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Chapter 9: Obstacle Course

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The Mana Evaluation was over. The evaluators noted a total of eighteen High Affinity candidates, with one at Peak-Affinity.

Julia came out from the building along with the six knights from before. She joined the assembled candidates, with curious glances directed on her.

Prior to the next test, the knights assembled on the platform, in front of the five hundred or so candidates. There were over twenty knights, standing behind the white knight on the platform before.

A dozen or so officials stood alongside them.

“Thank you everyone for coming. For our city to assemble this many of our young generation, the best of our young generation. We, the knights, applaud your desire to serve our great nation.”

He introduced himself as Sir Medron, Knight Commander of the Knights of White Eagle; the overseer for the whole test.

Behind him, representatives from five other knights orders, the city administration as well as the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Emergency.

The ceremony was not long, as they proceeded with the Imperial Anthem.

An orchestra played the anthem with full professionalism. Listening to the ancient anthem, Krone had recalled his experience fighting in the war.

The terrible war, along with his comrades.

The Land of our Fathers, The Land of Our Mothers…

Nations United, under a Single Banner…

Filled with Brave Soldiers, Fed by Simple Farmers…

God saves Kharlussia, Lives on Forever…

During the war, the anthem had constantly reminded them of why they had to face hardship, why they had to be in the frontline, why they must never give up.

It encompassed the whole reasons for their being, the whole reason for their sacrifice, the whole reason of them facing death.

At the time when normal people were fearful, running away from the enemy, they had to be brave. Forward to greet their adversary – not knowing whether they will be alive the next day, the next hour, even the next immediate moment.

Only some candidates had solemn expression, while most nonchalantly sang the anthem.

It ended.

He let out a long breath.

The candidates were then assembled next to the square, at the side of a large field.

On the field, different kinds of props were prepared. As a whole, it was a thorough obstacle course. From the start near the square, straight for the rest of the field then half circled through a hill, back to the rear of the starting point was the finishing line. Along the way, candidates had to go through various obstacle with pools and mud.

There were five lanes, with the intention of releasing five candidates at once. For every obstacle there, a pair of soldiers took their position. Krone calculated – twenty four obstacles overall.

When they were ready, knights came out from the building.

Lead by Sir Medron, followed by Sir Kent and Lady Natalia. Along with two others, they went on to sit in the judge’s seats further in the middle of the course, on the other side opposite to the audience.

Julia looked around, eyes finally rested on Krone. Noting the complex obstacle course, she pondered.

‘This should expose you a bit?’

The weird feeling she had from observing him should not be a mistake. She had guidance from great masters, and had sharpened her senses well enough to know he was in no way average.

‘Masters would agree with me. This one, unusual.’

With his heightened sense and experience, Krone knew who was watching him. He however, decided to ignore the attention for now.

‘It seemed our eyes locking that time gained her interest, good enough as a first impression.’

He played around with his spear, wondering who to give it to keep it safe when it was his turn.

“Number one to one hundred, gather!”

The evaluators called out the candidates.

They then lined them up before the starting line. Number one to five would be the first to go. This time the order would follow numbers given before.

The candidates lined up quickly, without any hassle.

Candidates who were not assembled in the starting point right now had the freedom to move, to watch along the sidelines as long as they did not cross the line or disturbed the test. At their back was the grandstand the audience occupied.

Krone took a look at his sister waving at him.

“Heh. Sure is nice to have support,”

Before the first group went, an instructor went to the front and made a brief explanation.

He stressed on completing the course, and avoiding accidents as a priority. Falling from an obstacle would not result in immediate failure, so candidates should not give up halfway.

Using any Arte or Magic was forbidden.

His instruction was simple, and his voice was filled with mana, loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

Krone thought the instructor was really nice, but wondered just how many candidates actually took what he had said to heart. Most seemed to have this belief that if they fell or failed any obstacle, it would be devastating. Many of the candidates started to warm up, especially those in the front lines.

Those who did not, followed suit.

Krone went to the back, on a hilly ground close to the grandstand. He wished to have bird’s eyes view of the whole course, as well as the position of his targets.

