The second day of classes started... unremarkably monotonous.
After breakfast—where Waelid dropped the additional news about our upcoming trial being a scavenger hunt—we headed over to the Academy for our first period: Combat and Tactics.
Now healed, minus a few bandages, the frog-man had everyone practice repeated swings on practice dummies individually.
“Put your back into it, lad!” Captain Hopsander said, standing next to me. “And please, dear child, adjust your hand placement according to your distance from the target. Right now, they’re too far back for being this close.”
He moved my hands up from the end of the staff to a position better suited for close combat. “A general ‘default’ position for beginners using the bang staff is holding it in thirds. It gives you solid control with the maneuverability to do most things you need. Other hand positions are valid for different purposes in certain scenarios. Keep them closer to the center for faster twirls, on the back third for sword-like length in close combat, and at the end for reach with thrusts.”
I continued striking, my hands blistering by the end of the hour-long session.
On the plus side, I got to see everyone’s chosen weapons. Mel went into berserk mode with her large two-handed axe, smashing dummies left and right.
Tevin wielded a heavy hammer, slugging it into metal pegs on the ground to train his accuracy. Ruriel had a pouch full of small throwing knives—like ninja kunai—and practiced throwing them at a target forty feet away at the other end of the classroom.
Next to him, aiming at a second target, Rinka used a short bow. Thanks to the harsh boot camp we’d endured, we all had the muscles and endurance to use these weapons repeatedly.
Sora had nunchucks and was failing spectacularly, continuously smacking herself in the face. Lucius rolled his eyes as he sparred with Zenobia. They both had dueling blades, rapier-like weapons with large hand guards.
Against the large stained windows, Vahim practiced like he was dancing. He had chosen a weapon that looked even more confusing to use than it was exotic—a whip sword. The segmented blade parts were connected by a thick piece of metal string. When he pressed a button on the hilt, the sword connected and straightened into a short sword. He tested the whip blade against a tall wooden dummy, splinters flying with each strike.
His two fellow Veclan friends, Habr and Amani, both had brass knuckles and were sparring with each other, wearing padded leather armor to lessen the impact.
Lastly, Silas had the most interesting and impressive weapon in my mind. He’d somehow gotten permission to attach a blade to his mechanical arm. Apparently, he woke up early and modified his arm, adding a retractable mechanism with a small dagger. He was practicing drawing it out and retracting it. The sound, the look—it was all so cool to watch. It almost made me envious of his metal arm. Almost.
We all practiced basic martial arts weapon moves until the bell rang. We quickly changed and ran to the next class, praying we wouldn’t have to deal with snakes again.
“What do you mean he tried to kill you?” Silas asked as we walked through the hallways. We were back in our neatly tailored military uniforms. Something about wearing them made me feel more confident.
“Well, not really kill us,” I said. “We weren’t in any real danger. The snakes just paralyzed everyone.”
“Uh... not everyone,” Mel said, looking back over her shoulder. She was ahead of us, walking with Vahim, Habr, and Amani on either side of them. “I killed one. And you did too, Erik. Why be so humble? Let them know how tough we are!” She flexed her muscle.
Vahim glanced at her curiously. Mel turned to look at him and stuck her tongue out. The Veclan looked away and continued forward. I could have sworn I saw Mel look disappointed.
“Yeah, well, anyway, he played a dirty joke and test on us,” I shrugged. “So don’t be surprised if some more crazy stuff happens.”
We eventually arrived at the classroom.
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I was proven wrong about anything interesting or ‘crazy’ happening. Instead, Professor Srilick had us sit in a normally lit classroom, behaved extremely normally, and had us study different kinds of herbs—ones safe to eat and ones that weren’t.
“So, Recruit Erik,” he hissed, holding up two plants. “Basssed on what we learned today, which herb is poissson and which is energizing?”
I looked at the two plants he held. It wasn’t hard to choose; we’d just learned about them at the beginning of class. Was this meant to be a challenge, or were recruits normally not this good at remembering things in an hour?
“Uh, the one without the small pods underneath the leaves,” I pointed to the smooth leaf he held out.
He smiled—a wide, toothless grin, except for his fangs. “Correct! Remember, classs, it’s important you remember thessse thingsss. They will sssave your life when you need it mossst. Musclesss, runesss, and weaponsss won’t do a burning thing if you eat the wrong leaf when you’ve run out of rations.”
