[@Arya10108909] Kano nodded his approval Amelias decision not to try again. Pushing them too far could have unforseen consequences in the future, so it seemed more prudent to trust the students knew their own limitations. They were young but far from stupid. Their decisions now were effecting final grading but not by a terribly wide margin. As far as the Headmaster knew thus far everyone was maintaining what went for a passing grade in the exercise today. [color=0072bc]"Mm. If you thinks thats best, I won't stop you. Rest until you are ready to proceed with the next set of tests then, please."[/color] Patting her on the shoulder, Kano went to find the final student to be reviewed. Of all the elements to be judged this was the one that caused the most trouble. [hr] Arriving at the edge of Leannes designated area, the Headmaster took on a more serious stance as he concentrated on the unfamiliar aspect of his being in an attempt to better judge her progress. Darkness, to Kano, was a disease. Lives had been lost to it. Taken by it. On a scale that rivaled the humans way of waging war, destroying everything in its path. The reputation Darkness wielders had today was in no small part due to the violent history. The aspect of Darkness, a being embodying the element, had sought pain and death.. Allowing his spirit to corrupt the natural world. Kano would never allow another with that kind of potential to rise again. Leannes display was, for any other element, impressive. A level of control and latent talent manifesting itself with a superior flourish. The way shadows moved to swell beneath her feet and rise as her platform, controlled solely by her will and shaped by her imagination, was no easy feat of skill for second year students. That she was only a first year was a very odd thing to see. The young womans joyful gaze shifting to fear was the only problem he could see. At first it simply looked like she had stepped too far. Stretched her ability too wide. Something spooked her and just for an instant her control wavered, threatening to collapse. Kanos influence caught the platform without so much as a stutter while waiting for the girl to calm. [color=0054a6]"Do you see why control is so important. It is a curse to wield this element."[/color] His tone was harsh. Lacking the gentleness displayed to others. [color=0054a6]"Every time you step over your limits it will break you, twist your soul. Train harder so this does not become an issue again, miss Hillcrest." [/color] The platform shifted Leanne along, depositing her at the lip of the sunken training area next to the Headmaster. A wave of his hand dismissed the shadows back to their original forms. [color=0054a6]"Collect yourself and be ready to continue. The second phase of this testing will begin shortly."[/color] It pained him to leave such a young girl alone with whatever had plagued her. This wasn't a fate wished upon any, to suffer from your elements heritage. There would be time later to sort out Leannes problems. That's what he hoped, at least. [hr] [h1]Phase two[/h1] With the initial assessments over with it was time for the faculty to disperse. Their judgements would be heard when the final phase was wrapped up much later, but for now it was time for action. The second test was problem solving when put into unfamiliar situations. Overcoming what stopped you with creativity, understanding, or in some cases a healthy amount of recklessness. [color=0072bc]"Students. With the first portion of our testing done, it is time for the second bout." [/color] Kanos voice echoed through the chambers and into the ears of every student shuffling about in their pits. [color=0072bc]"Look to the ground. When the time is right, the path will reveal itself to you. Ahead is a journey through the mazes of the underground. It is here you will need to best whatever circumstances come your way. It will be difficult. But you must finish your course! Trust in yourselves, your elements. Good luck!"[/color] [hr] (Note; while all of you will be doing this 'at the same time' it will be treated as separate instances. The way it works is you will [b]progress to the first obstacle described below[/b] and explain how you have overcome it. If you are not sure, feel free to ask in the OOC if you can do -Insert idea- to me or [@kalleth]. The maps are just a reference for the direction you're taking and the shapes of each 'room' you enter.) [hr] [b]Geyser-Glacier Grotto[/b] [@Ookawa][@Ennui][@Spriggs27][@Crusader Lord][@Stern Algorithm][@Rabidporcupine][@Aiyanna] (Elements doing the course are; Water/Ice, Fire) [hr] [hider=Appearance][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/357967669871509514/410060850934710272/285b765e768854c985a3f90adb8c6db0.jpg[/img][/hider] [hider=Map][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/366129818791575552/415133127099416577/mycatsnores.png[/img][/hider] [hr] Your breath mists as you begin the long trek down the vaulted staircase into darkness. Soon the only way to see is by using your own elements to light the way, or relying on the softly glowing green light of Dragon’s Gold moss, which the botanists among you might know as Schistostega. It clings to the walls and the sides of the stairs, giving you the barest of impressions of your surroundings. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase and entering the cave system proper, you can already sense the increase in humidity and temperature. You will have to tread carefully from this point onward, because although the maze-like caverns are wide and high enough for four adults to walk side by side, the caverns are bristling with stalactites and stalagmites of salty sediment. These spiky formations shelter pockets of Dragon’s Gold on the side facing you, and they seem oddly eroded to along the opposite side, worn into… Almost as though… In a panic, you are forced to duck behind one of the stalagmites and press your face against the Dragon’s Gold, as the entire cavern shakes and roars with the sound of pressurised and boiling water and steam. The geyser’s expelled contents hit the stalagmites in a wave that is terrifying and sudden, but fortunately, the careful student can evade these perilous occurrences. Every five minutes or so, the geyser will erupt, raising the cave’s temperature and humidity markedly, only for it to decrease minimally before another eruption. You won’t realize the time delay until the second eruption occurs. Eventually, once you’ve made your way safely past the Geyser tunnels, the natural light will begin to grow and the moss disappear until you find yourself in a far larger cavern, where the temperature drops below zero. An enormous wall of blue ice faces directly across from you, and between you and it, a