Akib knew he was talking from his mouth, not from his head. Just within the short time of meeting him, he had seen that depending on Pure's solution could bring problems. But there was something good about him: he had a mind that was for everyone. Every effort he made was for all the students.
Three men arrived at the other side. They had come to see and welcome them. Regardless of the distance, the students heard them clearly. Their names were Makkur, Nakarr, and Shadow Master. Makkur did the introduction thus:
"It's my delight to welcome you to our academy. I am Makkur and my brother is Nakarr. Our third man, you will get to know soon. My grandparents founded this academy and we intend to keep its legacy.
We're here to say we love you and we'll do our best to make you the best. You can be sure you're in the right school. We have many names, depending on what your people call it, but I can assure you, all names are correct."
The introduction went on and on. Makkur reiterated some of the laws such as friendlessness, sacredness, obedience and dedication, hard work, and resilience. He said every student who upheld these would come out in the best colours.
Then he disclosed the means to get through their obstacle. As he was saying this, some ropes were shot out from their side to the other side. The third man was working on this. When he tapped the soil under him, a rope would be produced. When he finished this, he stepped aside for Makkur.
"You have to climb through to my side," he said.
"What's he saying?" Pure turned to Akib.
"You can fall to death," Akib responded.
Pure was the first to approach the ropes. All eyes on him, he maintained his stance before them. With his eyes keen on them, he lifted himself and landed on the ropes, his two legs bent sideways. The rope was lowered while responding to his weight. His pressure caused the ropes to react in the opposite direction by throwing him mid-air. He finally rested his feet safely on the ropes. Then he ran through to Makkur.
Makkur, as well as all the officers, were surprised. Pure's fellow students felt happy, thinking this wasn't hard to achieve.
Akib was the next. Reaching the ropes, he realized things were not as simple as Pure had made them seem. Below, the crocs had been invited. He lifted his eyes to see Pure, who was beckoning on him not to look down.
He decided to follow the example laid down. Making sure his feet were well positioned, he walked till the end. The only thing he didn't do was jumping, and he was happy he didn't do it. Young men like Pure could not be copied in totality.
Another candidate showed up for his turn. He started well, but somehow, he became afraid before reaching the middle. His legs shook, and his weight rested more on the left. He wanted to balance the two, but the rope underneath him was equally shaking. He missed his step and dropped into the water. The crocodiles fed on him.
The next student was already shaking. The look on his face showed he would not make it. But he was prepared to die as a hero.
When he set his eyes on the carnivores below, he withdrew his step and ran back.
"This place is the last hurdle. You either live here or die, but we wish you all the best," Makkur said.
Wench took over. Akib was not sure if she could make it, and that made him have Plan B. The plan he had in mind was to interfere when the need arose.
Wench had done this kind of training before, but when she stood to see what she had to cover, she had doubt. Yet, she wasn't going to turn her back. She placed herself at the starting point and started along the line. At a point, she stopped just like the third boy. Akib made a move to go over, but Nakarr pushed him back. He didn't utter a word, and he had not done so since he was there. The push was an indicator that no one was permitted to assist.
Wench was in a dilemma. The challenge she had was with her sight. The number of ropes was increasing and decreasing at the same time. She needed medical attention but not in this place. The new move didn't favour her at all. She missed her step entirely, and she fell off the line. But a chance she had thought of came to play—she hung her hands over the ropes.
"Hun, hun," she groaned.
The ropes were under her armpit. Wench pulled herself all along until she reached the finishing end.
"Winner!" Makkur declared.
Gawal was on the line to prove his worth. As he wanted to begin, Akib called out.
"Be careful, Gawal."
With all that Akib had been doing, Nakarr had marked him as a disobedient one. With Pure by his side, they were two of a kind. The two friends seemed to be careless, but he didn't want to interfere. He was going to handle everything when they finally reached the academy.
Gawal's attempt really meant a lot to him. For how he was mistreated, he still had a soft spot and would not let anything go wrong. Gawal was nervous and couldn't concentrate as he should. Aside from his unstable state, there was something under his arm that he was trying to hold. He was still keeping the staff he stole from the dead. Even Pony and Boris didn't know he went back for the purpose of stealing.
"Let your hands go sideways to keep yourself stable," Akib shouted.
When he said that, Gawal acted accordingly. He raised his hands, forgetting he was hiding something. The journey became more interesting, but Akib had seen what belonged to him.
As he finished, Akib ran to meet him. Before he reached Gawal, a hand stopped him. It was Nakarr's. While his hand was before him, Akib got hold of his wrist, where he wore something like a watch. Akib's hand went over the face of Nakarr's event reader.
In an instant, his hand had wiped off the memory of the watch. Nakarr had been there taking record of the proceedings. This recording was one of the activities used to have pre-details of every new student each year.
When Akib touched it, the screen of the watch blinked twice and made a click sound, then it went off.
"Why did you do that?" Nakarr roared like a wounded lion.
"Sorry, sir," Akib apologized—for touching, not for the watch.
He didn't quite understand he had committed a serious offence.
The three officials came together to see the watch. Makkur collected it with the hope of waking it from slumber, but it didn't come up. The Shadow Master wanted to be of help. This kind of thing had not happened at the boundary before.
"Don't touch it," Nakarr chided.
A sacrilege had been committed. The watch had been damaged. It was not just a time equipment—it was one of the legacies of the academy. For the moment, no one knew the remedy until consultation was made from the record. Aside from that, the one responsible for this error had to be punished.
For this, Makkur made his proclamation:
"For this sacrilegious act, Nakarr will go on seclusion as a punishment. He shall return when we have what's necessary."
Another strange thing followed: a giant bridge was activated.
"You can all cross," Makkur said.