Wayne cautiously explored the streets of Eldora, making sure he didn't raise suspicions about the soldiers guarding the streets. He saw posters everywhere about him killing Thorne, but Wayne secretly ripped off the posters he saw, without getting spotted. His notoriety was increasing each second he wasted, but he needed to get to the academy as fast as possible. He didn't even know when the test was starting, or if it already did.
The Path set a waypoint for where Wayne needed to be, and it was far from him, but he suddenly heard a loud laughter behind him. He checked back to see what it was and it looked like two girls, maybe the same age as him, dressed up in uniforms. Maybe they were also heading to the academy? But it was time to pick up the pace for Wayne, so he climbed one of the roofs of a building, and hopped from roof to roof, skipping a lot of obstacles on the road.
As Wayne was swiftly maneuvering his way to the academy, he had a thought. He noticed that if he had gone to the academy showing his face and with these clothes, he would have been caught as the suspect. It was time for a change of clothes, one where he could hide his face, but also move around freely.
Wayne went into a small tailor shop, hoping the owner didn't know that Wayne wasn't the one who killed him. He saw a lot of clothes, covered with a hood, but he saw one, that stuck out to him. It was a black robe, with purple trims, with a long deep hood, covering most of his face, but still visible. It was long and thick, but he didn't know if they were going to allow this during the test. He used the money he took from Thorne's pocket, just enough to buy the robe, costing 250 eldorines.
He walked outside the store but was approached by two soldiers, staring him down. They caught on that it was him, the murderer.
One of the soldiers yelled, "On Sir Barden's command, we require you to remove all weapons from your body, and allow us to arrest you!"
Wayne watched his surroundings carefully, ready to make a move and kill them both, but the streets were too crowded to make a move. His only option was... run away!
Wayne quickly swept both their legs, causing them to lose balance, and giving him a chance to run away. Wayne rushed in the direction of the academy, trying to lose them on the way, but they were right behind him, riding in their horses. They were too fast for Wayne, and they kicked Wayne, slowing him down. They both pulled out their huge hammers, glaring down at Wayne, who was on the floor, trying to gasp for breath.
"You made a mistake running away fraud. You killed Thorne and now you're trying to run away. What foolishness from you."
The soldiers covered their hammers with some iron magic, enhancing their strength. They were trying to kill him instead of arresting him. On the posters, it said there was a reward for bringing the suspect dead, and that's what the two soldiers are trying to do.
The soldiers rushed down with their hammers and were inches away from killing Wayne, but he felt a sudden presence, a dark ominous feeling. In the shadows, he saw a figure, staring right at them, and then he chanted a name...
"Dreadsleep Hex..."
The two soldier's eyes suddenly turned purple, and they fainted in an instant. Their bodies twitched on the ground.
"Scary."
Wayne heard a voice from above...
"You're interesting, get going to the test and impress me."
This essence shocked and scared the crowd, and so did Wayne, but he had to get to the test in one piece and pass it.
Wayne got close to the academy, and he saw it in the distance. A huge building, like a castle built with stone and bricks, and in the middle was a huge colosseum, used to battle with others and practice.
He needed a uniform, so he had to sneak in. He changed his clothes to a trench coat and some linen pants to match the uniform vibe. But the doors were locked, and he was late for the test. He heard a loudspeaker inside the building, but he needed to find a way to get in. He analyzed the building, and with a matter of few seconds, his detective skills kicked in, and mapped all 144 ways to sneak into the building without getting caught. He had to scale the whole building, approximately 300 meters higher, and drop down through a vent. He got to work and used his core strength to hang onto the slabs of bricks, slowly making his way up. He made sure no one saw him and it took him about 5 minutes to get up. Once he was up there, he opened the vent and dropped down. He crawled his way through the vents and dropped down into the crowd standing.
The whole room was crowded, so crowded that no one saw Wayne, randomly jumping in from the top. But the crowd was staring at something, no someone. The loud voice projected across the whole arena. Everyone felt his presence on the stage. Wayne tried jumping out in the air to see who was there, but he could only get a glimpse. He saw an old man, with a white beard and short, combed black hair. But he was big for his age. He looked fit and muscular. He tapped on some girl's shoulder next to him and asked, "Hey, who's the guy speaking up there."
"Oh him? He's the president of the school. They call him... President Sylas Noctherin."
The voice finally stopped and suddenly, Sylas yelled...
"This test is going to be hard and physical, and if you can't handle that, I suggest you leave. If not, let the rulers see your magic!!!"
Soldiers came up to the crowd and formed everyone into groups by gender. They each got assigned a locker, and in there, all the boys started practicing their essence. Wayne still didn't know how to control his essence, as he never used it before. If he doesn't figure out how to activate it, he might fail the test. Everyone in the room looked strong, most of them having a strong build and powerful magic.
Will Wayne be able to keep up?
A loudspeaker above the locker rooms buzzed.
"Everyone, please step out of the locker rooms and stand on your assigned number."
Wayne stepped onto his number, the same number as your locker. The people next to Wayne were locked in. Their faces were serious, with multiple scars.
"Ook everyone, the first test begins!!! This test will be an endurance test, but there's a twist. You can use your essence to slow down your opponents, or for your benefit too. Good luck everyone!!!!"
"3..... 2.... 1... Goooooooooo!!!!!"
Everyone started running to the obstacle course, which consisted of climbing, running, and the finale, a fight for survival. Wayne was at a huge disadvantage, as he couldn't control his new essence powers.
Wayne started slowly climbing the huge mountains that appeared suddenly on the floor. He was cautious of his surroundings, making sure no one attacked him. Many bodies started falling all over the place, people knocking other people down. No one wanted to risk a chance of losing to be a part of the kingdom's army.
The mountain was tall, taller than the roof of the colosseum. Suddenly, a guy stared Wayne down, who was right beside him. Wayne sensed the guy trying to knock him down, so he quickly climbed away from him, but the guy shot a water beam right at Wayne. It was too fast for Wayne to dodge, thus hitting him in the face.
For a second, Wayne was blinded from the water. But Wayne quickly recovered and tightened his grip on the mountain. The goal of this test was to see who finished first, so Wayne needed to hurry, as everyone else was almost at the top. Some people managed to use their essence and fly to the peak.
"You guys are all pathetic."
A guy from below zoomed up into the air, using his magic, reaching the peak of the mountain in less than a second. Everyone was shocked, how did he do that? That's what everyone thought, but Wayne didn't have time to waste. He saw the shadow of the man who zoomed his way there, but Wayne slowly made his way there.
He needed to pick up the pace.