“That was quite the show! Well done if I say so myself!”

A man with rainbow colored hair cheerfully declared as he sat Inside a normal looking office lit by a white fluorescent lamp. His wooden desk that was carved from a single piece of wood was littered with piles upon piles of papers haphazardly scattered all over.

The headmaster, Leonardo Da Vinci, was watching the S-rank trials from inside his office through a curious small box that was around the size of an engagement ring case.

It was a small contraption with even smaller gold colored gears and springs interlocked with one another encased black box with gold trimmings. A wind-up key sticking out the back directly connected to the intricate machinery inside.

The little box was projecting the events unfold in real time to a blank wall. The images however have depth to them and are projected in 3D as if they were a hologram. Leonardo could see the fight happen in explicit detail and from any angle, zooming in or shifting left or right if so wishes to.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Leonardo, still glued to the show despite the first trial being over, replied in an almost dismissive tone.

The door opened and a beautiful woman with brown hair came in. She wore a corporate black attire with a tube skirt. Her brown hair tied into a neat ponytail that rested on her left shoulder. She was carrying a black tablet that was nested on her arm.

Upon entering the room she then walked up to Leonardo’s desk.

“Ah my dear Mona Lisa, I was just about to go and call you up here!” Leonardo said as he realized who his visitor was.

“How are the other trials going?” He asked.

“Most of them are almost done.” She replied. “Only about 13% of the students haven’t completed their trials, and they are mostly B-rank and above.”

“I see, then I guess it’s time to prepare for the next step.” As he stood up from his chair and walked to the small box lying on the floor.

“Go tell the scribes to go and prepare. After the next S-rank trial the rest of the students should be done as well.” He said as he picked up the box and winded up the key.

“Understood. Then if you will excuse me, I will now head out.” Mona Lisa replied with a bow.

She walked silently and suddenly stopped just before the open door. Her abrupt stop caught Leonardo’s attention.

“What’s wrong? Is there anything else you would like to tell me?” He inquired.

Mona then replied after a brief silence.

“It would be best if you could reign in your impulsive tendencies and not randomly change the trial rules on a whim, father.” She said with a rather Icy tone without as much as looking back and before Leonardo could reply she walked out of the room.

---

“That’s that” Sylvester then clapped his hands as if he was shaking dust off of it. He took off his coat, his white gloves and shoved it back inside the hat.

With a flick he transformed the tophat into its previous form, a baseball cap.

As the golem’s burning remains started disintegrating and scattering into the wind, he saw Rossa using her wing-based flying spell approaching him. She landed two meters in front of him, with a guilty looking expression on her face.

Resolving herself, she walked up to Sylvester firmly clasping her hands into a fist by her sides. When she was half a meter away from Sylvester, she put her hands together in front of her chest and slightly bowed her head.

“I apologize for my actions during our trial.” She said in a sincere tone catching Sylvester off guard. He certainly didn’t expect an apology after all.

“I was reckless and distracted. I… Had things on my mind.” Rossa paused for a while, her face now having a slightly pained expression. “I also apologize for underestimating your abilities and acting dismissive towards you.” She with her eyes closed.

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“It’s over now so it-” Rossa raised her left hand, signaling him to stop for and let her finish.

“Wow. Even when apologizing, she’s bossy.” Sylvester thought to himself highly amused of Rossa’s actions.

Rossa then faced him and continued with her words.

“With that I humbly thank you for coming to my aid. You’re the reason I managed to pass this trial today.” She said in a thankful voice.

“Classy gentleman saves the day yet again!” Sylvester thought to himself jokingly. Scratching his head because he was feeling a little awkward, Sylvester then decided to respond in the way he knows best.

“At least you admit it when you did something wrong.” He replied. Rossa responded with her eyebrows almost meeting, her crimson eyes now staring daggers into Sylvester.

“Uwaa I’m sorry it was a joke!”

