Jake’s POV

Today was the day. We had officially accepted the Major’s invite to join the Drakes, and been assigned a date on which we would test. I had been training my attack spells with the attack mage groups for the past two weeks, so now it was time to put it all to the test. Our test would consist of three stages: attack spells quality, teamwork, and overall ability. Suma and I would test as if we were a single entry, since I am her familiar; pass or fail we did it together. The Major was perched a few feet away from us; he decided to personally preside over our test.

“The first portion of your test will reveal the quality of your spells. Your goal for this test is to destroy the ten targets as quickly as possible.” He motioned with his wingtip towards a large training dummy that was moving around the end of the training field with ten red targets attached to it. “You may use any means at your disposal… and I do mean any means.” With that he looked at Suma and I intensely. “For the duration of your test, all forms of magic are allowed, even the forms that have been declared illegal.”

“What!?” Suma asked confused. “That is not… why… how?”

“I could lie to you… I could tell you we only allow recruits who are the best of the best and can use every skill at their disposal to its maximum, but that’s not why. The truth is… the royal family wants to know what kind of weapon they will be commanding, and what it can do. They have given special permission for today only: use every and any form of magic you desire.” The Major explained. I didn’t know what to say, Suma seemed stunned, shocked even; I could relate.

“I understand.” I said.

“Jake?” Suma wondered quietly.

“I know, it will be fine. Besides, I’ve been curious anyway.” My body was shaking, but I wasn’t really sure what was causing it. Was it fear, excitement, or something else entirely? “But sir, there is still the issue that I have never used most of the forms of Chaos Magic before. I’m not sure how it will go over.”

He ruffled his feathers and nodded his head, “Let me be clear. I’m telling you not to hold back, but that does not mean using any of the illegal forms of magic is in any way required. If you feel like you will do better without them, then do as you see fit. The royal family wants to know what you can do at your best, not what you can do in totality. That will most likely come later…”

“I see,” Suma interjected, “Jake... I... I do not know if I can-”

I stopped her, “I know. I won’t make you do it again, or even if I want to do it. For now, let’s just stick with what we know and let the rest happen if needed.” Suma sighed, in what I think was relief, and agreed.

“Now… BEGIN!” The Major yelled and the dummy’s targets flipped from red to green. Suma and I knew this test was coming, or something like it at least, so we were prepared. She rushed forwards and began using her flames to attack the targets. She was buying me time, not to cast a big attack spell, but to cast the body enhancement spell she taught me. As soon as it was done, I rushed forwards and caught up with her. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, my muscles felt as light as a feather, and my mind was on task. I quickly cast two of my new purple fireballs at the targets; one hit and one miss. The green of the target changed back to red as soon as it was struck. It rang like a gong when the flames of our attacks connected. I pulled out three ball bearings from a small pouch I had attached to my armor and retreated a short distance from the dummy, then warned Suma to do the same. Using what I had learned, I cast a smaller scale, but faster, version of my Railgun spell. All three attacks landed.

“Jake, can you distract the dummy while I attack the remaining targets?”

“Sure, but can this thing even really be distracted? It doesn’t have a head... or brain.” I immediately cast three purple fireballs which melted through two of the dummy’s arms. It slowly lurched around away from Suma and started towards me. “Huh, I guess so.” I launched another two fireballs then raised the ground between the dummy and I to block its own attacks aimed at me. It was something I had been practicing with the attack mages. The best offence is a good defense, I guess.

“Okay Jake, move back!” Suma yelled. I bolted away from the dummy as fast as I could. I didn’t see what happened, but there was a loud crash followed by the sound of three gongs. When I turned around, the ground was wet, and Suma looked exhausted. “That... worked...” She said between heavy breaths.

“The attack section of the test is completed! Good Job recruits.” The Major called out.

“That was easier than expected.” I said. “Suma, how did you... no, what did you do? I didn’t see.”

“It is difficult to explain. In essence, I created a ball of water, then broke it into pieces and launched them at the targets as quickly as I could.” She explained, still breathing heavily and now sitting on the ground. I picked her up in my arms and carried her back to the Major. “Thank you Jake.” She said. Once back, Suma had recovered enough to perch on the notch on my armor.

“Suma, Sentinel, it is now time to begin the second phase of your test. This is a group section so follow me to meet with the others participating in today’s test.” The Major said and began flying away. I walked after him, or tried to, but soon realized he was going too fast for me to catch up, so Suma had to do it, despite her exhaustion. She sighed, beat her wings, and flew after the Major. A few minutes later she got in contact with me.

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“Jake, I will summon you, but I need a moment. We are not going to be starting the next section of the test until the rest of the recruits have finished and arrived, so I am going to rest. Is that okay with you?” She sounded run down, that spell must have taken more out of her than I thought.

“Sure, no problem. I’ll just start walking towards you, maybe you won’t even need to summon me.” I suggested.

“Thank you, Jake.” I began walking uphill in the direction they flew. The loose dirt made staying steady tricky, but I managed not to faceplant… more than once anyway. After reaching the top of the hill I started to hear a commotion nearby. I could see that, in a nearby field, another Neame and a Black Serpent familiar were battling a dummy just as Suma and I had.

