Chereads / Ozania Odyssey / Chapter 14 - Chapter 14: Jax's First Phase of the Cadet Exam! A Series of Complicated Riddles!

Chapter 14 - Chapter 14: Jax's First Phase of the Cadet Exam! A Series of Complicated Riddles!

We now shift to the POV of Jax beginning his Cadet Exam. Before he enters the building, he observes Navar and Miri entering their exam building and grins at them with conviction. "Don't worry, guys, I'll pass this exam. I promise!"

Jax ventures down the dusky corridor, and when he enters the exam room, he's greeted by a man with a golden tan complexion, glossy brown hair, and olive green eyes. "Hey, Mr. Okayasu, we're glad you could make it. Now I'll let your tardiness slide since no one is perfect but don't make it a habit."

"Thank you, sir," Jax glances around the room, noticing the metal chairs and desks as he searches for an open spot. "Hey Jax, sit with me!" said a familiar voice.

Rojo gives Jax a welcoming smirk as he gestures to the chair next to him with his hand. "Rojo!" Jax's cheeks flush with delight as he moves to sit beside him. After the 20 recruits are seated, Shoda strides to the front of the room. "Greetings, everyone. My name is Shoda Masaki, Rank Senior Hacker of the Engineer Division, and I will be your instructor for the first phase of the Cadet Exam."

"The Cadet Exam is separated into 3 phases. And for this first phase, it's a test of your mental fortitude by solving riddles. Questions before I hand out papers?"

"…"

"I'll hand everyone a sheet of paper to begin the first phase. For each riddle, you will be given ten minutes to solve them."

Shoda's hand moves across the whiteboard, creating a riddle with the black dry-erase marker. "I am only one color, not one size. I am stuck at the bottom, yet I easily fly. I am present during a bright gleaming sun but absent during the powerful showering rain. I do no harm and no pain. What am I?"

"For this first riddle, you may use the classroom itself and then seated next to you as help. Get started!" The testers observe the class for clues directly after the cue. "Present during a gleaming sun, yet absent during the powerful showering rain. What the hell does that mean?" asks Rojo.

Jax surveys the classroom, trying to find some sign that will help him unravel this puzzling conundrum. "If he told us, we can examine the classroom for hints. There's a hint somewhere in here. But where?" Jax thinks to himself.

"7 minutes left!" says the instructor.

As he continues to observe, Jax can't help but pick up on something unusual about Shoda. "He hasn't taken a step from his place since he gave the riddle. Not only that, he's standing directly in the light. If I remember correctly, he mentioned, "He is present during a gleaming sun but gone during the rain. If he were to turn off the light from where he's standing, what would vanish?"

Jax's face breaks into a smile as he finally finds the answer. "That's it! It's a shadow!" Jax thinks to himself.

Rojo turns his gaze towards Jax, noticing the widened pupils of Jax's eyes. "Hey, Jax, did you figure it out?"

Jax jabs a finger in Shoda's direction. "He's standing in the light and hasn't moved from that spot since he gave us the first riddle."

"Okay, what does that have to do with anything about the riddle?"

"Rojo, what would vanish if he moved from his spot?"

"What are y-. Oh! You're talking about his sh-"

Jax presses his hand firmly against Rojo's lips, cutting off any noise from it. "Don't say the answer out loud!"

Rojo's face flushes as he rubs his head in embarrassment. "My bad.."

Once the clock strikes the 10-minute mark, a blaring alarm echoes throughout the room. "Ok, pencils down!"

Shoda grabs the papers from the testers, shuffling the stack as he makes his way to the front of the room. "Ok, now for the second riddle. This poem has the same four letters for four-letter words with four words in total. For this part of the phase, you can't rely on help from your desk partner."

"Dammit," said Rojo under his breath.

"Four letters form me quite complete, as all who breathe show. Reversed, you'll find I am the seat of infamy and woe. Transposed, you see, I'm base and mean, Again, of Jewish Race. Transposed once more, I oft am seen, to hide a lovely face. You may attempt to solve the riddle now."

"Ok, let's break this down… Four letters from him quite complete, as all who breathe, do show. What four-letter words mean being able to breathe and move? Hmmm, let's see. I'm pretty sure that's alive, but the word alive is five words, not four."

"He said there were clues around the classroom. Maybe I outta take a closer look," When Jax scans the room, he notices a poster that reads 'Don't be absent' with a big, red X over the letter A. "That's it! It's Live, that's the first word. Reversed, you'll find I am the seat of all infamy and woe. Reversed... infamy... woe… what does reverse me- That's it! It's evil. So Live and Evil are the first two words, good. Transposed, you will see I'm base and mean. To be transposed means you trade places. I got it! So The three words are Live, Evil, and Vile. I need two more. I oft am seen to hide a lovely face. Hide a lovely face?? Oft am seen? Wait a second… lovely is likely describing a woman's appearance, and what words with V L E and I hide a woman's face? A Veil! That's it!"

