Like the Arena, the Resonance Hall was a massive space underground. Though, while the Arena was clearly carved by man or machine, the Resonance Hall looked completely natural. It almost looked like a geode, if geodes could get to the size of giant buildings.

  For all the jagged edges, the crystalline floor was relatively flat and covered with partitions. And just like the previous tests, a single line of text hung in the air.

  Find the nearest open section, enter, and follow the instructions provided.

  No one stopped to talk or look around. They picked a spot and either walked or jogged in that direction. If someone entered it before them, they simply adjusted their direction and kept moving. Luckily, no one took the one I was aiming for.

  As soon as I crossed the threshold, I found myself bathed in white light. Nothing too bright, but enough so that I couldn’t make out more than the edges of the crystals that encircled the space. It took a short bit of time before my eyes were able to adjust and allow me to make out the crystal that stood in the center of the space.

  Twice as tall as those on the edges, the iridescent crystal was a head taller than me. Something about how they looked drew me in. Before I could really examine the thing, a man stepped out from behind it. “Please place your hands on the crystal.”

  I didn’t even bother to argue or ask why. I just walked over and pressed my hands against the side nearest me. The crystal wasn’t cold. In fact, it was slightly warmer than me. Not so much that it hurt. If anything, it felt comforting.

  “Push a steady stream of mana through the crystal.” I wanted to ask if he wanted a fast stream or something slow. Hell, did they want it to be a large stream or something more like a trickle? But I didn’t.

  With a bit of will, I uncoiled a thread of mana and fed it from one hand to the other. It cycled out one hand, through the crystal, and into the other before curling around my body as it returned to the first hand to start the process over again.

  The mana cycled once, twice, three times before stabilizing. As soon as it did, I held it. Not because it was easy or anything, but because that was what the instructions specified.

  For a short while, I waited for something to happen. I don’t know what. But we just stood there. He stayed quiet even as I continued to push mana through the crystal. A process that was getting harder to keep steady as time progressed. Still, I pushed.

  At ten minutes, I nearly lost the stream. My mind just kept getting pulled into the crystal’s shifting colors. Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later, the same thing happened. Unlike the last time, I wasn’t fast enough. The stream whipped around and clumped up in various parts of the crystal.

  “Push as much mana as you can through the crystal. Do so until I tell you to stop.”

  Oh, fuck. A small stream was hard enough to control. Any more mana and the stream would really start to fight. Not that I had a choice.

  Jaw clenched, I forced the thread to straighten out as I poured more mana into it. Fire traced down the path as the mana rushed forward. I ignored the pain as I forced more and more mana through. Even as mana started to bleed off, I kept forcing yet more through.

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  Finally, I had nothing left to give. Mana fled the rope until it finally stabilized. Going from an inch-wide stream to something closer to the width of my thumb. Not much, but enough that it was obvious to anyone watching.

  Like the last one, I continued to hold the mana rope until I lost control. Unlike the last time, I let the stream snap. All of the mana that was inside my body at the time rebounded off my skin. The will that controlled it no longer forcing it out into the world.

  “Now connect each crystal to the central one.” His words came out as an order more than an instruction.

  My eyes closed as I forced my mouth to stay shut. Cursing him out for asking something that was nearly impossible with a ton of mana to work with. With as little as I had, it might as well be a wish.

  The issue wasn’t control. As these tests proved, I had control over my mana. The issue was the distance.

  Here, imagine the world as if it were covered in a mist. One that covers everything. And like the mists that flow down the mountains, the thickness differs and changes over time. As wind, sun, or some other force pushes it one way or another.

  Now, imagine you have a rope that you are trying to get from one point to another. So long as the point is close, that isn’t hard. While the wind might slightly influence its trajectory, it won’t be enough to matter. But increase the distance, and even the slightest breeze can shift the end result by a few feet.

  Oh, and it gets better. That rope is nothing more than some compressed mist. The more compressed it is, the harder it is for the wind to shift. Yet, the more mana you add, the more it leaks into the air. As a result, the fog grows thicker as time passes.

  Though, unlike the fog from a mountain, this fog is also trying to spread out. So, as more is added, more fog shifts away from you. As it does so, the fog can start to affect the air. Generating its own wind. With more wind, you need to push more mana out. Thus starting a vicious and ever-increasing cycle.

  Still, I had my instructions. I just needed to give it my best.

  My eyes closed as I took in a deep breath. As I let it out, mana was pushed out and down. It flowed down the crystal as it searched for the earth. The moment it found it, I stopped it from moving forward. Choosing instead to bunch the mana up. To allow it to build up some pressure.

  Then, without a clue if this would work, I released it. The thread of mana shot out. As it zipped along the ground, a soft breeze shifted it to the left. This resulted in me missing the crystal I had been aiming for. Not that I cared, given that it had made contact with the crystal next to it. I would just have to make sure to account for the wind on my next shot.

  Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. With one thread tying me and the central crystal to the first of my targets, I was under some strain. If I didn’t give the thread the attention it needed, it started to wander. To twist and tug as the mana inside looked for a way to get free.

  Still, somehow, I managed to get the second thread into position and ready. Pressure built as I took aim. Then, with a slow breath out, I released the second thread. It zipped out and curved left, only to curve right about halfway there. As though there was a second, much stronger wind shoving it in the wrong direction.

  The thread sank into the crystal to the left of my target. Effectively surrounding my target. That was fine and all, but now I had to figure out how to get a new thread into my first target. Mostly because I was doubtful that I could break one thread. Not without losing control of the other two.

  In fact, the chance was so high that I would miss that I moved on. For the next few minutes, I aimed at every other crystal. Twice, I hit my target. The other three times I missed. Of the sixteen crystals, I managed to sink a thread into ten of them.

  Slowly, my eyes opened to reveal a different scene than before. Where there had been a ring of pure white crystals with a single opalescent one in the center, ten of the ring had changed colors. Their white shine dimmed slightly as opalescence bled in from the bottom.

  “With that, your time is up and your test is concluded.” The proctor's words surprised me. The various streams of mana snapped at my sudden lapse in concentration. With the sudden backlash of so many different streams of mana, my head started to feel like someone was using it to practice playing a gong.

  Sadly, while I wanted to take a second to deal with the headache, one look at my pad had me rushing toward the exit. I ran, but even if I had been running for years, I doubted I would make it across the campus in five minutes. Not that such a fact would stop me from trying.