Anger.

"He's going to break free...! Ophelia...!"

"I'm trying...! But he's resisting...!"

Pain.

"Everyone, focus! We knew this wouldn't be easy...!"

"O holy spirits of this sacred realm..."

Anguish.

"...and may you be, from today on, and forevermore..."

"BEGONE...!", they all chanted together.

The gate slammed shut.

Solitude. There was no one to speak to.

Rage. Nobody to hear the screams.

Regret. No shoulder to lean upon.

Oblivion. Nothing of me remains.

...revenge.

Bloody, merciless revenge.

I will see you all...

Die.

Nero jumped up in a cold sweat.

"What... what the hell...", he murmured.

He ran his hand across his forehead, wiping it. He didn't remember being this agitated in his life; his whole body was trembling as if he had a very high fever, and yet he felt cold like hypothermia. It took him a good three minutes to calm down a little.

He looked to his right. Araven was sleeping peacefully in the other bed.

Nero got out of the blankets and touched the wooden floor with his naked feet. It wasn't very cold, considering how chilly that morning was.

He took a deep breath to help his heart calm down a little.

Toc, toc, toc...

Three soft knocks on the door forced him to stand up and open it; an official was standing in front of him with two baskets full of clothes and Sharmon was standing next to him.

"These are your clothes, they are already washed and dried; I also have your roommate's. Please change before coming down for breakfast. You may leave the baskets with the night clothes in the room."

"Ah, thank you very much.", Nero accepted the baskets.

He noticed his bag was with his clothes, just like Sharmon had said. Nero closed the door and figured it was about time to wake Araven.

He put his hand on his shoulder and shook him softly.

"Hey. Sorry to wake you, the officials want us to change and have breakfast."

"Mh...", Araven groaned softly. He got up slowly and ran his hand through his blonde mane.

How it was possible for someone to be this handsome right upon waking up, Nero had no idea, but it seemed like he had a rough time with early mornings.

"It's freaking cold...", he complained, scratching his chest.

"Yeah. We got our clothes back, so that's the good news."

Araven blinked absentmindedly.

Nero decided not to push him and simply got rid of the damn pajamas. His clothes smelled very nice, and felt very comfortable. He especially appreciated his boots and socks looking like they were brand new.

Whatever process the College had passed them through, Nero decided he had to learn it.

Probably motivated by his roommate, Araven also got up and put on his white shirt and black pants. He left the first two buttons open, grabbed a bottle of cologne and put on a little on his neck and upper chest.

"Want some?"

"Yeah, sure."

It had a rather soft fragrance; all this reminded Nero he had to buy more for himself.

Sharmon was waiting for them outside.

"He doesn't sleep?", asked Araven.

"Doesn't eat, either."

"That's very odd."

That is the least odd thing about him. Believe me.

Upon reaching the stairs, they met Silvy and Elanee walking down the steps.

"Good morning.", Nero greeted.

"Morning.", replied Silvy, throwing a quick glance at Araven's long neck.

"Did you sleep well?", asked Elanee.

"Sure did.", said Araven in a lazy tone.

"Yeah...", Nero limited his answer to that, not wanting to ruin everybody's morning by telling them he had woken up from an asphyxiating nightmare.

The four walked down the stairs and sat at the long table. There wasn't anyone else there yet, but the air smelled of food.

Never in his life did Nero imagine he would be waking up to a bunch of cooks preparing breakfast for him some day. Thinking about it, Nero had never given any serious thought about how life on campus would be for him. He only envisioned himself trying out spells out in some field against a dummy, or something.

If he somehow made it... if he passed all of the exams, how would his life be from then on? It was the first time Nero gave any serious thought to this question.

Nero sat, Araven sat next to him, and Silvy took a seat next to Araven.

"...sorry, do you think I could ask you to leave a small space here? I'm keeping it for someone.", he said to her pointing his thumb back at the stairs.

"Yeah, sure! No problem."

She got up, walked behind him, and sort of forced herself between Nero and Araven.

The boy moved a little to the left, slightly annoyed.

The other guys showed up, and then Leah and the other girl whose Nero still didn't know.

Rina, Luna and Khina all walked down the stairs chatting among them.

"Oh, it's almost full... here, Luna, there's a space for you with Nero."

She literally sat the ginger next to the boy.

"Morning.", he told her, happy to have someone familiar next to him.

