There were about 30 candidates of B-7 wagon gathered around here forming a circular formation. Not to mention it was a bit crowded.

I and Tracker had to shove through the crowd to see what was going on.

After a bit of struggle and hustle, I finally reached the front while Tracker followed suit.

To my surprise, I was standing at the edge of a puddle filled with water. This puddle was perfectly circular shaped, the water was shallow and reached till our knees. All B-7 candidates who had completed their first trial were all gathered around this puddle.

“Shit!” Tracker squealed.

Tracker finally forced his way to the front, almost lost his balance, and was about to fall in the puddle. I quickly grabbed his collar and saved him.

“Thanks, I owe you one,” he replied.

I had no intention of saving him, I just instinctively helped him.

I was rather more intrigued by what I was seeing in the center of this puddle.

The puddle water was about 10-12 meters in diameter.

There was a candidate standing in the center of the puddle and in front of him were a mysterious glowing sword and a big creepy statue.

The boy was standing still trying to calm his nerves as he glared at the sword. The sword and the creepy statue must be related to completing the next trial.

I glanced at the mysterious sword which was just a few feet away from the candidate. The sword was stuck in the ground and its hilt was out in the open. But strangely the sword had a glowing orange aura that even changed the color of the nearby water. The sword had mysterious power which was what corroded the water.

Next to the sword was a big creepy statue on a stone platform. The statue was made of a mysterious blue dull teal stone. It depicted a statue of a man bowing his head and sitting on his knees. While in its hand it held a rusty crown. What made the statue creepy was the face of the statue was shapeless and only its eye holes were visible. Not to mention the statue was old and shabby, withered by time.

“Alright Sean, I hope you are ready. During this trial, if you feel any discomfort or pain. Just let go of the sword’s handle and I’ll save you.” said the supervisor who was overseeing this trial.

The supervisor was a man in his late 30s wearing sunglasses.

He was standing in the puddle on top of the rock away from the center.

What I found mysterious was that the rock the supervisor was standing on had a teal blue color similar to the creepy statue. The weird fact was that the rock was actually absorbing the orange corroded water made by the sword. It was as if it was sucking out the energy from the sword into the rock. I could clearly see the orange water getting pulled towards the rock where the supervisor was standing.

It must be the rock’s properties or the supervisor’s abilities.

After hearing the supervisor’s advice the candidate named Sean gulped down his Saliva while steadily maintaining his gaze on the sword like a hawk.

“Are you ready?” asked the supervisor.

Sean nodded his head without even batting his eyes from the sword.

“Alright then, let the trial begin.” saying so the supervisor waved his arm.

Suddenly the rock that the supervisor was standing on started to rise. It lifted from the puddle and started to levitate in the air.

As soon as the rock came out of the puddle, the corrosion of the water started to build in. The water around the sword started corroding at a very fast pace. I could clearly see the orange water expanding and turning the rest of the water into a dark tint of orange shade.

The candidate Sean without any delay marched into the corroded orange water heading towards the sword. Running through the puddle of water as if his life was on the line.

But as soon as he stepped on the corroded orange water, his speed diminished. He stopped running instead and walked more sluggishly as if weights were tied to his feet. His speed kept diminishing as he reached near the sword.

After a minute of struggle, Sean finally reached the sword and grabbed its hilt with both his hands. He was gritting his teeth as if he was in pain as soon as he came in contact with the sword. But that didn’t stop Sean as his eyes shined fiercely.

“Are you alright, Sean?” asked the supervisor.

“Yes sir,” replied Sean.

“Okay then, I shall now begin the coronation.” said the supervisor.

As soon as he said that, he did a few hand signs and then raised his palm towards the creepy statue.

Nothing happened for the first few seconds but then there was a sudden jolt in the ground. A series of ripples appeared on the puddle around the statue.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Before we knew it the statue which was sitting still lifted its head and there was a mysterious glowing light in its eyes.

As soon as the statue came to life, there was a sudden chill in the air making everyone’s hair stand on end.

“That is an earth golem. And a powerful one at that,” said Tracker.

He had his jaw wide open and eyes shining brightly in wonder.

“That’s not just your regular golem.” I chimed in, “It’s alive and has sentience. If my guess is correct it should be an earth spirit.”

As soon as I said that statement all the candidates started staring at me.

These gazes were mostly of disbelief and surprise.

Did I say something weird?

What’s with the reaction?

“If that’s true then the supervisor must be a very high-class mage,” added Tracker.

Everyone then turned their attention to the supervisor showing the look of admiration.

“Hey, the stone statue started moving.” Suddenly someone shouted.

Everyone finally moved their attention to Sean and the statue.

Sean didn’t pull out the sword from the ground.

He was still standing there holding on to the sword’s handle. He felt a bit of pain looking at his face but he still didn’t let go of the sword’s handle.

