AELLARIA, MONDAY, SCRIBALAI 30TH

Before the trials began, each student had to get their gear searched and approved. This was done privately, where each student would start their appraisal. Aellaria stood in the stone room on a raised walkway. Next to her was a pedestal with manacles. It was dark, and the only light source was the soft blue glow of Niall’s magelight floating above his blue hair.

A professor performed this search and confirmation; in Aellaria’s case, it was Niall.

Niall grinned at Aellaria. “You are full of surprises, huh? Are we hiding anything under that hat?” Niall asked. He sounded like a parent trying to find where their three-year-old hid a cookie.

“You are a strong enough mage to see any enchantments I carry. Do you really need me to remove my hat?” Aellaria asked.

Niall shook his head, “The other professors get called Master this, Mistress that. The esteemed company of Master sorcerers… and you call me a ‘strong enough mage.’ What have I done to deserve this, my beloved student?”

Aellaria knew it was an act. Niall didn’t need validation. He wanted to lower her guard. He wanted her to open up. “If you must see,” Aellaria said. She pulled off her hat to show off her flat black hair, a ring indented around her head from the consistent placement of the sorcerer hat.

“Your hair is so beautiful, but it is good to see the old culture, hey?” Niall asked.

Next, Aellaria opened each compartment on her belt, showing the various potions. One is for healing, two vials are for mana, and two are orange vials.

“You have potions? I cannot allow these…”

“Are you tired of me telling you you’re wrong, Niall?”

“Aellaria, every moment I am wrong as a teacher is a blessing.” The charming Aquamancer said.

“I made these. I have been making them throughout the year. GG gave me an alchemy book, and I have already shown him my capability.” Aellaria said. She had shown The Alchemist her proficiency with every vial she brought in today.

“I will corroborate and move on. I see a glint of silver in this pouch.” Niall said, moving on to the next piece.

Aellaria pulled out the locket with Zenithor’s wife’s image in it. “It is a sentimental locket.”

“No runes… that is a beautiful piece. I have to pat you down or give you a magical inspection.”

Aellaria opened her arms and planted her feet. “You’ll know everything that happens here. Why are you so strict on what’s brought in? If someone brings in an enchantment or a potion they didn’t make themself, can’t you wait until after?” She asked. Luckily, she had removed and hidden her dimensional pouch and carried no other banned materials.

Niall scratched his head. Then, as he began patting at Aellaria’s robes for additional potions and feeling for arcane signatures, he responded, “A handful of times over the years, students have felt desperate to stay. They bring enchantments they don’t quite understand, and then these new unknown limits kill students, especially first-year students; we like to remain vigilant.”

Niall stood back and looked at the multicolored lily hanging from Aellaria’s neck. “I am quite happy you convinced me to have that enchanted. Good luck, Aellaria. May your flower bloom radiantly in Tillia’s garden.”

Aellaria knew that anyone wearing natural iconography, such as clovers, flowers, or vines, was almost always a follower of Tillia. Of course, the lily wasn’t in Tillia’s honor…but in Lilium’s memory. In Lilium’s memory, Aellaria would find a moment to kill Callo. The moment has come– to hunt.

Aellaria felt the manacles click into place.

MARIN

Marin brought nothing but clothing and her holy symbol. She stood in the dark with her hands locked by the manacles. The nervous lottery apprentice stood in the middle of a room with a walkway above it. She was directly under the walkway in an archway. Atop her head was a leather helmet meant to help insulate her from attacks from the electromancers in class.

There was some type of spell suppression, and her mana ignored her gestures to summon a magelight.

Professor Rietta had said she would know when the trial started, but as she stood in the dark, she didn’t know which was worse: waiting in the dark or knowing she would have to fight at any moment.

This room had at least two entrances on her floor, and there was probably a way out from the walkway above. Potentially, there are four places other students could come from.

It was nerve-wracking, and when the manacles suddenly clicked open and off, it made Marin jump. The chains fell from her wrists and clattered against the pedestal. ‘Shit!’ Marin thought, holding her chest.

‘Prove you belong. You can do it.’

Marin summoned a magelight and walked toward the exit on her right. It was as good a place as any. Marin walked through a curved tunnel and into a large and open room. It looked like one of the fighting arenas from that first day. She pushed mana through her arcane focus and into the magelight spell.