We nodded as he looked around to ensure we understood.
“Recruit Mel,” he hissed. “Do you know which acorn you can eat?” He rolled three acorns onto her desk and lowered his long neck to peer at her. She looked around at us, caught off guard.
“Ahem,” she cleared her throat. “Uh... this one?” She held up the wrong one.
Professor Srilick shook his head. “Try again.”
She picked the other wrong option. “This one?”
“You really ssshould pay attention, Misss Mel.” He turned around, walked to his podium, turned on a crystal-powered overhead projector, and continued showing us more herbs, nuts, flowers, and plants.
“Professor?” I raised my hand.
“Yesss?”
“Will any of these things be in the first level of the Pillar?” I asked.
Major Srilick flicked his tongue out and squinted his eyes at me. “Very assstute question. Well, they never told us we couldn’t answer questions our studentsss make,” he mumbled to himself. He cleared his throat. “Yesss, they are. That’sss why I’ve been teaching thessse firssst.” He gave a quick wink, and the rest of the class looked at me, then at their notes, and then at the screen showing the new projected flowers. Everyone took very detailed notes for the rest of class.
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The hallway leading to our third-period classroom stretched before us, the scent of alchemical residues hanging in the air. I was reminded of Pestil’s lab and shuddered, thinking of the crucifixion of myself that I saw. Silas walked beside me, his mechanical arm whirring softly with each movement. Ruriel trailed just behind, that ever-present smirk on his lips.
“Think the professor will show up today?” Silas mused, adjusting the strap of his satchel.
“I hope so. I can’t write those runes 150 times again; I might lose my hand and end up like you,” I teased.
Ruriel chuckled. “You don’t want to end up as a gearhead soldier Erik?”
“I actually like feeling things, though that retractable blade seems pretty cool, not gonna lie,” I said.
A grin tugged at the corners of Silas’s mouth. “Well, I don’t need you stealing my glory. I’m gonna make a big name for myself. Not the ‘Gearhead Soldier’—I’ll be called the Clockwork Knight. That name will be feared among Magebloods!” He held his mechanical fist high in the air as we laughed with him.
----------------------------------------
We reached the doorway, expecting the classroom to be like it was yesterday: a large room/lab with tables filled with alchemic bottles and runes written on the chalkboard. Instead, we were met with an unusual sight. The desks and tables were pushed to the edges, leaving a vast, empty expanse in the center. The walls seemed bare, devoid of the usual charts and diagrams that were up yesterday. There was a large cart next to the door with a sign to leave our weapons. We did so and everyone started to walk in.
Mel frowned, stepping inside cautiously. “This is... different.”
Zenobia crossed her arms, walking past us, following Mel and the Veclan kids through the door. “You think the professor is prepping us for some kind of massive alchemy demonstration?”
I glanced around, a knot forming in my stomach. “Either that, or we’re in for an unconventional ‘hands-on’ lesson, like Professor Srilick did with the snakes... Be careful.”
Before we could speculate further, a subtle mist began to fill the room. Tiny particles floated in the air, shimmering as they caught the light and dancing around my face.
“What in the burning hell is that?” Lucius asked, squinting and waving the dust away.
The mist thickened, and a sweet, earthy scent enveloped us. My ears popped like I was on a plane. Suddenly, my vision blurred. The walls around us rippled like water disturbed by a pebble.
“Do you smell that?” I coughed, my throat tightening. “What the... Did he just drug us?”
Before anyone could respond, the entire room transformed. The wooden floor beneath our feet softened, giving way to moss and rich soil. Towering trees emerged from the ground. At the same time, above us in the newly made blue sky, large roots sprung out, their roots sprawling across the clouds as if gravity had reversed. Massive canopies hung suspended from the sky above. It was like trees naturally grew from the clouds and pointed down toward us. We were surrounded by a rainforest with a second rainforest hanging down above our heads.
Silas blinked rapidly, his mechanical fingers flexing. “This isn’t possible... This was the classroom, right?”
Ruriel remained stoic, though his eyes darted around warily. “This bastard is a damn maniac. Can’t even let us walk in before dosing us with psychedelics.”
A soft chuckle echoed from above. Descending gracefully on a low-hanging cloud was a man with golden robes, a bald head, and big round glasses. A scroll hanging next to him read, **Professor Rennal**.
His robes billowed around him, and his eyes gleamed behind his spectacles.
