At breakfast, Waelid leaned back in his chair, waiting for us. He was chewing on a piece of dried meat and smirking by the time the last of the first-years sat down. “So, I bet you all are getting pretty nervous, huh? Fifteen of you left, and the big trial so close. How many more days until the trial? Do you know, Galina?” he called out.
I turned around and saw Galina, the glass-skinned, black-eyed, otherwordly . . . being leaned in the doorway. “One week, Waelid.”
“Ah yes, one week. Do you want to know what it will be?” He looked around the room, waiting for someone to answer.
At this point we had all learned that Waelid loved one thing, attention, and so our one way to get back at him for overtraining us and making so many of our classmates drop out was to give him none.
“The trial is going to be a scavenger hunt, held on the first floor,” he said after no one answered him.
The announcement stirred a mix of groans and speculation from our table. Scavenger hunt? That could mean anything in the pillar.
Still, I felt sharper today. All the bruises and scrapes from yesterday’s chaos had healed, and after a night of sleep, we looked the part of true recruits—dressed in our crisp black-and-gold military uniforms and ready to tackle another day of classes. There was something about the way the fitted coats rested against our shoulders after a morning workout and shower. They gave the illusion of prestige, of control, and of power.
After Waelid refused to give us any more details on the trial, we ignored him and ate in peace before leaving for classes. At times, it was hard to believe that the attention-seeking leader of House Anu had really taken down a guardian in his first year.
Hopsander’s Combat and Tactics class was filled with nonstop drills using the staves he had us use the day before. The frog-man made it very clear we wouldn’t move on to real weapons until long after the trail. Not until we “mastered the way of the wood.”
After combat training, we headed to Professor Srilick’s classroom, nervous and half expecting more trouble. The contrast between the lesson today and the lesson from yesterday was almost jarring though—the bright, orderly room lacked any of the cruel surprises we experienced the day before. No sudden darkness. No snakes. Just a lesson about survival herbs.
The serpentlike professor slithered between desks, his voice a slow, drawn-out hiss. “Pay attention, classsss. Musclesss, runesss, and weaponsss won’t sssave you if you eat the wrong leaf when you’ve run out of rationsss.”
He lifted two plants between his clawed fingers. “Recruit Erik,” he called. “Which of thessse two isss poissson, and which will keep you moving?”
It was almost too easy. We had just covered this at the start of class, but I assumed the academy was used to dealing with people who had no formal education or understanding on how to take proper notes in a classroom. “The one without the small pods under the leaves is safe,” I said, pointing to the smooth-leaved plant.
Professor Srilick grinned, a flash of fangs. “Correct. Perhapsss you will do well in the trial.”
Mel, on the other hand, failed spectacularly when asked to identify an edible acorn. Twice. Within five minutes.
The professor sighed, rolling his beady eyes before continuing his lecture. By the time class ended, the rest of us were frantically scribbling notes, especially after I’d asked if any of these plants would be found in the first level of the pillar. Srilick’s knowing glance and brief answer—yes—made it clear that this wasn’t just busywork.
We left the classroom with fresh paranoia brewing, making our way down the long hallway leading to Alchemy and Runic Applications.
The scent of alchemical residue clung to the air—burned herbs, minerals, something vaguely metallic. I suppressed a shudder, recalling Pestil’s lab and the grotesque illusion he’d put me through.
Silas walked beside me, adjusting the strap of his satchel. “Think the professor will actually show up today?”
“I hope so,” I muttered. “I can’t write those runes again. I might lose my hand and end up like you.”
Silas scoffed. “As if you’d ever be as cool as me.”
Luna, walking just behind us, chuckled softly. “You both talk too much.”
When we arrived, something was immediately off. The air smelled wet. My tongue felt particles fall onto as I breathed, and the room was cloudy when I looked in.
The desks and tables had been shoved to the walls, leaving a vast, empty space in the center of the room. A large cart near the door bore a sign instructing us to leave our weapons.
We hesitated, but one by one, we put our staves in the cart. We were only able to tell them apart thanks to small colored ribbons with designs tied to them. Hopsander had picked them, so there was no real personal attachment to them, but I liked my ribbon. A black symbol on a white background. A circle with a triangle inside it, with a square inside that, and a circle inside that. It was interesting to me and seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn’t tell why. In reality it was a simple design that could have been used on Earth plenty of times. Regardless, I set my staff down and walked in the door.
Then the mist rolled in.
It started subtly—fine particles dancing in the air, catching the light in odd, shimmering ways. The scent shifted, taking on an earthy, almost sweet quality. My ears popped like I was on a plane, and suddenly, my vision wavered.
