Felix stared at the creatures blasting off at a speed he struggled to follow with his eyes. Once again, it drove home how ridiculous the gate was. He waited until he was sure they were gone before he shot up and brushed off his clothes, not wanting a repeat of the last time. He tentatively started moving, making sure nothing happened.

  The clearing stayed still, so he started looking around. After finding nothing, he knew what he had to do. He’d learn nothing new unless he tried something new. So Felix started the impossibly long journey to the top of the mountain. At first, it was easy, but the further away from the clearing he went, the thicker the undergrowth got.

  It soon became a constant struggle. He pushed himself to his limits, crawling under toppled logs, squeezing between narrow gaps between trees, and shimmying over roots as thick as he was tall. With every passing minute and later every passing hour, he grew more and more depressed. Other monstrous creatures aside, the owl could fly, avoiding all of this. How was he supposed to compete with that?

  Felix’s thoughts kept spiralling between the impossible task and the constant exhaustion. He was too distracted to even notice how he died. One moment, he was pushing against a particularly stubborn patch of vines, trying to heft them up enough for him to crawl through, and the next, he felt a pain like he’d never felt before on his neck. It was so fast that his brain barely had time to register it before he was hit with the undeniable realisation that he had died.

  In an instant, he went from crawling through the overgrown jungle to standing on the Ways. The first gate blocked his path like he’d never entered. It was such a shocking change that it took his brain a moment to fully catch up with what had happened.

  As soon as it caught up, Felix became violently ill. Unable to hold back, he fell to his knees, and he threw up on the spot. It might have been over quickly, but he died. It left him shivering. His blood felt like ice coursing through him as he broke down. He had no idea how long he lay on the path crying in front of the gate.

  By the time he pulled himself together, he could tell something was wrong. He struggled to remember what dying felt like. He remembered the pain as if it had happened to someone else. Even the shock of dying felt strangely distant. He remembered what happened and how he reacted, but none of the emotion, none of the fear or pain. It was like he could vividly remember someone telling him what it was like to experience dying. While he knew he was the one who experienced it, he just couldn’t really remember what it felt like.

  Without the memories to drive his panic, he slowly calmed down. Once he was calm enough to focus on his surroundings, he was shocked to notice his path speaking to him again. For a moment, he was overjoyed, thinking he’d be able to move forward.

  He quickly realised it wasn’t trying to teach him anything new. The path just kept repeating its lessons on patience and an open mind, on humility and an open heart.

  Maybe reading ‘Abbot Moss’ guide to inner peace’ so many times had a greater effect on him than he thought. If not for the deadline looming over him, he might have listened to his path. Somehow, he understood what his path was trying to say. He could tell it made sense. It just didn’t understand his circumstances. He didn't have time to slow down and be patient.

  The strange way his path spoke to him kept reminding him of phrases from the book. He had to constantly swat away thoughts like ‘Even water can cut through stone given enough time’ and ‘Only by taking time to be still, can you be ready when the time comes to move.’

  Felix wasn’t here to obtain inner peace. He needed to find a way forward. He didn’t have time to dwell on his failure. Before the fear could creep into his veins and root his legs in place, he pushed himself off the ground and threw himself back into the gate.

  The vicious beasts and mysterious deaths could drop off the path and get lost. He had no other way forward. Felix’s eyes set in grim determination, he would move forward even if it meant throwing himself at the gate until one of them broke.

  So he did. Time after time, he threw himself into the gate. For a second time, then a third, by the fifth time he threw himself to his doom, he began to notice a change. While he cautiously waited for the beasts to leave, not daring to move before they were long gone, he no longer froze in terror under their pressure.

  While the trek through the forest still left him drained and exhausted, he’d managed to narrow down the area in which he kept dying. On his sixth attempt, he finally noticed it. Small creatures scuttled through the foliage, even as he watched them. Several of them were locked onto him, waiting for him to move.

  They looked like someone had tried to draw a cute spider, but wasn't very good at it. They only had two eyes that were a little too large for their heads. It made them look like they were begging for a treat whenever they looked at you. Instead of eight, they only had four spindly little limbs.

