“So, Ron. . . What’s the entrance exam like?” I asked as we rode the carriage to the Academy.
“Not this again. . .” Eliot mumbled. “I told you already asking is pointless.”
“Yeah, you can’t, but maybe he can,” I pointed out.
Eliot told us back in Raveryn that each student that took the test was bound by a charm that prevented talking about it to those who hadn’t taken it. However, Ron was different. He didn’t take the test yet.
“Sorry, Alex. Every year’s different except for the written exam. And even then, I couldn’t tell you what to expect since I’ve never seen it myself.” Ron sighed. “You’d think having a mom as a teacher would have some benefits, but it’s only been a pain in the butt.”
“See. . .” Eliot said with his arms crossed.
“You know, Eliot. . . I thought you said being a smartass was my thing. It really doesn’t suit you,” I teased.
“Yeah, well. . .” Eliot glanced out the window. “We’re almost there.”
“About time.” Penelope sighed, looking rather nervous.
Despite constantly asking questions, it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere in finding anything concrete. Everything about the Academy remained a mystery to be solved once I got there, but after months of talking about it, my curiosity reached its limit. Thankfully, the wait was coming to an end.
Honestly, I was surprised by how big the island was. While the carriage wasn’t going particularly fast, half an hour of going through a forest on a dirt road left my imagination running wild in what we might find while exploring, assuming we do. Though I’ll admit, the forest was a bit too eerie for my taste. There were even wisps flying around in the shade, tiny fae spirits that wandered elven forests, like the outside Thysa.
The carriage suddenly stopped, and the next thing I knew, we arrived.
It was a grand place– nothing like what I expected. The stone bridge in front of which we stood led to a gothic castle that rested along the shores of a massive lake to our left, decorated with two stone gargoyle statues that made me wonder if they were alive, knowing this was a magical place.
“Not exactly what I expected,” Rose said, standing to my right.
“Wait until you see the inside,” Ron smirked, excitement etched on his face.
“Yeah. . . but what now?” I asked.
“Attention, please,” said Professor Tessa with a booming voice, breaking away from the crowd and stepping onto the stone bridge. “You’ll soon be entering the Academy grounds. We expect you to be well-behaved as we make our way to the Grand Hall. There you’ll be received by the headmaster before taking the first part of the entrance exam.” She paused, clapping twice while chanting, “Open.”
Nothing happened at first, but as we felt the palpable energy building up, everyone took a step back, watching as a shimmering barrier blocking our path appeared out of thin air, cracking open to create a passage for us to enter. Hopefully, we didn’t have to do that every time we wished to enter the castle, as I found the sharp crackling noise the barrier made quite unsettling.
“Come along, and don’t wander off,” Professor Tessa instructed, gesturing with her hand before passing through.
Hearing awed whispering made me smile as I knew I wasn’t the only one finding all this enthralling while we followed closely behind, crossing the white stone bridge connected to a massive gate. It felt like a dream, stepping through the gates and entering the enormous courtyard while being welcomed by older students sitting around, chatting as they watched us make our way to the entrance hall.
“I’ll see you guys later. Good luck,” Eliot said, breaking away from the group and walking over to a couple sitting by the fountain, which had a statue of a robed elven man holding an open book in one hand and a wand in the other, standing in the centre. Water flowed from the wand’s tip, making it seem like he was constantly casting a spell.
“You okay?” I asked, noticing Penelope wasn’t looking too good.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” she whispered, pressing her hand against her tummy.
“It’s just nerves. Don’t let it get to you.” I said, showing her a reassuring smile before a lighthearted melody graced our ears.
Ron began playing his flute, drawing everyone’s attention, while the serene music coming from his flute left us all with a deep sense of calm. At first, I couldn’t turn away, but then my eyes wandered toward Professor Tessa, who seemed oddly fine with Ron’s performance.
Ron stopped playing, turning to Penelope. “Feeling better?”
“Y– yeah. . .” She looked down at her tummy, moving away her hand. “Thanks, Ron.”
“Happy to help.” He smiled, pointing forward.
We had reached the steps that led to the entrance hall, and I could see a few students peeking out the windows from the floors above. Only then did it hit me just how massive the castle was, so I looked around one last time before walking through the polished darkwood gate reinforced with metal.
The entrance hall was spacious, adorned with countless portraits and runic engravings, dimly lit by torches spread along the pillars holding the whole place together. Across the gates stood a large set of stairs that led to the floors above, but Professor Tessa had us suddenly turn to our right. The next thing I knew, we were entering the Grand Hall.
