Chapter 16
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On the next day, Beta and Brian woke up early. They washed themselves and slipped into the casual clothes Beta bought yesterday. Then they ordered breakfast in the inn before finally going to school for the first time in their lives. The both of them were very excited as it was a chance for many possibilities. School is just the beginning. Beta already planned to enter the Explorer Union once he graduated. Only there would he be able to truly raise his skill level by a big margin. Ever since he was young, he knew very well that fighting against strong enemies can you become stronger. He was sure that the Explorer Union would lead him to never before seen beasts and many other things that would shake his mind.
It took them over half an hour to arrive next to the school campus. On their way, they saw their surroundings getting cleaner. The people wore better clothing and the sight that they saw once they appeared next to the campus was just mind-blowing. They saw a grand building, surrounded by green trees and fountains. The golden banner in front of the campus was eye catching as it was written in a manner that surges a strong feeling of insignificance rises in your chest. Finally, the Malvic Academy. But this whole scene found an end when they laid their eyes on a long line of orderly organized kids, standing at the entrance.
"Are they all applying to attend school here? We already woke up so early and we still arrived too late...", said Brian with a self-deprecating smile on his face.
"It's a big school so it should still be alright. There may also be some who don't have enough money to join or will not manage to finish the tests successfully. Let's just stand in line and see what happens."
As they stood in line they listened to the conversations of the other kids, in hopes to get more information.
"Look! There's someone coming out again!"
"Look at his clothes! I bet he got rejected because he's poor!"
"There's nothing wrong about being poor, but you should at least be smart enough to save up some money before you get here!", said a fat little boy while laughing.
Brian stopped listening when they came to that part. He himself had wanted to come to school directly, without even having any money. He simply looked at Beta in admiration of his foresight. Time passed as they stood in line and looked at their environment, bored. Then it was finally Beta's turn. Before him, sat a young man in front of a table, filling out forms.
"Name, age?"
"Beta, 10."
"What is your goal in our academy?"
"I want to become strong and join the Explorer Union."
"Do you have the four silver coins?"
"Yes, I do.", Beta said while handing the young man the money.
"Pass. Follow the path to the next test."
Beta was surprised that it was that easy, but then he thought that the following tests will be really hard if they let everyone enter without any kind of test beforehand. Beta waited a bit until Brian was finished and then they followed the brown, earthen path towards a wide range of bushes. They were confused when they saw that their path led straight towards the wall of bushes and even thought about turning back and asking for the way, but they couldn't do that. This might already be the first test. As they got closer to the bush wall, they noticed that there was an entrance to it. They were relieved when they saw that and continued following their path. After only five minutes Beta furrowed his brows. That was because their path split into two at that point. The bushes divided their path into two new ones, giving Beta a slight headache. Right? Left? He didn't know.
"This seems to be a labyrinth, and most likely the first test of this academy."
"Do you want to separate?"
"No, that would be foolish. We don't know if there are any traps or other dangers in here."
"What should we do then?"
"Let me stand on your shoulders first!", Beta said with a smile.
"Alright.", Brian knew what Beta was up to, so he was more than willing to give it a try.
"Can you see anything?"
"No. We would need at least one more to look over these high walls. Let's just try it normally for now."
Brian didn't really understand what he meant, but he still followed Beta as they turned left. Brian fully trusted Beta's capabilities. If someone was able to find a way out of here then he's confident that it would be Beta!
It didn't take long for them to reach the next crossroad. Beta again, chose to follow the left path. He didn't even stop to think about his answer when he did. Suddenly Beta stopped, holding his arm out to stop Brian from walking any further.
"There's a snake."
"Where? I can't see anything!"
"Inside the bush, around five steps away from us."
"What are you even...", before Brian could finish his sentence, he heard a silent hissing noise. When he followed that noise with his eyes, he found out that it came from the spot Beta had told him about.
"Should we go back?"
"No, we will proceed."
After saying that, Beta took out the staff he had strapped over his back before and closed in on the snake. When he was about two meters away, the snake finally rushed out of the bush and attacked Beta with very fast movements. But Beta was unperturbed, he simply waved his staff and hit the snake away. Beta didn't stop there though. He once again hit it as fast as he could, killing it. After he killed it, he picked it up and put it into his pockets.
