"I thought things would change, and they did in a way." I think.
In my first week, I find that I have a room with four other guys. In total, there are 100 of us in our first year. My roommates are very nice to me. To me, it feels like I finally have a home. I finally have friends. Their names are Sage, Butch, Cal, and Andrew." I say out loud quietly as I am dazed at having friends but do I want anyone to think of me as werid.
"My friends are the ones who wanted to be friends with me, as I am too shy to start talking to someone. I can not help but wonder why we are friends." I think as I study by myself.
I never see them study. "I wonder if my friends are not stealing my notes as I train at night" I wonder about their perfect grades. "Even with my doubts, I think we will always be as thick as knives. "Boy, was I wrong!"
As the year progresses, I learn more about being a knight. "It is boring to me as we learn how to use sharp pointy things."That is exactly how the teacher explained it to us." I think as I fell like hitting my head against the table. I learned these techniques many years ago, and I feel almost insulted. As if they are calling me dumb. Sometimes I can not help but scream as I do my nightly run.
When the yearly tests come, I feel like getting every answer wrong. Then I could prove how badly the teachers taught. Instead, I was the only one who got a 100%. My friends did get 90%. It was the most grueling test I have ever taken!
The first year was tough, but it did not prepare us for what was to come. For some reason, the teachers decided not to teach us how to fight or train us in any way.
With only 60 of us remaining in our second year, I know something significant is about to happen soon. Being the youngest, I can feel a battle is ready to begin.
"I know that soon we will determine who has what it takes to be a knight! Something big is coming, and I can feel it in my bones." I think as I feel excited about what is going to happen.
My classmates have been sitting around doing nothing with their leisure time for the past two weeks. From our first year, they will not allow us to go home. They believe we will have an easier time cheating. I am just glad I did not have to explain unwanted questions. We always have two weeks before the next semester starts. I always push myself to have a grueling training session around the 3,500-acre grounds. I sweat and get blood all over myself. Yet I always have the biggest smile on my face when I am done.
I get done with training for the day, when I hear, "Year 2, future knights, come to the field. It is time for your final evaluation." We all hear over the loudspeaker. Everyone looks at each other in silence as I quickly wash my face and body with a washcloth. When I am somewhat clean, I look around at everyone and see questions whirling in their minds. We quickly make our way to the field in silence.
We all arrive on the field together as a unit. Standing at the center of the arena is a massive, purple-skinned man. I look at the man in shock. "I have never seen such royal-looking skin." I think, as I wonder where he came from.
"Hello everyone. You may call me Chief." The man pauses as he does a quick headcount. "Good, I see that you are all here." The man's voice bellows out, making my ears ring.
"You think your first year was hard." The man gives a harsh chuckle. The hair on my arm stands up.
"No, the first year was easy. This is where your training officially begins. You have already lost 30 students. This is where we find out how badly you want to be a knight. Now, this is where your real training begins. You may want to quit after today. The first thing you do today is this course..." The man trails off as his fingers move in a complicated movement. In an instant, a death-defying course appears before us.
I look at my classmates and see most of them shudder in fear. I know that none of them have done anything like this before. I am different as I feel my heart pump thump in excitement. "I can not wait to show them what I am capable of!" I think with excitement.
"This course will challenge you in agility, intelligence, and swiftness. If you do not pass it within one hour, you will lose everything you have ever worked for. Does everyone understand me? " The Chief bellows out at us.
"Yes!" My classmates all yell back at our instructor.
"I did not hear you!" He growls at us. His voice cuts through the air like steel.
Everyone shivers at his tone. " Yes, we understand you!" Everyone yells back at him.
When they are done yelling, I yell out strongly, "Yes sir, I understand you." While my classmates look at me weirdly, my commander smiles.
"Good to know that one person has respect." He yells back at the other pathetic future knights.
They look like they want to kill me as their eyes seem to glow a tiny bit. It did not scare me. I listen more to what the commander says.
"No matter, it is time for the course to begin. Here are the rules:
1. Make no changes to the course.
2. You can not just fly over it.
3. Five of you will be going at once.
4. You are not permitted to assist or sabotage anyone.
5. If you break any of the rules, you forfeit your chance to be a knight. Now let us begin." He calls out five names.
We all watch as the five go through the course. My classmates all seem to use their magic to make themselves go farther faster.
