"Lysa, Elliott, Jake!". The moment we come around the building's corner, Rusty calls out to us. "I've been waiting for you. Before you go down there, I want you to know that I had nothing to do with this."
"Calm down d-, professor Russell" Lysa caught herself from calling Rusty her father just in time. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm not allowed to tell you. Headmaster Axeash already threatened I'd lose my position if I told you anything."
"Can you tell us something at least? How bad could it be?" Jake asks.
"Sorry, but I really can't. I wasn't even supposed to speak with you until after the test. Good luck. I really hope you make it." He says, then walks down the stairs to the challenge cove.
We look at each other and this is the first time I've actually seen an emotion other than being annoyed on Jake's face. He's worried, maybe even afraid.
"What the hell was that all about?! If all he was going to do is be cryptic, he should have shut up and not said anything. Now I'm even more nervous than I was before."
Rusty really pissed Lysa off by being so vague. The three of us, accompanied by the twins, head down the stairs into the challenge cove. The students' eyes are on us from the moment we walk in, making me feel even more uneasy than I already did. All three years must be here to see what happens next, because there aren't that many open seats left in the stands. Waiting for us at the entrance to the arena is Sergeant Evander, while most of the other professors, including Rusty, are seated in the front row on the cove's left side. Some of them look unbothered, though I wonder if all of them know what's about to happen, or if it's just certain professors. The only faculty member I don't see is our headmaster.
"Ah you finally arrived, and not a moment too soon." Sergeant Evander says. "I hope you enjoyed your lunch."
Before we can respond, he turns his back to us and starts addressing the crowd.
"Students and professors, thank you for coming. While I stated before it would be prudent for our third-years to come watch these tests, I did not expect so many of you to be present. I admire your devotion."
While Sergeant Evander addresses the crowd, I look around and see Ronnie and Sophia taking their seats at the back of the challenge cove. On the right I see Aerith and her friends tell some other students to go away and take their seats at the front. Seems like she's hanging with the wrong crowd.
Evander turns around and starts addressing us three.
"Alright, I'll explain the rules only once so listen up. Along the sides of the arena are a lot of different weapons. You are allowed to use whichever weapon or spell you choose to. The point of this test is to prove to the professors, your fellow students and, most importantly, the headmaster, that your skills are on par with those of the other starting third-years. It is in no one's interest to send you three to the islands, just for you to die there because you were underprepared."
"What exactly is this test? Are we supposed to fight someone? Also, why weren't we given a room in the schools' dorms?" Jake interrupts the Sergeant and bombards him with questions. Somehow I don't think he'll take kindly to that. Can't say I blame Jake because those are the same exact questions on my mind as well.
"Judging by your demeanor, your name must be Jake, right? Professor Lin warned me there was one among you who was less socially inclined."
"Answer me." Jake says, almost as if he's giving him an order.
Sergeant Evander seems very calm for someone who was just interrupted in front of almost the entire school. He looks Jake up and down, his posture just as rigid now as it was back on the courtyard this morning. I don't think this man ever relaxes. He ignores Jake's questions and turns back around.
"In order to respect your past efforts in reaching your positions in the ranking, we will not ask you to accept these new students as your classmates. At least not without them having to prove themselves, which is why we are here today.
These three students are about to face a challenge greater than any of you would have expected. Should they succeed, they will have earned their place here at the academy. However, if they don't, they will not be allowed to enroll at the academy."
A murmur sweeps through the crowd, growing louder as it spread, turning the once orderly gathering into a lively hubbub of chatter.
The Sergeant's serious face turns to Jake and he whispers. "How about you first show us your worth before using your big mouth."
This comment does not sit well with Jake, but before he gets a chance to respond, someone behind us starts speaking.
"So, what do you think Evander? Will there be any among them who might pose a challenge?" We turn around and see the headmaster walking towards us.
"Wait, hold on. Are we supposed to fight the headmaster?!" Lysa says in a panicked tone. The look in her eyes is one of pure fear.
"You've got to be kidding me." which is about the only thing I manage to say right now.
"I believe not, headmaster." Evander responds. "While promising, I do not believe their skills are formidable enough to be a challenge to you."
"Very well then. Let's begin." The headmaster steps into the arena and goes to its center. All eyes in the room are fixated on her. She extends her right arm, and with a flick of her wrist, a bright green light emerges from one of her bracelets.
It flies around the room, passing through the crowd and causing most of the first-years to exclaim. The light does a few laps around the room and stops next to the headmaster. It gets bigger and bigger, until it grows so bright we can't see anything. It fades away after a few seconds and in its place next to the headmaster now stands a Griffin, the majestic white-feathered Beast pecking at something stuck under its wing.
