Once I entered I saw something I supposed was a classroom. There was a chalkboard on a wall, a desk in front of it, and numerous chairs and student desks around the room. The instructions on the board were clear to see:

“As the first student(s) to arrive, please take your seat(s).”

I also noticed a hourglass on the desk, with sand falling in it rapidly. I tried moving it but it didn’t even budge. Professor Gladiola said there was a three-minute interval between groups, so I thought the first room will have a time limit of three minutes or less. There was no other instruction or riddle in the room, so I wondered if I just need to take a seat. But they also specified first student... I thought back to my classes in the village. The moment Mrs. Holomitz opened the door for us we raced in to get the most comfortable seat for ourselves. I was not sure if a proper classroom worked on the same basis, but I didn’t have any better leads and I didn’t have much time left.

I chose a seat in the front close to a door and sat down. The moment I sat down I saw white lights flashing around me and found myself in a different environment. I was still sitting in a chair, but the classroom changed. And so did the writing on the chalkboard.

“I am a friend at best, but i can harm at worst.

Everyone has me, but no one knows when I happen.

I can be beautiful and happy, or ugly and sad.

I can appear without warning and be gone in an instant.

I can be peaceful and quiet, or loud and frightening.

I can take any form known to man or completely new.

I let you be someone you are not and live a life you cannot.

Tell me, what am I?”

It was a riddle. I checked the hourglass, there was more sand in it this time, and they seemed to fall a bit slower. There was a bracket on the chalkboard and the word ‘Answer’ was written next to it. I assumed I need to write my answer there. I went through the riddle again.

It asked ‘What am I?’ which meant it’s not a person. Maybe it’s an animal, plant, concept or some kind of rank... or maybe something in nature, like a river?

‘I am a friend at best, but I can harm at worst’ so it could affect us. I wanted to say it might be some kind of animal but the next line with ‘Everyone has me’ ruled it out. Something everyone has, but no one knows when it happens... It was clear it will be a concept and something people possess. The next line did not help me, it was too vague, but at least it ruled out emotions. Something that can appear without warning and take any form... maybe magic? Leyna said everyone has magic in them. It can also help if you know how to control it, but harm if you don’t...

I nearly went and wrote magic as my answer when I thought more about the last line. ‘Let you be someone you are not and live a life you cannot’... is this what magic does? It certainly helps getting more jobs but... it doesn’t really change us, does it? And we are aware of magic when it happens...

At that moment I thought of Rika and her proposal to Sir Posh to be her servant. And sir Posh said ‘not even in your wildest dreams’. Yes, dreams can help or harm us, we are not aware of them when we dream, we dream randomly and they let us experience things we never did. Like when I dreamed I was a knight fighting a dragon, when I was little.

I decided to write ‘dream’ as my answer and in that moment a door opened. I decided to go through it.

The next room looked like a training room used for dueling. There was a big, open space in the center with a ring painted on the floor. I couldn’t see any windows but there were magilamps around the walls which light up the room and there were some glowing rock-like objects in the middle of the room, above the dueling ring. I noticed the chalkboard on my right hanging on a wall, with various weapons laid down in front of it. The next text was written on it:

“Choose a weapon.

Take one of its edges and add it to the other.

If you had chosen well, then you will be able to CARVE your name into history.

Which weapon should you choose?

Caution: once you grab one, there is no turning back.”

I looked over the weapons on the ground. There was a sword, a spear, a shield, an axe, a dagger, a whiplike weapon with a blade on its tail’s end, and a hammer. Out of those seven, only five of them had edges and only four of them had more than one edges: the sword, the spear, the dagger and that whiplike weapon I’ve never seen before.

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The lack of description made this riddle harder than the previous one. How can someone add two edges together to begin with? And to carve my name into history...

Maybe they meant it metaphorically? But it didn’t make sense even that way. What did they mean by taking a weapon’s edge?

I looked around the room, hoping to find possible clues. But all I could find was the name Timothy carved into a chair and a paper with the sentence ‘The pen is mightier than any other weapons.’ written on it. There were no other weapons, no other signs or clues. I went back to the chalkboard and checked the hourglass, I was nearly out of time.

