There was a large stone door somewhere on the academy’s grounds. But, there was nothing behind this door, just mist and more ground.

A 25 year old woman in a black suit sat in front of it while regularly adjusting her clothes and glasses. Every once in a while, she removed the dust from a large wooden staff with a football sized orange crystal at the top.

‘So, that’s about it,’ she thought. ‘Talent is hard to come by these days.’ The woman looked at the top of the stone door, where a 30 second timer was counting down.

Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps approaching from a distance. Straightening her back, the examiner hid her smile, tapped her staff on the ground, and shouted “Contestant, state your name.”

“Annie Thompson!”

Out of the fog, a large stone golem approached, and in its arms was a little girl trapped inside a bubble.

“Congratulations.” The examiner kept her tone neutral as she began the usual speech. “There are three types of mana control:

* The control of crystalized mana,

* The control of mana within nature,

* The control of mana within one's own body.

That ball you find yourself in facilitates an easier connection to the crystal inside the golem. Although at a rudimentary level, you have unlocked the first type of control, so you can consider yourself a mage. Congratulations.”

“What about the other two?” Annie tried to act aloof, but her pupils dilated and her eyebrows rose.

“Only high-level mages and warriors can control nature’s mana directly. Stick to the basics, and you will get there.”

The examiner turned towards the door and gestured with her staff to enter.

“What about control of mana within the body?” Annie insisted.

The examiner saw determination in her face. ‘Why?’ she wondered. This was dangerous territory. Determined to nip the problem in the bud, the woman adjusted her glasses and frowned deeply.

“Only demons and monsters have that control. The human body is fragile, so those who attempt it, die.” The examiner leaned closer and spoke slower. “There are some who survive though. They escape death with gruesome mutations, lose their minds, and are eventually killed by our warriors.

If you become like those things, I will kill you myself. Am I clear?”

The examiner leaned back, but the mana around them stopped flowing. It became viscous and thick, forcing the air to momentarily freeze. It pressured Annie down as if it was trying to crush her.

It was similar to when Mr. Griffin had pulled out his sword, but since it was done by a mage with intent, Annie could not cancel it like before.

“I understand,” the girl was forced to lower her head. It was hard to keep it up, and even her golem was kneeling.

“Good.” The examiner smiled as if nothing had happened and the pressure lifted in an instant. “Off you go,” she gestured towards the door. “There is one more part to this exam, so you better hurry.”

[On the pastures outside of Phoenix city]

Three teens stood cross-legged near an oak tree. The shade had long passed them, so the full force of the sun was now scorching their heads.

For the past hour, they took deep breaths for exactly five seconds, held them in for 10, and then released them for five. Large beads of sweat rolled down their chins creating small puddles around them.

“Argh, I’ve had it!” Michael stood up. “What’s the point of this? How the hell is this gonna make us stronger?”

“Want me to hit you again?” Natalie opened her eyes and the boy flinched. “Do as I say.” She closed them again.

Another five minutes passed, and this time Tommy became impatient.

“Perhaps, if you would explain,” he tried to be tactful.

“That’s why you’re behind,” Natalie smirked. “If you had done what Mr. Griffin said, you would’ve been stronger than me.”

Tommy did not understand. He closed his eyes, but instead of focusing on breathing, he tried to remember a time when Mr. Griffin talked about this.

‘There was that one lesson,’ he remembered. When they were seven, their teacher had placed them all in a circle with their backs to each other. He explained this breathing method and made them practice it for an entire afternoon. It was excruciating, and at the end he said: “Practice this two hours a day. Dismissed.”

‘What seven year old would willingly sit and breathe for hours on end?’ That day was so boring and so full of punishments that not only did the kids not practice as instructed, but they almost erased it from their memories.

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‘Come to think of it, all of Mr. Griffin’s lessons were like this.’ The old man would explain once, in a hurry and with a lot of push-ups if you weren’t paying attention, and then he would not speak of the subject ever again.

Tommy’s eyes suddenly went wide with realization.

“Do you get it now?” Natalie asked. Her eyes were still closed, but she gave off a similar feeling to Mr. Griffin.

Tommy watched her for a time and then answered “Yes.” ‘It might be a requirement,’ he contemplated. ‘Sword masters are terrible teachers.’

[On academy grounds]

Annie found herself surrounded by palm trees. They were planted on top of the arena exactly two meters apart. Coconuts dangled above her head, and another golem and student were standing about 100 meters in front.

“State your names.” It was Madam Isabella’s crooked voice, but she was not in the examiner’s seat. Annie lifted her head to see the old woman and her parrot flying above their heads.

“Edgar Winslow, son of Liam Winslow and apprentice to the advanced mage Edmond Garcia.” Like his opponent, Edgar was stuck in a semitransparent, bluish bubble which his almost identical golem carried on top of its head.

“Annie Thompson,” the girl presented herself, “daughter of Nancy Thompson and apprentice to Mr. Griffin.”