"...morning.", she murmured, looking down at the table.

Rina walked towards the spot next to Araven, glancing at Silvy for a fraction of a second before sitting down next to the blonde, and Khina sat next to her, in front of Owen.

This time breakfast was warm and recently made, making it all the more enticing. If last night's food had been good, then the following breakfast felt amazing.

Nero took the chance to eat as much of it as he could.

Nero noticed Luna was picking up food and putting it on her plate. He took a quick glance at everyone else to see if anyone was paying attention to him -they weren't- and got really close to her.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"I thought you didn't eat."

"Eek...!", she jumped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"Why... what makes you think that?"

Nero shrugged and pointed his thumb towards the closest wall; Luna turned and saw a tall, familiar figure dressed in black leaning against it with his arms crossed. The group was starting to get used to Sharmon's quiet presence to the point where they could forget about him for a minute, though once noticed, it was impossible to go back to not being conscious of him.

"...it's not what you think.", she said, going back to her plate.

"What is?"

"I'm not what you think I am."

Nero raised an eyebrow, and looked at Sharmon, who was staring down at Luna.

He had heard her.

"You've piqued his curiosity.", said Nero.

Luna turned to Nero, then quickly to Sharmon, and immediately broke eye contact with the sorcerer.

"...please, not here.", she murmured.

"That's fine, I'm not gonna pry. Don't worry.", Nero grabbed a toast with butter on it and took it to his mouth.

He also had his secrets.

"Your magic was incredible yesterday! What kind of spells were those?", he heard Silvy say next to him.

Nero turned quickly, but immediately realized she was talking to Araven.

"Supporting magic.", he said simply.

"We don't see that often, and you kinda have an accent. Are you a foreigner?"

"From Platea.", he gave her a polite small.

"What...!? That's way too far...! Like, you have the Kingdom of Edea, then the steppe where the Afarid nomads roam, then Enfiria and then Platea...!

"I know, we crossed all of them, right?.", he laughed, turning to look at Rina.

She was staring down at her plate and eating in silence.

"Wouldn't it have been better to sail the coast up north and get here from the west instead of crossing the continent from the east on foot?", she asked.

"It would, Platea has several ports up the northern seas, but they don't operate all year long, I would say only two thirds due to ice. And past a certain point, the continent is only populated by nomadic fishermen; there are no ports, so ship routes don't go past Platea. Foot and horseback are the only ways to make it from Platea to here.", explained Araven.

Silvy was resting her chin on her hands, with both elbows on the table, completely immersed in him... in his story.

"And why did you come all the way to Nycea?"

"Rina's family wanted her to study here. We traveled together."

The aforementioned was downing her breakfast with some water, looking nowhere but at her food, and not saying a word. She was in a foul mood; maybe she didn't sleep well, Nero thought.

"What about your family?"

"I was already a student in Platea. I still have a lot to learn, though, so I chose to come here as well."

"Where are you staying?"

"At an inn in the city."

Rina got up and took her plate with her. Araven gave Silvy a polite smile and got up, too.

"You're not gonna have it any easy...", teased Khina.

Silvy frowned and went back to her food.

Nero decided to turn to his left, where the prudent Luna had finished her breakfast in silence, looking for a more peaceful atmosphere; even Sharmon's sharp and threatening stare offered more comfort than the air floating around Silvy.

"Done already?", he asked.

She nodded.

"Alright, let's get outta here."

They got up and carried their plates to the sink, and soon after everyone else followed. The officials gathered everyone up and gave each other a sealed scroll.

"These scrolls contain all the information you need regarding the third exam. It has quite a lot of text and we want you to look at it carefully, so we encourage you to open it at a place where you can sit and read it undisturbed. Please do not lose it, either. Now, if you'll follow us, we'll guide you towards the entrance."

"Luna, can I ask you something?", Rina grabbed the ginger at dragged her further ahead.

"...dude, what's the deal with your friend?", Nero asked in a low voice.

Araven let out an exhausted sigh.

"Don't worry about it."

The contestants had lively conversations among themselves as they walked across campus and shared the last minutes of the second exam.

"Thank you all for participating. Until we meet again."

The officials closed the gates and went back to their business while the rest of the group walked across the road in the forest towards the northern city gate. Once inside the capital, everyone started going their ways.

Khina, Silvy, Leah and Owen went one way and waved Nero and the others goodbye from a distance.

