Another Try

With such limited time, Aayla had to give up on her search for 'E. Naphreon' for now. Only five days remained until school started. She would spend as much time pouring over the black book as possible before those five days ran out. If Old Tellan was anything like Old English, then Aayla would have an easier time translating. It was hard to tell with the handwriting.

The next couple of days Aayla spent holed up in her room. Most of the pages stuck to each other tightly, like they were super glued. Progress was slow at first, but she found a way to fix the issue. Infused mana would separate a page from the rest. Then, as long as it didn't touch another page it would stay free.

The black book was more of a journal, actually. The author just wrote down their ideas, experiments and parts of their daily life as they pleased. The words were beautiful, but they were in a nearly unreadable cursive font. She couldn't even tell the difference between 'n', 'm', 'w' and 'v' in most cases.

As she transcribed the first couple of pages, Aayla had an uncanny feeling of familiarity. Like she had seen some of the words before, but she didn't remember where. These feelings were pushed aside. With school starting in days, she might not have the time to properly transcribe and translate the journal anymore. Aayla had barely started the transcription process, let alone the translation.

She wasn't the only one anxious about a looming deadline. Over winter break, the researchers had several arguments about how to solve the trial. Each time Aayla previously passed through the maze, she found the stone stele. However, she should have reached the inner maze. Something was going wrong, but they didn't know what.

The only consistency between each attempt was the type of trial. Each attempt had a different layout, and a different theme. Sometimes the maze would be underground, or in a winter wonderland. If each attempt had a different theme, then there could be different rules for success.

The researchers wanted to know how those rules for passing changed. Perhaps the trials were timed, or a certain score was needed. They studied the questions rigorously, but the research was still ongoing. Even with the university's experience, the translations were taking a while.

The questions changed for each attempt just like the maze themes. Memorizing the answers before an attempt was not an option. Aayla had picked up on many of the key words and phrases, but she could only learn so much over the break. The questions were university level, after all.

Two days blinked by. Another ferocious argument was taking place in the rear courtyard. Aayla was supposed to start the trial again, but she just stayed out of the mess. It's already bad enough that she got pulled into something annoying over her break. She didn't need to deal with their magical temper tantrums. Somedays she didn't know if they were award winning researchers or toddlers.

She turned her attention towards the black journal that she found. Aayla slowly infused her mana into the next page. The page eventually peeled away from the others. Now, the truly annoying part was keeping the page separated long enough to transcribe it into more legible letters.

Aayla kept detailed notes about everything on that page. She wrote the transcribed version with space for a translated version as she carefully read the page. The translations would come later when she had a better grasp on it. When she finished with the front, Aayla flipped the page over and started with the back.

Five pages later, she was still transcribing. Aayla sighed. It was about time. They should have finished arguing three pages ago. Yet, the researchers were still going at it. If they didn't calm down soon, then she would need to find Ramona or Deputy Downer.

The next term started in less than three days. Just as she was anxious to get as much transcribed as possible, the researchers were even more anxious to get access to the inner maze. The headmaster would ruthlessly cut your budget in half like the devil while smiling like an angel.

He was already eyeing their budgets since they couldn't get their supplies anyways. They really didn't dare to make him angry. What if that meddlesome old man actually cut their funding?! That would be absolutely dreadful.

Eventually, the argument came to a conclusion. Triumph emerged on some faces, while others looked sour. Within minutes Aayla entered the maze once again.

**********

This time the entire maze was crystalline. An inner light seemed to shine from all directions. Rugged pillars of crystal occasionally sprouted up from the floor. With her right hand on the wall, her footsteps tinkled down the hallway as she ran. Every step sounded like both breaking glass and a cacophony of bells.

Aayla checked her watch. She was making good time so far. Four questions were down with no repeats so far. Practice makes perfect. A frown slowly formed on her face. This time, the researchers wanted her to run the maze as fast as possible. The strategy was to make up for low accuracy with a fast time.

That was easy for them to say. She could easily run a marathon or two if she wasn't lucky. Aayla was in good physical shape, but not that good. The fastest way was to answer all or most of the questions correctly within two tries. Without understanding the signs, that would prove difficult.

Reading them pales in comparison to transcribing the journal, though. The signs at least have legible letters. The author of the journal must have been a doctor in life. No offense to doctors, but Aayla had never seen any other handwriting as bad as in the journal.

At the next sign, she realized why the journal's content felt so familiar. The language of the sign appeared to match up with the text in the journal. Aayla flipped through her notes. She thought that she had seen something similar to the current question in them.

"Was it this page? No, it was this one."

Her finger stopped on a certain paragraph. She couldn't read it yet, but she could compare the text in the journal to the text on the sign. Only one of the answers shared common words and phrases with the paragraph. Aayla fiddled with the ends of her hair.

Should she stick to her usual plan? That is to run as fast as she can and hope she figures out the right answers quickly. Or maybe she should take a chance? If 'E. Naphreon' was a student, then they could have the answers.

Aayla thought for a moment. Oh well. If the journal was wrong, then she would just continue on with her original plan. Otherwise, one more question would be completed. Her solving speed and her accuracy would increase. In this case, she could only gain and not lose.

**********

Outside the maze, a group of researchers huddled around their instruments. A large table with a stone top as black as night had various numbers and images flying across the screen. A cable dropped from the bottom of the table and connected into the hedge at the back of the rear courtyard.

This table was a specialized artifact that the research professors modified to connect to the trial artifact's system. There, they could watch the entire trial unfold. By now they had learned how to manipulate the monitoring devices and access the current trial data. The trial artifact refused to allow them access to anything else.

Currently, the researchers were crowded around to watch a young lady with espresso colored hair dashing down a crystalline hallway. They excitedly cheered as she got another question right. Unknown to the challenger, those outside could monitor the challenger's score in real time. They would know immediately if the challenger chose the correct path.

The doors to the rear courtyard opened, and the head researcher walked in.

"How is the trial going? You all appear to be in a very good mood. Did Ms. Glowery finally move on from reading that book?"

"No Professor Nestah. She's already answered several more questions. Even if she is extremely unlucky with the next questions, she should beat her previous time and accuracy records by a lot."

"We can't see what's in that book, but it should be her own research notes. Deputy Heston must have helped out greatly with that. Not that I'm complaining."

Professor Nestah nodded. "So that's what she's been up to these days. Good. Let's see if the inner maze opens up this time."

One of the lowly research assistants was pushed out of the way by Professor Nestah. Teary eyed, they stood on their tiptoes to continue watching. Even if she beat her previous records, could Ms. Glowery score well enough to access the inner maze? They had no idea what the benchmark was or if there was some sort of trial limit. Each person held their breaths and hoped that it would be enough.

They shrieked when Ms. Glowery completed the final puzzle. The display had changed. Did she pass or did she fail?