“Future mages, listen carefully.” A gust of wind blew through the arena making coconuts fall everywhere. “Unlike the brutes who call themselves warriors, a mage should never see her own blood. If the barrier that protects you is broken, then your fate is sealed and you have lost. Any questions?”

The two were silent. ‘You should’ve told us earlier,’ Annie maneuvered her golem frantically to avoid the falling coconuts.

“You cannot leave the premises of the arena. Begin.”

Edgar charged towards Annie as if looking for a brawl.

‘What do I do?’ If the golems were just for mobility and the bubbles for protection, then how did they attack?

“Face the might of Edgar!” shouted the boy. He was no older than 10, perhaps a prodigy in the making.

"Fine.” Annie's golem put down her bubble and went to confront him. Without having to worry about protection, it would punch the kid’s smug face, and that would be that.

“Ha, fooled you!” The boy jumped up and down inside his ball while his golem did a sharp turn to the left. Suddenly, the ring he wore started glowing and a miniature fireball flew towards Annie.

It exited his barrier as if it wasn’t even there, but when it hit the girl’s ball, a large crack appeared on it.

‘Crap.’ There was no time to retrieve her golem. Annie made it continue her chase while she investigated her ring.

There was something off about the orange stone on top of it. It gave off a similar feeling to the golem, and when Annie focused on it, a slightly orange and almost transparent substance came out.

Crack went her bubble as a couple more projectiles hit their mark.

“Bow before my power!” the kid laughed like he was having the time of his life.

‘Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.’ Annie looked at the crystal on top of her ring, and it too was cracked. She quickly shoved the orange substance back inside and it somehow recovered. ‘I can’t even take out mana from the ring; how am I supposed to turn it into fire?’

With no time to think of a solution, Annie gave up on fireballs and returned her focus on the battle. Immediately, her golem slammed into a tree. The palm tree collapsed and the golem grabbed the trunk.

“That’s not fair!” Edgar whined from on top of his mount while running for dear life.

In a weird game of whack-a-mole, Annie’s golem chased after Edgar trying to smack him with the tree. Above their heads, Isabella slapped her forehead.

“First years are the worst.”

While Edgar sent a new mini-fireball towards Annie, she searched into her golem’s mana pool. After all, it and the crystal ring were similar, so ‘Maybe I can ignite it.’

“You’re going down, old lady!” the boy grinned maniacally as he summoned his final attack. Annie’s ball was so full of cracks that one more hit would definitely break it.

However, just as the boy readied his fireball, Annie’s golem stopped. It let go of the tree trunk and froze on the spot.

“Huh?” Confused, the boy forgot to release his spell. “Do you give up? If you say ‘Edgar Winslow is the strongest and handsomest,’ I’ll spare you, woman.”

Annie clicked her tongue. She did not remember her friends ever being such turds. ‘Not even Finn was this difficult.’

But, there was something weird about her golem’s mana. Annie could somehow tell the crystal was inside the head. More so, the crystalized mana was arranged in complicated patterns, some to allow the machine’s movement while others allowed for something else.

“Kid,” Annie grinned. “Give up. Now.”

“Ha,” Edgar laughed. “Do you know who I am? It’s you who should give up.”

The boy raised his arm and prepared to release the final fireball.

“I warned you.” The eyes of Annie’s golem started glowing. “Good luck.”

Suddenly, lasers shot out of the golem’s eyes into the earth in front of it. Annie made the golem lift its head, and the lasers tore through the trees all the way towards Edgar.

The boy let out a squeal and burned his own hand with the fireball. In a panic, he made his golem throw away his bubble. Unfortunately, he was a bit too late. The golem was sliced in three, and the bubble popped as one of the lasers grazed it.

“Noo!” the boy shouted dramatically as he fell to the ground. He didn’t have a single bruise, but he cried anyway, and the match was finally over. Annie smiled and gave a fist bump to the sky.

However, when Madam Isabella descended onto the arena, she was shaking her head. Annie lowered her fist and Edgar wiped away his tears.

“Edgar Winslow, you have lost. Come back in five years after you have matured.”

The boy started to protest, but with a flick of her wrist, Madam Isabella made him disappear.

Excited by her victory, Annie touched her bubble and ordered her golem to return. However, she no longer felt her hands entering a water-like substance. Not only did the golem not move, but it had fallen apart and was now just a pile of rocks.

“Annie Thompson,” the old lady gestured her to stop trying. “Crystals are precious resources not to be wasted on bombastic finishing moves.” The reproach and harshness behind these words made Annie lower her head.

“I hope you will have learned your lesson. And, I also hope you'll prove it to me in the third part of the exam.” The old woman smiled gently and then whisked the girl away. “Good luck.”

[Name: Natalie Reed.

Age: 15 years and three months old.

Race: Human.

Title: Sword Fanatic.

Abilities:

- Writing and reading {Advanced}

- Mathematics {Beginner}

- Geography {Intermediate}

- Theology {Beginner}

- History {Beginner+}

- Swordsmanship {Advanced}

Debuffs:

- Hormones.

- Teaching {Terrible}

Comments: None]