Vyshmere

Chapter 2

         As Manuel followed the path that his feet had been placed on, for his graduation challenges, he watched around every turn for the next trial that he would have to face.  His bright deep brown eyes were continuously moving so as not to miss a thing.  A challenge could come up anywhere, at any time, and from any direction.  He, along with all the other hopeful graduates of the academy of Majik, had been placed on this island in order to face their final exams.  And . . . while this island may have been uninhabited, they were nowhere near alone.
         
         Each of the hopeful graduates from the academy of Majik was taken to this island to face the challenges that formed their final exams.  The island was in the middle of the Great River, and nothing lived on it except for flora and fauna.  Insects, invariably, found their ways to the delectable tidbits available for them.  Yet, other than that, no animal; neither man nor beast; made its home on that piece of land.
         
         Each one of the students was given a path to follow.  Along these paths, the hopefuls would encounter one challenge after another.  These challenges were designed in order to test their Majikal abilities and control  Once they had successfully completed all the tests that were to be presented to them, on this island, the final determining factor for their graduation would be their ability to return to the academy under their own powers.
         
         Each set of tests was as individual as each student.  They were designed to match the strength and abilities of each hopeful, and each student was measured on his or her own abilities.  If they passed all the trials presented to them on the island, and they managed to make it back to the academy using their own Majik, they would graduate.
         
         Due to the fact that the instructors of the academy were aware of the natural sense of competition, they made it so that each one would want to be the first to finish.  They accomplished this by making it a rule that the first one to be finished and return back to the academy would be greeted with a congratulatory party.  At this party, which was the major event each year, alumni of the academy would come to look for apprentices.  Even the ones that didn't normally leave their posts would make a point of being at this party if they were in the need of an apprentice.  Still others would make the journey for the pure pleasure of attending the annual event.
         
         Not all students would get apprenticed straight out of study.  Many of them would have to go home and wait for an opening.  However, the first one, of the class, to finish his or her tests was guaranteed a placement.  If you could get apprenticed straight out of the academy, your future would be secured.  Therefore, Manuel was aware that many of the other hopefuls that were on the island with him were desperately racing to be first.  Not all of them had the strength and skill that would warrant them an immediate position.
         
         Manuel, who was the strongest student to come through the academy in over fifty harvests, was not so worried about being the first to finish.  Although he knew that it would help in securing a mentor for his apprenticeship, he was pretty sure that he would get a placement no matter what.  His powers were very strong, and they were much sought after by some of the more experienced Wizards.  He had ultimate control, and he was able to manipulate his powers in whatever fashion he desired.  His shielding methods were exemplary, and he had the strength to project them for many miles  any Wizard that was looking to be a mentor would give just about anything to recruit this young man, and he knew it.

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         Since he had arrived on the island, Manuel had faced monstrous creatures that he had to use his powers to either destroy, capture, or merely detain.  He had faced tests that allowed him to display his ability to use containment spells, honesty castings, and healing energies.  He knew that he had passed each of these tests he had come across, for; had he not; he could not have advanced to the challenge the followed.  He would have been transported directly back to the academy for further study and instruction.
         
         As far as Manuel was concerned, in regards to his challenges, he had already proven his abilities in all areas except for logic and judgment.  He was aware that he would have to face challenges that would test his mental capabilities as well as his strength and Majikal abilities.  He also knew that these logic and judgment challenges were coming up sometime soon.  He, simply, did not know in which form they were going to be staged.
         
         Since all of the hopefuls had been told that their tests of logic and judgment would be the last of the challenges that would have to be faced, Manuel was eager to get to them.  He wanted to get through them, to the best of his ability, and get back to the academy and relax.  Surely, by the time he was done, someone else would have finished, and he could return to the academy without all the fuss and fanfare.  He should be able to elude the party and retire to the seclusion and peace of his own set of rooms.
         
         All of these thoughts, along with many others, were floating through Manuel's mind as he walked along his path.  He wanted to do well for his final challenges, but he also wanted to be finished.  He wanted to be done with the academy life, get through whatever apprenticeship he had to deal with, and move on to his own assignment.  He wanted his own job, in his own place.  This academy life, with all the hustle and bustle of activity, was not for him, and he was looking forward to being able to live a more quiet, private, and secluded life.  This life would be lived in his own home, in whatever village he was assigned to protect.
         
         Manuel was so deep into his thoughts of his future life, and all the plans he had for that future life, that when he came around a bend in the path, he almost walked into the wall of an edifice that stood in his way.
         
         "Whoa!" he exclaimed as he did a quick back step in order to avoid going into the wall face first.  He then looked up at the wall that stood in his way.  His face creased with an enormous smile.
         
         The building, that Manuel faced, appeared to be a small version of a castle.  However, the sudden stop had caused his lengthy brown hair to fall in his eyes, and he had to push it out of his face in order to get a better look.  As his gaze went up and up, in order to see what he had run up against, his smile got bigger and bigger.
         
         The building had tall crenelated walls.  At each end of the front wall of the building, there were peaked towers, and there was a flat at the top of each of these towers.  The flags were in the deep rich green and burgundy of the crown.  They proudly displayed the royal crest of a mother dragon feeding her nesting hatchling as it sat in the shadow of the royal palace.
         
         Manuel had arrived at the place for the last of his tests.  He was sure that this building could be for nothing else.  He was prepared.  Therefore, the young man took a deep breath, let it out in a long exhale, and approached the door that was placed in the center of the wall that he had almost run into.  As he reached out his hand to grasp the knob of the door, he looked up and noticed that there was writing carved into the stone above.
         
         Manuel chuckled to his self as he read what was written.  "If this is going to be the extent of the logic and judgment tests, I'm about done," he thought aloud.
         
         The answer to the riddle that was carved in the stone above the door was to be the key with which to open the door.  Therefore, Manuel read it carefully to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him.  It read:

There is a thing, in this world, that affects each one of us.
The rich have no need of it,
The poor already have it,
And,
If you eat this thing, you will die.

         
         The riddle was one that everyone he knew had learned at a young age.  It was one that was tossed about, at the academy, in order to confuse any newcomers that had never before been exposed to academy life.  He could not believe that this was a test.  Yet, then again, he figured that anything was possible with the instructors and directors at the academy.  They did like to try to throw him off once in a while.
         
         As Manuel reached out a strong hand to turn the handle of the door, he uttered the answer to this riddle, "nothing".  The handle, which would not have turned without the proper response, rotated smoothly in his grasp, and the door opened up onto the room beyond.
         
         Before stepping into the room that was beyond the door, Manuel paused in order to take a good look at what was in store for him.  Upon  closer examination of the room ahead, he realized that the simple riddle that had been carved into the stone above the first door to this odd building had only been a bit of a teaser.  The following challenges were going to be a bit more complex.  This was proven in the writing that was carved into the stone above the door that was at the opposite side of the room he was to enter next.  Yet, he was confident that he could handle whatever  he was presented.  Thus, Manuel took a deep breath once again, he exhaled slowly, and he stepped across the threshold in order to face this test.

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