I spent the following days roaming the capital, looking around the streets and seeing various sights. Rika and Collin said they had nothing better to do, so they tagged along. Apparently they live in some different cities but already visited the capital in the past. It was the same on the trial’s morning as we decided to go on a walk before it starts. In the end I didn’t pay for another two days. I left most of my stuff at Miriam who said she will put it away until I come for them, either to book a room again or take them home. After that I was ready to take a walk and clear my head a bit.

„There are some cool statues around here, huh,” said Rika as we walked through a square. There were several statues around the place, most of them wearing armors with weapons in hand.

„My father said these statues are part of the city’s defense,” explained Collin. „I don’t know how they work exactly, but in case of a threat they get animated and defend the city from enemies. Maybe there are magicores in them or they are controlled remotely by a mage in case of an emergency.”

„It’s kinda cool,” I said.

After leaving the square, we saw a cathedral. It wasn’t as high as the city walls, but it was higher than any building I had seen before. According to Collin it’s the main temple of the country which has a shrine for each god.

It was closed, so we continued our sightseeing. We went through alleys, lively streets and spent a little time near the river which ran across the city. It was my first time seeing ships in real life, and I was surprised some of them were so different from the ones I saw in books. The ships in front of me had no sails to use the wind, nor visible paddles.

„Those crafts are powered by magic,” said Collin. „There is a magicore inside which can magnify a mage’s control of water. It can also store away power for the trip back on the river.”

„You know a lot about these things, Four-eyes.”

„That’s only natural. My father taught me a lot on magitech.”

„Hm~ Do you also have practice or it’s all theory?”

„Of course I do. I can already use the basic elements and started to learn metal magic recently.”

„Oho, not bad, not bad at all,” praised him Rika, seemingly with a hint of sarcasm. „And you Kanda? Any knacks for magic?”

„Ah, I... I still can’t control magic. But I already used wind magic before.”

„And your limbs are still intact! Lookie there. You did so without prior training, right?” I nodded. „Fascinating. I can’t decide if you are brave, lucky, stupid or all of them, but you are certainly not as hopeless as I thought you to be.”

„So you thought I was hopeless...”

„Juuust an itsy bit,” replied Rika with a smug smile on her face. „Seeing that sword, I thought you might be all muscle, no brain. I might still be right, though.”

„Not the best way to guess one’s character,” I replied.

„Just ignore her commentary, Kanda. Many people come to the Academy to learn magic without prior knowledge. It’s quite normal to do so.”

Collin’s words eased me a bit.

“But man, it sucks that we can’t use magic for these stupid trials” said Rika kicking a stone in front of her.

“We are not registered into the system. There is nothing we can do about that. I heard even citizens who are already on the register get removed from it for the duration of the trials.”

“Bullshit. If the teachers can use it, then we should be allowed, too.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. Registry? Not allowed to use magic?

“Ah, I guess you didn’t notice. The capital has an anti-magic barrier which only allows people who are registered into the system to use spells” explained Collin. “Once we get enrolled in the Academy we will be added to that registry. My father said it’s a relatively new rule which was added due to the curriculum changes. People who knew magic had too much advantage in certain tasks, which resulted in a disproportionate number of mages in the Academy.”

“I can’t see the problem with that. If people can’t compete with magic, then just learn it.”

“If you want to focus on magic, then you can always just join the Mage’s Guild. The Academy isn’t solely about magical research, it is-“

“Blah-blah, whatever you say, Four-eyes. I hope I can kick your ass in a duel later.”

I could see the annoyance on Collin’s face, but he didn’t retort.

“Alright, it should be time soon. Let’s see how many people will participate in the trial. I know a shortcut, just follow behind me,” said Rika and started walking in front of us. We followed her lead.

She led us through some alleys, making turns now and then, to the point that I had already forgot the way back. But true to her words, we were at the square in front of the academy in no time.

“I didn’t expect you to know the city this well. Did you live here before?” asked Collin.

“Gee, you are stingy with your praises Four-eyes. And living… you could say that. I spent a lot of time in these parts as a kid... Damn, look how many people came! Are you for real?” shouted Rika. She was right. There was already a big crowd outside of the academy’s gates. There were various kind of people. The youngest looked merely 10, while the oldest could have been more than 80. Some waited in groups, others waited alone. I started to feel dizzy from all the loud voices.

Then after a while the gates opened, and everyone fell silent. An old lady walked out and looked over us.

