On the 6th day of the month of Frigus, Merdelum started "Operation Salvation", a 2-week-plan aiming at freeing a certain region of Eurosa from Domitor's occupation which needed to be crossed to deliver supplies to their ally Ulsset. Helmed by the 12 Zodiac Knights of Merdelum, the imperial army not only accomplished its goal, but also increased morals among their soldiers by suffering zero losses throughout the entire campaign.
On the 6th of Nix, those who made this feat possible returned from the front-lines in Eurosa and were greeted by the cheers of Caelum's people.
The next day, just as planned, they resumed their duties, and, as was expected of them, all cadets of Rouclier returned on time as well. Time passed faster than Corvo realised, and he and the rest of the first-years of Rouclier saw themselves cutting down on their free time as they all learned and trained in preparation for this year's end-term exams, which would be held in two parts, similarly to their entrance exam. First was a written test, which in itself was split into the different subjects they were taught:
Discipline and Laws,
Basic Military Knowledge,
Arithmetics,
Magic-Theory,
Combat-Theory,
Religion,
and lastly, History.
While Corvo had been confident in his academic skills, he was not quite sure if the same would be true for the second phase of the exam, as it consisted of finishing an obstacle course in a specific amount of time, and another demonstration of their skills, though with increased difficulty. Though having trained together with his friends whenever he could and Sean insisting that he would definitely pass without problems, he still had his doubts. So when the day of their first exam came, he could not help but stay up all night worrying about it.
"Hey, come on Corvo, keep yourself together! I told you, I've done the test before, it wasn't that hard!", Sean tried to cheer up his friend as the four approached the class-room in which they would take the written test. Mira added, causing Sean to look at her in annoyance and Eleonora to giggle, which caused him to blush.
"Not helping!", he huffed in response and looked the other way, sulking.
"Do not worry about it, Corvo! You were the one who helped us studying, if any of us were to fail, it would most definitely not be you!", Eleonora chimed in.
"True. And even if you were to fail, there is always next year, just ask Sean.", Mira continued, which caused even Corvo to smile in response.
"Yeah, yeah, keep on your mockery. However, just you wait! Once they announce the results, all of you will weep in defeat after seeing me come out on top!", Sean exclaimed in a theatrical manner, intending to keep rolling with the flow after noticing that the conversation managed to distract the group from their anxiety of the upcoming test.
"Wanna bet? How about this: Whoever scores lowest out of us four has to buy ice-cream for the rest.", Mira proposed.
"Deal!"
"Sure, why not!"
"...Okay", the other three accepted the deal, and they entered the exam-room.
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"Heh, it was easier than I thought it would be!", Corvo announced, as his group made their way towards the obstacle course in the training grounds. His friends did not share his cheerful demeanour.
"My mind went completely blank at question 18, anyone of you got the answer?", Sean asked.
"Who cares about the order in which the 7 kingdoms joined Merdelum and when? That question was only worth two points! What I'd like to now is what you guys wrote down at question 25.", Mira responded.
"'The dose of a substance can even turn medicine into poison.', I think", Eleonora answered.
"Oh yeah, Hoehenheim was that doctor from Marktstadt that lived centuries ago, right?", Mira pondered as the four arrived at their destination.
"Whatever. Don't forget to warm up before starting the obstacle course! If you get hurt during it, you'll lose points!", Sean warned them, and started to stretch his legs.
"I'll leave all of you in the dust!", Mira goaded, and the four gathered in front of Lady Karm, who would take their time with the help of a stop-watch.
The obstacle course was about a mile long and entailed climbing walls, jumping over pits, and running through muddy ground. Additionally, the use of magic or potions was forbidden.
After they had finished the course, Corvo and his friends gathered once more to discuss their times.
"No way! How did you finish the entire thing in 12 and a half minutes? It took me 14! 14! did you cheat or something?", Mira asked Eleonora while wiping the sweat off her forehead with a towel.
Eleonora raised her nose arrogantly and retorted smugly.
"Maybe you just need to train more?"
Corvo and Sean looked at the two, both at a loss of words and out of breath. Sean finished the course within 19 and a half minutes, and Corvo barely made it in time with 24 minutes.