A second light entered the room, but it was not a magelight. It was fire. “Syn?” Before her opponent responded, the room filled with blinding light. Her eyes adjusted slowly as she watched the approaching mage.

Marin’s heart dropped. It was the only other Pyromancer in class. Flair’s perfect teeth centered in the curl of a sinister grin. “Marin… You’ll be lucky if the only thing spilling out after this fight is your fat chest, EAMP.”

AELLARIA

As soon as the manacles dropped, Aellaria felt for those other Freshmen moving around. She needed to find Callo before someone stronger than Callo found him. However, if she was too quick, it increased the likelihood she would be interrupted before she killed him.

Aellaria focused on the nearby mages and was surprised to feel a Cryomancer walking toward her. They were moving toward her but were below her. Aellaria realized the person approaching her must have been sprinting, and she lay flat on the stone walkway.

Soft footfalls entered her room, but Aellaria knew they couldn’t see her from below. The sprinting slowed to a walk, and a flash of light appeared and disappeared below her. The Cryomancer hesitated momentarily before continuing through and out the other side of the room.

‘It couldn’t be Callo already hunting her.’ Aellaria thought, but the Cryomancer moved away toward an Aquamancer.

Aellaria decided to chase the lead. She rolled to the walkway's edge and dropped the fifteen feet to the path below. She carried her momentum into a roll before popping up and following the fleeing Cryomancer.

Whoever this person was, they were incredibly aggressive. They didn’t break from the sprint they were in, and Aellaria only caught up to them because they were already attacking one of the other first-year students. Aellaria rounded a corner and saw a large room. She heard a nervous voice. It was the most curious mind in her class, the bubbly Aquamage, Cohly.

“We don’t have to fight…. We would make a good team, and you know some others will be teaming up.” Cohly said, backing away from the short person advancing. Cohly was holding a magelight, and it was just enough for Aellaria to see it wasn’t Callo, but Phia. Phia approached Cohly aggressively.

‘Ice and water go together super well,’ Aellaria heard echoing through her mind. ‘What the hell?’ She thought.

“Summon your water… make this easier on me,” Phia said before increasing her pace to a jog, rapidly closing the distance.

Cohly responded by clapping both arms forward and casting multiple water bullets. However, Phia dodged, catching many of the projectiles with her cold.

As Phia closed the distance, she pushed the bullets of ice back toward Cohly.

Cohly instinctively raised a shield to slow the incoming projectiles, but the shield froze rapidly.

Once the shield was frozen, Phia aggressively shoved it back against Cohly. A battle of wills ensued as they both tried to push the frozen wall of ice toward the other, but Phia never stopped running forward, and Cohly didn’t expect it when the shield moved with no resistance, and Phia was already upon her.

With no hope of blocking or dodging, Phia unleashed the rest of the arsenal of hail she had stolen from Cohly’s earlier attack.

Cohly raised her arms to shield her face, but Phia was relentless. The more petite woman leapt on Cohly and kicked a knee into her stomach.

Aellaria watched as Phia pinned Cohly and pushed cold, not into water, but directly into Cohly’s body. As Phia pushed, Cohly cried out in pain until a golden glow emanated from Cohly’s student pin.

The golden glow emanated from Cohly’s student ID card pinned to her uniform.

The softspoken Phia said, “You’re dead. It’s over, Cohly,” before shifting back onto her feet.

“What?” Cohly said, patting her body. It seemed she was trying to ensure everything was all in the same place. Cohly appeared surprised nothing in her body shattered when she moved.

“Better luck next time, bubbles,” Phia said before continuing her frantic search for more victims.

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Aellaria followed Phia’s trail loosely. All other mages were too far away, and Aellaria knew that keeping tabs on any Cryomancers would be beneficial, so she didn’t ‘rediscover’ Phia later in the appraisal.

Aellaria waved to the confused Cohly while a healer emerged from the wall to extract her and ensure her injuries weren’t severe.

FLAIR

Marin raised her hands, “Flair…. We’ve had a good thing going for a while now. Let’s not make this too personal.”

Another flame appeared in Flair’s other hand, and Marin responded by raising her shield of water.