“Ah, recruits!” he exclaimed, arms wide open. “Isn’t it magnificent? A little sniff of the Glimmerleaf Herb, and you’re transported to this magical forest! With special modifications, courtesy of my runes, it becomes a class trip for the ages!”
I stepped forward, irritation bubbling within me. “Wait, so you did drug us?”
Rennal waved a dismissive hand. “Drug is such a crude term. Think of it as an immersive learning experience. Besides, rights are a tad limited for Cinders recruits, wouldn’t you say?”
Zenobia clenched her jaw. “With all due respect, Professor, a warning would’ve been appreciated.”
Rennal grinned. “Where’s the fun in that? However, I do owe you all an apology. You see, I was rather preoccupied yesterday. Staff meeting and all.”
I felt a nervous twitch creep up my spine.
—He couldn’t mean... a meeting with Pestil, could he? I asked Fern.
—‘Most likely, right? A staff meeting would mean he would be with the head of the department, which is Pestil. I don’t know if we can trust him, Erik. Do you think he knows?’
—He might. Pestil and Laska did say all the important staff would know. Let’s try to stay under the radar just in case.’ I looked around at the rest of the class. Everyone was equally confused about what sort of place we were in.
“So we’re all seeing the same stuff, right?” I asked aloud. “Giant trees around us, trees coming down from the clouds, the professor floating on a dang cloud like the Monkey King?” I gestured to Professor Rennal, who grinned and waved back at me.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I see all that, yep,” Rinka said. She stood next to Sora, who was holding onto her arm. I was glad Rinka always acknowledged my questions.
“This isn’t right,” Silas whispered. “They’re treating us like pawns.”
“We knew what we were signing up for,” Zenobia replied. “But, that doesn’t mean we have to like it.”
Rennal clapped his hands, and a series of platforms emerged from the ground, each bearing pouches filled with various items. He wrote something on a piece of parchment, and then the pouches moved toward us. We each grabbed one.
“Anyway, class, please forgive me. I beg of you,” he said in a mocking tone. “My name is Professor Rennal. I am your teacher for the year in Alchemy and Runic Applications, aka reality bending!” He let out a loud chuckle from the small soft cloud he sat on above us.
“Thank you for practicing your runes yesterday. I saw you all work hard. Except you, red hair.” He pointed at Mel.
“Me? What do you mean me? I did them!” Mel stomped her foot and glared at him.
“You most certainly did not, young lady, and for that, you may end up failing today’s... game.” He gave a wink and floated down to the ground. “I have eyes everywhere, my dear. In my classroom, you won’t get away with slacking off.”
Mel grumbled and grabbed the pouch that was offered to her from some unknown force. If we were all really dosed with drugs, it didn’t feel out of control—except for the giant trees growing from the sky and the classroom transforming into a large forest.
“Today, you’ll be working in teams,” he announced. “I like to do my lectures a little differently, you know? Practical, hands-on applications. For today, that means a team-building challenge using what you all should know!”
He stepped off his cloud and turned around, pointing to four large plateaus in the distance. “Reach the top of those, find a glowing Azure Mushroom hidden within, and you’ll pass splendidly.”
Rennal picked groups of three, one by one. Lucius, Sora, and Rinka were Group One. Mel, Zenobia, and Tevin were Group Two. Vahim, Habr, and Amani were Group Three. Professor Rennal had the groups follow a lit-up path on the ground and told them they had five minutes to get to their area. The rest of our class ran off, confused but compliant in this illusionary forest.
“Erik, Silas, Ruriel—you’ll be Group Four,” Rennal declared, pointing at the pouches we had grabbed. “Those will help you pass. Use them wisely!”
I opened my pouch to find a short dagger, its blade polished and shiny like a mirror. Silas pulled out a metal straw with a sharp, flat tip, while Ruriel unfolded a slip of paper with drawings and runes depicting an alchemical recipe.
“Do we also follow the lit-up path?” Silas pointed at the yellow and orange leaves arranged on the ground like a glowing trail.
Rennal, dramatically and absurdly, produced a multi-hook fishing pole seemingly out of thin air. With a flick of his wrist, he snagged the back of our uniforms. He stepped back onto his cloud and rose high into the air, lifting us effortlessly.
“Hey!” Silas protested, flailing slightly.
“Hold on tight!” Rennal sang, swinging us over the canopy. The forest below blurred as we soared through the air. We passed over Mel’s group; she and Zenobia pointed at us. Tevin gave us a big wave before they continued down their glowing path.
