As I stepped inside the tower, I felt it. There is a weird aura surrounding the place. It's similar to what I felt when I faced off with other geniuses during an international science competition. It's the collective aura of extraordinary people concentrated in a single place.
Going inside the tower felt like stepping into a whole new dimension. You don't see it, but you felt it in the air—the people they call legends are indeed inside this very place.
Even the receptionist doesn't seem like an ordinary student.
I heard that allowing botanist students to casually enter the tower is due to an exception made by Professor Palmer. From that, you can really tell that the professor holds some influence within the tower.
Almost half of the people in the group there are wearing glasses. I could easily tell that they are scientists I only know of people from two certain fields whose least concern is their looks—namely, people from the fields of arts and science.
People in this field are typically the type to show up to a party wearing the same clothes they've been wearing for a week. From their conversation, I could tell that they belonged to the latter.
As I got closer, the topic of their conversation became clearer in my ears.
"We managed to uncover the best microhabitat to induce plant growth." I heard a guy in a lab coat say. He wore thick round-rimmed glasses and wore his jet-black hair unkempt.
"Isn't that the research you've been studying since second year? Wow! In just two years, have you managed to find a solution? That's amazing!" exclaimed a guy with a short stature and droopy eyes. I couldn't really tell if he was sleepy or naturally born with such a condition.
"It's all thanks to previous graduates who pioneered the research. Besides, everything is still in theory at the moment. We still lack that one formula to realize it. That's why I wanted to try my luck in this year's trial. I feel like that one ingredient we lack can be found in the Dragon Tower's botanical garden."
Some eyes turned my direction when I came closer to the group. A lot of them were knitting their brows, probably because my face looked fairly new.
If the trial of legends has indeed been used by students as a means to test their knowledge in the field of botany, then a lot of them are probably already familiar with one another. Therefore, a face like mine is easily noticed.
"Are you a first-year?" asked a petite girl closer to me. I expected it already, so I wasn't surprised.
"Yes."
My answer caused a lot of the nearby people to look in our direction. But they quickly went back to whatever they were doing, as if it were a scene that they'd seen before.
"I suggest you go and find a different job instead. You'll only be wasting your time here. " Her words were very polite, and I could see that she was really genuinely concerned about me.
"I'm already aware of the situation. I'm just here to test the limits of my prior knowledge."
"Uhn! If you put it that way, then the Trial of Legends is a good place to test your knowledge indeed," she said thoughtfully. "Furthermore, the rumor that the trial tests your knowledge of rare plants is untrue. The Trials of Legends actually test your knowledge of plants in general. What makes the trial almost impossible to pass is that it includes plants from various parts of the world, including extinct ones. So if your knowledge of plants is limited to a specific place or continent, then you won't likely pass."
So that's how it is. If what she's saying is true, then the passing rate is probably at one percent, or even negative. There are millions of plant species all over the world.
From a logical standpoint, it would be impossible for a human to memorize that many plant species in a span of four years. Even if they started memorizing every plant that existed in the world from a young age, it's still a long shot.
However, that fanatical curly-haired guy said that there are some people who actually passed the trial. I wonder what kind of legendary existence those people have to have to pass such an impossible exam. Even with my ability, I'm actually a bit hesitant about reaching the top.
"How silly of me! We've been talking without knowing each other's names! " The petite girl suddenly exclaimed, cutting off my train of thought. "I'm Rose Flowers, by the way. I'm a third-year botany student. "
My brows knitted. "Rose... Flowers?"
"I know. It sounded like a joke," she said dryly, with a heavy sigh. "Our surname is indeed Flowers, so they gave me the name of a flower as a joke. But jokes aren't supposed to be written in a permanent record, but they were, and here I am!"
Her parents must be really fun people.
"Lizelle Laurier." Both of us shook hands.
"I assume that you are all here to challenge the trial?" All conversation stopped when a crisp voice sounded.
A woman with chiseled features akin to those of a model walked down the staircase. Her toffee-colored hair, tied in a tight bun, and her corporate attire give her the impression of a strict secretary.
There is only one word to describe her—beautiful!
She clasped her hands and smiled brightly, showing off her perfect pearly white teeth. "Alright! You already know the drill. But for the sake of the new ones, I'll explain the general rules once again. First, let me introduce myself. I'm Rebecca Grace, the current secretary to Professor Palmer. The plants you need to guess are at the top of the stairs on every floor. You must climb the stairs in order to arrive at the top. You will be disqualified if you use the elevators. On top of that, you won't be able to challenge the trial again. For what use is a botanist with zero stamina? That is according to Professor Palmer."
I could already imagine the strict face of Professor Palmer while saying that, even though I still haven't met him.
Rebecca continued... "For the sake of fairness, you are to use your mobile phones to type your answers. For first-timers, kindly scan the code on the wall. It will redirect you to the answering system. Lastly, no one is allowed to discuss their answers with one another. Similarly, you'll get disqualified for doing so. Any questions?"
I raised my hand.
"Yes, lady in a moss-green turtleneck," she said, pointing her hand in my direction.
"Do we have to climb up until the last floor of the tower?" Everyone was giving me a weird look.
What's wrong with my question?
"How ambitious." I heard someone sneer.
"Good question! The answer to that is yes. Don't worry, you may take your time. The tower is open 24 hours. You are also allowed to rest, as long as you don't leave the floor that you are on. Well, you can leave the floor you are on and go home, but that means climbing down and up the stairs again. Since, you are still in the middle of the trial, you are technically not allowed to use the elevator. Any more questions?"
"Hmm, this is indeed a problem," I muttered to myself. I'm very confident in my stamina. But climbing 300 floors... besides, Genevieve will surely grow frantic if I go home late. Well, I can just give her a call later.
"Don't worry about it, no one ever reaches the last floor, much less the hundredth floor," said Rose while tapping my shoulder. It seems that none of them took Rebecca's word seriously, probably because of previous failures.
Failure tends to crash a person's confidence. The more you fail at doing the same thing again and again, the more you lose confidence in yourself. Until then, you just end up settling for less and accepting things as they are.
The scariest aspect of failure is that it brings with it fear, which can mercilessly trap you in its claws without your knowledge. However, the irony of things is, sometimes you also need to experience failure in order to succeed.
"Alright!" Rebacca clapped her hands once. "The trial of legends begins now!" she announced with a mischievous smile.
All of the challengers began climbing the stairs towards the first floor. I hurriedly scanned the code on the wall before following behind.
When I arrived on the first floor, all the other challengers were already forming a circle around a plant. When Rose saw me, she waved her hand and pointed at the empty space beside her.
"Of course it's a hologram!" I muttered to myself when I saw someone manipulating the plant, which I first thought was real, and turning it around.
I should probably stop getting surprised at how advanced the technology in this place is.
The plant projected in the hologram is a rose. It looked so real that I could actually imagine its texture in my head.
The rose has an extremely dark red color that's almost black without the presence of bright light. It's kind of easy to guess. However, I can already see a lot of people creasing their foreheads and looking confused.
They're probably confusing it for a Black Baccara. However, if you look at its leaves and the size of the flowers, it's far from being the former. Moreover, the color of the flower is far too dark to be a Black Baccara.
I typed in my answer.
Halfeti Black Rose
[Enter]