Flair chuckled, “EAMP, this isn’t personal. I’m simply your better. It would be easier if you just fell to your knees now and admitted it. Also, that leather bondage thing on your head looks ridiculous, and you should be ashamed to be seen with it on.”

Marin stalked toward Flair, using magic to hold the heavy water shield.

Flair tested Marin by throwing one of the flaming coals in her hand at Marin's shield. When it was expelled from the shield, the fire snuffed out, and the remaining coal clattered to the tile below. “Then I’m going to burn you, bitch.”

Marin froze portions of her shield and launched them at Flair, but Flair was far too talented to be caught off guard by chunks of ice. By the time the ice reached Flair, it had already melted. The water that did strike Flair evaporated rapidly.

Marin continued to step forward. A surge of anger flared in Flair’s mind. ‘This bitch thinks she is stronger than me. She thinks she can beat me with her fists.’ However, there was an underlying current beneath the anger. A flavor of panic chased that anger. The last time she let someone get too close in a fight. ‘A REAL bad motherfucker.’

Flair backed away from Marin. Retreating along the edges of the arena. “You can’t hold that shield forever, and you can’t hit me with your ice.”

Marin didn’t speak back. Flair wondered if it was because she was simple or because Marin knew she was actually better than Flair.

Flair saw through the shimmering wall of water that Marin had begun casting and the entire shield of water arcs into the air towards her. Flair thought to run back, but Marin was already sprinting toward her.

The water in the air would hit her if she ran, so Flair dropped to a knee instead and threw both of the flaming coals in her hands. The pushed balls of fire both hit Marin dead center in the stomach. But instead of burning Marin’s skin and clothes, Marin cast a spell, and both balls were extinguished.

Marin’s ice and Flair’s fire would have minimal effect on the other, so Flair braced herself as Marin closed the distance.

Marin and Flair began exchanging blows and danced with fire and ice magic. However, it became clear to Flair that they both commanded an equal domain in temperature. Flair committed to a punch at Marin’s face, but the fat girl was surprisingly quick, and she dodged out of the way.

Marin retaliated with a punch to Flair’s stomach, which landed. As Flair inhaled, trying to stabilize herself, Marin cast again, and a massive gust of air threw Flair across the arena. Flair hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop.

Flair looked up at Marin and saw her pushing the advantage. Marin dashed forward, raising a fist. ‘It’s happening again.’ Flair thought. ‘I’m going to lose…’

“NOOOOO!” Flair shouted, raising both hands and screaming as she cast a spell to push heat as hard as she could at Marin.

The fire was blinding, catching Marin off guard. The push didn’t continue, and Flair held the fire on the lottery apprentice. Flair couldn’t see Marin but ran toward where she was last. The fire was everything Flair had. All of her passion. All of her pain.

“I am a fucking STAR!” Flair shouted as she pushed the torrent of flames down upon Marin. The only thing telling Flair she was doing it right at all was the cold and water splashing over the heat she was using to overwhelm Marin. Suddenly, Marin started shouting in fear and pain. The shouts turned to screams. Flair didn’t stop. Mercy meant failure. Marin would defeat her if she dropped the spell for even a second.

Suddenly, a brilliant light was in the room, and all the fire disappeared. “Huh?” Flair thought, but then she looked down at Lottery Apprentice on the ground. The student ID pinned to Marin’s chest had lost its enchantment.

Flair’s confusion held, but Marin didn’t move. Flair looked down at Marin, still batting at her charred robes. Beneath the charred robes, Flair could see she was wearing a leather vest. Marin was hyperventilating. And as soon as she realized she wasn’t on fire, she looked up at Flair. There was fear in her eyes.

A flood of relief overwhelmed Flair, and she almost expressed it to Marin, but she caught it first. Flair didn’t realize that she could have been killing Marin. She could have killed Marin if the enchantment hadn’t dispelled the effects of the fire. Once she regained her composure, Flair taunted, “There wasn’t any doubt, Marin. After all. I am your better.”

Flair smirked at Marin. Marin looked panicked.

Flair sneered, looking down at Marin. Flair had lost control and didn’t even have Marin’s submission for it. “Don’t worry. I will be sending you your friends shortly. You won't be alone for long.”

