Narrated by John
The race had been pretty good for me.
Thanks to my speed, I'd gained a good position during the first sprint. I hadn't done very well in The Smasher though, and had to dodge my way through it. The forest was my turf, and I effortlessly sped through the trees.
When we'd reached the labyrinth, I was among the first hundred, which was a good thing.
Now, the maze was in front of us. Many people tried to enter, but kept falling down. I went to Alex, who'd tried several times in vain.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
He shrugged,"I, uh, dunno. Feels like an invisible wall right there. How are we supposed to enter?"
"Hmm...."
I walked to the entrance, and pit my hand on it. It was a wall, alright. An invisible one. I ran my hands along the wall, and it felt solid all over. I didn't find any way inside.
It wasn't possible! There had to be a way in. But how? The wall was solid everywhere...
Right then, an idea struck me. I willed out my energy, and a red aura eclipsed me.
I walked to the wall, and I could feel my energy rebounding against the surface of the wall. I closed my eyes and walked along the wall, searching for any openings.
There!
A few metres away from where I started, o didn't feel anything reflecting back my energy. I opened my eyes, to see the wall in front of me. It looked and felt solid, but my aura could go right through it....
I touched the wall. It felt solid. I pressed my hand against it, and my hand went right through it. It was like going through a thin membrane.
I'd found the entrance to the maze. I looked at Alex, and nodded. He got the hint. So did a few other students.
Footsteps rushed behind me, and a few people pushed me back and ran through the entrance. I got up, and went in too, with Alex following me.
It was dark inside, and my aura acted as the only illumination there. Most of the students had rushed forward, with only a few following me.
It was a single pathway, but we reached a dead end soon, and the other students were there too. From what I could say, there was another invisible entrance.
I walked along the walls again, and found the second entrance. However, I went a few steps ahead, and nodded. The students rushed to the wall in full speed, and collided, stunning them. Alex was running too, but I grabbed his wrist pulled him with me through the second entrance.
We'd gained the first two places, and went with a constant pace. The maze itself was a single path, but you just had to find the secret entrances. A test of focus indeed, as I actually had to check every speck of energy that might or might not rebound.
As we progressed further, focusing on finding entrances became harder. I found multiple entrances on the same wall, but only one was correct, the one in which the energy went in further. I got random visions inside my mind, ranging from Collin, to sparring fights. It was as if the labyrinth itself was playing mind games with me.
But, we somehow managed to make our way to the exit. Alex and I were the first to emerge outside, and we didn't wait for anyone. We ran along the pathway, and heard footsteps behind us. Many other students had made it out too. I didn't see how they could. Maybe they had been tailing us throughout the maze.
But we had an advantage over them, as we were already at a good distance from them.
We entered a broad road, leading back into the city. We were probably in the final parts of the race.
As soon as I stepped on to the road, translucent blue-coloured jelly-like substances began to fly towards me, and began sticking to me. Soon, my entire body, except my head, was covered in blue jelly.
The jelly was super heavy, and weighted down my body to a great extent. I was forced to move at a snail's pace.
I turned, and saw the Alex and the others were having the same issue. Then, Jimmy's helicopter appeared, and he said,"This obstacle is called the Ener-Jelly! This jelly is super heavy, and the only way to get rid of it, is to dissolve it with your energy! Simply will your energy out, and the jelly will begin dissolving!"
That was it?
I willed all of my energy out, and I could definitely feel the weight decreasing slowly. I began moving at a quicker pace, and I'd ran a few metres, before the jelly fully dissolved, and formed a slimy pool on the road.
I ran at faster speed, as there was only one last obstacle remaining. Alex followed, and the others too, but I had a headstart, and maintained a good lead.
After running for some distance, I came in front of a huge building. There was only one door, and I went inside it, to enter a room. The room was fully white. White walls, white ceiling, white tiled floor, everything was white. The room stretched a long way, and I could only see a small black dot. The exit.
I began running, but the temperature suddenly increased. It continued increasing steadily, and the more I ran, the more exhaustion took over me. The heat was too much, and the others had entered the room too.
Many of them felt the same as me, but a few weren't affected much. Alex went past me, and glanced at me, and nodded. He wanted me to qualify. I raised my head, and began moving.
I caught sight of a redhead boy running past me, and nearly catching up with Alex. It was Gordon. And finally, black hair, glinting eyes. Collin sped through, and didn't even look at me.
No, I thought to myself, not now. Don't give up now!
I got up, and suddenly, the temperature fell. It was suddenly freezing, and my muscles contracted under the cold. I managed to move though, but not very fast.
I began moving with a constant pace, as the temperature and pressure kept changing randomly, testing our endurance. I wasn't good at all, and struggled here.
At last, I made it out. My vision was hazy, and exhaustion had taken a toll. I was on spaghetti legs, and was too burnt out to move.
However, the thought of Mr. Benji kept me moving. There was no way I'd let him down. I had to get this done. At any cost.
The path in front of us led us back to the stadium entrance, which was the finish line. I was in the first fifty, around the fortieth place or so. I began increasing my speed, but my legs were feeling numb. O couldn't go any faster, and was jogging at the best.
I'd managed to overtake and make my way to the thirtieth place. The entrance was so close...
I made a good distance between me and the other runners, and saw Anne running in front of me.
That was it. All of us would qualify.
Many had already crossed the finish line. Alex and Gordon were watching us from the stadium.
Only a few more metres, and I'd cross the finish line!
Just then, my body failed me.
A flare of pain, and numbness hit me, as I collapsed and fell down, from exhaustion, ten metres away from the finish line.....