The walls rippled, warping like reflections in disturbed water.
The wooden floor beneath our feet softened, giving way to moss and soil. Towering trees surged upward, their canopies so high they vanished into a false blue sky. Above us, roots twisted down from the heavens, forming a second upside-down forest in the sky.
“What in the burning hell is that?” Silas muttered, waving his mechanical hand in front of his face as if trying to dispel the illusion.
“Do you smell that?” I coughed, my throat tightening. “What the . . . Is there something in the air? It smells . . . sweet?”
A chuckle echoed from above.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Descending from the clouds on white rope, a bald man in the black-and-red uniform of a professor adjusted his round spectacles. A parchment scroll unfurled beside him, bearing his name in elegant script: Professor Rennal.
“Ah, recruits!” he called out, arms wide. “Isn’t it magnificent? A mere whiff of vaporized glimmerleaf herb and voilà! A perfect recreation of the Cavernous Canopy, the place of your first trial, is created before your eyes! With some added runic modifications, of course.”
I stepped forward, irritation bubbling up. “Wait . . . so did you just drug us?”
Rennal waved dismissively. “Oh, come now. Drug is such a nasty word when used like a verb. Consider this an immersive learning experience.”
One of our classmates muttered something under her breath about waivers.
Rennal clapped his hands, sending shimmering light cascading around the clearing. “Now, on to today’s exercise! You see those three plateaus?” He gestured toward distant, towering landmasses covered in glowing fungi. What was once a small classroom of no more than thirty feet long was now a wide expanse. I wasn’t sure how this would all work out since we were under a plant’s hallucinogenic effects, but I had no real choice other than to go along with the “class.”
Professor Rennal continued. “Each of you will get into one of three groups and retrieve a glowing azure mushroomafter navigating through their plateau. You’ll have two challenges: one to test your bravery, and one to test your memory! It will be fun! Nothing like a test of wit, and teamwork, to introduce you to the world of runes!”
The class exchanged glances as we rushed to divide ourselves into our already established cliques.
The six of us luckily got to stick together.
‘Do you think we should ever try to get to know the other House Anu recruits?’ Fern asked me.
Back when I went to school on Earth, it sort of went like this too. You find a group and you stick with them. Life moves fast, and here in this academy, it’s moving at the speed of light. I am not sure we would have time at this point. At least this semester. You know?
‘I suppose so,’ Fern said.
The moment Rennal finished assigning groups, he yanked us into the air.
A multihooked fishing pole materialized in his hands, and with a flick of his wrist, we were snagged by our uniforms and hoisted skyward.
“Hold on tight!” Rennal sang, swinging us over the treetops.
The ground blurred beneath us as we flew past the other teams. Sora screamed and scrambled to grab Mel, while Tevin laughed giddily like a child. I caught a glimpse of Luna holding her mouth with one hand and her stomach with the other, and immediately I became nervous about my clean clothes’ safety.
In seconds, we landed on our plateau hard. Hedges surrounded us like a maze.
I groaned, pushing myself up as Rennal’s voice echoed from above. “And now . . . begin!”
A wall of thorny vines stood directly in our path, pulsing faintly with blue energy.
Silas reached out to push through—and immediately yelped as an arc of lightning zapped his mechanical arm. “Ow, ow, ow! Okay. So we’re not pushing through that.”
Mel sighed and picked up a rock. “Let me smash it.”
“Wait,” Luna said. “Listen.”
We hesitated, turning toward her. She knelt, running a hand over the dirt. “They aren’t regular vines.”
I furrowed my brow, focusing. At first, I heard nothing. But then, beneath the hum of the glowing thorns, a faint hissing sound—snakes.
“Shit,” I muttered.
Sora paled. “More snakes? I hate this.”
Luna, however, seemed unbothered. She reached down and pushed her small hand through the dirt. It was looser than expected. She then lifted something up—a long green vine with dull thorns, and at the head of the vine were six beady eyes.
“Not a snake,” Luna said. “These are scrollvines. Creatures that live near their cousin, a much bigger, carnivorous, reptilian creature called a scrollguard. But these scrollvines? These little ones have potent blood that will knock you out cold if you cut them.” Another slithered up her arm. She held them like they were pets.
“How are you—?” Tevin started, but she cut him off.
“Just move with peace,” she said simply. “Know in your heart that they won’t hurt you. If you believe it, they will believe it. You create your own outcome.”
Mel scowled. “Great. I’ll just listen to the magical snake girl’s nonsense, then.”