NIALL

Niall closely watched his fourteen students' movements with the other four teachers. Cryonolon was healing and was standing closer to the action in case his services were needed. There were sixteen fighting chambers and sixteen smaller rooms that were nexus points. It wasn’t a labyrinth, but it was confusing until one noticed the pattern.

“Three wolves,” Professor Aeren noted. He monitored the movements of the students carefully with the sympathy screen. Aeren said that three students in Niall's class were wolves—hunters—students who pushed forward and considered their safety secondary to the goal of finding and destroying other students. Professor Aeren took these appraisals more seriously than the other five professors. He was only feet away from the map showing the positions of every student in Niall’s class.

“Eleven pups? Tough luck, Niall.” Professor Kaira smiled. Her red robes shimmered faintly with enchantments. “Some of us actually weed out the pups, but if you would rather baby them, Niall, Gran, that is your style.”

Professor Granite Guardian pulled one of the larger boxes of the central table to the edge. A feed of images appeared, showing the events happening within the room. Paris stood at the far end of the room, waiting just outside the doorway where Niall could see from the larger map that Olyza was about to appear. Olyza was moving slowly, cautiously.

“Four wolves.” Professor Rietta corrected.

Aeren chuckled. “I know the wolves when I see them—charging forward. What are you saying I missed? Paris, Callo, and Phia. Three wolves.”

As Olyza cautiously stepped into the room, she didn’t immediately see Paris, who was flush with the wall next to her. Olyza was smart enough not to use a magelight to give away her position, but she was not perceptive enough to avoid Paris’ trap. Paris tapped Olyza’s ankle with his sword, and there was an explosion of electrical energy. Olyza, one of the top-ranked in Niall’s class, was forced to yield as Paris brought his sword to her throat.

“Niall knows who it is,” Rietta added. She stood behind the rest, taking in every detail of the room.

Niall nodded. Rietta knew that Aellaria was a wolf, too. Not charging headlong into battle, but not passively searching around or avoiding fights. Aellaria seemed to be hunting Phia—Wolf hunting wolf. “Aellaria,” Niall confirmed. “Say, Gran, Aellaria said you approved her potions, even the healing potion. Is that true?”

Granite Guardian smiled and pulled up the next feed just in time to see Phia knock down Chlora. “Ruthless… She awaited the enchantment to tell her the fight was done,” Gran said about Phia before addressing Niall’s question. “I approved all of Aellaria’s brews: healing, mana, and lava. She even brewed a dragon’s breath potion in front of me. She is a magnificent alchemist with the hands of a surgeon.”

Granite Guardian had a soft spot for Freshmen. The big guy had zero dropouts for a reason. Instead of hammering his class to find imperfections and excising them, Niall knew Gran hardened his class and empowered those who thought they were too weak. However, this wasn’t a case of Gran being too kind or covering up for a student. Niall could tell that Aellaria had actually impressed the master alchemist.

Another feed appeared, and Callo had already cornered and immobilized Ozyid, Olyza’s brother.

“Aeren, how does it feel to see Aeromancers completely eliminated in the first 5 minutes?” Kaira taunted.

Aeren didn’t move a muscle. He was still in his ‘studying’ pose. “There is still one more Aeromancer in Niall’s class.”

Gran then brought up the ongoing fight between Flair and Marin. The teachers watched Flair unleash fire on Marin and pushed until Marin’s student ID dispelled Flair’s fire, indicating Marin’s loss.

Kaira started to laugh. “Thank the Father for blessing your sister with fire and not wind,” Kaira said, mocking Aeren for the success of the top student of the first-year class. Her student.

Aeren shook his head. “Terra’s success is more my doing than yours.”

Granite Guardian interrupted the rivals. “Your students are going pretty hard this year, Niall. Two uses of potentially lethal force in just four fights. What do you think, Rietta?”

“The Phia girl was careful in her freezing: no pressure or deliberate targeting of vital systems. Flair was uncontrolled and deserves a warning,” Rietta, the expert on intentionality, said.

Niall exhaled a sigh of relief. A warning was fine. He has had deaths in his classes. He has even had murders. Losing students to dumb decisions and lines crossed under pressure were the worst things that had ever happened to him. Seeing an unrecoverable body. Confronting the killer. Informing the friends and families of the killer and killed. It was the worst pain he had ever felt.