After breaking down the door with tactical brute force, Ivan found himself in a maze.
Ivan looked around for a bit before muttering. 'Tch, I hate mazes.'
When he turned around to look at the door he entered from, the entrance had already disappeared.
'Okay then…I'm leaving the navigation of the maze to the boy.'
The life in Ivan's eyes dimmed considerably before returning with an innocent luster.
The boy blinked a few times to recover his senses. He then looked around with an excited expression.
"Huh? A maze? Cool! I've always wanted to explore one!"
Ivan laughed in delight.
After having read about people exploring treasured lands and sacred grounds in his favorite novels, Ivan had always wanted to explore a dungeon-like place like the maze for himself.
Artifacts, monsters, and possibly even revealing a world ending secret…the 10 year old boy wanted to experience all of that as long as he was still alive.
Headmaster Na on the other hand, could only shake his head with a helpless expression when he heard of Ivan's wish.
Now that he was here, excitement that a wish came true filled his heart.
Without a second to lose, Ivan ran down the dimly lit corridor with glee. 'Relics from the ancient era, here I come!'
Ivan ran through several corridors without caution. And whenever he came across an intersection that split the path into 2, he would always choose the right path.
Why? Because the 10 year old boy thought that the right path was always right.
Minutes go by before Ivan comes across an intersection that splits the path into 3 different paths. Ivan was stumped.
Starting from the left path, the path was made from sand. Just standing near the entrance, Ivan could feel extreme heat coming from the left path.
'The left path must be connected to a desert.' He thought to himself.
He then paid attention to the middle path.
The middle path was made from stone bricks. Moss and wild grass covered the crevices of the middle path. Besides that, Ivan felt nothing from the middle path.
'The middle path seems safe. What about the cold path–'
Before he could finish his thought, another voice sprang up within his mind.
'If you've already deemed the middle path as safe, then choose the middle path. There's no need to pay attention to the right path anymore.'
Startled, Ivan asked. "Who's there?"
The mysterious voice remained silent.
His eyes darted around the room but all he could see were the areas lit by the torches. Everything else after that was darkness.
"That was scary." Ivan muttered to himself.
While remaining vigilant, he focused his attention to the right path.
The right path was covered in snow. Not only did Ivan tighten the clothes around to increase his body's warmth, he could also hear the roars of unknown beasts within the right path.
'The right path must be connected to a tundra forest. Seems cold and dangerous.'
Having said that, a memory surfaced within his mind. His eyes widened as he muttered to himself, 'Huh, that mysterious voice was right.'
To which, the mysterious voice replied in an arrogant tone. 'Of course! I'm always right!'
"Bubble knuckles! Who are you?!" Ivan shouted in surprise.
'Bubble knuckles? Was that supposed to be a swear word? Sounds like a fluff word to me..'
"Stinky poopy pants! There's someone in my head!"
'Right…I've got to remember that you are merely 10 years old. Your vocabulary isn't that rich.'
"Ugh, who says it's not rich? I'll show you…you fu–"
'Woah, woah there! Oi, you're too young to be cussing like that! Where did you learn that word?'
"Hm? What's wrong with fuglsbab?"
'Fugilsibab?'
"Fuglsbab…it's a curse word I derived from a piece of ancient text found in my school's library. It means butthole." When Ivan said butthole, he couldn't help but chuckle a little.
'Oh…Yeah, forget I asked.' The mysterious voice replied solemnly.
After that, the mysterious voice remained silent.
Thinking that the person he was talking to was the examiner of his entrance exam, Examiner Lucas, Ivan decided to shrug it off before continuing on his little exploring adventure.
Upon stepping through the middle path, Ivan found himself in a completely new room.
"Where am I?"
The boy asked as he looked around the room.
The room was circular in shape, with torches lining up the wall in an oddly creepy manner. As the blue flames burned, Ivan noticed that his vision seemed to be getting blurrier.
"What…is…this?" was all Ivan could say before he felt his knees buckling and his face smacking into the floor. And just like that, he had unknowingly fainted.
***
"Wow…I didn't expect the boy to choose the hardest path out of the three." Examiner Lucas said in surprise.
His brow couldn't help but rise when he saw Ivan enter the middle path instead of the other 2 paths.
Just based on this choice, Examiner Lucas's personal evaluation of Ivan soared.
"See? I told you Headmaster Na wouldn't choose someone mediocre." Calvin replied.
"Heh, I only agree with half of your sentiment. So what if that boy takes the middle path? He'll lose his mind first before he can even find the exit."
Since Lucas wanted to seek out talents hidden within the examinees, he used his extensive knowledge of subspaces and space magic to carve out three separate realms known as Inferno Hell, Insanity Hell, and Blizzard Hell.
Of the three, Insanity Hell was designed to be the hardest to beat.
Not only did Insanity Hell tested one's mental fortitude, it also tested the strength of one's soul.
If one can't handle the constant bombardment of spiritual force emitted by the realm itself, one could lose themselves and become insane.
Sage Lucas has been an examiner for Jumper Academy for 30 years now. In all of the tests he has looked after, never once has he seen somebody choose the middle path and succeed.
"Now then, let the torture begin!" [Lucas]