From the air, we saw the four plateaus and how the whole forest was divided into four quadrants. We were literally in some sort of escape-room-like game.
We landed unceremoniously, the ground cushioning our fall. Rennal looked at us as he dropped us off. “Now, get a move on! Time is starting... now!” He clapped his hands, and up above in the sky, between the upside-down trees, a giant countdown clock appeared. The eccentric professor winked and fluttered away on his cloud, heading in the direction of the other students.
—Are we sure he’s not a Mageblood? How the hell is this the work of alchemy and runes? I asked Fern.
—‘Beats me, Erik, but maybe this is just how strong or unique the spores are that he drugged us with. What was it called again? Glimmerleaf?’
—Yeah, that’s it.
Ruriel dusted himself off. “Well, that was delightful.”
Silas surveyed our surroundings. “So, any idea where to start?”
I tucked the dagger into my belt. “I suppose we follow the path and see where it leads.”
The forest was alive with sounds—exotic bird calls, the rustling of unseen creatures, the distant rush of water. Bioluminescent plants cast a soft glow, illuminating our way. The thick, humid air smelled like real plants and dirt. The drugs Rennal used on us were some powerful stuff, affecting every sense. I had to shake the thought for now and just play his game. We were all in this together, and although he seemed... crazy, he didn’t seem malicious—yet.
When I concentrated hard, I could see that the area we were in was really like an intricate escape room. Walls of vines surrounded us, and a very obvious path led us through. We hadn’t gone far when we encountered our first obstacle: a thick wall of glowing vines pulsating with a radiant blue light stretched across the path like a tangled web.
Silas walked up to the wall and tried to push through. The wall pulsed and hummed quickly before a quick shock shot out, sparking across Silas’s mechanical arm and up his shoulder. “Ow, ow, ow! Okay, so we’re not pushing through that!”
I drew the dagger. “Maybe we can cut through.”
“Be careful,” Ruriel cautioned. “He... what was his name again? Whatever. He said it was a game. It’s safe to say it could be trapped.”
“What else could this dagger be used for?” I asked. Ignoring the warning, I attempted to slice through one of the vines. The moment the blade made contact, the vine recoiled and then multiplied, sprouting additional tendrils that wrapped around each other, forming an even denser barrier. The vines hummed, and I jumped back, narrowly dodging a small arc of lightning that emitted from the wall.
“Great,” Ruriel sighed. “Nice one, genius.”
I grimaced. “All right, that didn’t work.”
Silas examined the vines more closely. “Do either of you know what kind of vine this is? Its blue glow is weird.”
“Nope,” I said. “What kind of professor puts their students in a situation like this without teaching them anything?”
“I mean... It’s kind of to be expected at this point. You said that yesterday in the Stealth and Survival class, they immediately turned off the lights and threw paralyzing snakes at you.”
“That’s true.”
“Let me see that,” Ruriel said, taking the metal straw from Silas and examining it. “Looks like something I’d use to get sap out of trees back outside the capital. I don’t know much about vines, but the trees back home would get plump with sap, and if we didn’t drain them, they would sprout sharp thorns.”
He positioned the straw at the base of a glowing vine, carefully piercing it. A thick, blue luminous sap began to flow through the straw and down onto the ground, creating a small puddle.
As the sap was drawn out, the vine slowly withered, retracting back into the ground and revealing an open doorway for us to walk through.
“Impressive,” I admitted. “Nice job, Rury!”
Silas smirked. “Sometimes finesse beats brute force, eh, Rury?” He nudged me.
“I do NOT like that nickname.”
“Well, too bad. I’ll be Moss-head; you be Rury.” I clapped his back as we walked through the opened path.
We continued onward, the path winding deeper into the forest. The canopy above thickened, casting dappled shadows that danced with each step. Occasionally, a heavy thud would land somewhere near us. We looked up and saw that high above the forest floor canopy, the hanging upside-down trees were dropping branches and other things onto the floor below.
In the distance, we heard a sharp scream.
“Was that Sora?”
“Probably. That girl is afraid of her own shadow. I’m not sure why she decided to stay and be a Cinder,” Ruriel said.
Silas almost tripped over a fallen branch. “Do you ever think about leaving? Just... walking away from all of this?” he asked Ruriel and me.
“And go where?” I replied. “Ash is just another cage. At least here, we have a purpose and can gain power.”
