so useless?
I turn the books so their spines are all facing me. Then I look at the keypad.
There aren’t just numbers on there, but the whole alphabet. Hmm.
Mind whirring, I order the books so they’re in the same order as the paintings on the wall, then read off the first letter on the spine of each book.
L-I-B-E-R-T-A-S. Libertas.
Latin for “liberty”.
A huff of laughter falls from my lips. I guess making the code spell out “jailbreak” would be a little too on the nose for everyone.
I punch the word into the keypad, my breath catching in my throat. What if I’m wrong? What if I just triggered some kind of tripwire that makes the whole room self-destruct or something?
But nothing explodes.
The keypad beeps, a green light comes on, and the wall in front of me dissolves.
Holy shit, I actually did it. And without any magic!
Normally, I’d be pleased that I managed this all the normal way, but the goal of this whole competition is to use magic, and I didn’t. Even though I technically completed the challenge, I feel like a failure, like I’m just scraping by.
Gathering my courage, I step out. The bright sunlight blinds me a little, and I have to shield my eyes with my hand and blink a few times before my vision adjusts.
Amidst the gathered spectators, people from our school are cheering and clapping. I can see Cam and Asher grinning, the blond-haired mage whooping and pumping his fist in the air as his more reserved friend applauds. Dmitri’s got his arms folded, but I swear his lips are tilting up at the corners.
I look around, and it slowly dawns on me… I’m the first one out of her room.
Wait, really? Did I really just manage that?
As I watch, another person steps out of his room—Jack, the fire elemental contestant. His room looks a little, uh, singed.
Damn, that was close. I might have won, but only by about thirty seconds. And this is just the first trial. How am I supposed to make it through all of them, especially if they keep getting more difficult?
The other contestants all emerge over the next few minutes, and I can see from the destroyed state of the rooms that they all used magic of some kind to get themselves out of there. A part of me wonders if the judges intended for us to use magic or to use normal means, because I feel bad for whoever set up all those clues only to have seven of the eight contestants pretty much ignore them to tear the place up with spells.
Doesn’t matter, really, in the end. I got out, and now I can focus on the next challenge.
“Holy shit, Sin! You did it!”
The voice makes me turn, and a second later, Cam’s large frame barrels into mine, his thick arms scooping me up and whirling me around as I laugh.
“I can’t believe you won!” Asher says, pulling me away from Cam so he can hug me too. “That was amazing!”
“We could all see it on the videos,” Cam says, pointing up into the air. “We got to watch the whole thing.”
There are four huge screens floating above the quad, each one displaying a split-screen image with the interiors of all eight rooms. Some of the spaces look a lot worse for wear.
“We got a front row seat to your panic,” Dmitri drawls, walking over to join us.
“I’m gonna assume you’re just pissed that you finally have proof I’m smarter than you?” I shoot back. “If you’d been in there, you would’ve just phased through the wall.”
His lip curls. “No, because they have runes preventing that, and it would be lazy. I’m not lazy. Unlike some people.”
“Are you saying my not solving the puzzle with magic was lazy? You’re one to talk—you don’t get out of bed before noon if you can help it.”
Dmitri doesn’t smile, but I swear I see a gleam of pride in his eyes. “Yeah, well, I guess your whole magic avoidance thing paid off. The announcers were talking about how you were the only one who followed the logic all the way through instead of creating a shortcut at any point using magic. I think that was the point of this first competition—to focus on your logic and scholarly skills instead of just relying on the brute force of your powers.”
That makes sense. Our professors are always lecturing us about how a big part of magic is knowing not just how, but when to use