Late, I am going to be so late! Shoot! Why do I leave things to last minute? You would think after all the times I have been late, I would’ve learned but no! I just can’t seem to figure out how to wake up on time. Uh! Procrastination makes everything way easier so I can have fun before the last minute. Oh woe to be a teenager… In any case this year’s entrance exam should be like what was on the information fliers.
This year’s entrance exam is split into three parts. The first part is an agility course made by the sect also known as the Sun’s Path. The second part of the exam is going into the forest west of the city to collect Spirit Herbs; Spirit Herbs are plants that can cultivate. They are also graded the same as human cultivators but they are not subdivided into low, medium, and high. In order to pass this part of the exam you must find either, three rank 1 herbs, or one rank 2 herbs.
The third part of the exam consists of an elimination fight. Examinees will duel one another and the one that comes out on top will become a janitorial disciple. If you can impress the Examiners or elders of the sect you can immediately become a outer court disciple.
After arriving at the starting line for the agility course I saw people on carpets floating above. I knew that those must have to be the Examiners. “Participants, please stand in an orderly line where the white marking is,” yelled one the Elder Examiners. There must have been at least three thousand participants between the ages of 20 to 16. “All right for this years entrance exam anything goes as long as participants do not kill, maim, or cause serious injuries to other participants. The first thousand participants over the finish line will advance to next part of the exam,” the same Examiner shouted. “Those are the rules, get ready to go! On your marks, get set, go!” I heard him yell.
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I ran at a light jog to the first obstacle, The Pillars. This part of the obstacle course consists of thousands of pillars struck into the ground a vering heights and widths. As the first ten participants slowed down near the first couple pillars they were shoved into the water surrounding the pillars by those behind them. Gradually everyone got to the start of pillars, with at least 50 participants already falling to the back of pack.
Soon around 500 of the most agile participants passed the pillars and moved to the second obstacle. I was running as fast as I could trying my best to find the path the with the same height and width, even if it vered slightly off course. With this plan, I was able to become the 946th person to have finished the first part of the agility course.
The second part had participants swim to a mouth of a cavern. Inside this cavern was the final part of the agility course. This part of course had people climb up a massive crystal wall to reach the finish line at the top.
As the participants made their way to river, it became prevalent some participants had already made alliances to reach the cavern. The most successful of these groups were lead by the nobles of the city.
All of the noble families of the city are given special advantages in the entrance exam. For small fortune, the DawnBreaker Sect, and the noble children could become outer court disciples immediately after finishing the entrance exam.
As the most noble teams showed ingenuity in building small makeshift rafts to cross the slow moving river, half of all commoners and at least 75% of the merchant families, who could not afford to pay for the shortcut to outer court disciple, joined the noble teams.
The rest however either made their own teams based around friends or influential commoners. Those few who crossed chose to cross the river alone swam. I happened to be one of them.