But as I looked at the hourglass, I found something written on its top: ‘shourglas’. That’s when I realized. They didn’t mean the blades but the edges of the weapon names! If I change their names then I will get the answer.

I looked over the weapons, but only the spear, shield and sword formed coherent words by moving a letter from one end to another: pears, hields and words. Pears didn’t seem related at all, which only left hields and words. Certainly, hields was related to making a name to myself. To make others hield to me, conquering the lands. But there was also that paper... A pen is used to write words down... Like my name...

But what if I can become famous through pears? What if the dagger or axe can also form a word I am not aware of? And there was also the whiplike weapon I didn’t know the name of. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead and back as I checked the hourglass. I had one minute remaining at best. I felt that I need to choose fast. This riddle seemed impossible to solve.

In the end I took the risk. “I choose the sword,” I said and grabbed it.

Not long after I grabbed the sword, a door opened with blinding light. I wasn’t sure if I chose well or not, but I walked through the door to meet my fate.

I found myself in another classroom, similar to the first one. This time the sun shined through the windows and there was another riddle written on the chalkboard. I sighed in relief and read it.

“I do not stop, for I do not care for anyone.

When you lose track of me, you struggle to keep up with me.

I have no boundaries or limits, for I am endless.

Use me poorly, and I’ll bring you nothing but sorrow.

Use me wisely, and I will be your key for tomorrow.

What am I?”

It was like the second riddle, even the answer bracket was there. From the way it was written it seemed like the answer will be a concept again, too. Something that doesn’t stop and we can lose track of it. We can also use it and it has no limits...

One thing that came to my mind again was magic. If we use it well, then it can help us for sure. It can also bring pain if we don’t use it well. It’s also endless... At least that’s what I thought.

But the second line didn’t make sense in this case. Could it refer to a magic duel where if we lose side of a spell then we struggle to keep up with it? And I was sure that magic can be countered in various ways, so it could be stopped.

I wanted to check the hourglass to see how much time I had left but... it wasn’t there. I looked around the classroom but there was no hourglass. Did someone took it? No, I couldn’t move the hourglass even an inch when I tried. Then where it is? How much time did I spend in this room? Two minutes? Three?

And then I realized the answer. It was time. I didn’t think further. I ran to the chalkboard and wrote ‘time’ into the bracket. Shortly afterwards, a door opened.

When I walked through it, I had found myself in a closed off hallway with five doors on one side and a chalkboard on the other. The hallway’s two sides were barricaded away. There was only one question written on the chalkboard:

“What is one thing you can’t have enough of?”

I checked the doors too. There were words written on each of them. From left to right they were Power, Fame, Money, Knowledge and Curiosity.

I was at a loss as each one sounded like the right answer. Having much power would help protecting my loved ones. Fame can help leaving a name and get people to respect me. Money is important to survive. Knowledge can solve many problems I will face. And curiosity...

I started to wonder. Why would having much curiosity be a good thing? I could get the rest, but curiosity stood out for me, like a thorn which was threw in to confuse people. I never thought of myself as someone curious. I lived peacefully in the village, never really questioning anything. ‘It is what it is’ was my virtual motto. But... But maybe this lack of curiosity left to my slight feeling of betrayal when my parents told me about their past. I never asked them. The thought didn’t cross my mind, not even once. They told me they kept it from me but I am sure if I nagged them enough, then they would have told me. Dad looked so happy when he reminisced with Leyna. And even Mom, despite her cold demeanor at first, joined them. But even when they finally revealed it, I didn’t dwell deeper. I might have asked some questions, but most of them were for clarification.

I could feel tears running down my cheek. I was truly a foolish boy, wasn’t I? But I guess it settles it. Power might help me to protect others, fame might gain me respect, money might help me in life and knowledge might solve my problems... But curiosity is the one thing that helps me to know my parents, and people more.

I stood before the Curiosity door. Maybe it wasn’t the right answer. But I couldn’t think of anything better at the moment than going after what I decided on. I thought that if I pass, then I can go to the second trial and try to help Leyna in the future, and if I don’t, then I can go home and talk with my parents more.

With that conviction I grabbed the doorknob and walked through the door.