Page 32 of Monster's Melody

Thank goodness!

Apparently, the sea serpent was our second challenge.

Unfortunately, I had no time to celebrate because in the distance a three lit up.

Vorzak and I set off at a swift pace.

I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, but I’d be willing to bet this third challenge would be the last one we’d have time for, even if there were more challenges to this course.This meant I really needed to come up with a creative way to win this final challenge.

As it was, I’d probably still get a lecture from Puddlemoan about using my siren voice to pass two of the three challenges.

“This course is about developing skills and strengths you do not currently have,” he’d lectured us on the first day of class.“Therefore, I expect you to refrain from using your powers except in true emergency situations.Be creative!Or you’ll find you have no powers at all when you face your next challenge.”

Everyone knew that wasn’t an idle threat since he’d already spelled his obstacle courses on land so that every shifter was stripped of their ability to shift the moment they entered one.Shifters who were in Extreme Sports Ed were always complaining about it.

Rumor had it when Puddlemoan was a student at Blackthorn Academy, a shifter had beaten him in a race, so he now took his revenge on the shifters he taught.

I didn’t know if it was true or not, but I wouldn’t put it past him.Everyone considered it lucky he hadn’t done the same with the water obstacle courses.

My theory was that he knew it was too dangerous to strip anyone of their natural powers when they were about to be underwater for hours on end.

At that moment, the third challenge came into sight.

Vorzak and I stopped swimming to stare at the sand castle that floated in front of us.

Seriously.

Who built a sand castle in the middle of the ocean?

And how was it not already collapsed, considering it didn’t appear to be connected to the land in any way, and was completely surrounded by water?

The castle wasn’t very big, to be honest.Bigger than us, to be sure, but not big enough for us to actually swim inside it.

I had no idea what we were supposed to do with this development.

Even as I had that thought, water sprites came streaming out of the castle’s windows and raced toward us.

Aw, shit.

CHAPTER6

Unfortunately,we didn’t make it out of the swarm of sprites before time ran out and we were unceremoniously yanked back through the whirlpool into the lagoon.

From there, we were expected to climb to the top of the waterfall and then haul ourselves back to the pool through the tunnel we’d come down.

Needless to say, going up was way more difficult than going down had been.

Many students didn’t make it and when time ran out, were yanked back to the pool in the same way we’d been yanked from the sprites’ clutches.

Climbing the waterfall wasn’t so bad.But climbing back through the tunnel was horrendously difficult as we had to climb against the current in extremely tight quarters.The only thing that made it even slightly possible were the handles in the ceiling.Still, it took a massive amount of body strength to move against the current, lunging from one handhold to the next without being pushed back down the tunnel.

By the time I climbed out of my tunnel and swam to the surface of the pool, I was exhausted.

Somehow, every time I went down the tunnel and over the waterfall, the rush made me forget the ordeal of climbing back up it.

Was it worth it?

Probably.