  The strange creatures silently skittered through the branches, sometimes stopping to hop in place or do little dances. Felix couldn’t tell if it was some form of communication or if they were just playing.

  He kept his distance and observed them for a while. After seeing nothing else out of place, he determined they were likely the things killing him, despite their harmless appearance.

  Creeping forward on unsteady legs, his back quickly became drenched in cold sweat. His limbs felt cold, but he still crept forward slowly. He didn’t dare to blink as he tried to watch for any sign of movement or danger. His ears strained to hear anything other than his own rapidly beating heart.

  One step after another, nothing happened, until his feet crossed some boundary that he couldn't see. With a snap, every little creature focused on him, from the closest one, a string shot out, so thin and fast he almost missed it. He immediately knew he’d found the thing that kept killing him. It sliced through the vines effortlessly. He demanded his body move. With all his will, he pressed his muscles to.

  It was just too slow. He felt the string slice into his neck with no resistance. With a familiar flash of debilitating pain, he found himself back on the Ways. With each death, the strain grew, but this time so much worse. Seeing death coming for him with no way to avoid it, helplessly watching as he died. It took a long time for him to stop trembling on the ground.

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  The Ways helped like it had done every other time. His path tried telling him he was on the right track. To keep being patient instead of running headfirst into danger. Even so, he knew that he couldn’t do it again. He’d exhausted every sip of willpower he had. He faced his death, time after time, knowing it would come, knowing what it would feel like. He just couldn’t bring himself to face it again.

  With another traumatic experience on the Ways under his belt, Felix left the gate behind him.

  When he stepped outside the gate, he was surprised to find that it was almost noon. He’d lost all sense of time while in the Ways. It felt like he’d been in there for days, yet here he was, only a little late for lunch.

  He tried his best to calm down as he made his way back to the dorm. Every sudden movement or slightly louder sound made him jump.

  At least Eugene would probably try to dominate the conversation again. Maybe it would be enough for Lara not to notice the state he was in.

  When he reached the dining hall and spotted his group, his hopes of a quiet but annoying lunch were shattered. Apparently, Eugene had decided to bring along one of his friends. Sitting at the table, Lara kept scanning the hall, clearly worried about his absence. Aster looked like she was a couple of minutes away from strangling someone.

  Eugene was clearly trying to steer the conversation with some help from Marvin.

  Felix could feel an ember of rage in his chest. He was already frustrated that Eugene had turned one of the few moments of peace in his day into a chore by taking over the little time he got to spend with Lara and Aster.

  While it was annoying that Eugene made no real attempt to help, Felix wasn’t expecting him to be able to do much in the first place. But he’d clearly known he shouldn’t bring any of his ‘friends’ along with him to lunch. Only to give up the pretence after a single day.

  Already feeling unstable after his disastrous morning, Felix had a hard time resisting the urge to punch him. Taking a few deep breaths, he did his best to calm himself as much as he could.

  “Felix!” Lara’s voice called out from the table.

  Cursing inwardly at being spotted before he’d gathered himself, he made his way to the table.

  “Hey, Lara, Aster.”

  “You’re late, is everything alright?” Lara asked as he was taking his seat.

  “Yeah, sorry. I lost track while I was on the Ways.”

  “Oh? You haven’t given up yet? How long are you going to try before you call it quits?” Marvin chimed in. He made it sound like an innocent question, but the mirth in his eyes told Felix he knew exactly what he was doing.

  “I don’t see what my Journey has to do with you.”

  “Haha, no need to be so serious. Besides, you shouldn’t call it a journey before you actually go somewhere. You’re probably still stuck at the first gate, aren’t you?”

  Felix clenched his fists. He tried to hold back his anger, but he felt like he was on the verge of bursting. Just as Lara opened her mouth to start saying something, Eugene quickly interceded.

  “Marvin, if you say it like that, they’ll misunderstand. I know you mean well, but they’ll think you’re trying to be mean. Besides, that’s why I invited you. I’m sure we can give Felix some tips now that we’ve both passed our first gate.”