I watch as they each make the course more complicated than it should be. When they finish, I scoff, as they could have done better than 40 minutes.
It takes hours until there are only five of us left. I already know what I have to do. It is almost too simple for my brain. I wait as I crave to go through it myself.
My commander finally calls my name. We wait at the starting line. My heart beats hard against my ribs.
I hear the loud whistle blow. I run as fast as my legs can carry me. My feet hit hard on the thick rock surface. I hear no one behind me. "Wow! I must be fast." I think in awe. I smile at feeling free. A smile lights up my face as I run harder than I ever had to before.
I dash into the woods, not pausing for a second to hear creaking as trees fall on me. I am not scared as this is exciting. I twirl and spin away from the falling trees seconds before they fall on me. It feels almost like a dance. I slow down as I see massive trunks of trees on the ground.
I quickly untie the rope under my shirt. I grab the knife in my pocket and tie the blade at the end of the rope tightly. I hurl it into the tree from a great height. I smile in relief as I am lifted high above the ground just in time. "Eeeeee!" The sound comes from my mouth as I squeal with pleasure as I swing from tree to tree.
Finally, my feet hit solid ground. I enter into a Danger Zone! A rockslide is before me. I quickly yank the rope, and my knife quickly comes inches away from my face. I catch it in my hand. I smirk when the massive boulders move towards me. I wrap the rope around my wrist as I swing my knife into each of the boulders. I watch as they hit the center of the boulder's sweet spot. They all explode into a million pieces.
I dodge as the pieces of rock come straight at me. I quickly move into action as 20 massive slivers of rock try to impale me. I quickly grab up my rope and knife as I move on. I gasp as I feel cuts and bruises from the tinier rocks hitting against my back as I shield my face.
I can see the finish line in my sight about 50 feet in the air. I stop running as I see nothing but thin air coming up. I can not slow down enough. Before I can stop, somebody runs into my back hard. I hiss as I feel some ribs crack. I force myself to be calm as I must think of a way down without killing myself.
I see the rope and knife slide down towards me, moving down faster. I look in horror as it is about to hit me in the head. I turn my body around and strain my head to look upside down. It is coming closer and closer. "I only have a second to do this! If not... I best not think about it." I think quickly.
The knife is seconds away from hitting me. I quickly use my foot to slam the knife into the stone wall. With a sigh of relief, it slams hard into the wall. I quickly grab the rope and tie it to my waist in a complicated knot. I slow down as I get jerked hard right side up.
I bite my teeth as I hold in the scream of pain. I slow down as I repel down the rest of the way. When my feet touch the bottom, I hurry and grab a remote from my pocket. I let out a smirk as the knife files out of the wall. I quickly place the rope and knife in my pocket. The finish line is only a few feet away from me. My feet hit the ground hard as I sprinttowards the finish line. "I feel like I went through a war as everything hurts!" I think in pain.
I scream as I cross the line. I gasp in pain as I can not breathe. I slowly take deep breaths in and out as I try to calm my lungs down.
I walk over to the commander, holding my ribs. The closer I get, the paler he becomes.
"Ttttennn minutes," he stutters out. I stand right next to him, the man lets a smirk out. "In all of my years of doing this course. No one has ever made it through in under 40 minutes. How did you do it, young man, and why did you use no magic?" The man becomes confused as he reads the reading from me.
"Sir, I have no magic. It is not a crime! Years ago, I made gadgets to help me in my life!" I say as I feel as if he could crush all my dreams in one word.
His eyes widen even more. "No magic, just extraordinary," the man tells me.
We talk about nothing until the other four come running up. I slowly walk over to my friends with a smile. I feel almost at peace.
"Today, 60 of you ran the course and, only 30 of you will move on". The man calls out 30 names. "You are disqualified from Knight's Academy! You will not be allowed back in! This was your only chance!" He barks out 20 names. "The rest of you, with the time you have, will tell you how long you will be with us."If you have 10 minutes, you have only one year left! Good luck to you all!"
I watch sadly as all my friends leave. I hug them tightly as we say our goodbyes. I know I may never see them again.
The 30 of us left are in shock. "Having only a year left, I know I will be out of here soon." I walk into my room.
"My room feels empty as my friends are gone." I think as I sigh sadly as I wrap my ribs up. I could feel the pain disappear. To me, the future appeared to be oh-so-bright!