Azura woke up as early as he wanted to. The sun had yet to rise, and he probably had a few hours before it did. However he did not get the 8 hours of sleep he had intended. He and Luna had gotten a little carried away. Going way more in depth about spell theory than was really necessary. Which had the unfortunate side effect of leaving him totally exhausted.

Well exhausted or not, it was time to multitask. He made 2 copies of himself. “Ok, one of you is going to the library. You're on standard study duty, and then bring books that have relevant topics back here around noon for the inevitable study group. The other should walk around town, trying to get a general layout.” He didn’t strictly have to give orders, they were him so they knew what he was going to have them do already, but it was best to establish the original anyway. They nodded and left the room both leaving in opposite directions. He didn’t want 2 of him to be in the same place at once, and give away the trick.

He had some concerns about his copies basically being sentient slave copies of himself, but he got their experiences afterward, and frankly he was usually stuck with the worst of the jobs anyway. He could train a lot of skills by having his copies practice them. Unfortunately his muscles had to be trained the old fashion way. After giving 15 minutes for his clones to properly clear he left the room. No point going to a sparring room, he would probably just go find an empty field somewhere to train. He wasn’t particularly surprised to see a few other early risers leaving their rooms to train or study.

“I didn’t expect you to be going to workout. You seemed more like the studious type.” The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it. So he turned towards the voice. Oh he remembered her, the girl he met when he first arrived. She had a unique magic that leaned towards the fire element if he remembered right. He was pretty sure her name was a flower. Oh he remembered, it was Lily.

“One of the few things me and my father agree on is balance in all things. If the body is weak the mind shall rot and vice versa. It’s important to maintain both a strong mind and a strong body.” Maybe Katy was right about him having a problem with needlessly lecturing people, he might need to work on that.

She laughed it off. “Well you aren’t wrong, but relax a little will you, I was just messing with you. You aren’t being graded all the time.”

He shrugged. “Sorry ingrained habit. As for why I’m working out first, I figured I would form a group to study with, and not actually start studying until noon. Retention and focus are typically better in groups. Assuming everyone in the group is actually there to study anyway.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh good, because studying is not my strong suit. I am in desperate need of help.” She looked pleadingly at him.

He didn’t really have any reason to refuse. “You’re pretty laid back for someone from Lindin. Well it’s a little refreshing actually, so I’m not too bothered by it. If you want to study with us, I at least have no problem with it.”

She smiled gratefully. “Oh thanks, I owe you one. Besides, it can't be any fun being all stuffy 24/7.” He winced, he didn’t think she was referring to him, just his comment but even still he couldn’t help but be a little offended. He blew past the uncalled for emotion and continued as if it had never occurred.

“Don’t worry about it, 1 can never have too many allies.”

She shrugged. “I disagree, one can definitely have too many ‘allies’, but not too many friends.” She stuck her hand out. He laughed and shook her hand.

“Fair enough.” They had started walking together after he invited her to workout with him. She didn’t know it yet, but she was going to regret agreeing to that particular offer.

***

Lily panted heavily. What was wrong with this guy? They had mana to increase their physical abilities with, so why bother with this grueling physical training. Her entire body burned. The only thing stopping her from quitting was the fact 3 others had joined in, and none of them looked to be quitting. There was the girl with cat ears that was with Azura when they first met, a girl with long blonde hair who seemed to be the least tired from the workout, and the one whose presence stopped her from quitting more than any of the others. He was a little kid, there was no way she was going to let a little kid beat her.

After 2 hours of nonstop hell. They were finally taking a break. She was frantically trying to think of an out, before these psychos started training again. The worst part was that they weren’t even supposed to use body enhancement for the training. She had to cheat more than a little on that front, or she would have collapsed. What were these psychos made of? She had known people in Lindin that could match them physically, but that was only because magic was despised there. The only magic that was legal was enhancement and even that wasn’t called magic.

“I know the workout was a little light today, but we should probably end a little early. Given the next trial is a test, we should probably prioritize studying.” She didn’t know whether she wanted to strangle him for calling that workout light or kiss him for suggesting they stop for the day. She settled on doing her level best to not collapse and look like an idiot.

His catgirl friend however frowned. “It’s still early! The sun’s only barely rising, we can probably train for at least another hour or 2.” She decided the catgirl was the worst kind of person. Weren’t cat’s supposed to be lazy? She looked genuinely upset to end the torture session so early.

“No Azura is probably right, we have no idea what’s going to be on that test. It’s for the best that we get as much study time as possible.” The little kid must be quite the prodigy if he’s applying for the academy already at his age. She was glad she hadn’t met him before, because once the training was stopped she was able to do introductions to learn his name was Roran. Roran himself saved her earlier when he called out Azura’s name when he joined them in their… ‘training’. She got blondies name too, but refused to remember it out of spite of her looking barely winded after that hellish torture. However no one had said catgirl’s name and she couldn’t try for introductions because they had already been introduced.