"Just you wait, we still got one more test left.", Mira replied, and the four continued towards the platforms.
"I wonder what they meant by having increased the difficulty of the entrance exam?", Eleonora asked, and Sean decided to answer.
"Oh, almost forgot you weren't there on the day they told us! It's not quite the same as the entrance exam, seeing as there are only two different ways to take the test. Those who only know support magic need to be able to cast 5 different support spells from the one's we learned during Magic-Theory. All others need to be able to defeat a test dummy, which is supposed to be about as hard to defeat as a goblin, seeing as they are enchanted to move in the same way and are about the same height, about a head or two shorter than us? Anyway, since I no longer use support magic but bard-skills, we are all going to do the same test today."
"That means no matter who scores the lowest, they would not be able to complain about it not being fair, right?", Mira asked into the round, though she specifically looked at Eleonora.
"Of course", was the response she got from her while meeting her gaze.
An hour later, the first names were called out by the teachers. This time, only the last platform was used for those using support magic, and the other three now all had a test dummy equipped with a wooden sword and shield standing on top of them. Another change was that they were now standing in line and were not called out in alphabetical order, as the just had to tell the instructors their name and group before being led onto the platform. Since they wanted to be finished as soon as possible, Corvo's group decided it would be best to stand as far in the front as they could. After about 20 minutes, Mira and Eleonora were the first to take the test, as the two before them managed to finish the test at the same time.
"Alright, may the best win!", Mira exclaimed and presented hand, which was met with that of Eleonora for a handshake.
"May the best win!"
And they each approached their respective platforms.
Since Mira fought with a spear, she used the length of her weapon to her advantage, attacking the dummy from a distance. It looked impossible for her to lose the fight, until her spear became lodged into the shield of the target dummy. To prevent the dummy from disarming her, she decided to push into the shield with all her might before yanking it into the opposite direction, which removed her spear together with the still attached shield from the hands of the dummy. Mira kept up the momentum and spun around, before bringing down the shield on the head of the dummy, crushing it. Since the targets were enchanted to stop working after lethal damage is dealt, it fell over motionless, and Mira was told that she had passed.
Simultaneously, Eleonora had to get close to her own target, seeing as her weapons of choice was a short-sword. Despite the short distance between her and her opponent, however, Eleonora managed to swiftly dodge and parry the attacks flying her way. Unlike other classes, such as lancers, rangers like herself had to observe their opponents and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. This opportunity presented itself as the target dummy began to stumble after its sword was parried by Eleonora, which was followed by her closing in and swiftly stabbing the target in it's head with one dagger and cutting its throat with the other, both fatal blows which brought this fight to an end, with Eleonora emerging victorious. Seeing as both Mira and Eleonora finished at about the same time, it was now Sean's and Corvo's turn.
"Nervous?", Sean asked, as they approached the platforms. Corvo hummed in agreement.
"Don't worry, me too. Anyway, I'm 100% sure you got this. Just keep a cool head. Good Luck!", he continued, trying to cheer his friend up.
"Good Luck!", was the answer, and the two split up after a quick fist bump.
"Cadet Corvo Rhedi, Class A!", he exclaimed and looked at his instructor, which turned out to be Professor Lambert.
"What a coincidence, Cadet Rhedi! Looks like I will have the pleasure to grade you once more!", she greeted him cheerfully, before motioning him to walk up the stairs.
As soon as Corvo stood in front of the target-dummy, he raised his staff, and waited for the signal to start.
"You may begin on the count of 3! 1...2...3!", Lambert called out, and Corvo started his first cast.
"Volare et incurvo!"
An arrow made of fire launched at the target dummy, which simply raised its shield to intercept it. However, before it could catch the arrow, it suddenly began to curve around the shield, hitting the dummy itself instead and causing it to go up in flames, a simple implementation of altering the behaviour of an elemental spell, which he had learned during his Magic-Theory lessons.
To put out the small flame that threatened to spread all over its body, it threw away the shield and used it's now free hand to suffocate the fire. However, as soon as it did so, it was hit by two more fire arrows, courtesy of Corvo, causing the flames to spread all over its body. Seemingly enraged by this, the target dummy decided to charge at Corvo, sword raised above its head. However, Corvo anticipated this and quickly side-stepped the rather large swing of his opponent, before bringing down his staff with all his might on the dummy's head. Seeing as the target dropped motionless on the floor, the hit was considered lethal.