"I didn't expect it to just be a normal weak snake...", Brian said with a laugh and added, "Why are you taking it with you though?"
"We don't know how long we are going to be here, so we might need food. Also, even if it's a weak snake, it still has venom. I don't want to waste this opportunity to get some nice stuff."
Brian nodded his head in understanding. After everything was settled, they continued on their path, always sticking to the left side. On their way, they met with another five snakes which were easily handled by Beta, who pocketed them with a smile. When they met the next crossroad, however, they froze. In front of them was a little boy lying on the ground with open eyes.
"He's dead, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is... we should be careful!", Beta answered.
But once they found out what killed him, they were paralyzed. A snake. But what shocked them wasn't its enormous strength, it was how weak it was. It was a snake just like the other ones that Beta had caught. Somebody actually died to something so weak. They looked at the boy again. He was wearing luxurious clothes and had a haughty face.
"Looks like some rich kid without skills tried to enter the school but failed miserably in the first test."
"That's just..."
Beta felt helpless at that, but it didn't stop him from searching the boy's body. He found three silver coins and a scroll. When Beta unfolded the scroll, he was stunned once again. What was written on the scroll was a map. A map of this labyrinth. It showed the exact way one had to go in order to arrive at the exit. But that was not all. It even showed the locations of the snakes. Beta clearly remembered where he had met them, so he was able to confirm that the map is not a fake. When he looked at their current location, he saw that the symbol which indicated the snake was further down the path they had come from.
"Looks like this fellow had some connections to the school and tried to take advantage of that. Unfortunately for him, snakes are not non-living beings that will just wait at one place forever..."
Beta didn't really mind that all as it enabled him to leave the labyrinth faster. After getting to know the path using the map, they simply followed it while also taking care of another four snakes on their way.
As soon as they exited the labyrinth, they were met with a tall, brown-skinned man who stood next to some youths. He looked at them for a bit and then signaled them to come closer.
"Congratulations for solving the first test! My name is Marlon and I am a teacher of Malvic Academy! Now, before we continue to the next test, we will wait for the others to finish. Within that time, you can take one of the drinks on the table or eat something, as it may take a while for some people to finish this labyrinth."
Beta nodded at the teacher respectfully and enjoyed some cool water. It was served in small glass bottles with a kind-of wooden lid on it that can be opened and closed as one wished. After drinking the bottle, he got an idea.
"Sir, can we keep the bottle?"
Marlon was confused, but nodded at him anyway. The other youths next to him just looked at that scene with mocking eyes.
Beta didn't mind all that and just pulled out one of the snakes. He carefully opened its mouth and put the fangs inside the bottle. After that he stimulated the snake's body, which resulted in small amounts of venom shooting out of the snake's fangs, right into the bottle. He followed that process and got the poison of all ten snakes he had acquired.
Meanwhile, Marlon thought to himself, "What an interesting kid. I anticipate his performance in the next test!"
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On the next day, Beta and Brian woke up early. They washed themselves and slipped into the casual clothes Beta bought yesterday. Then they ordered breakfast in the inn before finally going to school for the first time in their lives. The both of them were very excited as it was a chance for many possibilities. School is just the beginning. Beta already planned to enter the Explorer Union once he graduated. Only there would he be able to truly raise his skill level by a big margin. Ever since he was young, he knew very well that fighting against strong enemies can you become stronger. He was sure that the Explorer Union would lead him to never before seen beasts and many other things that would shake his mind.
It took them over half an hour to arrive next to the school campus. On their way, they saw their surroundings getting cleaner. The people wore better clothing and the sight that they saw once they appeared next to the campus was just mind-blowing. They saw a grand building, surrounded by green trees and fountains. The golden banner in front of the campus was eye catching as it was written in a manner that surges a strong feeling of insignificance rises in your chest. Finally, the Malvic Academy. But this whole scene found an end when they laid their eyes on a long line of orderly organized kids, standing at the entrance.
"Are they all applying to attend school here? We already woke up so early and we still arrived too late...", said Brian with a self-deprecating smile on his face.
"It's a big school so it should still be alright. There may also be some who don't have enough money to join or will not manage to finish the tests successfully. Let's just stand in line and see what happens."
As they stood in line they listened to the conversations of the other kids, in hopes to get more information.