There were others waiting, each sitting at their desk with a quill and ink resting on top, all humans, so I didn’t bother looking for Alice. There were at least a hundred of us, each one determined to get a spot in the top one hundred.
Across the doorway, standing atop a small wooden platform, was an older-looking elf with shoulder-long hair turning grey, a testament to his old age. He wore purple robes embellished with golden patterns, and I could just barely see his gleaming teal eyes, which were busy glancing over us.
Clearing his throat, he took a step forward. “Welcome. Please, have a seat,” he gestured at the empty desks, patiently waiting for us to settle. Luckily we didn’t have to separate as I sat between Ron and Penelope, with Rose just to Penelope’s right; however, we were a few meters apart, making cheating nearly impossible, though not that I planned to do so. “Now that everyone is seated, allow me to welcome everyone again to Grimhold Castle.”
Upon hearing the name Grimhold, my body jolted. It was painless, but it took me by surprise, and the strange sensation quickly faded. It was as if something was magically engraved into my soul.
“What was that?” I asked, glancing at Penelope, who seemed to be dealing with the same overwhelming feeling.
“A secret,” Ron spoke up, seemingly unaffected, unlike the rest of us.
“Settle down,” the Headmaster raised his voice, breaking away from his soft-spoken tone. The room went quiet as the sudden murmur that sparked inside the Grand Hall died down. “Although we go by the name of The Grand Academy of Nuia, our Academy’s given name is Grimhold, a secret well kept from the outside world. Those who do not know it may not pass through the barrier surrounding our school, conjured up by the three great founders of our Academy.” He paused, looking at us with a soft smile. “The sight of so many striving to join us fills me with great joy, and I wish you all luck in the upcoming entrance exam. Professor Tessa shall be the one overlooking the examination, so I kindly ask you all to please be respectful and follow diligently what your Professor says.” He took a step to the side before suddenly turning back to us again, “But be warned that if your goal was to strive for power and learn how to become a war mage, you have come to the wrong place.”
He walked off the platform, exiting through a small door to the side, leaving us alone with Professor Tessa, who immediately began handing out papers. Apart from a select few, everyone began quietly chatting, some more anxious than others as nerves kicked in again despite Ron’s earlier effort.
“You’ll do fine,” I heard Rose whisper to Penelope. “And–” She stopped mid-sentence.
“Thanks. . . but I’ll be fine on my own,” Penelope said, much to my confusion. “Just have to power through it, that’s all.”
“That’s the spirit.” Rose smiled, leaning down on her desk.
“Good luck,” Professor Tessa whispered, placing a piece of paper on my desk while I was too busy looking over at Rose and Penelope.
“Thank you.” I nodded, eagerly awaiting for us to begin.
Soon we were each given our tests, and Professor Tessa took her spot on the raised platform.
“There are twelve questions, and you have half an hour to do them. It might not sound like a lot, but trust me, it is.” Professor Tessa took out a small pocket watch. “If you make a mistake while writing, simply cross it over twice, and the ink shall disappear. Focus only on what’s in front of you, and if you have any questions, raise your hand and wait for me to approach. Your time begins now.”
Following the sound of her watch click, papers began turning.
Looking at the paper, the first thing I noticed was it asking our name with a notice written below stating, ‘By signing your name, you agree to a charm spell being cast on you that prevents you from talking about the entrance exam to those who have not taken it yet.’
That explained Eliot’s oath of silence, but I wasn’t sure if signing the paper was casting the charm on me or would they do it later. Regardless, the thought was intriguing.
Signing my name and realising nothing ensued, I sighed in disappointment before looking at the first question.
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‘Question 1. What is mana?’ A simple question, helping us ease into it.
However, before I answered, I wrote my name on the side and crossed it over twice. Watching it fade out of existence put a smile on my face.
‘Mana is the energy we draw on when casting spells. It exists in the atmosphere as elemental particles that only those with a mana core can sense.’
While I haven’t spent as much time practising calligraphy, my handwriting was nothing to scoff at.
‘Question 2. What are gifts?’
Second question took me by surprise, making me wonder if the other lengthier questions were any harder.
‘Gifts are unique awakened magical abilities that manifest among certain members of a particular bloodline. They tend to vary in what they can do and are generally a well-kept family secret.’
While I considered going more into detail and maybe even giving examples, it dawned on me they wouldn’t expect such things, especially if someone had a gift as I did.
‘Question 3. Draw three runes and give their meanings.’