“A purpose handed to us by those who see us as tools.”
I let out a sigh. “I’ve sacrificed everything to protect my family in the past. Now, I’m doing what I have to do to survive... for now. If I quit and go outside to the town of Ash, I will never leave; I will never get a chance to find my brother.”
“Your brother? We still haven’t really found out much about each other’s past, have we?” Silas asked.
Before I could respond, Ruriel halted abruptly. “Hold up.”
Ahead of us stood a towering stone doorway, adorned with intricate carvings and three prominent symbols etched into its surface.
“A runic puzzle,” Silas observed.
Above the door, an inscription read: **Three paths converge, so only one emerges. Choose wisely, or face the closing surge.**
In front of the door was a small square sandbox. Next to the sand was a long stick.
Ruriel unfolded his slip of paper. “I’ve got the runes here on one side and some sort of recipe on the other. You think it’s the rune one?”
“Yeah, what does it say?” I asked.
“Hmm, there’s a warning. We have to draw runes in the right order perfectly, or we face failure. Looks like we only get three attempts.”
“What’s the consequence of failure?” I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I knew.
“Well,” Silas started, looking above the door, “it says ‘face the closing surge.’ Whatever that means.”
“Doesn’t sound good. Let’s move.” I urged.
We huddled together, examining the symbols on one side of the paper that Ruriel was given.
“First symbol represents ‘Earth,’” I noted. “Second is ‘Void,’ and the third is ‘Time.’”
“How in the flames do you know that already?” Ruriel asked.
“We wrote them 150 times yesterday, man. Of course, I would remember them by now.” I didn’t mention the fact that last night I had gone to the library and read through a bit about runes.
Ruriel tapped the bottom of the paper. “The riddle on the paper says, ‘From the beginning comes the end, in the void time transcends.’ And then the door itself says, ‘Three paths converge, so only one emerges.’”
I frowned. “Maybe we need to write them in the sand in the order the riddle suggests?”
“Beginning to end,” Silas mused. “So, ‘Earth,’ then ‘Void,’ then ‘Time’?”
I walked up to the sandbox and drew with the stick the runes for ‘Earth,’ ‘Void,’ and then ‘Time.’
The forest shook, and through the trees, a wall of creeping vines with thorns crept toward us before stopping.
Ruriel shook his head. “So, that wasn’t it. Too obvious. If time transcends in the void, perhaps ‘Void,’ ‘Time,’ then ‘Earth.’”
I tried again, and the thorny vines came closer.
“Decide quickly,” I urged.
A familiar chuckle resonated above. Looking up, we spotted Professor Rennal lounging on his cloud, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“Now this I’ve got to see!” he called down. “One more attempt—what will you do, boys?”
I took a deep breath, centering myself.
—Fern, any thoughts?
—‘I don’t have anything; I’m horrible at riddles!’ He sounded panicked.
I repeated the riddle. “From the beginning comes the end, in the void, time transcends.”
“Wait,” I murmured. “Maybe it’s ‘Time,’ ‘Void,’ ‘Earth.’ Time begins, the void is the end, and the earth transcends? Although... I’m just guessing here. Who designed this?”
“I don’t have any better ideas. It’s worth a shot,” Ruriel agreed.
I wrote the symbols in that order in the sand. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a low rumble, the vine walls retracted, and before us, the stone doors swung open, revealing the path ahead.
“Well done!” Rennal applauded from above before drifting away.
Silas let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “That was too close.”
We pressed on, climbing a large hill and emerging into a clearing where a deep chasm split the ground. On the other side, a faint glow hinted at our goal—the mushroom.
“How are we going to get across now?” Silas wondered.
A makeshift table stood nearby, laden with assorted ingredients and a small cauldron.
“Hey, Rury, let me see that paper again. You said there was a recipe, right?” I held out my hand.
Ruriel unfolded his paper and handed it to me.
“It’s a recipe for a levitation potion,” I said. “Levitation... really? Damn, this world just gets more and more interesting. Borax, sea spur shoots, and something called Coalated Nutrient Liquid. Mix in that order.”
“Simple enough,” Silas commented.
“Is it? I have no idea what sea spur shoots are or this nutrient liquid.”
“Well, I know sea spurs. I saw them all the time down by the docks,” Silas said.
“And we were fed that damn juice in the capital,” Ruriel added.
“Juice?” I asked.