"No one likes a showoff you know." The headmaster tells her Beast, who looks at her and makes a noise not unlike the purring of a cat.
"Where the hell did that thing come from?" Jake can't control his temper and yells at the headmaster.
"That 'thing' is my Griffin. Her name is Talon. Isn't she beautiful? I usually keep her in my dimensional bracelet." the headmaster says while petting her Beast on its back. Fearsome or dangerous might be a more apt description than beautiful, though I don't disagree with her. Its beautiful white feathers have a certain shine to them, even in this dimly lit cove, and its green eyes reflect its intelligence.
The beast struts forward, approaching us with a proud stride. It seems curious, putting its head all over Lysa. Griffins have a natural ability to sense a person's feelings and, after it's done sniffing Lysa, it bows to her. Lysa is very shocked and just stands there frozen with a scared look on her color-drained face. The Griffin focuses on Jake next, who tries to hide the fact that he's terrified of Talon, but it's pretty obvious. The Beast squints its eyes, making a hissing sound and quickly moves past him. Talons' focus lands on me, and he moves his head around my body like he did with Lysa, almost pushing me off balance. He seems to smell me more intensely than he did the others, then suddenly stops, closes its eyes and moves its head closer to mine. She rests her head on my left shoulder, making a sound that reminds me of humming.
She weighs a lot, and I'm struggling to stay standing. I know she won't hurt me because she didn't do anything to Jake, and she clearly didn't like him.
"You must be Elliot Kaga." the headmaster interrupts her Beasts' humming.
"Uhm, yes that's me."
"Thought so. Talon here is eager to fight you."
"What?!" all three of us say almost at the exact same time.
"You can't make us fight a Griffin! We would die! It's bad enough when I thought we were going to have to fight you." Lysa shouts
"Tell me then, if you were to go to the islands right now, would you be able to survive? Before you give me your answer, think it through carefully. The Beasts who reside on the islands are not as calm as Talon is right now. Some will rip you to shreds instantly if you drop your guard for even a single second. They will take one look at you and decide right then and there that you are going to become their next meal. If you can't even pass this test, there is no way that you would survive looking for a Beast egg."
A burning pit forms in my stomach because I know she's absolutely right. How can we expect to survive the islands and come back with our very own Beast egg if we aren't even willing to do what's necessary to get into the Beast Handler academy itself. The headmasters' words lit a fire in my chest, and I step forward.
"Let's do this. I'm ready."
"I admire your eagerness, mister Kaga. Let us begin then."
The headmaster picks up a sword from the side of the arena and walks to the far end of the arena where she marks the floor with a line.
"We do not expect you to be able to defeat a rare Beast like a Griffin, at least not at your current level. However, should you encounter a dangerous Beast on the island, we at least need to know that you have the necessary skills to escape it.
You will have two minutes to cross this line I just drew.
Do whatever is necessary to succeed, and you likely will. If you are not able to cross this line within the time limit, you will not be allowed to enroll in this prestigious academy.
Now, choose your weapons."
All three of us move around the arena. Lysa picks up a handful of daggers and tucks them into her pants in different places, and even puts one in each of her shoes. Jake heads straight for the longsword and swings it a few times at an imaginary enemy. They both move into position at the entrance to the arena. I start inspecting all the weapons that are left, passing things like a club, shortswords, rapiers, katanas, a bow and arrows but none of them are what I'm looking for. I catch a reflection in the corner of my eye. A double-sided spear, commonly referred to as a duospear, is leaning against the wall behind the headmaster, who I think smiles slightly when I grab the duospear. I swing it around a couple of times, checking its balance, and join Lysa and Jake at the entrance to the arena.
The outcome of this test will change the course of our lives.
Everyone in the cove grows quiet, and the three of us stand at the ready. I look over at Lysa and she nods at me.
We got this.
"Your time starts …" Sergeant Evander clicks his stopwatch "… now!"
"The crowd erupts and the three of us start running down the arena. Talon takes flight and heads straight for me, ignoring the others who make a run for the line. Unironically, the strong Beast tries to grab me with its talons. I roll out of the way and start running towards the finish line. The Griffin flies back around and lands in front of Lysa. She whips her tail into Lysa's stomach, sending her flying back towards the entrance. Jake leaps into the air, his longsword held firmly above his head, ready to strike the Griffin. He swings his sword down and the Beast quickly jumps to the side, dodging Jake's strike. It grabs the sword in its beak and throws it away past the finish line, leaving Jake without a weapon. It then hits his chest, almost sending him flying into the stands. For such a big Beast, it's much faster than I expected.
