I flexed my shoulders, checking my equipment once over and verifying everything was in place. My new boots and cloak, and bracelet, enchanted courtesy of the Esttons, felt light on my body, humming gently with mana. Repaired leather armor sat on my chest, arms and shoulders, with stitch marks showing where the wolf's claws had torn through into flesh.

I made sure to pick heavy, loose clothing to help disguise the changes that were slowly making themselves more apparent in my face and body. I was never handsome, being far too slight and plain to warrant a second glance. Lately, however, my face had begun to clear, becoming sharper, more angular, and with less of the baby fat that rounded my features. I had shot up several inches, my muscles had grown more noticeable, and I now moved with almost inhuman grace and ease.

Some of my changes could be attributed to diet, exercise, and age. After all, I was sixteen and had only begun to experience growth spurts in the last year or two. But it was rapidly becoming almost impossible to attribute to just natural changes. A few nights prior, I had let my instincts slip and caught a glass in mid-air as it fell off the table with barely a glance. Several weeks before, I had made a counterattack during sparing that Amelia was utterly unable to follow, leaving a particularly nasty bruise on her ribs.

Shaking my head, I took a deep breath before turning to Fortuna, who stared at me. His tail flicked through the air, and his eyes watched me unblinking, dark slits in the middle of a gold sphere.

"You are unhappy with my decision?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

I have made my opinion clear. Go be a hero for your friends, and waste your time. Just know that every moment you spend helping them is time you could spend becoming stronger.

Stalking away with a flick of his tail, Fortuna padded into the main room and out of my sight. I briefly debated arguing with him but decided it would be a waste of time. Fortuna was a remarkably stubborn beast, and I doubted anything I said could change his mind. Truthfully, part of me agreed with his assessment.

Making my way down to the main hallway, I found dozens of apprentices gathered, some socializing but most quiet in anticipation. My senses were immediately flooded with mana, radiating off many of them in waves. It was impossible to say if the energy was from their innate power or from items they planned to use during the tournament, but either way, it was a clear sign that we had stiff competition.

From my research, there were at least twenty other teams, mostly older apprentices. In the first years, there were only two other teams to compete with, one led by Flynn. The rest of our year had opted out of competing, many feeling they lacked the power and experience necessary to perform well.

Ignoring the glares and curious glances from other teams, I maneuvered through the crowd, finding my allies near one side of the room. I felt a slight flush of embarrassment as I noted that I was the only one fully dressed in armor already, realizing it might have been premature. After a second, I decided it would suit my public appearance as a frightened, nervous young advisor if I kept my armor.

It was entertaining, watching the different reactions from each of them. Sophia looked unbothered, almost bored with the entire affair as if she wanted it to be done. Leon looked excited, all smiles and nervous energy, likely eager to prove himself in battle. Simon glanced around, appearing ready to sink into the floor rather than be here. And Amelia looked confident and at ease, prepared for battle but not looking for one like Leon.

They noticed my arrival, and Amelia bumped me with one shoulder, giving me a warm smile.

"Nice of you to join us. I was getting worried you'd overslept or something. Did you spend too much time checking your notes last night?" Amelia asked under her breath with a sarcastic chuckle.

Before I could reply, one of the masters stepped up, speaking with a magically amplified voice. I wondered for a moment if she was using magic that Remley had created, knowing he invented several spells that might serve the same purpose.

"Good morning, apprentices, and welcome to the annual Academy tournament! I assume most of you are aware of the rules, but just in case some of you declined to study, I will briefly review. This year, we have prepared five challenges, each designed to test your mettle in different fields. You will be observed, scored, and evaluated by judges, and at the end of the tournament, you will be ranked. The highest-scoring teams will earn prizes, and the better you perform, the greater the rewards."

She waited for the clamoring of excited voices to die down before continuing, "The first challenge will be a simple one, that we call the Test of Wisdom. Each team will be given prepared questions on a variety of subjects. Scoring for this challenge is based upon accuracy, detail, and the number of questions answered within three hours."

Her face became more stern, and she carefully scanned the room, her eyes staring into each face one after another.

"I will warn you now that cheating is strictly forbidden. Outside assistance, attacking other teams without provocation, and deliberate sabotage inside challenges is against the rules and will not be tolerated. Any infractions will result in immediate forfeiture of the tournament and possible expulsion from the Academy."

She moved one hand with those words, and several dozen mages filtered into the entrance hall, likely proctors of some kind assisting in the tournament. After a few minutes of waiting, one of them, a robed man with the markings of an adept mage, approached us.

"Team Estton?" he asked quietly.

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When Leon nodded, he turned on one heel and began walking away towards the main staircase. Entering the space, I noticed with shock that there was now a broad set of stairs descending down under the Academy, which had not been there when I arrived a few minutes earlier.

Moving down the staircase, it appeared to be an almost mirror image of the entrance hall, with several hallways leading off and a massive doorway at one end. I could see that it led outside, though I was unsure how that was possible since we were underground. It must be the space they prepared for additional challenges, and I suspected that meant we had a survival challenge this year.

"This is incredible. Why don't we have a space made like this all the time?" Leon asked our guide, who glanced backward with a polite smile.

