"Enter."

Jacob obeyed.

The Consumption Magics practical examination room was the size of a small gymnasium. Jacob looked around, soaking up every last detail. His time slot had been somewhere in the thirties out of the eighty students in class. The slots had been chosen at random.

The students who had gone early had been mobbed on their way out of the room, but they were sworn to secrecy regarding what the examination had actually been.

The middle of the room contained a vaguely familiar row of six planks stretched between waist-high concrete blocks like miniature bridges. The first two planks were wooden. The third looked like thick stone. The fourth was a reflective metal. The fifth was a dark material Jacob didn't recognize. The sixth was a glossy, translucent grey.

Beyond these, a projector screen was setup against the wall. It was on, but the screen was blank. A desk with a blank stack of paper and a single pen set out neatly sat facing it.

Professor Alhammadi stood on the other side of the row of planks, arms clasped in front of him. He wore the same grey, three-piece suit he'd worn to every class. He smiled as Jacob entered.

"Jacob, how are you?"

"Fine," Jacob answered. He was too nervous and excited to say anything more.

"And how are you holding up after last week's events?"

Jacob blinked. This wasn't part of the examination, was it?

"Alright, I guess."

"Good to hear. If only we were able to chat more, alas, we must get things moving. I have no doubt you will excel in this examination. Step forward to the First Obstacle here," Professor Alhammadi gestured to the first plank.

Jacob obeyed. The 'First Obstacle' looked like birch wood. He realized where he'd seen the planks before. They were like the blocks they chopped in karate competitions. So, they'd be testing strength-resilience first.

"This examination has three components," Professor Alhammadi continued. "The first is a strength-resilience test, the second a test of perception, the third a combination of the two. During this examination you may utilize the strength-resilience spell, and the perception spell. Casting any other spells will result in an automatic fail.

"The first test is simple. You are to break the Obstacles using your hand in one minute. The more you break, the higher your score. It is suggested to use the palm of your hand, or else the edge of it to strike the Obstacle instead of a fist, as knuckles have been broken before."

"Okay. If I break all six, do I get a hundred?" Jacob asked.

"On this portion, yes. Any more questions?"

Jacob shook his head.

"You may cast your magic and begin," The projector screen flickered to life. A timer started counting down from sixty seconds.

Jacob eyed the first plank before he cast. No point wasting magic before he'd sized up the task in front of him. The 'First Obstacle' was a little thicker than his forearm. It looked like something someone normal could break if they were strong and had practice.

He cast strength-resilience about half power, tensed, and brought his hand down on the Obstacle in a karate chop.

It broke in two with a loud snap. The pieces clattered to the floor.

"Alright," Jacob grunted.

The Second and Third Obstacle broke in quick succession. The Fourth Obstacle was a two-inch thick plank of what Jacob guessed was steel. Wouldn't this bend, not break?

Only one way to find out.

He maxed out his strength-resilience, magic roaring in his ears. He took a deep breath and did a practice motion of the chop he was going to execute.

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Jacob raised up, then brought his hand screaming down on the plank. The metal screeched, then snapped in two.

"Well done," Professor Alhammadi said.

Jacob shook his hand out and moved over to Obstacle Five, dropping his magic temporarily. He flicked a glance at the timer: 35s left.

Now 34s.

Up close, Obstacle Five looked like black metal, but it could have been a shiny rock. Or magic. He didn't really know.

Did it matter?

He aimed up his strike. He maxed out his strength-resilience again, this time casting light perception at the same time to give himself better balance and direction on the strike. He took a deep breath, raised up, then brought his hand arcing down onto the black block.

His hand crushed into it. The block shuddered. And held.

Jacob grimaced. He shook his hand out. That was going to bruise later. Stupid block. Goddamnit, he'd thought he'd be able to do them all.

He'd been close, he could feel it.

20s left.

Jacob cleared his throat and focused on the block as he worked himself up. He thought back to those pre-match sessions in the little room beneath the stadium. What motivated him?

He wanted to be strong so others wouldn't have to give their lives protecting him. He wanted to be strong because he liked being strong. It made him feel confident.