"Ok, last one. Hmmm, the Jewish religion is something I know little to nothing about. Maybe I outta search the class for clues." Finally, we have one more word, and I know little to nothing about the Jewish religion. I should look around the class for clues."

Jax turns his head to the right and spots clothes on the wall, the colors vibrant against the pale walls of the room. "Those appear to be Shoda's change of clothes, but why in the hell are they on display?" Jax took a closer look at the clothes and spots the familiar Levi logo on the back pocket. "Wait, the poem said transposed. He's of the Jewish race. So my guess is the answer is Levi since it goes hand in hand with the lettering of the other words. That's all there is to it," With internal clarity, Jax presses his pen to the paper to write out his riddles.

"13 Minutes to go!" says Shoda.

Jax looks over and sees Rojo is troubled by how his eyes dart around the room. "Damn, this riddle really seems to be tough on him," He gives Rojo's shoulder a light tap. "Psst, Rojo."

Rojo glances at Jax, their eyes meeting briefly. "What is it?"

"I have the answers. Do you want em?"

"Yeah, p- "

"Shh! No talking during this question. One more peep out of either of you, and you're both disqualified from this year's exam."

"Yes, sir," says Jax and Rojo

"Don't worry, Jax; I'll be all right. I have this question halfway figured out, anyway."

Once the 20-minute delay passes, a high-pitched alarm fills the air. "Ok, pencils down and give me your papers!" Shoda collects the papers from the testers and walks to the front of the classroom. "This riddle will be the final one of the first phase. This riddle is a murder mystery, and it goes like this; A man is found hanging in a room four feet off the floor. There's nothing else in the room except a large puddle of water underneath him. The police see nothing the man would have to climb on to hang himself. Did he commit suicide, and if so, how did he do it? You may use the guidance of your desk partner for help this time…. Good luck."

"Ok, Rojo, let's take this apart piece by piece."

"Got ya. So, where do we start?"

"He's hanging from a rope with no objects in the area but a puddle underneath him and the rope he hung himself from. With that being there, I can think of a couple of scenarios."

"One scenario is that he used a small object with just the right height to jump and hang himself on the rope while the object he kicked somehow flew out of view from the puddle of water being there."

"I disagree. I'm sure the forensics team would have found something like that in the area if that were the case. I'd say that's the least likely amongst them all."

"Ok, moving on. What if he stood on a block of ice, and it melted low enough to make his suicide attempt successful?"

"I can see that. For starters, that'd explain the puddle of water beneath him. And it could also explain why he could hang himself on no chair or any other objects."

"So, the block of ice is the answer?"

"Yes, it is."

"All right, let's write that down," Jax and Rojo write the answer on their papers.

Once the thirty minutes end, an alarm blares and echoes through the room. "Time!" Shoda grabs the applicant's papers, then heads to the front of the room. "Ok, everyone! I'll begin grading papers. If you scored less than 5 out of 10 points, you are out of this exam."

Shoda finishes grading the riddles, his fingertips brushing across the papers as he arranges them into a tidy stack. "I have finished grading your papers! If you pass, I'll give you your papers. If you fail, well, you're done for this year, and I recommend getting smarter by studying before you retake it."

Shoda disperses the test results, the student's eyes fixed on him as he moves from desk to desk. "Oh boy, I hope I passed," says Rojo

Shoda hands Jax and Rojo their papers. "You two passed! Great job!"

Rojo and Jax let out a loud whoop of joy when the results are revealed to them. "What grade did you get?" asked Rojo.

"I got a ten out of ten!"

"Wow, I got a 6 out of 10. Those questions were hard. Let's hope this next phase isn't too hard, considering how hard this one was."

After Shoda finishes passing out everyone's papers, thirteen testers remain out of twenty. "For your next phase, please proceed to the transport bay for phase 2."

Upon leaving the classroom, the examiners reach the transport bay door, where the hum of the transport ship engines fills the air. "Ever been to space, Jax?"

"No. I wonder what it's like, though."

"Trust me. You're gonna love it!"

They enter the space bus and buckle up, the door locking echoing in the confined space. "Please strap into your seats for a secure and safe lift-off."

Once all the rookies are seated and buckled up, the transport door shuts, and the ship screams as it launches into the sky. With a twinkle in his eye, Jax grins as he thinks of Navar and Miri. "I'm a couple of steps away from passing... See you soon!"