"Look! There's someone coming out again!"
"Look at his clothes! I bet he got rejected because he's poor!"
"There's nothing wrong about being poor, but you should at least be smart enough to save up some money before you get here!", said a fat little boy while laughing.
Brian stopped listening when they came to that part. He himself had wanted to come to school directly, without even having any money. He simply looked at Beta in admiration of his foresight. Time passed as they stood in line and looked at their environment, bored. Then it was finally Beta's turn. Before him, sat a young man in front of a table, filling out forms.
"Name, age?"
"Beta, 10."
"What is your goal in our academy?"
"I want to become strong and join the Explorer Union."
"Do you have the four silver coins?"
"Yes, I do.", Beta said while handing the young man the money.
"Pass. Follow the path to the next test."
Beta was surprised that it was that easy, but then he thought that the following tests will be really hard if they let everyone enter without any kind of test beforehand. Beta waited a bit until Brian was finished and then they followed the brown, earthen path towards a wide range of bushes. They were confused when they saw that their path led straight towards the wall of bushes and even thought about turning back and asking for the way, but they couldn't do that. This might already be the first test. As they got closer to the bush wall, they noticed that there was an entrance to it. They were relieved when they saw that and continued following their path. After only five minutes Beta furrowed his brows. That was because their path split into two at that point. The bushes divided their path into two new ones, giving Beta a slight headache. Right? Left? He didn't know.
"This seems to be a labyrinth, and most likely the first test of this academy."
"Do you want to separate?"
"No, that would be foolish. We don't know if there are any traps or other dangers in here."
"What should we do then?"
"Let me stand on your shoulders first!", Beta said with a smile.
"Alright.", Brian knew what Beta was up to, so he was more than willing to give it a try.
"Can you see anything?"
"No. We would need at least one more to look over these high walls. Let's just try it normally for now."
Brian didn't really understand what he meant, but he still followed Beta as they turned left. Brian fully trusted Beta's capabilities. If someone was able to find a way out of here then he's confident that it would be Beta!
It didn't take long for them to reach the next crossroad. Beta again, chose to follow the left path. He didn't even stop to think about his answer when he did. Suddenly Beta stopped, holding his arm out to stop Brian from walking any further.
"There's a snake."
"Where? I can't see anything!"
"Inside the bush, around five steps away from us."
"What are you even...", before Brian could finish his sentence, he heard a silent hissing noise. When he followed that noise with his eyes, he found out that it came from the spot Beta had told him about.
"Should we go back?"
"No, we will proceed."
After saying that, Beta took out the staff he had strapped over his back before and closed in on the snake. When he was about two meters away, the snake finally rushed out of the bush and attacked Beta with very fast movements. But Beta was unperturbed, he simply waved his staff and hit the snake away. Beta didn't stop there though. He once again hit it as fast as he could, killing it. After he killed it, he picked it up and put it into his pockets.
"I didn't expect it to just be a normal weak snake...", Brian said with a laugh and added, "Why are you taking it with you though?"
"We don't know how long we are going to be here, so we might need food. Also, even if it's a weak snake, it still has venom. I don't want to waste this opportunity to get some nice stuff."
Brian nodded his head in understanding. After everything was settled, they continued on their path, always sticking to the left side. On their way, they met with another five snakes which were easily handled by Beta, who pocketed them with a smile. When they met the next crossroad, however, they froze. In front of them was a little boy lying on the ground with open eyes.
"He's dead, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is... we should be careful!", Beta answered.
But once they found out what killed him, they were paralyzed. A snake. But what shocked them wasn't its enormous strength, it was how weak it was. It was a snake just like the other ones that Beta had caught. Somebody actually died to something so weak. They looked at the boy again. He was wearing luxurious clothes and had a haughty face.
"Looks like some rich kid without skills tried to enter the school but failed miserably in the first test."
"That's just..."
Beta felt helpless at that, but it didn't stop him from searching the boy's body. He found three silver coins and a scroll. When Beta unfolded the scroll, he was stunned once again. What was written on the scroll was a map. A map of this labyrinth. It showed the exact way one had to go in order to arrive at the exit. But that was not all. It even showed the locations of the snakes. Beta clearly remembered where he had met them, so he was able to confirm that the map is not a fake. When he looked at their current location, he saw that the symbol which indicated the snake was further down the path they had come from.
