‘Crimson glades!’ several applicants exclaimed, an assured expression on their faces. It sounded like they were aware of that place enough to remain on ease for the time being.

‘Great news!’ someone else said, holding a hand to their chest in a sigh of relief.

And indeed, it was an expected and typical reaction.

Riniock had read and heard about the glades prior to coming here. Although he hadn’t travelled there ere this day, he understood the locale’s implication within the exam.

The world’s myriads of habitats were all bristling with perils and unavoidable risks where one venture could very well spell a man’s untimely demise. From harsh environments, terrifying beasts, and landscapes that were naturally designed for low survivability rates, the world is no safe a place to aimlessly roam about.

In contrast, the crimson glades were amongst the tamest of such environments and was home to a fair amount of docile and neutral creatures.

Safer than most when set side by side with the rest, the crimson glades are widely regarded as innocuous – a false evaluation regardless of opinions.

The maegi cleared his throat and smacked his hands together to foster their attention and resumed his explanation.

‘Yes, the crimson glades are relatively safe if one wanders them cautiously. Nevertheless, let this not serve as an excuse for carelessness.’

‘What’s there to fear in that place?’ an applicant snorted.

‘Yeah. Isn’t the college overreacting a bit?’

Like a spark struck at dry kindling, irrelevant conversations quickly spread amongst the masses.

Treated as though transparent, the man stood before them with his mouth ajar and at a loss for words. The feeling of his authority being subverted drove the maegi nearly round the bend. Mere mortals, insular and cocooned, yet to learn of the world’s immensity, were undermining his efforts at providing everyone the proper guidance.

To teach them a lesson, he intended to prove that his cautionary words were not to be taken lightly.

‘Fetch me Bohg,’ he whispered, fingers restless. His head leaned right and faced a person on the sidelines.

That same person disappeared with a nod and returned a minute later, bringing someone else along. The one called Bohg was a young maegi and still donned his acolyte robes.

‘You summoned me, professor?’

‘Yes. Alas I’ll have to trouble you with setting an example,’ the teacher honestly told him and the acolyte was gracious enough to comply as a favour.

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The youths, for the most part, were still laughing whilst exchanging jests and pleasantries at the expense of the warnings. Only a select knowledgeable few took the news seriously – people like Riniock.

‘Wastes,’ Urael was heard spitting. ‘They’ll be the first to fail or hopefully the first to die in there.’

Their charade had endured long enough.

With timed and powerful precision, the professor seized control with the directive of a single move. He held his palm beside his waist and accumulated ample energy to send a shockwave across the antechamber. In one fell swoop, all who were caught unaware were sent flying to the ground.

The rest utterly fell silent.

‘Now that I have your attention, please direct it to this acolyte here. Bohg, would you be so kind as to show these ignorant fools the arduous inevitable cost of being careless.’

‘Yes…professor,’ Bohg said, shrunk in humiliation.

He unfastened the knots of his robe, unbuttoned the shirt beneath, and exposed what had been concealed under layers of magickly weaved fabric.

Five deep gashes marred Bohg’s chest, their edges blackened and scarred from prolonged exposure. The wounds were massive, stretching from the top of his shoulder all the way down to his waist, a grim testament to the injury’s severity.

It was unsightly no doubt, apart from being an attestation to the professor’s warning of course.

‘Last year, I went out gathering verdack feathers in the glades. While searching through the tall grass, I accidentally stepped into a bed of celseeds and got sprayed with hallucinogenic spores. Everything went blank for a while, but when I came to, I found myself stumbling into a pack of lidthrags. The rest...’ Bohg glanced down at his grievous claw wound, ‘well, you can probably imagine what happened next.’

If a needle were to drop suddenly on the stone floor, its sharp ringing would be heard by everyone. The reticence was suffocating after that display.

‘Now you all understand the severities – hopefully.’

A maegi approached him, a pat on the shoulder to invite secrecy, and said, ‘the exam, professor.’

The latter understood immediately.

‘In any case, let’s proceed to the more pressing matters at hand,’ said the professor hurriedly, walking to the front of the portal. ‘The requirements to passing your entrance exams…’

He bent down to open a crate full of shabby wands.

‘…is successfully bringing back a beast material from the crimson glades.’

Surprisingly enough, there was no gossip.

‘Excuse me, sir.’

A coarse voice spoke somewhere. The professor searched around for its owner in the crowd.

‘Hm? Yes, young man,’ he saw that someone had raised their hand.

‘Can we procure material from any beast in the glades?’

‘That is correct. Any beast’s will do.’

‘Then what is the point of procuring those of more dangerous beasts?’ that boy said and complained. ‘Couldn’t everyone just run after verdacks, topis and falufraxies?’

He raised a good point.

If there was any truth to that observation, the exam would no longer be a test of one’s mettle and skill – only a meagre childish chase for feathers and eggs.

‘Naturally there is a reason,’ he paused and thought a bit. After he was done picking his brain, he said, ‘tell you what. Whatever material you bring back, I will exchange for a reward. This obviously means, the better the item you return with, the better your reward shall be.’

‘Can we do that?’ a staff member butted in, quietly drawing closer to him.

‘Why not? Let me worry about those trivial matters,’ he said, counting the number of effects he had on his body. ‘Handle the rest of this, will you?’

‘Very well,’ replied the other man hastily, putting distance, and taking over explanations.

Riniock and the others gathered around the portal, a crate stacked with wands resting at their feet. Following the man’s latest instructions, each applicant selected a wand and formed a line, listening intently as he offered his final piece of advice.

Moments later, they stepped through the portal leading to the glades, disappearing without a trace.

Adrenaline surged within Riniock at the thought of crossing the gateway. Whatever awaited him on the other side – it fuelled the genuine thrill of his excitement.

‘This’ll be fun!’