“Ahem!” Sylvester then organized himself and continued to talk. “At any rate, we should try to get along.” He said as he stretched out his hand, offering a hand shake once again.

“The name’s Sylvester Clearsight, a magician. It's an honor to be your acquaintance.” Sylvester said, trying to be formal and at the same time, sounding silly.

Rossa stared at him for a while, smiled and then faced his sky blue eyes. She then stretched out her own hand to meet his finally accepting the offer.

“I am Rossa Argentum, Daughter of Duke Argentum from the Kingdom of Vanicares. It’s an honor as well.”

Suddenly a loud voice from above rang across the coliseum.

“It seems you two have managed to patch things up quickly. Congratulations on passing the trial!”

The voice said and immediately the pair looked up and saw the colorful figure of the headmaster smiling from above them once more. They then retracted their hands and faced the giant floating hologram staring down at them.

“I hope you enjoyed our performance, Headmaster!” Sylvester cheekily replied.

“Ohoho, most certainly.” The headmaster replied.

“Now then, would you like to go back to the open grounds or would you want to watch the second S-rank trial?” The headmaster offered.

“Oh right, the twins did mention there were four people that qualified, this is a good opportunity to see what those other two are like.” Sylvester thought.

“I would like to watch the trial.” Sylvester replied with enthusiasm.

“Very well. Then what about you, young lady?” The headmaster then shifted his gaze towards Rossa.

After giving it some thoughts for a few seconds, she nodded and decided to tag along and spectate.

“Good, good. Now, let me just take you to your seats then.”

A surge of light then engulfed Sylvester and Rossa’s bodies and then all of a sudden they were situated at the audience platform of the arena sitting down on the cold stone seats. Next to them were some snacks, noticeable popcorn inside a paper bag and soda.

“Aww, how nice of them.” Sylvester said as he grabbed the paper bag and opened it, revealing the steaming hot white fluff inside. He took a few pieces and stole a glance towards Rossa who didn’t seem to know what to make of the food she was given.

She took out one piece and held it close to her eyes inspecting it like a curious child. Suddenly she felt a gaze was on her and looked to see Sylvester looking at her.

Feeling a little embarrassed while still trying to maintain composure, she then gave him a stern look as she placed that single piece of popcorn in her mouth. Almost immediately her face lit up and her spirits seemed high.

“Oh my! This tastes great.” She said as she took another piece and happily chowed down like a hungry child.

“Pfft-” Sylvester trying his best to hold his laughter decided to look at the fighting grounds below instead. Almost immediately he saw the giant grey door slowly open. As the voice of the headmaster filled the air once more.

“Now will the participants of the second and final S-rank trial please enter the stage!” He said in an exciting tone.

Two figures then slowly came out of the door and even from far away Sylvester could recognize one of them. He then casted Farsight to ascertain their identity. Sure enough he was correct.

A tall man with blonde hair tied into a short ponytail entered the arena and with him was a short girl with red braided hair wearing  ski goggles.

“It’s Artian and that girl from earlier!” Sylvester thought to himself. He noticed that Artian was carrying a sword on his waist and the woman had a brown pouch strapped onto her.

Artian shot a glance back at Sylvester as if sensing his gaze. He then raised his hand and waved at Sylvester to say hi. Sylvester happily waved back in response.

“Now that the participants are here, let the second trial begin!” He said as another object came hurtling down into the arena, landing with an awesome explosion.

“Huh, it seems none of you went in and attacked it on site!” The headmaster jokingly said.

Rossa was starting to show a rather pink blush as she ate more popcorn in response to the Headmaster while Sylvester tried his hardest to hold in his laughter.

Artian and his partner simply paid no heed to the Headmaster’s comment.

“Now, Artian Vendrake and Estelle Mordigan, I present to you the training golem series 3!”

Once the headmaster said those words, a circular light can be seen penetrating through the cloud of dust that was obscuring its figure.