In the end, Ron did go look at all four of his preferred academies. He didn't do or ask anything though, simply observing from a distance and not daring to go directly to them. After all, while the people he'd met so far had all been friendly, he wasn't sure if the academies would respect his choices or simply seize him.

Hence, it took him three entire days to silently observe the academies. He didn't really get as much information as just straight-up asking did, obviously, but it still gave him a general idea.

For example, Vulcan's Temple was apparently, as the name might suggest, a semi-religious academy that focused on an ancient magus, Vulcan, who apparently was considered a god by them. Hence, it was immediately crossed off the list.

As for the other three choices, they all had their ups and downs as far as Ron knew, but the one that really stuck out to him was the Flame Mausoleum. Firstly because, while it was indeed famous for its fire spells, it also had a reputation for bringing up capable shadow magi.

Hence, 5 days before the official selection began, which would also be when all the escortees coming from continents away would arrive, Ron made his choice.

Nervously fiddling with the robe he'd put, he stood in front of a building that had the words 'Flame Mausoleum' on its entrance, the words glowing as if they had been written directly with fire.

After hesitating for an entire minute, he finally forced himself to enter. The inside of the building was, as expected, hot. However, strangely enough, it actually felt rather comfortable for Ron.

There was only a single room here, and it was rather bland and empty, which surprised Ron. There were a couple of posters on the walls showing a huge volcano, but other than that and a desk and a couple of chairs, there was nothing.

Ron felt lost for a moment. Should he shout out or stay silent? Would it be soon as rude to try and gain the attention of whoever ran this place, or would he be seen as weak for not saying anything?

Thankfully, that problem was taken out of his hands as a voice spoke out of nowhere. "Hey, kiddo. Over here."

Startled, Ron's head whipped around, trying to find the source of the voice, but to no avail. "Uh... Excuse me, but where?" He said after a moment.

A sigh resounded through the room. Then, Ron's eyes bulged out as he saw a very... endowed... woman walk out of one of the volcano posters. Her face had a certain bewitching charm to it, and just by entering the room, it felt as though it had become even hotter.

She looked at Ron, her eyes observing every inch of his body with an almost perverted gaze. Suddenly feeling very, very uncomfortable, Ron took the risk and spoke up.

"I... I'm here to apply for the Fire Mausoleum. I have the necessary paperwork with me." He said rapidly, taking out a folder containing his I.D card as well as some other papers necessary.

The woman just laughed. "Brat, the Fire Mausoleum isn't a place just anyone can enter. If your talent is poor, I won't hesitate to teach you a lesson and kick you out." Her eyes darkened at the end, her tone turning dangerous.

Ron nodded, but he didn't back down as he held out the papers. He'd been warned by the old man that some of the representatives liked to toy with their prospective students, and considering the reputation of fire magi as somewhat hot-headed, the Fire Mausoleum was likely to be amongst the top of the ranking for the meanest magi around.

Stolen novel; please report.

The lady leisurely took the papers, fished out the I.D and glanced at it. Then, her gaze turned solemn as she actually focused on what was written there.

Her eyes turned back to Ron, the mirth from before having completely disappeared. "Not bad. A peak grade 5 talent? Do forget what I said before, there's no need for payments. Just give me your application paper and I'll have you registered in a flash!" The woman said, and Ron didn't hesitate to hand over everything.

"I have... this. Are you sure I don't need to give it?" He asked after a moment as the lady walked back to her desk, putting Ron's papers on it. She looked back and glanced at the necklace in her hands.

"Hm? That's a nice toy you got there. If it were anyone else, then yes, but since you chose to join the magnanimous Fire Mausoleum, we'll naturally not treat you badly." After saying that, she proceeded to ignore Ron, who was left feeling awkward.

While the lady hadn't said it directly, Ron wasn't dumb enough to miss the underlying message. Firstly, if he chose to back out now, he probably wouldn't live past the next day, and secondly, if his talent had been any worse than it was, they wouldn't have hesitated to take the necklace... which Ron didn't really care about, to be honest.

He didn't see it as anything other than a cute necklace, but for the lady to call it a 'nice toy' meant it probably was quite precious. In his heart, Ron silently thanked the magus that he'd technically saved, even though it wasn't really him who did.

After a couple of minutes, the lady stood up from where she'd been toiling. "All good. Now, I would ask you if you'd like to be my personal apprentice, but unfortunately, after this assignment, I'm going to have to leave for a couple of years. A shame, really." The lady sighed, and yet, Ron really couldn't see any regret in her actions as she sat her butt on one of the chairs, motioning for him to sit on the chair in front of her.

"Unfortunately, the academy is really quite far away from this place. Otherwise, I would have just sent you back immediately. Still, that doesn't mean the Fire Mausoleum doesn't treat it's geniuses well. Here." She said, and suddenly, a small, dark red flame came out from her forehead.

In the next instant, it had already reached Ron, who despite being a knight and having a much better body than ordinary people, couldn't react in time as the flame expanded and engulfed his head.

He wanted to scream in surprise and fear, but his voice wouldn't come out. The world around him faded away, and only that flame remained.

The fire stretched on all around him, his body seemingly fading away as only his thoughts remained, stuck within the flames surrounding him.

'No...' A feeble voice said within him. 'NO!' the voice said again, this time with more strength. He realized it was his own voice, and yet, it felt far away.

Then, the world of flames faded away, and he found himself back in the room with the big-breasted devil in front of him, who was sporting a giant smirk on her face.

"You almost struggled out of the illusion on your own? Very impressive. Your stuff has already been sent here, thus, you won't need to go back to your assigned house to get it. Your room is over there, I do hope you use the time until we set off wisely." The lady said, pointing at a door that Ron knew for a fact hadn't been there before.

He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but they all just died down in his throat before he could express them due to the woman literally vanishing on him, leaving behind small trails of fire that quickly consumed themselves.

Sighing, he suppressed the surge of annoyance he felt. He knew he wasn't qualified to go against the wishes of these magi, and yet, despite being treated very well by everyone, he felt like a caged rat, his life and death out of his own hands.

Then, he noticed something that made his eyes go wide once again. In his memory, detailed steps and information regarding a mediation technique gently rested, despite him never having learned of it.

'Oh... I see. It was the fire thing!' A lightbulb went off metaphorically as Ron thought of it, the confusion at the woman's actions somewhat fading away, quickly replaced by fascination as he recalled everything concerning the meditation technique.

'Ten Sacred Flames? What a cliche name...' He silently thought, not yet knowing just how important of a gift the woman had bestowed upon him.