Tepo felt his head burning. He had worked through dozens of books, trying to absorb as much information as possible. His mental strength was constantly being used, a tired feeling filling his mind. Exhausted, the young man finally stopped.

With an eerily immaculate sense for time, Tepo was confident that exactly nineteen and a half hours had passed. The young man figured that relaxing his mind and preparing for the test was better than desperately cramming information into his brain until the last second.

Tepo had Wind bring him some water as he closed his eyes. He revised everything he had learned. He didn’t know what the test would entail, but it certainly wouldn’t be easy.

Half an hour passed quickly. Tepo opened his calm eyes. He was confident with a mind made of steel. Nothing would surprise him.

Just then, a deep hum once again sounded through the tower. The door opposite Tepo’s desk opened little by little. The young man felt as if his mind was scratched. If someone’s mind wasn’t steady enough, they might try to rip the damned door open.

But Tepo didn’t let such a small matter unsettle him. He stood up, stepping forward calmly.

Finally, the door was opened fully, as Tepo entered another room.

Immediately a searing heat hit him in the face. The air before his eyes seemed to shimmer. He stood on top of a small stone platform.

A sea of magma separated him from the other side. There, on a similar platform stood a hooded figure. A red mask with a white anvil hid her face.

Tepo looked at the tall woman. He waited for an explanation as the heat threatened to slowly cook him.

“Newcomer! You had twenty hours to memorize as much as possible.”, boomed Anvil’s voice between the stone walls.

“Now it is time to put you to the test! You will pass as soon as you reach this side! But you are only allowed to step on these floating rocks!”

Tepo listened with rapt attention. Suddenly three cubic rocks separated from the wall to his right. They floated towards Tepo, before stopping in the air a short distance away from him, forming a row.

Analyzing the setup, Tepo estimated that he would only need about five rocks to reach Anvil.

“This is the first row of floating rocks. But beware! Only one of them will hold you. If you step on the others, you will fall to your doom.”

Sweat formed on Tepo’s back. Naturally it was only from the high heat and not from his possible death. Surely.

“Which one is right, and which one is wrong? After the test begins it will be on you to figure this out!”

Nodding solemnly, Tepo waited for the test to start.

“And…”

Suddenly a voice appeared form behind the young man’s back. Startled, he did a jump forward, almost falling into the magma before the test even started.

Annoyed, Tepo turned his head as he did his best to regain his mental state.

He found a figure in a black robe standing on the platform. With a leisurely posture and a green mask, who else could it be but Quill?

The experienced warrior continued as if nothing had happened.

“…while you traverse the floating rocks, I will continuously be asking you questions. If you give three wrong answers, you will fail the test.”

Tepo felt the pressure. He had to handle multiple problems at the same time, recall the information learned over the last twenty hours, and figure out which stone wasn’t a deathtrap.

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“Alright newbie. Are you ready?”, asked Anvil with a solemn tone.

Taking a deep breath, Tepo gave a resounding “Yes.”

“Then let the test begin!”

Suddenly a small but important change happened. Symbols lit up on the three floating rocks. Tepo raised his brows. Those were clearly runes as used in spells. Those got to be his clues.

As Tepo was contemplating, Quill’s annoying voice came from the back:

“Let’s start easy. Which material is the most used in the World of Cutting Grasses and why?”

Abruptly Tepo had to divert his attention. He recalled everything he learned within the last 20 hours.

“Zunnerium, because it has the effect of repelling plant life.”

Would’ve been great to have this in the dungeon.

While Tepo complained inwardly, he waited for Quill. Since the warrior had nothing to say, Tepo was confident that his answer was correct. He focused back on the floating stones.

“Next question: How is the metal risanutium won?”

Tepo’s eyebrow twitched. Doing his best to search for more clues, he answered quickly:

“By mixing ponterium with the saliva of White-striped Zúikuv beasts.”

While answering the second question, Tepo finally figured out the first row of stones. All the floating rocks had runes on them. But two of them corresponded to water, while the middle one corresponded to magma. Confident, Tepo jumped and landed on the middle rock.

The young man didn’t dare to doubt himself. He stood stably, waiting for any changes to happen. Immediately a new row of stones separated from the wall to Tepo’s left and floated before him. The runes once again lit up.

Tepo was confident he had figured out the test. He didn’t have a time limit but was still pressured by these questions. Should he run out of knowledge, it was game over for him. Thus, traversing the stones as fast as possible was his priority.

“Next question: Among the upper echelons of the three oceans republic…”

Suddenly Tepo’s eyes widened. He never heard of this republic. Was this among the books he didn’t manage to read? Would he be stumped this early on?

“… the right ocean has two islands. The left one is held by two competing forces. Each of them claims the island is rightfully theirs. Three years ago, the left force suggested to hold a competition to determine the ruler. This competition will be held soon. But what is the color of risanutium?”

Tepo tried to concentrate on the next row of rocks during this long question. It was hard to split his attention. But suddenly the question took such a different turn? Was Quill joking around with him?!

Annoyed, the young man answered hurriedly:

“Blue!”

Quill remained silent. Tepo didn’t care. He needed to find a clue to continue. The three rocks floated before his eyes, taunting him. Tepo racked his brain. He observed his surroundings, but nothing had changed. The runes all corresponded to water. Where was the clue?

Tepo sweated. Any second now the next question might come. Any… second…

Why doesn’t Quill continue?!

Suddenly a light lit up in Tepo’s mind. Quill was behaving strangely. His question was odd as well. Was this the clue?

Tepo slowly mulled over the previous question multiple times. He found a pattern!

Upper, three, right, two, left, two, right(fully), three, left!

This got to be the solution!

Let’s look at the runes. All of them start with a line upwards. Two of them continue towards the right. Everything stays identical until... it changes at the very end! So, it’s the rightmost rock!

Patting himself on the shoulder for figuring it out, Tepo took a leap of faith. He landed on the rightmost floating rock. Two out of five rows were passed! This was too easy!

Suddenly something changed. Tepo’s mouth twitched. He threw a suspicious look at Quill. Could it be the warrior was really able to read minds?!

Tepo felt indignant but he was helpless. He could only watch as the rock below his feet floated backwards. A new row slowly formed in front of the young man. He was back to square one!

Not caring for Tepo’s feelings, another question followed immediately:

“If a spell contains the rune torraris, from which direction can you expect the spell to start?”

Tepo gritted his teeth. Quill’s voice was leisurely as always. But this question was certainly mocking him.

“From behind.”, growled the young man.

The moving rocks were a blow to Tepo, but he wouldn’t be discouraged by this. He only had to answer a few more questions. He wasn’t at the end of his rope yet.

Suddenly the magma below Tepo sank into the floor. The young man was surprised as only some stone flooring remained. The room gradually cooled down. A low breeze came out of nowhere.

Tepo kept his environment in mind as he studied the next row of stones. Each of them had two runes now. The young man suspected that the first solution applied again, btu this time all of those runes were wind runes.

Frowning, Tepo racked his mind. Although those runes were similar, some subtle differences always existed. Just like synonymous words in a language. A wind rune could be related to hot wind, cold wind, a light breeze, or a chaotic storm.

Pushing his senses, Tepo tried to feel the breeze around him. It was always blowing from his left. It was cold, but strangely humid. Tepo smirked, raised his head, and jumped on the left stone.