After the time was up, the deputy director of Floating Air Barracks and the lady who was conducting the test called together the students who had successfully completed the test. After counting, a little more than half of the applicants had successfully completed the first test. Now the applicants were led to the largest courtyard of the school to be introduced to the next task. When everyone was seated, Emma, the test coordinator, stood up on a small platform.
"Congratulations, everyone. You have successfully completed the first test. Your results have been written down. So let's not waste any more time, let's get to the second test. As you can see, there are boxes of different sizes and shapes in the courtyard. Under each box is a different object, with different levels of energy, which are measured in points. Your task is to collect as many boxes as possible that correspond to points in ten minutes. Oh, and one more thing." The woman smiled. "You will get lunch depending on how many points you get, so don't waste a minute. Time strats, now!" She shouted, and the candidates stormed the boxes.
"Okay, guys, just like we did at Master Mo's." Razvan grinned, which all the Athamanas repeated. Then, at the signal of their leader, they dispersed and in less than two minutes, everyone returned to their places with a box in their hands, smiling broadly, while the deputy director and the test coordinator kept watching them.
"Heh! I knew it was just luck. They will lose now." The woman declared, smiling mockingly.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Emma dear." The woman immediately turned around at the sudden sound.
"Director! What are you doing here? Didn't you say you wouldn't have time today?" The lady blinked, but the blue-haired man just started to grin.
"Because I don't have time." He shrugged.
"What?" Mark, the deputy director, quipped.
"I should have been where I am for half an hour now, where I am not." The director chuckled. "But I couldn't miss the auditions. A friend of mine from the border sent me a message that a couple of his protégés were applying to my school, I had to see them for myself." He explained.
"Who are they?" Emma asked, and the director pointed to the Athamanas. "I'm sorry, director, but I think they're going to be eliminated in this round." The lady noted indifferently, but the man just laughed.
"Oh, I don't think so." He shook his head. "Even one box is enough to put them in the top spot, if there's an item of that level in it" He added, then looked up at the sky. "But I really have to go now, because now I'm not in two places where I'm supposed to be." As the blue-haired director said this, he already hurried away.
"He wouldn't be himself if his head wasn't messed up." Mark rolled his eyes.
"Do you really think they'll win again?" The woman asked softly.
"We can't know yet." The man grimaced, and then they silently waited for the task to end. During the summary, it turned out that the Athamanas had finished in the lead again, even if each of them only had one box.
Citar got a small carved-handled knife, Wandi a crystal vial. Suk got a leather bag, and Teveli a beautifully crafted bell. Achilleus got a compass with strange markings, and Benkó got a dark blue stone earring. Razvan got a belt studded with small stones, and Rahul got a golden pen that could be used to write anywhere.
Thanks to their success in the test, they had a hearty lunch and didn't even have to think about the fact that any of them could come close to failing. It's true that only a quarter of the remaining candidates had failed this test anyway. But since they were safe, the Athamanas were all well-rested and pleasantly full for the third test.
"Candidates! I welcome you to the last test. Those of you who pass this test can join the students of Floating Air Barracks this year." Emma announced, as she stood in front of the remaining applicants. Behind her was a huge gate in the middle of a small courtyard without any walls, all by itself. "Your task is simple. Go through the gate! Everyone has one chance, you can start." She clapped her hands and went under the gate to the other side to stand next to the deputy director.
The Athamanas were now all gathering at the back. They had always been the first to pass the tests, now they wanted to let others take the center of attention. The task seemed ridiculously easy, the applicants didn't even understand why it was a test, until the third attempter fell on his ass four meters from the gate. And several others shared his fate, who, no matter how hard they tried, couldn't get closer to the gate.
By the time it was the turn of the Athamanas, there were only ten students standing on the other side of the gate, looking at their suffering companions in confusion. However, no one among the students and teachers of Floating Air seemed surprised and only Mark and Emma were looking curiously at the Athamanas who were still standing behind.
"Can we go too, boss? These should all be finished by now." Achilleus put his hands on his hips.
"Yes, I think it's time for us to go." Razvan nodded, whereupon the Motumisz boy grinned and simply ran through the gate, which made the Athamanas burst out laughing.
"It tickles!" Achilleus shouted back to his friends, which made Benkó run under the gate as if it wasn't even there.
"You idiots, why are you running?" Teveli rolled his eyes with a smile, as he also walked under the gate. "Suk, what do you think this is?"
"I have no idea, but it sure is interesting!" The Zovárd boy grinned, looking at the gate as he passed under it.
"It's just a gate, what's the big deal with it?" Citar asked, as they passed under the gate with Wandi at his side.
"I wanted to ask..." Rahul began, walking under the gate, but when the gate started to glow in white light around him, he stepped out from under it with narrowed eyes. "That too." He finished his sentence. "Well, that was strange." He admitted.
"I think it's some kind of sensor." Razvan noted, who was the last to step under the gate, which was immediately surrounded by blackness.
"Boss, what did you do..." Citar began, as he stepped back to the gate and grabbed one of the pillars, just as Razvan stepped out from under it. However, when he touched it, the gate was surrounded by a greenish-blue light and this was what made Citar's words stick in his mouth, and he immediately let go of the pillar and backed away from it into Wandi's chest in fear. "What did I do with it?"
"I have no idea!" Rahul shook his head.
"You see, Bolacsuk, don't touch everything you see!" Suk stuck out his tongue at the boy.
"Go to the Fene!" Citar growled and folded his arms in front of him, and just like him, the team didn't notice that several pairs of wide eyes were looking at them. After all, since the founding of Floating Air Barracks, it had never happened that the gate symbolizing the Onegod's consent to the applicant's admission had lit up in any color. However, the Athamana team, who were the weakest of the applicants, not only walked through it as if it wasn't there, but they were also able to cause such a strange phenomenon.
"We need to tell the director." Emma whispered.
"He needs to know about this." Mark agreed, who, together with the woman, was still completely frozen watching the team arguing with each other in a language they knew, albeit in a strange dialect.