"Complex enchantments require a lot of supervision to make sure it all works properly. The Academy already has its hands full, maintaining the existing spatial distortion magic and various other enchantments. We create this extra space when needed, but most of the time, it's just a drain on resources." the adept explained, shrugging his shoulders.

Falling quiet, our guide led us through one of the side halls before stopping in front of one unmarked door. Opening the door, the adept gestured for us to enter, and after a moment's hesitation, we all filed in, one after the other.

I noticed immediately that my mana felt muted and suppressed somehow as if the room prevented me from using my power. At least now I knew why the masters let us keep our equipment and still made sure we could not use it to our advantage somehow. That would certainly be a useful trick to learn, though I doubted I had enough time to include it with the rest of the skills I wanted to develop.

The room was empty except for a single round table with a small stack of papers. Five chairs surrounded the table, one for each of us it seems. Besides that, the room was flat, with bare walls and no windows and a dark, unmarked wooden floor. The mage that led us to the room had entered after us and moved to one corner of the room, standing with arms folded.

"It seems this test is straightforward," Leon remarked as he walked forward, taking a seat and grabbing one of the packets.

I nodded as I sat down, grabbing another and opening it to the first page.

"Some tests try to trick apprentices, but others are direct trials of skills or knowledge. It seems like this is the second, at least at first glance." I replied, beginning to read.

"Lucky for us, we have four geniuses on our team," Leon remarked with a smile, and I knew he was excluding himself. Personally, I suspected only Sophia and Simon would genuinely qualify for that title, but I did not say as much.

The first question was on military tactics, something I felt confident in answering. It asked to provide options and strategies when faced with various factors, including opposing army composition, battlefield layout, and sun and wind direction. I noted that the problem looked open-ended and notably omitted what troops were available for our army and what weapons and equipment we were provided. I decided to leave the first problem blank and moved to the next page, which left me somewhat confused.

This one was on politics and strategy and likewise seemed too open and generalized to be quickly answered. It started by asking for a detailed elaboration on a prior ruler, King Quellis, and his rule, including famous decisions and personality traits. Then, it offered several scenarios and asked for summaries on probable actions on his part, based upon the prior summary.

The third was on economics, asking about the trade of various goods and supplies, contrasted against potential disasters such as shortages, droughts, and invasions.

"I see..." I muttered under my breath, nodding slowly as I began to understand the pattern.

Leon cleared his throat, and I glanced up to see him staring at me, a mixture of amusement and mild annoyance on his face. The others similarly were waiting for me to speak, and I realized they all were waiting for my lead, likely feeling this was my specialty.

I felt my cheeks briefly flush, and I coughed before saying, "I think I understand what this test is actually about."

"It's a test of knowledge, isn't it? These questions don't seem too hard to me. I'm not an expert on ruling or military strategy, but the third one is pretty straightforward." Simon remarked, gesturing to the stack of papers.

"On the surface, yes. But if you look at the problems, they are all extremely open-ended, with far too many variables for a 'right' answer. Take the first problem as an example. It asks for summarized military strategy, but it omits the most critical information, which is what we have available to use. An army of infantry and archers will be vastly different in battle than cavalry troops. How many mages do we have available, if any? We lack enough data to draw a reasonable conclusion."

"So, what's the point?" Leon asked, his brow furrowed.

"To adapt and understand problems with limited information, as best we can," Sophia replied, meeting my eyes with a knowing glint.

"Exactly. Officially, this is a test of knowledge, but the trick is in the name in truth. Intelligence and wisdom are not the same things. Anyone can parrot out facts they have memorized, but knowing how to apply that knowledge is far more important in the long run." I concluded.

Returning to the first question, I detailed several standard tactics applicable with most army compositions such as moving with the sun at their back, building barricades and trenches to block arrows and cavalry charges. Simon and Amelia helped suggest additional details, and after around ten minutes of furious writing, we moved to the next question.

King Quellis was a notoriously volatile man, who would show mercy one day before ordering harsh punishments the next. Consequently, his advisors exerted an increasingly strong influence on his rule, careful to temper his mood swings. I tried to approach it from a perspective of not just a ruler but a counselor, using my knowledge of his rule to the best of my memory.

Question after question was answered, many with the help of one or more of my teammates. Occasionally, another of them took the lead, but I was in charge of writing out our answers most of the time. There were twenty-five questions in the packet, which left us just over seven minutes to answer each, and between the five of us, we knew enough about most subjects to cover all of them.

After three hours passed, I suspected we had done well enough to score within the top ten. Several questions, such as one on engineering and another on linguistics, were difficult, and I suspected we would receive low marks on them, but most were answered well. Turning in the packet to our guide, he nodded and slipped it into his robes before leading us from the room.

This time, we made our way to another room, this one filled with dozens of objects. Books, maps, pictures, and a hundred tiny bits and bobbles covered shelves, tables, and chairs. I preferred organized spaces, and it nearly gave me a headache just standing in the room for a few minutes.

"Your second challenge is one that the masters named the Test of Cunning. Your task is simple. Escape this room within two hours. Good luck!" the adept said, before stepping out from the room. A moment later, an audible click came from the door, confirming that the test had begun.