“The nutrient liquid. It’s a cheap, affordable food the royals would provide to us in the poorer districts to keep us fed. Tasted awful, and I’m not sure exactly what went into it. My pops always said they were poisoning us.”
“Hmm, interesting. I want to learn more about your past later, Rury, and of course, I’ll tell you mine.”
He nodded.
We gathered the ingredients, carefully measuring and combining them. The concoction bubbled, emitting a faint, iridescent mist.
“Who’s going first?” I asked.
Ruriel shrugged. “I’ll do it.”
He dipped a ladle into the potion, drinking it down. Almost immediately, his feet lifted off the ground.
“Whoa!” He began to rise steadily, a look of alarm crossing his face.
“Hold on!” Silas shouted. “Why did you drink the whole thing? Erik, hurry—do something!”
I looked around quickly and saw a coil of rope on the table. I grabbed it and tossed one end up to the slowly rising Ruriel. He was about fifteen feet above our heads now. He caught it, and we wrapped the rope around Silas’s arm.
Silas locked the rope in place by pressing a lever that stopped his fingers from releasing.
“Is there any potion left?” Silas asked. I ran over to the table and frowned. In my panic to grab the rope and hold Ruriel down, the cauldron had flipped over.
“Shit,” I said. “We’re out of it.”
“What do we do?” Silas panicked. He held the rope and the levitating Ruriel like a kite.
“Hey, guys? How long is this supposed to last? I feel like I’m falling a little already.”
We looked up and saw he was indeed slowly descending.
“No time. We need to go. Rury, get ready to grab onto something. Silas, we’re going to run together and hold on.”
“Wait, now?”
I looked up and saw Ruriel was only about seven feet above us now.
“Yes, now! Go!”
I pushed Silas, and we started sprinting toward the edge of the chasm. Ruriel was dragged through the air like a balloon.
We took a jump, and I grabbed onto Silas, locking my legs together. We soared across the chasm. As we flew, I saw the edge of the other side rise above me.
“We’re not gonna make it!” Silas screamed.
“Grab something!” I shouted up to Ruriel. “Be ready to hold on to the wall,” I said to Silas.
We slammed into the rock wall, and Ruriel disappeared over the top. I almost lost my hold on Silas but found footing on a small edge along the rock face. Silas also grabbed onto the cliffside, and we hung there for a moment. I looked down—which was a mistake—and saw rapids below.
—‘Erik! Save us!’ Fern shouted. I could almost envision him next to me, shaking in fear of the height.
Just then, I saw Silas being lifted upward by the rope still attached to his arm. Ruriel poked his head over the side after Silas had gotten up.
“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about, Ruriel!” I shouted and gave him a thumbs-up before gripping the wall again.
“What would you do without me?” he said as he lowered the rope and pulled me up.
As I got up, I thanked him. We dusted off our now dirty black and gold military dress uniforms. “Well, if you didn’t chug that potion, we all could’ve hopped across easily.”
“Well, maybe I like to keep things interesting, mate,” he said, slapping me on the back before we continued up the plateau.
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After a few more minutes of hiking, mushrooms began to appear around us as we neared the top. They were brown and blue; some were red, and others were black. However, as we reached the summit of the plateau, nestled in a large nest was our prize: a blue and white spotted, brightly glowing fungus—the Azure Mushroom.
But guarding the mushrooms was a large creature—a feathered, dragon-like beast with piercing golden eyes. It watched us warily, its tail flicking. It didn’t seem threatened or threatening.
“Looks like we’ve found it,” Silas whispered.
“Any ideas on what to do about that thing?” Ruriel whispered. “It’s way too big to take out with just our hands. Wait, you have that dagger, Erik.”
“I can’t kill it! Look at the poor thing; it’s majestic,” I said.
“Do you not remember? None of this is real. We’re hallucinating. Hells, we’re probably just bumping into each other in the classroom. To anyone passing by, we probably look intoxicated.”
He was right; none of this was really real. But the creature seemed so alive. Its golden eyes looked deep into mine, as if waiting for me to make a move.
“Well, Erik?” Silas asked.
I retrieved the dagger, noticing how its blade caught the ambient light. A small reflection from the fake sun caused a circle of light to appear on the ground. As it did so, I noticed the feathered dragon’s ears perk up.
—No... could I really do this? Would this even work? I thought with a smile, remembering childhood pets.