“Alright, who would benefit the most?”

He pondered on who he should proceed to create impression, since free time during the test should be used to the fullest. His eyes fell on a boy in a blue coat, Ron M. Shamanov.

He was among the first one hundred, right in the middle.

He was calm, and showed no sense of bearing confidence or anxiousness. It was as if he would be facing something he did daily.

“Yeah, he doesn’t need any advice. Wonder who trained this guy, aii…”

It seemed he would not have an easy time to create favourable impression with him. His mind seemed clear of doubt, eyes sharp.

This kind of child would not be so naïve or trusting.

Krone wondered what happened to him afterwards.

He did not hear him becoming famous or anything, thus he thought of the likelihood of him falling in battle early on.

That would be a damn waste.

“Well, I’ll just make him want to. There’ll be chance later.”

His gaze fell on Julia. Similarly, she was not anxious in the least. Once a while, she would steal a glance at him.

‘She doesn’t need my help, not yet…’

His eyes in full action, he finally spotted a few of those he specially noted before. Calculating proper route, he started to move. At the same time, the first five candidates wore the gloves given, ready for the obstacle course. They moved into a crouching position in the starting line.

BANG!

A loud bang; a green magic ball was released up to the sky – dissipating within seconds. The candidates sprinted fast, moving down to a tunnel crawl.

“Hm?”

Someone’s movement caught his attention. A black-haired boy, mature-looking for his age. He wore black tunic, his movement steady. He was candidate number four, the first coming out of the tunnel.

He went on to the stutter-step wheels; nineteen wheels arranged. Candidates had to step on each as they ran forward. Sprinting, he used his momentum to jump, placing his fingers on the plain four-metre high wall and pulled himself up. From there, he jumped down, proceeding next to the eight metre net climb.

“Good movement. Solid training.”

Krone decided to put his plan on hold and observed him carefully. This one was among the early ones he missed during the Mana Evaluation, as they had taken it before he even entered.

Jumping with ease passed the 1.5 metre pyramid box; the boy was upon a large pool. Shifting his body to the side, he jumped on the first raft, then the second, taking a sharp turn towards the third, he kneeled before jumping onto the fourth raft, turning his body around and landed on land, breaking his jump by rolling.

“Nice…”

Krone admired him. He pondered on why he missed such performance last time, but put it behind him.

“I need his information."

He placed number twenty five on his notebook, noting what details he could derive from his movement.

Steadying his run, the boy in black stepped onto a balance beam, with mud underneath. Next, there were logs swinging, obstructing his path. They were controlled and powered by the wooden mechanism built above. The soldier nearby only had to push a simple gear.

He observed its simple pattern; then ran pass four, pausing before went pass another four. After running through three one-metre high hurdles, he entered the middle of the course; the hill.

Speeding up, he ran up the twenty-metre high Hill Run, stopping a short moment before a five metre Wall Climb. Taking in his breath, he steadied his feet onto the stones on the wall before placing his hands high.

“Clear performance, while still not overreaching…”

Krone commented.

The other candidates had just passed the balance beam, with one falling into the mud. He braved the mud, starting over.

Reaching the top of the wall, the boy in black stepped on the stairs leading to a Flying Fox. He was high on the hill, with soft sand below the flying fox course. Checking his equipment and steadied himself, he jumped, gliding towards the lower platform thirty metre away.

He turned his gaze to the monkey bar while the soldiers on the platform cleared the equipment. Below it was water.

This one was a bit tricky, as a simple mistake would lead one to fall down ten metre onto the water. He straightened his back and placed his hands on a little box – white powder covered his palm. He tapped his hands together, looking straight.

There were thirty bars. Taking mental note of the half metre distance between bars, his hands passed through each of them as though they were plucking.

Tap-tap-tap…

Krone could imagine the sound as his eyes zoomed in onto him.

‘His hand movement was downright precise. The knights ought to notice this…’

Passing through the Monkey Bars, he made his way through a vertical Log Climb, then ran pass five chest-high walls. He was well on his way back.