"Looks like this fellow had some connections to the school and tried to take advantage of that. Unfortunately for him, snakes are not non-living beings that will just wait at one place forever..."
Beta didn't really mind that all as it enabled him to leave the labyrinth faster. After getting to know the path using the map, they simply followed it while also taking care of another four snakes on their way.
As soon as they exited the labyrinth, they were met with a tall, brown-skinned man who stood next to some youths. He looked at them for a bit and then signaled them to come closer.
"Congratulations for solving the first test! My name is Marlon and I am a teacher of Malvic Academy! Now, before we continue to the next test, we will wait for the others to finish. Within that time, you can take one of the drinks on the table or eat something, as it may take a while for some people to finish this labyrinth."
Beta nodded at the teacher respectfully and enjoyed some cool water. It was served in small glass bottles with a kind-of wooden lid on it that can be opened and closed as one wished. After drinking the bottle, he got an idea.
"Sir, can we keep the bottle?"
Marlon was confused, but nodded at him anyway. The other youths next to him just looked at that scene with mocking eyes.
Beta didn't mind all that and just pulled out one of the snakes. He carefully opened its mouth and put the fangs inside the bottle. After that he stimulated the snake's body, which resulted in small amounts of venom shooting out of the snake's fangs, right into the bottle. He followed that process and got the poison of all ten snakes he had acquired.
Meanwhile, Marlon thought to himself, "What an interesting kid. I anticipate his performance in the next test!"
On the next day, Beta and Brian woke up early. They washed themselves and slipped into the casual clothes Beta bought yesterday. Then they ordered breakfast in the inn before finally going to school for the first time in their lives. The both of them were very excited as it was a chance for many possibilities. School is just the beginning. Beta already planned to enter the Explorer Union once he graduated. Only there would he be able to truly raise his skill level by a big margin. Ever since he was young, he knew very well that fighting against strong enemies can you become stronger. He was sure that the Explorer Union would lead him to never before seen beasts and many other things that would shake his mind.It took them over half an hour to arrive next to the school campus. On their way, they saw their surroundings getting cleaner. The people wore better clothing and the sight that they saw once they appeared next to the campus was just mind-blowing. They saw a grand building, surrounded by green trees and fountains. The golden banner in front of the campus was eye catching as it was written in a manner that surges a strong feeling of insignificance rises in your chest. Finally, the Malvic Academy. But this whole scene found an end when they laid their eyes on a long line of orderly organized kids, standing at the entrance."Are they all applying to attend school here? We already woke up so early and we still arrived too late...", said Brian with a self-deprecating smile on his face."It's a big school so it should still be alright. There may also be some who don't have enough money to join or will not manage to finish the tests successfully. Let's just stand in line and see what happens."As they stood in line they listened to the conversations of the other kids, in hopes to get more information."Look! There's someone coming out again!""Look at his clothes! I bet he got rejected because he's poor!""There's nothing wrong about being poor, but you should at least be smart enough to save up some money before you get here!", said a fat little boy while laughing.Brian stopped listening when they came to that part. He himself had wanted to come to school directly, without even having any money. He simply looked at Beta in admiration of his foresight. Time passed as they stood in line and looked at their environment, bored. Then it was finally Beta's turn. Before him, sat a young man in front of a table, filling out forms."Name, age?""Beta, 10.""What is your goal in our academy?""I want to become strong and join the Explorer Union.""Do you have the four silver coins?""Yes, I do.", Beta said while handing the young man the money."Pass. Follow the path to the next test."Beta was surprised that it was that easy, but then he thought that the following tests will be really hard if they let everyone enter without any kind of test beforehand. Beta waited a bit until Brian was finished and then they followed the brown, earthen path towards a wide range of bushes. They were confused when they saw that their path led straight towards the wall of bushes and even thought about turning back and asking for the way, but they couldn't do that. This might already be the first test. As they got closer to the bush wall, they noticed that there was an entrance to it. They were relieved when they saw that and continued following their path. After only five minutes Beta furrowed his brows. That was because their path split into two at that point. The bushes divided their path into two new ones, giving Beta a slight headache. Right? Left? He didn't know."This