As their wagon drew steadily closer to the front gates, Pale was able to make out more of the Luminarium. Truthfully, it was impressive that a society that apparently hadn't yet even reached its version of the Industrial Revolution had managed to create a community full of buildings such as this; the amount of time and effort that had to have gone into it must have been nothing short of astounding. Even the brickwork in the large walls surrounding the campus seemed intricate, somehow.

"Pale?" Kayla suddenly said, interrupting her thoughts. To Pale's concern, she sounded worried about something.

And as Pale turned her attention away from the nearby buildings and towards the path ahead of them, she was able to see why.

Just up ahead, there was a line of wagons and carriages stopped on the road before what appeared to be a military-style checkpoint. A few guards armed with bladed weapons – spears and short swords, from what she could tell, although there were also archers lined up along the walls – were inspecting the various vehicles along the path.

"Great…" Pale muttered. "Is every large community going to inspect us this way?"

"What do we do?" Kayla asked.

"Nothing. It's not like we're trying to sneak anything into this place that shouldn't be there. The only things we have on-board that would be out of place are my weapons, and they're not going to know what those are."

Kayla bit her lip. "If you're sure…"

"Of course. Just act natural, we'll be fine."

"Act natural?" Kayla echoed. "What does that mean?"

Pale was about to reply, but didn't get a chance to before several guards approached their wagon.

"Hold," one of them said, causing Kayla to drop the reins. Once she'd done so, he motioned for several of the others to inspect the wagon, which they did, throwing open the rear flap and climbing inside to look around.

"State your business here," the lead guard said, crossing his arms. "What brings you to the Luminarium?"

"We wish to enroll," Pale said.

The guard let out a derisive snort. "You two want to enroll? You don't look like much."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Oh, I'm sure. And why do you think the Luminarium should allow you two in, over the many other students who are just as deserving, if not more?"

"That's what we intend to prove," Pale emphasized. "We understand there's a kind of entrance exam; the two of us wish to participate, and-"

The guard waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. What's your primary magic affinity?"

"Primary…?" Kayla muttered. After a moment, she shook her head. "I-I'm a Fire Mage, sir."

"Fire Mage?" he asked, earning a nod. The guard rolled his eyes. "You lot are a dime a dozen. Unless you're particularly skilled-"

"I-I can cast Lightning magic!" Kayla said. "I've… fought people with it before."

"Fought? Like in a duel?"

Kayla said nothing. The guard stared at her for a moment, his eyes widening in recognition before he turned his attention to Pale.

"And what about you?" he demanded. "What's your affinity?"

"I don't have one," Pale replied evenly. "I wish to enroll as a scholar rather than a mage."

The guard stared at her for a moment before bursting out into laughter. The other guards inside the wagon joined him, their laughter echoing across the nearby stone walls. Kayla shifted next to her, uncomfortable, but Pale couldn't care less.

After a moment, the lead guard stood up, wiping a tear from his eye as he took in a deep breath.

"Ah, that was good," he said. "So, you're not even skilled in magic enough to have an affinity yet? You realize that's so basic that it's one of the first things that it's one of the first things that teenagers learn about themselves upon unlocking their sjel, right?"

"I am aware," Pale replied. "I am also aware that a very small number of dedicated scholars are admitted every year to study things aside from magic. That is where my talents lie."

"Your talents?" the guard echoed derisively. He shook his head. "Alright, then. What are these so-called talents of yours, then?"

"General knowledge, mainly, though I am also adept at combat."

The guard stared at her. "Combat, you say? So you'd be willing to go for a round in order to prove you deserve a chance to try out along with your friend?"

"No," Pale instantly replied.

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm sure there would be some kind of reprisal when I kill one of you."

That got the guard's attention. Immediately, the jovial expression on his face completely faded, replaced instead with one of barely-contained rage. It passed after a moment, when one of his men poked his head out of the back of the wagon.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"It's clean, sir," he reported. "Nothing in here but food, water, and spare clothes… and this thing, whatever it is…"

He held up Pale's assault rifle, which was thankfully unloaded. Pale did her best not to flinch as he unintentionally flagged everyone nearby with it regardless, the barrel seeming to point at all of them as he passed it to the lead guard.

"What in the three hells is this thing…?" he muttered as he turned the gun over in his grasp. He looked over to Pale. "Can you explain this?"

"I can," Pale said. "But not to you. All you need to know is that it's what I plan to use to secure my entry to the Luminarium in lieu of magic."

He let out another derisive snort. "You've got some serious stones on you, I'll give you that. Alright, fine – if you're so eager to get yourself killed taking the entry exam, then be my guest. At this point, you'll be doing me a favor."

The lead guard handed her back the unloaded rifle and motioned for his men to clear out of their wagon. Once they had, he waved them through the checkpoint; Kayla hurriedly snapped the reins, and the horses once again began to pull the wagon forward, into the interior walls of the campus.

XXX

"What was that about?" Kayla asked as they rode through town.

"Clearly, Evie wasn't kidding when she mentioned that this place was elitist," Pale answered as she rocked a magazine into her rifle and ran the charging handle to chamber a round, then slung the weapon across her front. "I get the impression that the entry exam, whatever it is, is going to be even harder for us than the other applicants."

"You do?"

Pale nodded. "The guards were clearly none too keen on letting us through, and that was just the preliminary checkpoint to even make it into the city. I imagine that the actual staff at the Luminarium will be even more discriminatory towards us."

Kayla let out a tired sigh. "...You're sure coming here was a good idea?"

