been first And yes, Granite h it We literally had to swi to the ht of it ht have lost it too

"All right, how ? Stand up if you’re ready for your next test Stay down if you’re done"

I wanted to stay down, goddess my body ached like I’d been run over by a herd of buffalo, then been beaten by switches untilto ot to ht of pain and exhaustion

"That all you got, old ht I one so fast I couldn’t have said for sure

"Start fro then" He flicked his wrist and the dirt hill appeared in front ofdirt, I evened outand then started Inup the slope as it slid out from under me

"Get to your feet!" Granite roared

I forcedin the creases ofat the tender skin, but still I didn’t stop I couldn’t

Granite would report back toI could toto make it That I could be an Ender