“I’m happy to see so many people who are willing to face our academy’s trials this year. I won’t bore you with formalities, so let me get straight to the point: this year’s first trial is the Trial of the Mind. Professor Shagi created a maze inside the academy which you need to pass through. This maze consists of rooms where you need to solve the questions written on the boards. Each room contains an hourglass which will show how much time you have left. There are five starting points and only five people can enter at once. There will be three-minute intervals between the groups. That’s all you need to know. Form lines in front of the entrances or form groups, anything is fine. Just be ready in time. The first group can start in one minute” said the old lady in a stern but clear voice which we could hear even in the back.

“What should we do?” I asked from Collin and Rika.

“What do you mean by we, Pumpkin Boy? In case you didn’t hear it, it’s a solo trial. Everyone on their own. Let’s see how much brain you have beside your muscles.”

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“Stop it, Rika. We start the trial separately but there might be rooms where we can or need to meet each other.”

“Which means I can kick your ass. Alright, I’m on board with this group crap now. We need two more guys, right? Hey, you two!” She grabbed the arms of two nearby bystanders. “We need two more people. What do you say, do you wanna join us and win easily?” I didn’t know what her facial expression wanted to convey, but she even winked at them. Although the two guys didn’t look convinced.

“Umm, thanks but no. We thought of giving up this year. Maybe next year. Bye.” With that they left the square. I could see some other people doing the same.

“The fuck? Just because it’s a new prof? Pathetic,” said Rika and she kicked a stone in their direction.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously. Collin answered instead of her.

“The trials might change each year, but each professor has their own theme they stick to. For example, Professor Zerak is known for his dueling trials, while Professor Peridot’s trials are known to implement plants in one way or another. Maybe that’s why they stayed until Professor Gladiola finished her speech, hoping she might be the one who will do the first trial this year. Her trials aren’t easy, but they know what to expect.”

“I see.” So the old lady’s name was Gladiola. “But wouldn’t it worth to try the trial anyway? There isn’t much they can lose.”

“In some cases, you might be right. But alternatively, they also don’t lose a lot by not attending this year. The people who left now are most likely craftsman apprentices and have work to do. They can hone their skills and try next year. A professor can only do trials in every two years, so they don’t need to worry about Professor Shagi next time,” explained Collin. So that’s how it worked. Still, I had one more question in mind.

“Then why won’t they just ask the ones who already passed the trial? They only need to wait until the first group is finished.”

“It would have worked a few years ago or if it wasn’t the Mind Trial. You will see the reason soon,” that’s all Collin said and waved at us to get closer to the entrance. While we talked, Rika tried to get some more people to join us with no success.

“I swear, these people don’t know what is good for them. So what if it will be something new? You cared enough to apply and leave your shitty job, but not enough to risk losing it and fail the trial too?” The refusals impacted her more than I expected.

“Apprentices who start the trials will be no longer recognized as craftsman. Applying is still accepted because the apprentices can change their mind anytime, but once they start the first trial, it’s over. If they fail the trials, then they need to start their apprenticeship from the beginning, again,” explained Collin before I could ask. I didn’t know about this, but this way I could kind of understand their reluctance. Shortly after that we heard some commotion from the front.

“Looks like it’s starting,” said Collin. Rika also said something, but she was so quiet I couldn’t hear her well.

When we arrived at the source of the commotion, we could see two guys standing in the middle of a circle. One of them looked a bit scared, while the other seemed frustrated.

“Liam, try to say it again, slowly. I can’t understand what you are saying,” said one of them. He was a blonde boy, maybe a few years older than me. He spoke to a timid-looking boy next to him.

“I-I told you already. When I entered the room I habtu kunig fertel ochku ni dena. Th-This is the easiest explanation I can give. Then ginli te pokami doram habtu yi asertl jyas tera ko plindor lu tumo efun dine u lapock yi vige hinte…” I couldn’t understand what he said. And from the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one.

“That guy is over the test,” said Collin next to me. “There are always people who try to use information gathered by the ones who already passed the trial, so the academy came up with these safety measures. It should wear off in a few hours.”

“Liam, please. My father kills me if my servant can pass the test but I can’t.”

“Hinge karan fe timuko sote pini…” Liam seemed to try his best but it was useless.

I was amazed by it. So this is what magic is capable of, I thought. I felt a bit sorry looking at them. Collin just sighed and shook his head. While Rika…

“What do we have here? Sir Posh and his useless lackey? Well, I guess he is not that useless if he could pass the trial. What do you say? Care to join our group? We still need two more members.” She walked into the circle and started talking to the guy who questioned Liam until now. “The other two guys might be useless, but I can carry you through this trial. What do you say?”