"It's the only idea," Pale pointed out. "There's nowhere else we know of that might have the knowledge I need, and it's not like you have anywhere else to go. As difficult as it will be, this is currently the best option for us."

"I suppose you're right…" Kayla looked around, frowning. "So, where should we go first?"

"First order of business is finding temporary room and board, plus a place we can keep the horses," Pale informed her. "After that, we can start looking around to find out more about where we need to go to sign up for the entrance exam. I imagine that will require us to head to the Luminarium itself; we'll want to do that sooner rather than later. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Kayla said. A small sigh escaped her. "...I really hope this ends up going well for both of us…"

"Look on the bright side," Pale said as they continued through town. "Whatever happens, it can't be as bad as another undead incursion."

That, at least, earned a sigh of relief from Kayla.

XXX

It didn't take them much time to find a place to keep the horses and wagon. After getting them situated at a nearby stable on the outskirts of town, the two of them set off on foot through town. Pale attracted a number of stares, as she still had her rifle slung across her front, but she ignored them all as they both walked.

Of course, she was sure that wasn't the only reason people were staring, either – a fair number of people eyed the two of them with contempt, and it didn't take much guesswork to understand why.

"Clearly, the people here are in a higher social class than most," Pale observed as a man in nice clothes gave her a side-eyed glance as he passed by the two of them. "I get the impression that being somewhat below this city's poverty line makes us, for lack of a better term, stick out like a sore thumb."

"That's not the only thing…" Kayla muttered.

Pale turned to her, intending to ask what she meant, only to catch on instantly. A number of people – not all of them by any means, but certainly not a small number of them – were eyeing her with no small amount of contempt, their gazes locked squarely on her ears and tail. Pale's brow furrowed, even as she turned her gaze straight ahead once more.

"Ignore them," she said. "Easy for me to say, I know, but these people and their opinions should mean nothing to you, Kayla. They're idiots with too much money and too little sense."

"I know, I know… but it's uncomfortable."

"I can imagine. Consider that your impetus to prove them all wrong with the entry exam." Pale looked around, trying to peer through the crowd. "Speaking of which, I can't see anything regarding the exam. How about you?"

Kayla shook her head. "Nothing. Maybe there's a message board somewhere we can check?"

"Wouldn't hurt to look for one."

Kayla nodded, and the two of them kept on, searching for the town square. After about an hour of aimless wandering, they finally found something – a large crowd of people, mostly around their age, were clustered in a large square. There was a crier standing in the center atop a few boxes, his hands cupped around his mouth as he shouted.

"Everyone here for the entry exam, report to the front gates of the Luminarium at five in the morning!" he called. "Headmaster Albrecht will meet you there and provide additional instructions!"

Pale blinked, then turned to Kayla. "I suppose that's our answer."

"Seems like it…" Kayla muttered.

"Something wrong?" Pale's gaze narrowed. "Those morons from earlier aren't still-"

"No." Kayla paused. "I mean, yes, but…" She let out a small sigh. "...I don't know. I just have this feeling in the back of my head that this is so… straightforward."

"Still expecting another undead incursion?"

Kayla shivered. "Don't even joke about that… no, I'm just… I don't know. Maybe I'm being ridiculous. But something about this doesn't feel quite right to me, and I'm not sure why."

"Pre-evaluation anxiety, perhaps," Pale mused. "It's not uncommon, from my understanding. In any case, we'll keep our guards up for now."

Kayla nodded. "Makes sense… alright, let's just find a place where we can get some food and rest up, then. We've got a big day ahead of us."

With that, the two of them turned away from the town square and continued walking once more.

XXX

Later that night, Pale found herself taking the first watch. It was just after nine, and the full moon was high in the sky. Pale stared at it from her spot atop the covers in her bed, while next to her, Kayla gently snored away. As she slept, Pale carefully shifted, trying to make herself a bit more comfortable; she still had her gear on, including her rifle and handgun, just in case any of the people who'd been side-eyeing Kayla earlier tried something.

She didn't expect them to, but then again, she hadn't expected to run into an elder vampire at some point, either. In her eyes, after that, it paid to be extremely cautious no matter where they went or what they were doing.

Kayla muttered something in her sleep, then began to tremble, her face scrunching up in an expression of fear. Pale stared at her, a frown crossing her face at what she saw.

Clearly, she wasn't the only one still having nightmares.

Before Pale could do anything to try and make Kayla more comfortable, however, something caught her attention – hushed voices in the hallway, coupled by footsteps just outside their room. Immediately, Pale tensed, one hand moving to wrap around her rifle's grip as she carefully stepped out of bed and began to approach the door.

She was so focused on the commotion outside the door that she was completely taken by surprise by the window behind her shattering.

Pale instantly whipped back around as Kayla awoke with a loud shout. One hand was already flicking off her rifle's safety. Three figures dressed in all black robes and masks stood before her, their figures just barely illuminated in the moonlight. Pale didn't hesitate; she immediately laid on her weapons trigger, sending a burst of suppressed gunfire downrange at the intruders. To her dismay, however, her rounds pinged off a magical barrier in front of her, and as her weapon clicked empty, one of the intruders turned to the other.

"Get the animal," he said. "I'll handle her."

With that, the three of them began to advance; Pale let her rifle hang from its sling and ripped her handgun out of its holster, but before she could get a shot off, one of the masked figures raised a hand, and Pale fell to the ground, her eyes widening with shock and terror as the air was forcibly pulled out of her lungs. Next to her, Kayla choked as well, and Pale knew the same thing was being done to her.

The last thing Pale was aware of before passing out was the third figure approaching her, a black hood held in his hands.