It sounded like a simple question, but had I not studied with Penelope, I wouldn’t have known any. It wasn’t something one particularly needed for casting spells but was vital for things like enchanting.
My choices were water, wave, and ice, which were the ones Penelope focused on most. They all looked relatively similar. Unsurprising, considering they were closely connected.
With only nine questions left, I began to understand what Professor Tessa meant when she said we’d have enough time.
‘Question 4. What does divination magic do?’
The questions finally became more specific, but considering I still effortlessly knew the answer, as I imagined many would too, something began bothering me. There was never a mention of how the questions were scored.
‘Divination magic allows the mage to predict the future, search for things (even those hidden), and interpret dreams among other things.’
I hummed, looking at my answer. It was certainly a short one, and I could have elaborated further, but with a time limit, I figured it best not to touch it.
‘Question 5. What does conjuration magic do?’
Another similar question, and with a name so telling, it was hard to believe it was all there was to it. Regardless, I wrote up a quick answer I could expand upon once I was done with the others.
‘Conjuration magic allows the mage to summon magical beasts, items, and so on, but it also allows one to teleport over short or long distances.’
‘Question 6. What is the purpose of incantations when casting a spell?’
Honestly, I wasn’t sure. Penelope must have thought I knew, so we never went over it, and since I always saw others chanting certain spells, I always copied what they did. My only option was to guess based on experience.
‘Similarly to somatic, vocal incantations were necessary for better mana control.’
“Not my proudest answer, but it’ll have to do,” I mumbled and sighed.
‘Question 7. What type of spells are hardest to cast?’
I blanked. The first thing that came to mind was Darkness, but it was just something I struggled with perfecting, and casting it wasn’t an issue. Then Alice’s Sword Burst came to mind as I was never able to copy it, but Elwyn later explained to me that it wasn’t an actual spell but her ability to transmute mana into pure energy, combusting on impact. She only used incantations to help maintain control for a few extra seconds, making it easier to land a hit, which also happened to be what I based my answer to question six on.
‘Transmutation spells. Particularly healing magic.’
It was the only answer that made sense, given my experience. But that was all it was– experience.
‘Question 8. You’re standing ten meters away from a dark mage who points his wand at you with killing intent. Which spell do you use to defend yourself, and why?’
Again, I was caught off guard by a question as something felt weird, but I couldn’t figure out what. Immediately my eyes darted to question twelve.
‘Question 12. Choose one of the following spells to learn and why? Fireball, Identify, Heal, Teleport.
“So that’s what this is.” I chuckled to myself, keeping my voice down while smiling from ear to ear, believing I had figured out the secret to the test.
----------------------------------------
“Times up,” Professor Tessa said before all our papers folded in on themselves and vanished. “Your results will be revealed during Headmaster’s interview. However, before then, we’ll be holding a practical exam. Everyone, please get up from your seats and stand beside me.”
“How did you do?” Ron asked, scratching his head.
“Well enough, I think,” I answered, hoping I was right.
“Wasn’t it a bit too easy?” Penelope asked, furrowing her brows.
“I thought so, too,” Ron commented.
“I’m slowly getting used to things being weird,” I said, keeping the idea to myself.
Telling them what I had in mind wasn’t going to do them any good now that the test was over, and the last thing I wished was to cause them to overthink right before whatever Professor Tessa had in mind next. There was also a huge chance I was wrong, in which case I was the one who needed to worry about getting into Grimhold.
Once we were beside her, Professor Tessa broke away from us again, pulling out a wand strapped to her belt.
“For your next trial, you’ll be casting Levitate using this wand. Simply stack one desk atop another, and show us your control.” She held the wand toward the desk, swirling it before chanting, “Levitate.”
The desk suddenly flew up before flipping upside down and setting slowly on another. It probably took less than three seconds, but I wasn’t counting.
“Penelope Kallis,” Professor Tessa called her name. “Take a step forward?”
Penelope’s eyes went wide upon realising she was up first.
“M– Me, Professor?” She asked, pointing at herself.
“Why not?” Professor Tessa smiled, flipping the wand around so she held it by the tip, handing it to Penelope. “Bonus points if you manage without incantations.”
“Alright. . .” Penelope sighed, stepping forward and taking the wand. “So I just need to get one on top of another?”
“That’s right.” Professor Tessa chuckled.
Everyone could tell she was nervous, and for a good reason. It wasn’t easy standing before hundreds of people who all wished you would do poorly, bettering their chance of enrolling.
“Okay. . .” Penelope mumbled, taking a deep breath before pointing her wand forward.
