Keir made everyone put their hands on the supply case before he let them open it.
“Not a ceremony,” he said. “I want everyone close enough to see what’s inside, and nobody can walk away with it while the rest of us are guessing.”
The temporary group gathered around the case at the mixed exercise’s starting station. Eli stood between a short hunter named Lysa and a tall man with a shaved stripe through his hair, Pell. Dain Kester and Mira were assigned to the same broad sector, but their names appeared on a different group sheet. Eli had seen them at the assembly point; now an official was directing them toward another lane.
Keir broke the team supply-case seal under the judge’s eye. Inside were two lengths of rope, four marker cards, a compact first-aid training kit, a radio, a flashlight and a folded route instruction. A judge checked the inventory with them and signed the sheet. Keir passed the radio to Lysa and the flashlight to Pell. He kept one rope and asked who wanted the other.
Eli offered to carry it. Pell did not let go immediately.
“You’re the one who hid his strength score.”
“I held back on the first task. I told the panel why.”