She really needed to work on her inability to remember names the first time she heard them. Azura started guiding them to his room, and said he already had study materials there. When did he have the time to get them? She had run into him almost immediately after he left his room, and the library was closed last night. At least it was when she got there. Mystery, well they say curiosity killed the cat… So she really hoped that didn’t apply to people.

***

After some light training, Azura started guiding them to his room. Roran asked for the location since he had to go and get Cynthia first. After Azura told him he ran off to get her. He was worried Luna would call him out for not having a chance to get books since they had been talking last night, but she didn’t say anything. That was good, he had an excuse, but it was pretty flimsy. After a while they finally arrived at his room. The others gasped as he opened the door, probably because there were several stacks of books, each at least 10 high. “Since we have no idea what they will be testing, I took the liberty of getting books on as many different likely topics as possible.” The others gaped at him like a fish.

“There is no way the library lets you check out this many books.” It was Katy who spoke, but the rest were nodding along. Except Lily she just looked at him like she was trying to figure something out. That was a little worrying, but it’s not like he had anything super important to hide other than his abilities. Well that wasn’t quite true, but everything else had nothing to do with the academy.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Actually it’s got a brilliant design. They use magic to create temporary copies of the books that you can take, while the originals never leave. The magic in these should last a week before they dissipate, and we only need them for 2 days.” Frankly he felt like he should have thought of that himself. Magic could easily create solid objects like rock, and he could make enchantment runes using his mana as well. So why not paper and regular words. Scanning the object for its exact composition was also fairly simple magic.

“Oh that is brilliant! I wonder how they do it. I assume it would require a magic circle, and plant shards at the very least. Although the cost probably wouldn’t be too bad so it would probably only take 1 person to manage it.” As much as he would like to talk specifics with Roran, he didn’t think it would be very productive for the upcoming trial. So he reluctantly got everyone back on track for studying. They all sat down in a circle on the floor carefully avoiding the book stacks all over the place.

After less than an hour of going through broad overviews of the different histories and cultures of the 5 continents, he could already tell Katy was getting antsy. He couldn’t blame her, she hated studying with a passion, but he also couldn’t let her slack on it. However he wasn’t merciless, so a compromise. “Ok I think that’s enough on the general history. We don’t really have enough time to go in depth into individual concepts. If we want to get as much useful info as we can, we will have to generalize and then infer the specifics.” Katy perked up, at least relieved to be done with history. “Any votes for the next topic?”

Roran’s hand shot up, Azura secretly thought it was just because he hadn’t gotten to use his boundless energy for anything since they started summoning. However he nodded at Roran to cast his vote. “How about magic circles?! They are in my opinion the most interesting topic. Man this guy couldn’t prioritize at all could he. Azura agreed on how interesting that topic was, but…

“As much as I would enjoy that, magic circles are not going to be on the test. Aside from maybe a question about why anyone without extensive training in the subject shouldn’t try to make one.” Roran pouted, but nodded his acceptance. “Any other suggestions?” Luna raised her hand. Why did they keep raising their hands? He was just leading the study group, did he really act like a teacher ‘that’ much? Katy must have guessed his thoughts because she was giving him a smug smile. For a brief moment he felt the urge to punch his friend in the face, but of course he resisted. “Yes Luna.”

“How about we study proper mage etiquette.” Based on how she brazenly asked him to teach her a spell of his, he figured she wasn’t taught much on this front. That would probably be on the test, so he saw no problem with it.

“Very well. Mage etiquette it is.” He grabbed a few books from the many stacks around them. He had to shift a few stacks to get books that were towards the bottom of the stack they were in. He handed a book to each of them. “Each of these does an overview of some specific traditions, and how one should approach them. We each read one and then we can all do an overview for each other.” They all nodded, and then got to reading.

***

They were walking around town, looking for a good place to have lunch. It was roughly 2 hours after noon. They had studied for almost 4 hours straight before Azura called a break. He would have kept going, but even Cynthia and Roran were starting to get visibly affected by the constant studying. So he reluctantly suggested a break. It was going to be a short one, but Lily suggested going out for lunch, and he was brutally outvoted. So they had got into town, and he led them to a decent looking sandwich shop. His copy had stopped by there while he was exploring, and he quite enjoyed the burndrake meat sandwich. It was a little spicier than he typically preferred, but the meat was tender and juicy.

“How do you even know about this place? There hasn’t really been a time for you to explore the area.” Lily was definitely suspicious of him, but there was no way he was dumb enough to lead them here without an excuse in mind. Which is why he didn’t even flinch as Katy raised an eyebrow at him, no doubt curious about what he had come up with.