“Remember to take your time. This isn’t a trial of speed but precision and control.” She stepped closer to Penelope, guiding her hand toward the desk. “The spell is enchanted into the wand, and everyone gets three tries. You ready?”
“Yes. . . Professor,” she nodded before Professor Tessa took a step back, giving her some room.
Swirling the wand and pointing at the desk caused it to fly up in the air, though it was a bit shakier than when Professor Tessa did it, which was to be expected.
Penelope’s control was impeccable, guiding it to the left with relative ease before flipping it over. Most would have just dropped the table then and there, but she took her time, slowly easing it on top.
Once it finally set, Penelope sighed in relief as all the pressure that built up got swept away.
“Marvelous!” Professor Tessa looked genuinely impressed, a wide grin etched on her face.
“Thank you, Professor!” Penelope spun on her heel, performing a graceful curtsy before being met with applause. She blushed, skipping back to us. “I did it!”
Her excitement alone made coming to the island worth our while, but knowing she’d likely smile like that all year round made me want to work harder to stay by her side.
Soon everyone took turns levitating the desk on top, and as expected, many struggled to do so as efficiently, if at all. There was no trick to it other than patience, practice, and talent.
“Next up, Alexander Kallis.” Professor Tessa gestured for me to approach.
“Bet you he fails,” mumbled Dustin Keywell, who I didn’t even know was there until then.
“Even if he didn’t cast the spell, he’d still be better than you,” Ron scoffed, biting right back.
“Quiet,” Professor Tessa commanded, her voice turning stern for the first time. “You’ll have a go soon enough. Give others a chance to focus.” She turned her attention to me. “Alex, you ready?”
“Yes, Professor,” I said, taking the wand.
Considering I had never cast the spell before, I had no idea what to expect, but it looked simple enough. Swirling the wand and pointing at the table, I tried casting without the incantations.
The table flew up high just as I had hoped but then crashed to the floor, breaking one of its legs.
“Repair,” Professor Tessa chanted, motioning with her hand toward the table that fixed itself and was ready for another go. “Is it your first time casting Levitate?”
“Yes, Professor,” I admitted, taking a deep breath while looking at the wand. It felt weird to hold after casting countless spells without one. “May I go again?”
“Yes, but remember to take it easy. It’s all about control.”
“Thank you, Professor,” I said, looking back at the desk.
Focusing intently, I swirled the wand again and gently lifted the table off the ground. Thankfully it kept afloat, but it kept shaking uncontrollably. When I tried moving it to the right, it started turning on itself repeatedly before I lost control and watched as it crashed to the ground again.
Luckily it didn’t break, but I could sense Dustin smiling.
“Better, so keep trying,” Professor said, flipping the table for me with a flick of her finger while standing a few meters away. “You can do it, Alex, but maybe try using the incantations. It might help your control.”
Something about how she said it made me feel disappointed, but the bigger problem was that I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong. All I knew was that holding a wand felt awkward.
“Go, Alex!” Ron cheered, whistling and clapping despite what Professor Tessa had said earlier.
Although he stopped, something about it just put a smile on my face, and the fact that Professor Tessa didn’t tell him to quiet down also felt like she cheered me on too.
“I’m ready to go again,” I announced, taking a step forward, pointing both my hands toward the desk, despite having no wand in the other. Knowing it was my last shot, a crazy idea came to mind. “Levitate!”
My heart stopped as I watched the table fly in the air, knowing that if it fell, it would potentially mark the end of my entrance exam. However, it turned out just as I had hoped, staying afloat while remaining perfectly still. Next, my hands slowly motioned toward the right, causing the desk to shift above another. All that was left was flipping it over, so I began gently swirling my hands clockwise while imagining it turning, and so it did, remaining perfectly still before setting down.
When I finally dropped the spell, I found myself gasping for air, failing to realise I had stopped breathing. The crowd applauded, but more importantly, I could sigh in relief, grateful that my plan worked.
“Good job, Alexander,” Professor Tessa said, taking away the wand. “You said it was the first time you cast the spell, right?”
“Yes, Professor. Technically the third time after that,” I said, sounding a bit nervous.
She was an archmage and a professor at Grimhold, so it wasn’t crazy to assume she could notice that I cast the spell without using the wand while pretending I did. My only worry at the time was failing to replicate it, as I had only seen it being cast through a wand.
“Third time’s the charm, or so they say.” She smiled, gesturing for me to join the others. “Good job.”
“Thank you, Professor.” I finally smiled, walking back to the others.
Next up, the interview.
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.