Looking at the obstacles again, Krone thought whoever did this really have a particular taste.

“For newbie, this race is like torture… whoever arranged this must be a damn sadist.”

He heard a loud sneeze over in the judge table, over the other side. The one in the middle wiped his mouth with a white handkerchief.

Back to the boy, he had placed his hands on logs arranged neatly as wall. He had to traverse it without placing his feet onto it. Using his hands, he made his way while placing both legs at a side…

He heard a splash.

At the same time he reached the end, one candidate fell from the monkey bars behind him. Not even turning around to look, he passed through the five one-metre low hurdles, stopping right before a soldier.

The soldier placed a heavy sandbag on his back. He ran, his hands keeping it steady.

Sweats filled his forehead down to his chest. He steadied his run, opting a slower yet stamina-efficient run. He passed through the five judges on the sideline.

“Admirable. Good judgement of one’s limit…”

Krone heard one of them commented. It was far, yet his heightened hearing still picked it up.

The other candidates stopped for a breather as they passed the monkey bars. Right at this time, one of the judges nodded to the magician at the starting line. Another bang sounded as a green magic ball was shot into the air.

The second line was released onto the course. Should they pass over them, they could very well say goodbye to the rest of the remaining tests.

Of course, that was unlikely unless your stamina or ability was terrible.

Along with the sandbag, he stepped onto a balance beam. His steps were steady, his eyes sharp. As he stepped down, he gave the sandbag back to the soldier waiting there.

He sprinted for a steep ramp jump. On top of it, he placed his hand on a rope wall. Climbing the wall, he jumped down and then jumped low into a black hole; a low crawl underground.

By this time, the two candidates behind him took their sandbag and ran. He made out of the hole, hands directly on a rope, with a wide pool to his front. Steadied himself, he swung himself and jumped for another rope in the middle of the pool.

The momentum carried him over to the other side.

The boy in black tunic landed. His breathing heavy, he stood up in a second.

A few moment of silence.

A roar of applause and standing ovation greeted him.

The audience over the grandstand was fascinated. The place was trembling from the audience’s cheers.

“Amazing!”

“A future knight! For sure!”

“This actually made my old bones shivers…”

“Mom, did you see that..? Can you get me that boy?”

“He left the others in dust…”

“I want him for my daughter!”

Over at the finishing line, the other candidates in the first hundred group gulped. The performance he had shown left the others by a large margin. Finally realizing how difficult it could be to pass, some of them questioned their own ability.

Clenching the time watch on his hand, the time keeper had an expression of pride.

“Ryan Arclad, First place – three minutes fifty five second!”

…

The recorder behind him had a blank expression.

Under four minutes!

The soldiers, squires, knights and other staff had a pleasant surprise. Someone did it under four minutes? Only the first line, and already...

The last of such performance was years ago.

Ryan thanked a staff as he handed him a bag of water. He took a sip before walking around, gradually cooling his body down.

Krone observed those he had noted before, taking in their expression.

Nearby, Julia had a pleasant look on her, seemingly having an epiphany. Further among the first hundred, Ron simply nodded, turning to observe each obstacle he was going to face later.

Much closer to Krone, the large boy called Doran had anxiety written on his face.

Then, zooming in to the middle of the crowd, he saw the twin blondes were speaking in hush, eyes wavering. Around half of those he had noted earlier, those whom he had favourable impression, had similar expression.

Doubt.

Fear.

He did not blame them. He had the same feelings back then.

‘Who the hell prepared such a course for a complete newbie?’

The first five was actually doing well, since the second five did not fare as good.

Two had just fallen into the water from the monkey bar, while another was just about to start. The first one hundred candidates could be said as actually well-prepared, since they dared to come earlier than others to the testing ground. He recalled that starting from number 201 onwards, they fell the obstacles like flies.

It was a competitive test, with high percentage of failure. Not weird for these youngsters to feel intimidated.

“Well, so much better. The worse their feeling, the better the first impression.”

He got up, walking straight to his closest victim.

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