"Hah, a mage ending a fight not with a spell, but by giving his opponent a concussion? Unconventional, but definitely valid if it brings down your enemy. I like it! Congratulations Cadet Rhedi, you have passed the skill-examination!", Lambert commended him visibly amused, causing Corvo to exhale in relief.
'Not only did I pass, I even managed to do so without being on the brink of passing out this time! ', he thought joyfully, as he left the platform and joined his friends.
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"HAHAHAHA! No-no way!", Mira bellowed with laughter, and even Eleonora, who usually was not one to laugh out loudly, could not help but giggle at what she had just seen.
"You-you really just made it mad, then went and whacked it!", she commented between laughs, causing Corvo to blush in embarrassment.
"I have to admit, it was quite funny. But don't worry about that, a win is a win! And I even think you managed to beat it in about the same time as we did!", Eleonora added, which heightened his spirits a little.
"What was that now?", Sean asked from behind them, having just finished his own test.
"Corvo set the dummy on fire until it got mad, and when it came at him to retaliate, he just knocked it out with his staff.", Mira gave him the short version, as she had calmed down a bit now.
"I...see. Not bad, Corvo!", his friend praised him, punching his shoulder lightly in acknowledgement.
"You were pretty good as well! You looked faster than usual, did you use a bard-skill?", Eleonora asked him.
"Yep. I think I finally managed to get the hang of it.", Sean answered pridefully.
"Well, the only thing left to do now is to wait for the results at the end of the week. Anyone want to go play Pierre Noir? I bought a new deck of cards yesterday to calm my nerves.", Mira asked the others, who all agreed to join her.
The next day, Corvo's group followed the other students to the board in the entrance hall of Rouclier on which the results of yesterday's exams were posted.
"You need at least 50 points in each part of the exam, right?", Corvo asked, as the four pressed passed their colleagues to get close enough to look for their own names on the board.
"Exactly, so let's see...!", Sean called out as he squinted his eyes at the boards.
"Huh...80 in written, 73 in practical, not bad!", he said after finding his name.
"75 in written, 91 in practical for me!", Mira called out.
"78, 95, guess I won then, right?", Eleonora replied, causing Mira to huff.
"Only by 7 points. Next time I'll be the one at the top!"
"Where's Corvo on the list?", Sean asked, confused as he could not find the name of his friend.
"I...I ranked first in the written exam! 97 points!", Corvo explained, not even caring about the second score.
"WHAT? Congrats Corvo!", Mira yelled out, and patted him on the back.
"Well done!", Eleonora followed up.
"No way, congrats! ...wait, how'd you get almost as many points as me in the practical as well?", Sean asked in shock as he saw that Corvo managed to get 70 points on his practical exam.
"Guess you're the one who's gonna pay for the round of ice cream, eh, Sean?", Mira teased him.
"You don't have to, you know?", Corvo added, but he was waved off by Sean.
"A deal's a deal. Let's go there after Calros' end-of-the-year-speech. We have to celebrate Corvo's score after all!"
Within earshot, only a few steps away, a certain noble angrily looked at his placement in the written exam.
Martin Gerard Crevier had always been proud of his noble heritage, which could be traced back all the way to his heroic many-times-grand-grandfather, whose name he inherited, who protected the first emperor of Merdelum from an assassination attempt and was thus granted the city of Caelum in acknowledgement of his deed, the very same city in which the Luminary later decided to build the Temple of Light, the centre of the Ardent Path. So when the day came when he first raised his hand against a commoner for failing to recognise him, he felt disgusted.
Not by what he did, as he felt in the right, but at how someone living in the city that only existed due to his family could not recognise the coat of arms of Crevier, a shield with two stripes, one white, the other blue, with a 7 pronged star in it's centre, of which one half was painted blue and the other white as to stand out from the background, a symbol all noble children he had ever interacted with knew by heart and showed the proper respect towards. It was from this day on that Martin Crevier considered commoners lesser beings than himself, as he had turned blind to all but their most unflattering characteristics and behaviours. So when he saw the rankings of these years first-years, he became furious.