  “Help him? The best help we can give him is to convince him to give up. What’s the point of trying with his useless affinities? His spell helps him take naps! His father must have pissed off a dragon for him to end up with luck like that. The best thing he can do is give up and go study counting coins or something with the rest of the cripples.”

  Finally, not able to take it anymore, Felix jumped up from his chair, only to immediately stop in his tracks. A subtle, quick burst of powerful pressure from across the room drew his attention. It was only a moment, but it was enough for him to notice Agrona subtly shaking her head.

  Felix clenched his fists so hard his nails bit into his skin, drawing blood.

  “What? I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?” Marvin asked with a cocky, self-assured grin.

  Felix turned around and headed for the stairs, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he’d surely get himself in trouble. He heard the start of a laugh from Marvin, only for it to be replaced by a choking sound.

  Two smaller waves of pressure filled the room. Felix intuitively knew it was Lara and Aster. On another day, he’d have loved to stay and see what they were doing. Right now, Felix felt like he urgently needed to punch something.

  Just as he reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hall to his room, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

  “Felix!” Eugene stood behind him.

  Turning to meet his gaze, it took every sip of resolve Felix had to not lash out there and then.

  Seeing the fury in his eyes, Eugene quickly raised his hands in a placating gesture and took a step back.

  “Hey, wait, I’m just here to say sorry.” Felix remained silent, just staring at him while he tried to get his temper under control.

  “Look, Marvin is quite crass, but he meant well. I’m sorry it came out like that. He shouldn’t have said that.”

  “What do you mean ‘came out like that’?”

  “Ah, well, you see, I wanted Marvin here to help talk to you. I didn’t think he’d be so… well, like that. Look, I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure trying to keep up with Lara and the six-month deadline. I wanted to help. That’s why I asked to meet you guys for lunch in the first place!

  “Look, you don’t need to be so worried about her.” Eugene straightened his back and put his hand on his chest.

  “We all know it just isn’t realistic for you to follow her. That's why I wanted to promise you that I’d take care of her in the elite group. You don’t need to worry about keeping up. You can focus on doing whatever you want to do. We’re so lucky that at least one of us became a top talent so that she doesn’t go to the elite group alone!” Eugene gave Felix a confident grin as if he were trying to look reassuring.

  “Storms piss in your path, Eugene!” His voice was so loud that he could hear the din from downstairs quiet down as everyone started listening in.

  “You think I don’t know the only reason you offered help was so you could use me as an excuse to talk to Lara? What help have you offered? Nothing. You try to act like you’re the next Starfarer. You’re a rat, Eugene, still the same little coward that stammered every time your crush looked at you. Have you even managed to tell her you like her?”

  “I–” Eugene stammered, not expecting the sudden aggression.

  "Of course you haven’t, because you know she’d turn you down. You think she’s so dumb she wouldn’t notice you becoming a bumbling mess every time she speaks to you? Just go play pretend at being some great talent with the rest of your band of losers.”

  “You’re a bloody joke, Eugene. When did you finish? Fifth? Sixth? How many crossroads do you think there are? This place couldn’t fit a third of the people from our home world, let alone the rest of them. There must be thousands of crossroads, maybe tens of thousands, that means there are thousands upon thousands of people more talented than you, yet you act like you can shit out starlight.

  “Why would any elite program take you? Because of your affinity? Maybe you’ve been too busy blowing smoke up your arse to pick up a book, but let me tell you. The dwarves are fey, not just any fey, fey of fire and earth. That means they’re all born with fire affinity. Every. Single. One. You’re nothing special. You probably couldn’t hold a candle to the worst among them.

  “So get off your damned high horse. You’re nothing, Eugene! You’ll always be nothing! Just like me!”

  Finally out of breath, Felix looked at Eugene, whose confident smile was now nowhere to be seen. Movement from behind Eugene caught his eye. Lara and Aster were standing at the top of the landing, eyes wide in shock. Not wanting to face them, Felix turned on his heels and left, slamming his room’s door behind him.

  Falling back onto his bed, he draped his arm over his eyes as he squeezed them shut. When he finally calmed down enough to think about what he’d done, he only muttered one word.

  “Spokes.”