“Lauric...” I mumbled annoyed. I watched his battle closely, studying how he and his familiar worked together. They moved smoothly, one moved in from behind while the other retreated. The snake would attack from behind while Lauric would distract the dummy with attacks from above. It didn’t take long for them to win. I watched them as they flew off in the same direction that the Major and Suma did, then got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized what that meant. Swallowing my irritation, I resumed my walk to Suma. It didn’t take too long, about twenty minutes, to reach them. Thankfully, the area wasn’t a dense forest, just a lot of blue hills and flatlands. Suma was perched on a stack of vines, looking a bit less tired, and Lauric was also there, perched a short distance away. Suma saw me walking up and flew over to my shoulder. “Feeling better?” I asked.

“Yes, a bit.”

“Do you need some mana? I have a daljar ready to go.” I offered.

“No, I think I should be fine for now.” She said, but she didn’t sound overly convincing.

“Don’t wear yourself out, I have plenty of mana for us both.”

“I will be fine Jake, but if I do need any I will let you know.” I would have protested more, but another Neame landed beside us and the Major interrupted by saying that everyone had now arrived. In total there were three Neame and three familiars. Lauric’s Black Serpent, myself, and the familiar of the newest Neame who summoned it when he arrived; it resembled some kind of bug crossed with a goat. It had fangs, six legs, horns, and a thick cream-colored coat of fur.

“Alright recruits,” the Major announced, “this portion of the test will be on how well you can operate as a unit. Teamwork is the only way to pass, and failure to do so will fail not only you, but your whole team!”

“Sir,” Lauric called out.

“What is it recruit?” The Major asked.

“Are you saying that in order for one of us to be chosen for the Drake Brigade, every one of us has to pass this portion of the exam?”

“That is exactly what I am saying recruit. In real situations, your team's success or failure can be entirely determined by a single member. If one Neame fails, you all fail.” The Major explained.

“Fantastic,” I mumbled. Through our private connection, I could faintly sense Suma’s feelings as well. It caught me off guard for a second as it isn’t normal for me to be able to do that. Usually, it only happens when she is feeling something strongly; like when we were attacked in the alley, and she was afraid. This time she felt… annoyed, or maybe nervous; possibly both.

“Your mission is to defend your position against an attacking team. The winner of this exercise will decide which teams moves on to the third section, and which is dismissed immediately.” The Major explained.

Oh, so it’s like capture the flag. I thought to myself.

“How will victory or defeat be decided?” The other Neame whose name, assuming he had one I guess, I didn’t know, asked. The Major then used magic to lift a large silver metal sheet, with several teal-colored symbols in the center, into the air and place it onto a rusty pole.

“With this. If the enemy succeeds in destroying or taking this crest, then you lose. However, if you are able to withstand their attacks and defend the crest, or you attack and destroy their crest, then you win.” The Major explained. Then, two Neame flew to the Major’s side, both using mana wrapping to carry a huge hourglass, and placed it by the Major. “You will have until the last grain of sand falls from the top to the bottom of this device.”

It’s literally capture the flag! I thought surprised.

“You will not have long to think of a strategy before this section begins, get to it.” He finished. With that, the other and I gathered together.

“In order to form a proper strategy, we will need to know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.” The new Neame said.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name?” I asked.

“I do not possess one, but my cadet number is two.” He replied.

“Jake, please do not do it.” Suma begged over our private connection.

“I-I wasn’t going to,” I stuttered.

“It will be good to work with you again Sir Lauric,” Two said.

“And you as well.” He replied kindly.

“You know each other?” I asked.

“Yes, we were on the same team during the climb up Dragon’s Hoard.” Two said.

Suma interrupted to get us back on track, “I specialize in Bonding Magic and Healing Magic, and my weakest form is Soul-Magic.”

“I specialize in only Nature-Magic, but I can use all the types exceptionally well. As for weaknesses, I am rather untalented in any aspect of Soul-Magic as well.” Lauric stated.

“I’m a Chaos Mage… I guess I’m pretty good at attack spells, but I’m still kinda slow to use them. I’m way better with my weapons though.” I said.

“I’m a Soul-Magic user, specifically I specialize in Illusion-Magic and Emotion Magic, my weakness is Energy-Magic. I’m afraid I cannot even form a single fire spell.” Two explained.

“Yes, I remember you mentioned that, like me, you prefer to fight with your own specialty than any standard attack spells.” Lauric mentioned.

“So, how do we use this to our advantage?” I wondered. “We need a plan that puts everyone where they will be most useful.”

“Yes, you are correct.” Two acknowledged. “Lauric, of the three of us, you are the most versatile and-”

“Four,” I corrected flatly, one eyebrow raised, but he wouldn’t know what that meant so it was pretty pointless in hindsight.

“…Yes, four of us. You are the most versatile and best suited to defend the crest. I think you should stay close to it, while the rest of us attack or intercept the other team.” Two said.

“You might be correct, but I am not sure I can defend the crest alone, even with Loyalty by my side.” Lauric stated.

“What if Suma or Two stayed behind, and the other one and I attacked?” I suggested.

“But Jake…” Suma started, but I stopped her.

“I know, but we need to win. I don’t like splitting up any more than you, but you’re not an attack mage, you’d be better off staying here with Lauric while Two and I tried to destroy the flag.” I told her.

“It might work.” Two said. Suma seemed to dislike the plan, but agreed.

“Fine,” she said.

“It is our best solution.” Lauric agreed. “But please leave the close-range fighting to me Madam Suma.” She nodded her head.

“All right recruits, time is up.” We heard the Major yell from a distance. “This section begins... now!”

“Well then Sir Sentinel, let us be off.” Two said and flew to my armor’s perch on my shoulder.