"Second place? By a single point, and beaten by a COMMONER NO LESS?", he grumbled as his group of friends, who rather fit the description of followers than actual friends, tried to calm him down.
"...but aren't you behind commoners on the physical exam as well?", one of them asked
"SHUSH! Bards are men of words, not brute strength!"
"Don't worry about it, young master! It is just the end-term exam of the first year! You can still beat him next year!", another of his followers explained, and the others agreed.
"Don't you cretins know anything? Since I'm a bard we won't be taking the same classes next year. Also, since I need to follow the path my father set out for me, we would definitely not be in the same elective classes!"
"...yeah, but one of his friends is a bard, right? If you were to crushingly defeat him during a mock-battle, it would definitely hit him as well, right?", came the reply.
"Hm...yeah, that actually sounds like a decent plan.", Crevier thought aloud, and made his way towards the assembly hall, in which headmaster Calros would hold his speech, followed by his lackeys.
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Miles away, in the vassal state Subalterne, an aimless wanderer was stopped in his tracks by a voice.
"Where are you headed, young mage?", the eery, male voice interrupted the trance-like state of André Tenning. After Edenia's destruction, he had succumbed to his grief, and, seeing as he saw no more reason to live, yet thought death to be more fearsome than ever before, decided to just set one foot in front of the other, with no clear goal in mind. Weeks had gone by without his notice, during which he only ever took a rest to drink water from whatever source he found nearby or eat whatever food-scraps he stumbled upon. No one he encountered paid him any mind, as his brown-apprentice robe had become caked in mud and started to tear at the bottom, making him appear like a vagrant. That was, until now.
"Well? Where is it?", the man, a beggar draped in a yellow cloak, the hood of which hulled his face in darkness, repeated his question.
André looked at the beggar for a few seconds, then decided to answer.
"...nowhere.", he said with the raspy voice of someone who had not talked in weeks.
"Nowhere, is it? Is that truly the mindset an edenian scholar should have?", the beggar stated mockingly, causing André to grow irate.
"What does some lowly beggar like you know about Edenia?", he barked at him.
"Oh, you would be surprised. And seeing as you are now without home, calling me a beggar is like a pot calling the cattle black, no? Hehehehehe!", the man stated as he cackled like a mad man, a sound which sent shivers down André's spine.
"Whatever.", he mumbled, before continuing forward, intending to leave the man behind. However, as soon as the laughter had stopped, the beggar had appeared in front of him, blocking his path.
"Hey, don't be like that now! I was just joking. Now listen here, I can see you've had it rough, and I am not yet so callused that I will ignore a young soul in need of guidance. I'm a seer by trade, and if you want, I can provide you with the means to get back on track! Don't worry, since my joke seemed to have missed the mark earlier, I'll read you your cards for free!", the beggar explained and showed André his empty, right hand, which he turned around in one swift motion to reveal a deck of cards, as if he had pulled it from thin air.
'...If it's free, I might as well...', he thought, but before he could answer, he was already pulled to sit on the ground, with the beggar opposed to him, shuffling the deck of cards. André fixated the man's bony fingers as he did so, and, for a second, believed there to be more than there should be, though with a blink of his eyes, he could no longer make out anything out of the ordinary, thus thinking of it as a hallucination induced by his irregular sleep schedule.
"Alright, let's see here!", the beggar exclaimed, before drawing the first card, on which two intertwined wheels covered by eyes and surrounded by 6 wings with a burning humanoid heart in its centre had been drawn.
"Hm...the Wheel of Fortune, reversed...you have been plagued by misfortune...your family has died protecting you, no? And the only one who you could depend upon has now joined them in the other world...you lived a hard live until now. Next is...the Tower..."
The fortune-teller drew a card with a ruined, burning tower on it, which eerily resembled the tower at the centre of Edenia minutes before its destruction.
"Your life has turned upside down without prior notice... you believe your actions to be at fault, though you also know that there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. Curious...the Hermit..."
A card with the picture of someone wearing the brown robes of an apprentice-mage was lain down before him, increasing André's unease, as he could swear that the one in the picture was he himself, despite him not being able to make out the face of the figure on the card.