“Obviously I did research on the area well before my actual arrival.” He lied smoothly. Well lie is a strong word, technically he did do research. Just not on the town's layout. Her eyes narrowed, looking at him searchingly, but apparently his nonchalant attitude was enough to make her shrug and let it go. Azura glanced around the town as they walked. It really was a beautiful area, the barrier kept out most unwanted weather and the area was extremely vibrant. Each building is unique aside from the dull earthen colors they all shared. Which was a nice contrast to the bright greenery all around the area.

“Are we almost there? I’m starving.” Katy put both of arms over her stomach. Studying always seemed to make her hungry, he was still a little curious about that if he was honest. She could forget to eat when she was training, which is when her body really needs the energy. His current theory was that you were more inclined to notice issues when you weren’t entertained by your current task.

“Yeah yeah, don’t be so impatient. It’s right around the corner.” They had all gotten pretty relaxed with each other, except for the fact Lily kept glaring at Luna for some reason. He would assume they have some kind of history, but Luna seemed completely oblivious to it. Oh well, thoughts for another time. He had skipped breakfast and was actually pretty hungry.

It didn’t take them long to order food and then find a tree big enough to give them shade while they enjoyed their food. He had opted for zapdeer meat this time. It gave a very minor shock when you ate it, not enough to hurt, but enough to make it feel funny.

“So where is everyone from?” Luna asked after taking a bite of her sandwich. After a second of no one answering she continued. “I’m from Irongate, it’s a fortress city not too far from here.” Yeah rough crowd for that question. Cynthia and Roran really shouldn’t be sharing where they’re from, and Lindin isn’t exactly the kind of place a mage would want to call home, so he imagined Lily didn’t have many fond memories of home.

“I’m from Delford, if only technically. My father isn’t really a people person so we live well away from most people in the city.” He answered to make it less awkward, but he was thinking of a way to end the topic without the other’s having to share. Using his vast practice in changing subjects, which was a very important noble skill he deflected. “Hey sorry, a bit off topic, but… does anyone else feel that oppressive magic in the air?” He stopped halfway when a thick mana pooled in the air around them immediately putting all of them on edge.

They got in a loose circle as they all prepared for a fight, except for Cynthia who looked horrified and Roran who looked amused more than anything. “Oh Cynthia sweety, I’m so proud of you for getting past the first trial. Since teams are random for the first one, it was your biggest hurdle.” The rest of them turned to see a woman that looked like an older and more confident Cynthia. Any aspiring mage worth their salt knew 3 names to faces among the countless pro mages. His father the Dragon King, Skullcrusher Rend, and the moonlit star Lilian Violet.

Cynthia blushed and put her head down. He assumed she used her telepathy because her mother smiled and turned towards Katy. “Oh this is the one that helped you through the first trial, is it?” She instantly dropped the mana pressure she had been releasing, like it was never there. She smiled kindly and pat Katy on the back, Katy looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Thanks for helping her out, Cynthia is plenty capable in terms of ability. She just has a really hard time working up the will to fight.” She looked relieved, if he had to guess she had been really concerned about how Cynthia would fair in the trials.

“It was nothing, I mean I wanted to pass too, so there wasn’t any reason not to help out.” Katy flushed, unused to receiving praise from adults or authority figures. Who would have thought the moonlit star was such a doting parent.

“Intentional or not, you really helped her out. So in return I’m going to give you a little hint. We aren’t supposed to say much about the trials, but I think I can get away with something this small. On the 7th trial don’t rush, you have time. A lot of people regret the decision they made in the 7th trial, so think it through and decide carefully.”

That was a pretty major hint. So a time limit is imposed on the 7th trial. It sounded like it was to pressure people into rushing. That wasn’t a lot of info, but it was super helpful. “Thank you, that’s a big help.” Azura bowed, Katy and Luna following after their surprise wore off.

She laughed them off, a melodious sound. “Oh no need for that, it seems my daughter has taken a liking to this group, so I’d rather all of you get through the trials. The more friends you have in the academy the better.” She winced. “Trust me on that.” Well that was ominous. “Anyway it feels like the headmistress is starting to get agitated with my presence, so I’ll take my leave. Good luck all of you, and Cynthia remember no matter what happens I’ll always love you.” Cynthia flushed and then there was a bright light. They covered their eyes from the light and when they opened them again Lilian was gone.

Azura thought back to remember if his parents had ever said they loved him. His mother he knew did, but he didn’t think she ever really said it. He was glad it wasn’t like that for everyone. On the flip side was that kind of exit really necessary. Katy seemed to agree. “Well that was dramatic.” He chuckled at her comment.

“Yeah…” Well either way, that interaction seemed to ease the group's weariness. Which was good, because he was about to say something they weren’t going to like. “So we should probably get back to studying.”