seems to be a labyrinth, and most likely the first test of this academy.""Do you want to separate?""No, that would be foolish. We don't know if there are any traps or other dangers in here.""What should we do then?""Let me stand on your shoulders first!", Beta said with a smile."Alright.", Brian knew what Beta was up to, so he was more than willing to give it a try."Can you see anything?""No. We would need at least one more to look over these high walls. Let's just try it normally for now."Brian didn't really understand what he meant, but he still followed Beta as they turned left. Brian fully trusted Beta's capabilities. If someone was able to find a way out of here then he's confident that it would be Beta!It didn't take long for them to reach the next crossroad. Beta again, chose to follow the left path. He didn't even stop to think about his answer when he did. Suddenly Beta stopped, holding his arm out to stop Brian from walking any further."There's a snake.""Where? I can't see anything!""Inside the bush, around five steps away from us.""What are you even...", before Brian could finish his sentence, he heard a silent hissing noise. When he followed that noise with his eyes, he found out that it came from the spot Beta had told him about."Should we go back?""No, we will proceed."After saying that, Beta took out the staff he had strapped over his back before and closed in on the snake. When he was about two meters away, the snake finally rushed out of the bush and attacked Beta with very fast movements. But Beta was unperturbed, he simply waved his staff and hit the snake away. Beta didn't stop there though. He once again hit it as fast as he could, killing it. After he killed it, he picked it up and put it into his pockets."I didn't expect it to just be a normal weak snake...", Brian said with a laugh and added, "Why are you taking it with you though?""We don't know how long we are going to be here, so we might need food. Also, even if it's a weak snake, it still has venom. I don't want to waste this opportunity to get some nice stuff."Brian nodded his head in understanding. After everything was settled, they continued on their path, always sticking to the left side. On their way, they met with another five snakes which were easily handled by Beta, who pocketed them with a smile. When they met the next crossroad, however, they froze. In front of them was a little boy lying on the ground with open eyes."He's dead, isn't he?""Yes, he is... we should be careful!", Beta answered.But once they found out what killed him, they were paralyzed. A snake. But what shocked them wasn't its enormous strength, it was how weak it was. It was a snake just like the other ones that Beta had caught. Somebody actually died to something so weak. They looked at the boy again. He was wearing luxurious clothes and had a haughty face."Looks like some rich kid without skills tried to enter the school but failed miserably in the first test.""That's just..."Beta felt helpless at that, but it didn't stop him from searching the boy's body. He found three silver coins and a scroll. When Beta unfolded the scroll, he was stunned once again. What was written on the scroll was a map. A map of this labyrinth. It showed the exact way one had to go in order to arrive at the exit. But that was not all. It even showed the locations of the snakes. Beta clearly remembered where he had met them, so he was able to confirm that the map is not a fake. When he looked at their current location, he saw that the symbol which indicated the snake was further down the path they had come from."Looks like this fellow had some connections to the school and tried to take advantage of that. Unfortunately for him, snakes are not non-living beings that will just wait at one place forever..."Beta didn't really mind that all as it enabled him to leave the labyrinth faster. After getting to know the path using the map, they simply followed it while also taking care of another four snakes on their way.As soon as they exited the labyrinth, they were met with a tall, brown-skinned man who stood next to some youths. He looked at them for a bit and then signaled them to come closer."Congratulations for solving the first test! My name is Marlon and I am a teacher of Malvic Academy! Now, before we continue to the next test, we will wait for the others to finish. Within that time, you can take one of the drinks on the table or eat something, as it may take a while for some people to finish this labyrinth."Beta nodded at the teacher respectfully and enjoyed some cool water. It was served in small glass bottles with a kind-of wooden lid on it that can be opened and closed as one wished. After drinking the bottle, he got an idea."Sir, can we keep the bottle?"Marlon was confused, but nodded at him anyway. The other youths next to him just looked at that scene with mocking eyes.Beta didn't mind all that and just pulled out one of the snakes. He carefully opened its mouth and put the fangs inside the bottle. After that he stimulated the snake's body, which resulted in small amounts of venom shooting out of the snake's fangs, right into the bottle. He followed that process and got the poison of all ten snakes he had acquired.Meanwhile, Marlon thought to himself, "What an interesting kid. I anticipate his performance in the next test!"