"You have isolated yourself, as you were no longer able to withstand the guilt and grief which have plagued ever since all you loved was taken from you...the card of Death."
The picture of a winged humanoid being in pitch-black robes wielding an angelic weapon loosely resembling a scythe, who on his hooded head wore a crown of pure light. Though the picture had the appearance of death itself, it did not instill fear in André for some reason, but an indescribable feeling of comfort, as if he was looking at an old friend.
"You are about to embark on a journey that will change your life, and maybe even the life of others, forever..."
At first, André had believed the beggar to be just an ordinary scammer, though now he was uncertain if the man was even human. Not only did he accurately recall what happened to the young scholar in his past, but looking at the cards themselves caused a feeling of dread within him that he could not describe. It was as if he instinctively knew he was not meant to see the pictures on the cards, as if a higher power would strike him down immediately if they knew what he had laid his eyes upon.
"And now, for the final...Two cards? They were stuck together...interesting...a decision between two paths, maybe? The first is the Devil,"
A frightening picture of a creature not from this world, an infernal being made only of skin and bones with ram-like horns on it's head, 2 massive black eyes with yellow irises, and 4 enormous, leathery wings holding within its many fingered hand a marble, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a planet.
"-the path of holding on to the past...there once was a mage who asked me for advice who had chosen this very same path, despite my warnings of how he lacked the skill needed to return what was lost. However, you show far more potential than he did...Will you choose to follow in his footsteps, and gain the power to return what has been oh so violently taken from you, and, in turn, ensure no one else will have to suffer the same grief as you did ever again? Or will you choose the second card, the Reversed Hierophant..."
The voice of the seer began to change as he showed the second card, as if speaking with more than one voice at the same time. The card depicted a humanoid being wearing a robe made of tattered, yellow cloth, its arms ending in long, bony hands holding a book, and his head hidden by a hood, its legs replaced by countless black tendrils emerging from the bottom of the creature, similarly to those of a squid. Within the hood of the figure, about where one would expect its forehead to be, André noticed a bright yellow symbol resembling a sun, though its beams more closely appeared as tentacle-like vines. He became entranced by the symbol, his mind beginning to waver as his eyes kept fixating on it, though the words of the fortune-teller quickly returned him to his senses.
"-the path of truth. Do you seek the truth behind what has come to pass, and how to prevent similar tragedies in the future? Will you challenge fate itself, and free the world from the shackles of ignorance, bringing an end to the reign of the false gods and ushering in a new age, free of their tyranny? Well? Which shall it be?", the seer asked, his voice having returned to normal, now holding up the two cards for André to pick. However, he made sure to cover up the symbol of the Hierophant, as if to prevent the symbol from making the choice for him.
As André's hand approached the cards, he was jolted by the seer's words of caution.
"Beware, whichever path you choose, there will be no turning back."
A feeling of déjà-vu overcame André, as the situation he currently found himself in was all too similar to the time he decided to become a mage. As he thought about it, his body seemed to act on its own, and before he realised, he had taken one of the cards.
The fortune teller's mood seemed to sour slightly upon seeing that he had picked the Devil.
"Not a truth-seeker, are we? Truly a shame how mortals desperately keep cling to the past instead of changing the future...", he muttered in disdain, as if resentful over André not picking the Hierophant instead.
"Though I guess I owe it to him for snatching his future apprentice away right before his eyes all these years ago...", the man added barely audibly to try and calm himself, before André tried to return the card.
"Keep it, it shall be a reminder of the future you have chosen. Very well...north-east from here lies the Grattiel mountain-range. Follow the trail of the mountains to the very end, and you will find what you are looking for."
André inspected the card of the devil, and as he looked a the grotesque creature, questions started to pop up in his mind one after the other.
"Grattiel...? Why there? And how do I know that you are not just trying to get me killed by some monster or bandits up there?", André asked skeptically, though as he looked back up from the card, he noticed that the seer was no longer sitting in front of him. He stood up and looked for him in a wide radius, but not a trace of the man was to be found.
The young mage looked back at the card, and came to a decision.
'Should I really do as he says? Though I guess it's better than to just wander around aimlessly for the rest of my days ', he thought to himself, and started to head north-east.