I stood up and followed Luna as she simply walked through the wall of snakelike vines. It was thick, dozens and dozens of feet thick, and every step I took, I had to yell at myself to calm down so the vines wouldn’t bite me. The hissing made me sweat, but in my mind I repeated over and over you are safe, you are safe.
When I finally emerged on the other side, I waited with Luna for the others. Tevin came through first, smiling like a happy baby and playing with one of the scrollvines in his hand. Next, Sora came up, followed by Silas, both unharmed. Only Mel had been bitten. She emerged from the thick vines cursing like a sailor. Her face and arms were covered in several bite marks from the scrollvines, and one was still hanging onto her thigh. She shook it off, muttering, “Stupid plants think they are snakes.”
We pushed past the last of the vines and emerged at the second and final challenge.
A massive chasm stretched before us, its jagged edges leading to a sheer drop. On the other side, nestled in a patch of glowing fungi, sat our prize—the azure mushroom.
A small table stood near the ledge, holding a cauldron, herbs, and vials. Next to it, a coil of rope was taped with a note:
Brew the levitation potion by translating the runic recipe below.
I stepped forward and squinted at the runes. “Uhh . . .”
Luna smoothly plucked the note from my hands, scanning it with an almost amused expression. “This is easy.”
Mel folded her arms. “You say that, but we literally just learned how to read runes yesterday.”
Luna smirked. “Let’s just say I’ve had some prior experience.”
Mel rolled her eyes, but no one questioned it further.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not putting my faith in my translation skills.” I turned to the group. “Anyone else?”
Silence.
“Well, I guess we’re following Luna’s lead. Tell us what to do, boss.”
She nodded and got to work, directing us through the potion-making process after she had translated the runes. It was surprisingly easy once we had the translation done, and within minutes, the mixture was complete. It shimmered with a faint golden glow.
Silas exhaled, eyeing the bubbling liquid in the cauldron. “All right. Who’s testing it?”
Before anyone could answer, Tevin grabbed the ladle.
“I got it.”
Luna’s eyes flickered with alarm. She stepped forward. “Tevin, wait—”
Too late. Tevin bypassed the ladle entirely, grabbing the entire cauldron like it was a morning coffee, and chugged the whole thing.
For a second, nothing happened. Then—
“Uh, guys?” Tevin flailed as his feet lifted off the ground. “Why am I going up?”
The now-empty cauldron clattered onto the dirt.
“What the hell do you mean, why am I going up?” Mel shouted.
“Shit.” I ran a hand through my hair as I saw there were no more herbs left. “That was our only batch.”
Tevin continued drifting upward, his massive frame slowly floating over the chasm.
“Our ride across is leaving without us,” I muttered. We needed a plan—fast.
Luna was already moving, grabbing the coil of rope before I even said anything. She spun and tossed one end to Mel.
“Mel!”
Mel caught it with one hand and quickly tied a loop at the end. She started swinging it in wide circles, the rope whistling through the air.
“You better catch this, Tevin!” she yelled.
She let it fly. The loop soared through the air—
Tevin’s massive hand snatched it mid-float.
“YES!” Sora cheered.
Silas and I grabbed the other end, bracing ourselves. Sora, Mel, and Luna took up the front.
“GO!”
We sprinted toward the edge.
Just as we ran out of ground, Tevin’s grip held, anchoring us midair.
The levitation effect carried him forward, and we swung like a pendulum, momentum propelling us toward the other side.
The ground rushed up to meet us.
We landed in a rolling crash—a mess of limbs and rope—but we made it.
Mel sat up first, laughing breathlessly. “Damn, that was fun.”
“Speak for yourself,” I groaned, rubbing my knees. My bones felt like liquid. Heights and I weren’t friends.
Tevin finally stopped floating, and we pulled him down to solid ground.
Luna moved ahead and crouched over the azure mushroom. Gently, she plucked it from its nest.
Instantly, a shimmering doorway appeared, humming with energy.
Luna glanced back at us, then shrugged. She was starting to take the lead more and more. It was like she instinctively knew what we needed to do.
One by one, we stepped through.
Light flashed—and suddenly, we were back in the classroom.
Gone was the towering forest. The illusion had vanished.
Professor Rennal now dangled from a very normal, very physical rope tied to the ceiling, lazily swinging back and forth like a child on a swing.
He grinned.
“Well done!” he called out. “That was . . . mildly entertaining.”
He slowly spun, his robes fluttering as he smirked. “But tell me, recruits—will you fare so gracefully in the real trial?”
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