“Who are you? And why would you do this?” He understandably looked wary of Rika.

“Maybe goodwill? Or it’s just too painful to see two friends parting ways?” She giggled. “Of course it’s not that. It’s investment. I help you now, you help me for… say, a year. Yeah, that sounds good. Be my servant for a year,” she said with a wide grin.

“Don’t screw with me! I won’t be your servant! Not even in your wildest dreams.”

“Oh? But I thought it would be good for you? Your servant surely has the qualifications to make it through the trials, so I thought you would want to learn the same way.”

The guy’s face turned red while Liam’s was pale.

“What’s this commotion?” I could hear a thundering voice close to me. It was Professor Gladiola. She already seemed tall from afar, but now that she stood in the crowd I could see she was huge. She must have been at least as tall as my father, but it was more than that. I could feel an intimidating presence from her direction which kicked in fight or flight reflexes to an extent. And there was no way I would choose fight. My instincts told me there is no way I can win against her. “I believe I told you to be ready in time.”

I could see Rika sweating as the professor looked in their direction.

“How surprising,” said the professor with a disappointed and condescending tone.

“It’s good to see you again, Madame Scetin.” Rika cast down her eyes, not daring to keep eye contact. It was strange to see her like this, but I could fully understand. The professor gave off an aura which wasn’t normal.

“I would lie if I said the feeling is mutual after last year. Did you hope you won’t meet me if you try again this year?”

“No, Madame Scetin. I have learnt from my mistakes.”

“The conversation you had with that boy proves otherwise. Sooner or later your luck will run out. You were already lucky last year that we had an experienced healer around. If you do something like that this year...” she sighed. “I don’t particularly care. Just don’t disturb the trial’s process,” said the professor and left the scene.

“Yes, Madame Scetin,” Rika still looked at the ground. She only sighed in relief after the professor’s footsteps died down in the distance.

“What are you looking at?” she snapped at the crowd who looked at her. “The professor said we shouldn’t disturb the trial. So come on people, move.” She was the same as before. “Sir Posh, you join our group. And you too, Dead Eyes,” she pointed at a guy who stood by the wall and watched the whole scene. “I could feel your gaze on me the whole time. If luck has it, then I don’t want to miss a chance of beating you up.”

The guy whom Rika named Dead Eyes had shoulder length hair and a bit paler skin. His face remained unfazed but he joined us without a word. I guess he thought this opportunity was as good as any to go through the trials.

“Y-You don’t plan on beating me up, do you?” Sir Posh on the other hand had some concerns. “I will speak to Professor Gladiola if you ever try to do that!”

“Go ahead,” replied Rika with little care in her voice, but I didn’t miss her small flinch when Sir Posh mentioned the professor. “As long as your wounds can be healed until the next trial, they won’t bat an eye.” She looked like she might just tell the truth. “But I did tell Madame Scetin that I have learnt from my mistakes. Dead Eyes looks like someone who can put up a fight. I will let your weak threat pass for now... But you should pray we won’t run into each other during Dueling Season.”

With that she left Sir Posh behind and walked towards the academy. I exchanged looks with Collin and followed her. Sir Posh and Dead Eyes followed behind us without saying a word. I thought of asking for their names, but I wasn’t sure what to tell them as an acquaintance of Rika. Collin didn’t seem bothered by the situation either, so I thought it should be fine for the time being.

After we entered the building, we passed through the reception where Miss Patricia greeted me not so long ago. She sat there again, writing something into a book. She seemed busy, so I decided not to disturb her by suddenly saying hello.

Professor Gladiola led us up some stairs, we turned right at a corridor and arrived in front of a row of doors.

“Please choose a door. Once you enter check the board for further instructions. You will find the hourglass on the desk in front of it. Good luck,” with that she left us behind and headed towards the entrance. I looked at the doors but all of them seemed the same for me. In the end I decided on the middle one. Collin chose the one on my left and Rika chose the one on his other side while Dead Eyes stood by the door at my right. Sir Posh stepped in front of the remaining door hesitantly.

I felt my heart beating faster and faster. This was it. Once I enter, there will be no turning back and I will need to face whatever awaits me on the other side.

“See you on the other side losers,” said Rika and entered on her door. Collin and Dead Eyes followed her. I looked at Sir Posh who looked a bit afraid.

“Don’t worry,” I told him. “You can do it. Just... believe in yourself.” He looked at me and I nodded to encourage him. Then I took a deep breath and entered my door.