And didn't he want to be able to say that he'd broken all the blocks? That would impress Camilla and the others, right? He'd worked hard on his Consumption. Too hard to let a little block stop him. He wasn't going to get another shot at this. He had to leave everything on the table right then.

He thought of all the time he'd spent chasing the killer—Ishaan. Time he could have been honing his skills here, practicing for this. It wasn't fair at all. He thought of the interrogation, the fact they weren't telling people he'd helped catch the killer. He thought of all the kids at school who'd picked on him for no apparent reason. He thought of that fucking asshole Victor humiliating him in front of the entire school. He thought of his parents fawning over him, keeping him from doing things he wanted; the stark idiocy of some of the things they thought.

10s.

Jacob hissed. His magic surged, roaring in his ears. Frustration and determination throttled him. His latent power made his hands shake, his vision blur.

He brought his hand screaming down on the block, crying out as he did so. The edge of his hand smashed into the block.

And bounced off.

"Fuck," Jacob uttered. Suddenly, he was embarrassed. All that prep, the cry, just to bounce off? Ugh, so embarrassing. Prof Alhammadi probably thought he was an idiot.

The timer beeped.

"A worthy attempt," Prof Alhammadi said, smiling.

Jacob looked down at the block. He'd felt it shudder, but it just hadn't broken.

"Onto the next test."

"How many did Vincent break?" Jacob asked instantly.

Prof Alhammadi's eyebrows raised. "I am not at liberty to discuss other students' performances."

All of them is what Jacob heard.

"Now for the second test," Prof Alhammadi said. "Follow me."

Jacob followed the professor over to the desk in front of the projector screen. The professor instructed him to sit down and take the pen and a sheet of paper. Jacob did.

"The second test is a test of perception, however you may cast both it and strength-resilience," Prof Alhammadi said. "I will count down from three then play a sequence on the projector. You will have 10 seconds—objective time—to write down as much as you can. The more accurate transcriptions you get, the higher your mark. Any questions?"

"Write down what?"

"Whatever you see."

"Okay," Jacob twirled the pen in his fingers. Seemed fairly easy for a perception test, but then again, not everyone in the class had found it an easy spell to grapple.

"On my count, engage your perception," Prof Alhammadi said. "Three. Two."

Jacob engaged his magic.

"One."

Alhammadi clicked a button on the projector. The screen lit up. A scramble of black dots and lines and meaningless shapes exploded on the screen. It looked like a pile of black silly string given sudden, fast-forwarded life.

Jacob forced his magic up into his brain and enhanced his perception. Alhammadi's idle shifts and movements slowed to a crawl. The black scramble slowed. He could make out spaces between the shapes and lines, then, as he enhanced his perception further, words and jumbled phrases emerged from the mess for milliseconds before disappearing back into the scramble.

Jacob cast strength-resilience and transcribed what he saw as quickly as he could:

Train wreck

Longing

Gilgamesh

Nerval

Pasta salad

R'lyeh

Grey ghosts

The screen flickered off. Jacob sat back and put his pen down. Only seven? And he wasn't even sure if they were all 'correct.' Some of them looked like gibberish.

"Write your name on the piece of paper, as well as your student I.D. number."

Jacob did.

Prof Alhammadi took the slip of paper and put it inside the desk.

"Now, for the final test. I think you will enjoy this one, Jacob. Please stand near the entrance to the room," Prof Alhammadi gestured.

Jacob obliged.

Prof Alhammadi clasped his hands in front of him. "The third test is simple. You are to utilize both strength-resilience and perception to evade me."

Jacob blinked. What?

"If I touch you, game over." A sly smile slipped onto Prof Alhammadi's face. "The longer you last, the higher your mark."

Jacob grinned. Finally, something practical. He dropped into a stance and prepared to cast both spells.

"Ready?"

Jacob nodded.

Prof Alhammadi pulled a stopwatch out of his suit pocket, clicked it, then dropped into a light stance. His pant-legs pulled up to reveal long dress socks.

"Begin."

He blurred towards Jacob.