A little more than two hours later, that climbing field could be compared to one full of mines for all he activated in most of his attempts. Yes, he managed to overcome the first, although the rest was too different to compare. Even when most involved jumping, climbing, gliding on some platform in the most style of a slide or using ropes to move from one side to another, that was the easy thing, and that was big words coming from Finnian.

On one occasion, one of the ropes gave up on his weight because it took him too long to jump. In another, the walls began to come together, further reducing his space of action. And in the last one, he stayed too long on a platform, and it disappeared, causing him to leave the road when he fell. Why had the difficulty increased so dramatically?

“You forget one thing,” Finnian said, recovering the breath after that run. “I cannot do the same thing as you.”

“You said that often, but….” Ead began to add.

“I’m still a human, and I have never been competent in sports activities, let alone at something like this,” Finnian replied.

He didn’t know precisely what his routine had been so far, but he was still just an eleven-years boy. He was neither strong nor high nor with an innate ability to run or feet coordination. He had spent more of his life with his head in a book or a videogame than outside. And something like that was not going to be solved in a matter of days full of physical activities.

“Why don’t you rest and watch us?” Leith suggested. “Maybe it’s different, but you can always learn something from it.”

Which was almost as good as giving up, but they were enjoying that afternoon, and he wasn’t willing to kill the mood. Then, sitting next to Lizzie, he saw the remaining four running on one of the most complicated circuits he had ever seen. Height, not to mention the challenge of getting around everything, went beyond its capabilities, or Finnian repeated to himself.

“Perhaps humans don’t have the same strength as an elthean, but that doesn’t make you inferior, just different,” Ead said, using an encouraging tone.

“I think few humans would end up unharmed after something like that,” Finnian said, pointing his hands at how Rune had made a mid-air twist after using one of the walls to enhance her jump.

“You didn’t believe you could do magic. However, you made progress with each day,” Ead said. “There are certain limits that exist to remind us that we are not invincible, but that does not mean that we cannot keep improving. Don’t you think?”

Spells, potions, magic food with recovery capabilities, and lot’s of monsters too! He had had hundreds of dreams, made drawings or written charms for creating a world where his fantasies became a reality. Appearing in Elthea was in line with everything he learned during his short life, and although specific rules were similar to Earth, many did not coincide.

Having reached almost half of that torture, the elthean ran less and faced more significant problems in the circuit. The climb, the crazy jumps they had to make to keep up, were a thousand times more complex than a physical education class. However, they walk the walls as if they were the ground itself, moving with a naturalness he envied. Feeling a tingling in his hands and even feet, the connection between his partners, while not fully active, allowed Finnian to perceive the excitement and what they were experiencing. Even when the traps and obstacles activated, complicating it more, none stopped to understand the how or the why. After all, they focused on completing the round.

“It won’t be to mimic reality, will it?” Finnian murmured.

“It’s a way they have to test themselves against similar problems that would happen outside. It wouldn’t always be possible to prevent things from going wrong,” Ead said.

Beside him, Lizzie watched closely without whispering a word. It was she who told him to analyze the surroundings, though not for what Finnian initially thought.

“It was to understand the possibilities of what I can do, not what happens.”

“Of course,” Lizzie said, speaking for the first time after a long silence. “Unless you can see the future, anything can happen. Controlling the environment is impossible, but what you do could make a difference.”

That afternoon it was not to improve his body but to hint that it did not matter his strength or size because there would always be something he could contribute. It would only be enough for Finnian to open his eyes and listen with the rest of his senses. The curiosity to use magic and connect with his companions was there. After all, he had practised the last few days to get used to that link that so quickly overcharged him, although following what his new friend had suggested.

Three of the four participants had a clear advantage in the air for the mere fact of having wings, even though none were using them at that time. If he saw Keahi jump quickly in the distance, seeing him closer through his partners saw how agile it was even for his size. Taking advantage of the wings of his arms, he might not fly, but they did help him stay in the air while jumping between platforms. However, his friends were the ones who offered him a unique vision.

Rune was the closest to the other elthean by the tone of her moves. She ran without going too fast or slow, keeping pace and accelerating when it was convenient. She didn’t hesitate to jump, taking advantage of her wings to offer an extra boost and gain speed from side to side. She did not fight against the air, nor against obstacles, because she was going with the flow.

“That dragon knows how to move, even when it’s one of the first times she participates,” Lizzie said.

Yes, Leith also possessed wings but rarely used them in such an environment, except for gaining momentum. Her agility was enviable, moving with an elegance that few would give to someone of its kind, but the most impressive was how she took advantage of its limbs. Sometimes, she used her is claws to hook onto the walls to avoid falling or simply made that gesture to continue moving forward without hardly altering the environment. She used her tail to boost her jumps in others, just as they were involved in Rapid Fire. Leith did not stop because of the difficulties, allowing her to go at the same pace as others.

“Watched Aer,” Ead recommended, “and not just with your eyes.”

After all, it was the one who should look the most because he hadn’t had wings or anything that assisted him in the air. However, the elthean moved like the dragon, with graceful movements every time he progressed between walls, jumps and lianas. After a bit of focusing, he appreciated what was not reflected at first glance.

Connecting with them, he began to travel through the obstacle field, feeling more than adrenaline for his body. As Lizzie said before, it was not a matter of controlling the environment but learning from it and using it in his support. Feeling every step Aer took, a chill ran his back as soon as he watched him run on a wall, then build up magic on his feet and power up the jump. The effect, however, was minimal, as was the energy used, but it did not imply that it was not an important lesson. Because wherever they walked or passed, he captured the sounds that the magic left, marks like the aurora borealis that his friends created for him, conscious that only he could catch it, revealing him the truth in which he had not always noticed.

Elthean, like humans, also struggled to cope with their weaknesses. His friends possessed a natural talent for that, but they also had their own disadvantages, something he shared as a human.

The race ended, and he wanted to try again for the first time since they arrived there. However, the time spent and the falls received would make anyone exhausted after so much movement.

“Tomorrow will be another day,” Rune promised, tapping his arm.

They should rest, but it was a discovery he wasn’t going to forget. He was training to effectively control his magic, and perhaps in the future, he could do things similar to them when moving around, but it was much more he could do at that state.

“It’s worth it,” Finnian murmured as they returned to the cabin.

“Did you like it in the end?” Aer exclaimed, as excited as when they arrived.

“At first, I don’t,” he admitted, “but you have shown me a new vision.”

“Sometimes, even if our world seems immobile and closed, we are surprised when new possibilities open to us,” Leith said.

It was a world to explore, friends who did not consider they would have, not to mention everything they were doing. People can impose a vision, even stop you from doing better because they feel threatened with so much change. He knew someone like that, someone he even called a friend on several occasions, understanding that he was nothing more than a classmate. However, what they were doing, every elthean they cross pass at some point were still helping them by the ties they had created. Those bonds were as powerful as those he had with his family, although they could not be seen at all.

“Are you serious? Would you want us to come back?” Aer said, even without believing his words.

“Falling that much wasn’t funny, but I like to be honest,” Finnian smiled, shrugging. “I am not going to look away to a challenge.”

There was always room to learn, something that Ailfryd inculcated him and that even he continued to discover new things with each passing day. Now that he saw reality with other eyes, he would only need not forget that to continue forward. However, there was still something missing, a piece in the puzzle of his status as a Signer. In the Galya, he answered so many questions, but he would only be able to dissipate that fog once they left.

That’s why he thought he would use the time they had as much as possible to improve and continue experiencing what it was like to live in Elthea.