Meanwhile, the creepy statue which came to life was gazing at Sean. It glanced for a few seconds before the statue’s hand moved. In the hand of the statue, it held a rusty iron crown.

The statue's hands moved towards Sean who was standing in the middle of the puddle while still holding on to the sword’s handle. At this moment Sean was trembling to look at the approaching statue.

Although the statue’s hand went over Sean’s head and gently placed the crown on top of his head.

As soon as the crown was placed, there was a sudden reaction in the puddle.

The corroded water that was spreading all over the puddle started getting pulled towards where Sean was.

The orange dark tint energy in the water started gathering around Sean.

It seemed as if the energy was getting absorbed by Sean.

The strands of orange veins could be seen rising and traveling through the veins from his hands and feet to his head. Thanks to the white body jumpsuit provided by the ceremony organizers.

The candidate’s white jumpsuit was slowly turning orange. The orange energy was entering from his feet from the water and directly from the sword into his hands.

It seems the orange energy traveling in Sean's veins was slowly and steadily heading towards the head, especially where the crown was placed.

Sean seemed to be in pain as he gritted his teeth, he still didn’t let go of the sword. He was adamant about clearing this trial.

Meanwhile, the supervisor in glasses was standing on the floating teal rock and carefully observing Sean’s progress.

There was pin-drop silence as everyone watched candidate Sean’s trial eagerly.

After a few minutes of waiting the orange corrosion managed to taint the entire Sean’s jumpsuit into orange. Even Sean’s face had a tint of orange color.

The supervisor came closer to Sean and seemed to be ready for anything that might happen.

After a few more seconds Sean’s hair also started to turn orange from the corrosion.

But as soon as the orange corrosion touched the crown there was a spark of light almost blinding us. Then out of nowhere, candidate Sean was blasted away by a mysterious force. He rolled in the puddle a few times before the supervisor came to his rescue and caught him.

“Urza, quick we need healing,” said the supervisor in glasses.

He put the floating rock that he was standing back in the puddle. The corroded orange water started to get absorbed by the rock. Meanwhile, the supervisor placed the unconscious candidate Sean on top of that same blue rock.

Sean whose body was turned into an orange shade from head to toe along with bruises.

“Out of the way everyone.” A sharp voice came from the back of the crowd.

The crowd that gathered around started to shuffle and from the crowd appeared a young girl. She was a young girl with frilly purple hair and purple lipstick. In her hand, she held a wooden staff with mysterious glowing leaves growing from its end.

What was surprising was she looked like a young 12-year-old girl but was wearing the supervisor's uniform.

“What’s with all the weird stares? Haven’t seen a gorgeous nurse before, huh?” said the young supervisor.

“Urza, stop stalling around and do your goddamn job.” shouted the supervisor with the glasses.

Supervisor Urza then jumped into the puddle,

“Geez, stop rushing me Canith. You know girls don’t like pushy boys. If it weren’t for me you would already be fired. Alright, move aside.”

In a few seconds, the young supervisor appeared before the injured candidate.

She then did a few hand signs in front of the injured candidate,

“Arise, plant of Dew, Ifrahmite.”

Suddenly a plant sprouted beside her and started growing at a pace visible to the eye.

The plant in an instant grew as big as a human before blossoming into a beautiful white flower.

The white flower then came close to the injured boy and sprinkled small flecks of golden light on top of the boy. The golden flecks should be the pollen of the flower. The sprinkling lasted for a few seconds after which the flower withered and died on the spot, along with the plant.

“Canith, you are far too careless. I can’t believe you have to use my healing so early. Will you again make me run out of mana and force me to use potions? I am not paid enough to deal with this. Can’t you be a bit considerate of me?” questioned the angry loli supervisor.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your help, Urza,” said supervisor Canith.

“Hey! Did you even hear what I said? I don’t get why the hell is healers paid less compared to you, senior supervisors. We are the one who has to keep these brats alive, meanwhile, you just float on your rock. I swear if I don’t get an increment in my salary this year, I’ll quit.” complained Urza pouting angrily.

“Urza, could you shut up. You are making a scene in front of everyone.”

“Hmph. I don’t care, let these kids know how we healers are mistreated.”

The other candidates were surely looking weirdly at the supervisor duo.

I’ve seen enough share of oddballs on this train.

It wasn’t long before Sean’s injuries were all healed.

Even the orange color in hair and skin were all absorbed by the blue rock regaining his old composure.

After a few minutes of waiting Sean finally regained his consciousness.

He got up scratching his head in a state of confusion,

“What happened? Where am I?”

“Candidate Sean Macmillian, you failed the second trial. Miss Urza hear have healed you but you should still go visit the medic team and get a checkup,” announced Supervisor Canith.

Sean was escorted out of the puddle who was still shocked over his verdict.

There was an atmosphere of tension in the air among the candidates.

Without wasting any more time the next candidate was announced.

Now, all there was a long wait for my name to be called next.