Most of the examinees who'd arrived were resting and cultivating, so I went ahead and did the same, feeling totally refreshed by the end of the 72 hour deadline. From the size of the crowd now present, not too many examinees had been eliminated.
"Thank you for your patience," said Elder Shin, "I will now explain the second stage.
For the second stage, you must achieve at least 20 steps in this Pond of Evaluation. Obviously, the more steps you take past that, the better your overall score. Pass, and the portal will take you to the site of the third stage. Fail, and it will return you to your current sect."
Once again, we formed an orderly line, circling around the Pond of Evaluation. I was more ready for it this time, so I got in with only about 50 people ahead of me. The rate of attrition was greater this time—about one in three of the people ahead of me failed, though even the lowest score I saw was 14 steps. My turn came impossibly quickly, as though time was moving at double or triple speed. There was no doubt in my mind that I would pass, but I was still nervous since it wasn't likely that the 10,000 Scrolls Library would accept me with just a pass from this stage.
I reached the front of the line. The person just ahead of me seemed better than most. They reached 25 steps, and took their time on each step after that before ending at 33 steps. Most of the people in line seemed pretty impressed, but not Senior Shin, though he did incline his head briefly in approval.
Then, it was my turn. As I started out, it was no more difficult than walking normally, feeling as though I was walking across a mattress. On the 19th step, I felt a little resistance, as though I'd sunk in to about my toes. I looked down, seeing that my feet hadn't actually sank into the silvery liquid, but I noticed ripples that were still yet to vanish. By the 25th step, the heavy feeling was up to my feet, but I could still keep going with reasonable effort. After another five steps, the feeling was up to my calves, and I was starting to sweat.
On my 35th step, the resistance was past my knees, and I had to start taking my time like the person before me had done. At the 40th step, I was near my limit, but I wasn't ready to walk back. In another five minutes, I managed two more steps, but when I tried for a 43rd step, it felt like if I persisted too much, my leg would rip off my body, so I shook my head and turned back.
I had to think I'd helped my chances, or at least not killed them. Instead of heading through the portal right away, I went over to an area where others who had already passed had sat to watch the fellows from their sects. I wanted to see how Jong, Shokoya and Quan did, and like hell I was going to miss Jue Zhu's go.
Shokoya in particular went right after me. He achieved 35 steps, which got another short nod from Elder Shin. After that, there were more than 100 people between Shokoya and Jong, and I didn't even see Jue Zhu or Quan. Shokoya joined me in the "spectator's area." "Looks like it's going to be a while for Jue Zhu," I said by way of greeting.
One of the non-Academy examinees turned to me. "Jue Zhu? Are you talking about the person who made the Crystal of Aptitude glow gold?"
"That's the one." I raised my eyebrows at them to convey "and what of it?"
"You're wearing the same uniform and everything, you know what he looks like then?"
"Yes?"
"Hey, no need to be so suspicious! A lot of us are curious how he'll do too, right everyone?" He turned to those around him, and they made mostly non-committal noises of assent. "I was just thinking I'd ask if you could let us know when he's about to start."
"Oh…I guess. I mean, yes, I can do that." I seriously doubted any of them could possibly interfere somehow, and it was true that his turn was likely to be a spectacle.
Hours later, Kunlun Jong took his 30th step. Five seconds later, he took his 31st. "Hey, is that him?"
It was the same person who spoke to me earlier. "No, that's not him. He's already struggling a little."
I half-expected him to pass my 42 steps, and very much expected him to match them, but from the strain on his face as he tried to take the 40th step, it didn't look like it was going to happen. He managed to get his leg up—but he fell over just as he was bringing it forward. "Are you okay, do you need help up?" Jong waved away Elder Shin, stood up, and walked back, in a worse mood than I thought he'd be.
"Hey, this doesn't mean I'm better than you," I said, trying to calm him down, "Purity can close a gap in talent, remember? Yours is 10 points higher than mine." He'd showed me once, when the topic of Purity had come up during one of our recovery sessions in the Metal Ant colony in third year.
"But you have better luck with Beast cores, and you're a little better at cultivating with them."
I blinked. How long had he felt threatened by me? "But you're still physically stronger and way better with a sword."
"Hmph." Then, after an uncomfortable silence, "I guess you're right—it's still too close to call. But someday, whether it's 10 or 100 years from now, we will settle which of us is the stronger."
This. This is why I stay away from other people. From my point of view we were friends—well, as close as I've ever had—while he had some kind of asinine bottled up resentment and over what?
It's always something. Either they think you're not in your place, or you're not good enough for them, or you somehow owe them something, your time or your money, or they expect you to fake a cheery, enthusiastic attitude or pretend you're into crap you're really not…they always want me to live up to some stupid image or ridiculous, unreasonable expectation instead of taking me as I am. Even Shokoya…he'd be in a dangerous position if he went to the 10,000 Scrolls Library on his own, so he got close to me for protection. As soon as he doesn't need that protection anymore…
"Are you okay Z? You're shaking." I looked up into Shokoya's obviously worried face. "Look, Jong will come around."
"Yeah, I, I know." But there's always a chance. There has to be a chance Shokoya and I can stay friends. "I hope he really does reach his goal in this exam. If he does, he'll probably blow right past me to where I still wouldn't stand a chance against him, then hey, in like, 3 years? We'll be laughing about this thing."
"Yeah, could be." Shokoya didn't sound any more convinced than I did.