I positioned the blade at an angle, catching the reflection more and guiding it toward the creature, creating a dancing beam of light on the ground.
“Oh look, it’s a fairy! You see the fairy?” I said in a childish voice.
—‘What are you doing?’ Fern asked.
“What are you doing?” Silas whispered.
“Trust me,” I said aloud.
The creature’s eyes followed the movement, curiosity piqued. It stirred and stood up, eyes laser-focused on the small circle of light. I made the light twitch left and right, then angled the blade to send the reflected light off down the hill we came up on. The huge feathered beast pounced over us and ran after the light down the hill, momentarily forgetting about the mushroom.
“Now!” I hissed.
Silas darted forward, carefully plucking the Azure Mushroom and tucking it safely into his pouch.
“Got it!”
We backed away slowly, not wanting to disturb the creature’s nest. Once we were a safe distance, it lost interest in the now-disappeared light and returned to its post among the fungi.
A doorway materialized behind us, framed by vines that parted like curtains. Stepping through, we found ourselves back in the transformed classroom, the forest fading away behind us.
Other teams began to emerge as well. Mel looked defeated, while Zenobia was grinning ear to ear.
“I hate riddles,” Mel said. “Why couldn’t I just smash my way through?”
“Brute force will only get you so far,” Tevin patted Mel on the back. To my surprise, she didn’t flinch. Usually, when a man came close to her, she would tense up.
Professor Rennal, no longer on a hovering cloud, walked up to us. Looking back at the room, I saw that he had been standing on ladders watching us navigate things, a satisfied grin stretching across his face.
“Congratulations, everyone! You’ve all performed admirably.”
Lucius approached Rennal, frowning. The white-haired boy looked exhausted. Sora and Rinka were behind him, covered in mud. Their once-clean and pristine uniforms were dirty. I wondered what had happened to them.
“Professor, what was the purpose of this exercise?” Lucius asked.
Rennal’s eyes twinkled. “Why, to prepare you for the unexpected, of course! The world won’t present its challenges neatly packaged. You must be adaptable and resourceful.”
“And the spores?” I pressed. “Was that necessary?”
He chuckled. “A little nudge to broaden your perceptions. Besides, it was all perfectly safe.”
Zenobia crossed her arms. “Feels like there should’ve been a waiver involved.”
Rennal waved off the comment. “Details, details. Now, as for what’s next...”
He paused dramatically, letting the anticipation build.
“I believe you all know about the upcoming Practical,” he declared. “Consider today’s lesson a mere taste of what’s to come.”
“Wait,” Silas interjected. “You mean the scavenger hunt in the Pillar?”
Rennal’s grin widened. “Precisely! The skills you’ve honed today will serve you well. Pay attention to the details, think outside the box, trust in your abilities, and perhaps you’ll come out unscathed.”
With that, he clapped his hands and took a deep bow. “Class dismissed!”
We exchanged glances; all of us had a drained look about us.
“Well,” Ruriel sighed, “that was enlightening.”
“At least we know what we’re up against,” Vahim offered.
Zenobia nodded thoughtfully. “If the Pillar’s anything like what we just experienced, we’ll need to be on our guard.”
As we gathered our belongings and headed toward the exit, Zenobia caught up to us.
“Hey, how’d it go for you?” she asked.
“We had a few hiccups, but we came out all right,” I replied with a shrug. “What about you? Mel seems... annoyed.”
She smiled. “When is she not? She’s just mad Tevin and I are riddle masters.” The curly-haired girl puffed out her chest with pride.
“Do you think we’re ready for the Practical?” I inquired.
Her expression grew serious. “All I know is we need to stick together out there. These classes... they aren’t just for fun; we’re being given hints.”
“Agreed,” I said firmly. “It’s all to help us in the Pillar. I’m glad you recognize it. It’ll make it easier to get everyone on the same page when it starts.”
“Three more days,” she said with a sigh.
“We can do it.” I held out my fist, and she bumped her knuckles with mine.
----------------------------------------
As we walked down the corridor toward lunch, we were walking closer together. These classes, this training—regardless of how difficult or unorthodox they were—were bringing us together.
When we entered the lunchroom, a large crowd had formed in the center. Several people were yelling, so we ran up to see what was happening.
“He’s always challenging him,” one student said.
“House Anu sure does like to make a big show of their business,” another remarked.
A fight was forming in the cafeteria. And Waelid was in the middle of it.