Zeph's POV
I knew I had to do it. I had to qualify for UIMB. It always made my blood boil to think that only we non-magical people had to pass a qualifying test to get admission. For everyone else, it was an open admission but we had to prove our mettle to even enter the premises.
I will show them just how strong I am and I will qualify for the institute. The injustice that was always done with our kind would be answered one day I thought as I lined up with my other comrades.
The test was taking place on the vast ground. There was a forest on one edge of this ground while a huge lake on the other. The ground was covered with different obstacles and traps. We had to be careful not to get stuck in a trap and complete the obstacles. Our instructors were teachers at the institute. A girl with yellow hair and piercing red eyes stepped in front of us. With the looks of it, I knew she was a vampire.
"I will be your main instructor for today's challenge, my name is Shumal Arta and you will call me Maam. I will give the verdict about who passes today and who fails and it will be final. There will be no cheating and no teamwork for the first two challenges. Whoever will try to help someone else or cheat will be instantly eliminated," she said in a sing-song voice. Then she began to explain what we needed to do.
We had to complete all the obstacles and then run towards the forest at the edge of the ground to find a green flag and bring it back and embed it on the bank of the lake. Then our final challenge would emerge from the lake. Whoever would complete all the challenges will have a strong chance of admission. But it wasn't mandatory that if we would complete all the challenges we would be granted admission. Because there were twenty of us and only five slots were available. But nothing would stop me as I had come to win.
I took my position along with my best friend, Ralph. We locked eyes and he smiled at me while I simply nodded at him. "We will make it together, Zeph," he assured me.
"Are you all ready?" She asked us before blowing the whistle and I throttled forward at full speed. The first obstacle was a 40 feet wall with a huge inscription written on it. It was a riddle, whoever would solve the riddle would be granted access. The riddle was: "IF YOU LACK IT THEN THERE IS NO WAY FORWARD, WHAT IS IT?"
The riddle could have many answers but the first thing that came to my mind was, I placed my hand on the wall and quietly said: 'Hope'. The wall rumbled and a small hole for a single person to cross opened right in front of me. I looked towards Ralph who was still scratching his head and trying to figure out the answer. I entered the hole and mimed the word towards him so no one would know. His expression changed and I knew he got it. The wall closed behind me as I stepped to the other side of it.
The next obstacle was purely based on strength and strength alone. Horizontal rods had been placed for a distance of about 300 meters. Ropes of the length of about 1 foot were hanging from each rod at a distance of about 5 feet. We had to jump up to catch the rope then jump again to catch the next and thus cross it. Mud and water covered this part of the ground and on close inspection, I saw long eerie-looking creatures squirming in it. They were most probably electric Congs. They give a jolt to whoever touches them. So, if you fell on them you will be getting quite a shock.
I jumped and caught the first rope and started to make my way forward. Behind me, more and more holes were opening in the wall now and as I looked back Ralph had joined me as well. I heaved a sigh of relief and kept moving forward. Suddenly, I heard a shout from behind me, I turned my head to see Ralph falling into the mud pit and my heart skipped a beat.