Jake and I both start running towards it, but before we get the chance to, Talon gets up on her hindlegs and starts flapping her wings, creating a wind so strong that moving forwards becomes impossible.
"One minute and thirty seconds left!"
Jake runs towards the side of the arena, attempting to get his hands on another weapon, but the Griffin won't let him. By swooping in behind him and wrapping its tail around his feet, Jake falls down and gets the wind knocked out of him.
Lysa and I look at each other. We must be thinking the same thing. We take this opportunity to try and make it to the line. Talon sees this and flies over us, clawing at us from above before putting itself between us and our goal.
Lysa grabs her daggers and starts throwing them, one after the other, but the headmasters' Griffin easily dodges. I follow her lead and charge at the Beast, aiming my duospear right at Talon's head. I tries to bite me, but I dodge and jump onto its back. With my duospear around its neck, I pull back as hard as I can. Talon starts flying wildly around the room, trying to throw me off. I lose my grip and fall to the hard rock floor. I feel something crack in my shoulder the moment I touch the ground and I can't help but scream out in pain. Something is definitely broken.
The duospear lies cracked next to me, so no use in trying to use that anymore. Lysa rushes to my side and helps me up.
"We have to start working together or we're never gonna pass this stupid fucking test. Jake! Come over here, now!"
Surprised by her tone, Jake listens and the three of us quickly come up with a plan where all three of us can get past Talon.
"Sixty seconds left!"
"You guys ready?"
Lysa and Jake both nod, and we put our rushed plan to the test.
Jake starts running to the Griffin's left side and Lysa to its right in an attempt to divide Talon's attention. The Beast decides to go after Lysa, jumping on top of her but before it does, Lysa throws herself forward and finds herself underneath the Beast. She stabs at the Griffin's belly. Headmaster Axeash's Beast screeches from the sudden pain and loses its balance, falling right on top of Lysa and crushing her under all that weight. Talon gets up quickly, putting its paw over the wound in her belly. Lysa lays motionless beneath her and my heart drops to my stomach. Don't tell me… She isn't dead, is she? The Griffin jumps up and hovers in place right above Lysa. I approach her body and check if I can find a pulse.
She's not dead, just knocked out.
I look up at Rusty and nod. Judging by the look on his face, he was about to stop this goddamn test himself.
"Elliott! Watch out!" Jake screams at me from the other end of the arena, where he managed to grab the bow and arrow and starts firing at the flying Beast, but the arrows don't even get close because of the wind generated by Talon's wings. Our weapons don't make a single difference. What if the headmaster is right? What if we really aren't strong enough to enroll at the academy? Even though my father was an Ascensori, was my training that lacking? I desperately look for another option, a way out that might just give us a small chance to pass this test.
There must be something we haven't tried yet.
You are not done.
Do not give up.
A surge of energy rushes through my body.
Was that my subconscious? Whoever it was, they're right. There is something I haven't tried yet. Talon drops back down on, us in anger and right before she lands on top of us, I direct the palm of both my hands towards Lysa's body and scream out "Venti!".
A focussed burst of wind flows out of the palms of my hands, blowing Lysa forward and myself backward out of the Griffin's way. I quickly roll back to my feet and prepare to attack. My eyes look for Jake across the arena and I see him standing next to headmaster Axeash. He must have crossed the line while the Griffin was focused on Lysa and me. Instead of helping us, the asshole saved his own hide. Luckily, I see that my spell also blew Lysa over the line, so at least she passes the test as well.
I'm the only one left. A griffin stands between me and my dream of becoming a Beast Handler. I will not let it end here.
"Thirty seconds left!"
You are stronger than you think.
An orb of fire appears in each of my hands. I throw the first one right towards the Beast's feet. It jumps up to avoid it and, while it dodges the first, I lob the second one straight at its face. I manage to hit the Beast and the fire scorches most of the feathers on its head, disorienting it.
This is my chance to go for it.
I run as fast as I can past the Beast but those spells drained my stamina more than I expected and Talon quickly comes up behind me, reaching for me with her claws. I point my palm towards it and use whatever strength is left in my body to cast one last spell.
"Venti!"
A gust of wind much weaker than the one I used earlier shoots out from my hand but it has little to no effect on the Griffin. I, however, lose my footing and the wind blows me away from Talon just in time to dodge her sharp claw swiping at my stomach.
Talon hovers over me for a second, then softly lands next to me.
She's not attacking anymore?
"Impressive. You passed."
I look down and notice my feet are just past the finish line.
I made it.