sizeable ravine. Looking down into it, you can perceive a dizzying drop into a distant underground river, where the melting ice is slowly running off further into the mountain. Ice from where? The answer becomes apparent to you as you hear a dreadfully acute cracking sound, and an entire layer of ice sloughs off from the glacier and falls into the ravine with a deafening sound of ice shearing on rock. The impact shakes the ground under you, and you finally look up to see a tiny opening where you also spy teachers surveying the chamber. That appears to be the exit. And all you have to do to reach it is climb up the slick, frozen, and rapidly melting glacier wall, which could collapse at any time. The teachers aren’t trying to kill you, are they? Good luck. Main Points; Hard-to-Navigate cave system bristling with salt-crystal stalagmites and stalactites, at various intervals, there are hot geysers that spray boiling water forcefully through the caverns, which then drains in fissures broken through the stone. Once one passes the geysers section, the caverns give way to the remains of a glacier, incredibly preserved beneath the roots of a mountain. Shelves of ice have been carved through, and the surfaces are slicker than slick, without anything by way of handholds to use. At the very top of the steeply angled glacier wall, is a tiny hole through which the Proving Grounds central cavern can just barely be seen. At any given time, the glacier is in danger of calving, which is to say, the shaft through which the student must climb is at risk of sloughing off the glacier and crashing to the ground. At the base of the glacial shaft, the evidence of this can be seen in the vertigo-inducing ravine, at the bottom of which can be just barely perceived the remnants of the last time the glacier calved. [hr] [b]Floral Pathway[/b] [@Arya10108909][@Kalleth][@CrabInATree][@Awesomoman64][@Sailorsadie][@Crusader Lord] (Elements doing the course are; Earth, Dark, lightning) [hr] [hider=Appearance][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/357967669871509514/410060850934710273/907db54fa4f2cf2e70bfe03dcddb6392.jpg[/img][/hider] [hider=Map][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/366129818791575552/415133130811244554/snoringcat1g.png[/img][/hider] [hr] Your entrance is an angular path that leads a short distance down beneath the earth. You follow the path and enter into darkness for a short time, before you push through a curtain of wisteria vines into a medium sized cave filled to the brim with flora. Trees, flowers, mosses, lichens, vines, shrubbery, it all packs the space with a heady cocktail of aromas. There is a thin path to follow down the space, a kind of game trail that leads past all of the different wildly growing plants. The light source appears to be a combination of light being emitted from the plants themselves, that seem to glow with energy, as well as shafts of light that are coming down through the ceiling. Eventually, upon reaching a part of the space where the game trail thins out, you find a wall of roots covered in thorny vines blocking your path. The thorns are covered in strips of torn fabric and cloth, that looks suspiciously like clothing. Vines hang down from the ceiling, swaying ominously as you step closer, noting the low hanging branches that seem to grab at your hair and run over your head. At the middle of the thornwood wall, is a small crevice through which you can crawl, though with all of the plants seeming to be more… active, than normal, you question the wisdom of this. Still, it seems to be the path forward. The creaking of the wood and the rustling of branches is most ominous. Main Points; Bioluminescent flowers, floor covered over by flora, wall of roots covered in thorns blocking path, small opening in wall to press onward, with moss hanging overhead alongside low-hanging branches. Many leaves are adorned with puncture holes, and scraps of cloth cling to thorns, seeming to have been torn away. [hr] [b]Stormy Cliffs[/b] [@baraquiel][@liferusher][@Raptra][@Hammerman][@Regitnui] (Elements doing the course are; Light, wind) [hr] [hider=Appearance][img]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/61/b2/7e/61b27ea2709021a78f964ab09dac30c3.jpg[/img][/hider] [hider=Map][img][/img][/hider] No map at the moment! [hr] You have to climb down a ladder to begin your journey, and you climb into a tunnel that only leads in one direction, towards a dimly glowing light. As you make your way forward, you feel the wind in the cavern begin to pick up, and you can smell fresh open air. Fresher than the Proving Grounds you entered this path from. You reach the end of the cave, and find yourself standing on a cliff face, with a beautiful view of the valley and city that lie at the base of the Mountain the academy is built upon. Here’s hoping you aren’t afraid of heights, because while you cannot see any clear objective but the open sky, your gaze falls on a conspicuous outcrop of rock with foliage that lies perhaps one hundred metres down and to the side of where you’re standing. You’ll have to make your way across the cliff face, or otherwise find some other means of reaching the outcropping. Word to the wise however, as the weather this far up is unnaturally chaotic, with briefs periods of sunny windless weather giving way violently to storms, complete with pounding rain and blasts of wind. The cliff face is strewn with roots that lead down from other plants clinging to the mountainside much as you are. A kind of “railing” leads down to the outcropping, though a quick test will rapidly demonstrate that these roots are not moored firmly to the cliffside, and will not hold even a student of diminutive stature for long. The periodic rains have soaked the rocky cliff face, and while the face itself is not uniformly flat, it is by no means anybody’s definition of a beginner’s rock-climb. Even without accounting for the slickness of the rock, the few hand and footholds there are are few and far between. It seems as though the only way to complete the challenge, is to find a way to conquer the skies, or the mountain. It is a matter of personal choice, as to which the student shall find more willing to yield its unforgiving perils. Main Points; Cavern-like out onto a cliff face strewn with roots clinging to the mountainside, distantly the passing of the underground tram can be felt, and the height means that the mountainside is alternately blanketed with cold moist clouds which soak the rock and wood, and then shone upon by the sun and buffeted by strong winds. The only "path" that exists is a precarious trail of roots that lead downward towards a tiny outcrop wherein lies a pile of foliage and the barest indication of another cave entrance.