"So, where are you guys headed?", he asked the other three.

"I'm guessing back to the inn...?", Araven looked at Rina.

She crossed her arms and looked away.,

"I guess."

"I.. I'll be heading home, now.", said Luna.

"Want us to walk you there?", said Rina.

"No... it's fine. Thank you very much. Um..."

She bowed.

"Thank you."

Everyone couldn't help but let out a soft smile.

"Take care.", said Araven.

"Let's meet again for the third exam.", said Nero.

She looked at them with a mix of surprise and hope.

She nodded, and turned away.

"What about you two? I can walk you to the inn before going back home.", said Nero.

"Sure. Where do you live, by the way?"

The group started walking.

"South of the city, less than a mile away."

"You have your bookstore there?"

"Yeah."

"Must be nice..."

"It's just a dusty old place."

"Still, it's a place to call "home"."

"Hmm... I guess if you put it like that, it's true."

"Having to sleep at an inn for so long, it kinda feels lonely in its own way.", said Araven.

"Do you miss Platea?"

"I miss it dearly,", Araven's smile was low-key sad, "though I don't miss the lack of sunlight.", his face brightened a little.

"Right, the further west you go, the sunnier it gets since you're also going south."

The mountain range that separated the Estyrian kingdoms from the northern coast -the one Araven had told Silvy they couldn't say by- extended southwards when heading towards the western extreme of the Caledon sea.

The group chatted for a few more minutes until they stopped at an inn in the main avenue of the city.

"Wait, you're staying here...!?"

"Yeah.", said Rina.

"Dude, this place is expensive as hell...!"

"We got a little backup money from our families to rent some rooms here until we can stay at the College dorms.", smiled Araven.

Enough money to stay here for weeks on end... and two rooms, at that. Damn.

"We must go. Your grandmother is likely waiting for you."

For a minute, Nero had wanted to forget that a creepy guy with a hat shadowed him everywhere, but reality hit him like an anvil on the head.

"Right... anyway, here's my address..."

Nero took out a paper and writing pen from his bag, wrote where he lived and gave it to Araven.

"You can either come visit me or write me to this address if you'd rather have me come to the city, in case you have the time and wanna hang out."

Araven accepted the paper.

"We'll take a look at the scrolls. Let's definitely hang out if we have room for it.", agreed Araven.

Nero waved them goodbye and started heading back home.

Once again, people were turning heads and looking at the pair.

"You think everyone already knows we made it to the third round?"

"They likely do."

"Yesterday was such a long day... it feels like it's been forever... I also kinda learned a lot, you know? Having the opportunity to practice my magic in real time like that was kinda exciting."

"The ranged barrier during our encounter against Selene was a good improvisation. You had not practiced that beforehand."

"Hehe, well, I kinda figured the technique and knew that it would work in theory. I just had to try and see if I could pull it off live... I'm glad I was able to."

"The following test is sure to be even more difficult, boy. Let us open the scroll as soon as we arrive and see how much time we have to prepare, if any at all."

"Right."

With that, summoner and familiar headed back to the homey library, where grandma Lonia was no doubt anxiously waiting for his grandson's return.

----------------------------------------

The headmaster's office offered a very nice view of the College's campus, particularly of the road that headed south, towards the entrance, since the window was oriented straight at the fountain.

From there, Arlana watched the remaining contestants being guided out of the premises.

"They did a wonderful job, hm?", asked ser Eldrich behind her.

She turned around with a smile on her face.

"Yeah."

"Your last-minute golem idea was pretty good, too. It forced the group to come up with a tactic for an unforeseen enemy on the spot."

"...well, I have it that only a little over half of them actually fought."

"That's good enough. They were already tired and hungry."

"I guess so...", she sighed.

"The next round of exams is going to be... a little more difficult.", commented the elder, taking a look at the scroll in front of him.

Arlana nodded.

"Yes. The last test I prepared is going to be the hardest of them all."

"Are you sure about this?", he asked.

"I'm not. That's why this is a test.", she turned around to look at him, "we have to know if they truly have what it takes to become proper mages. We must know if they are worth the investment."

Ser Eldrich stared at her for a moment, then nodded.

"That is the right attitude to have, girl, and if I may add..."

"Yes?"

Ser Eldrich smiled.

"This final test you came up with... is absolutely on the level of Creonte's ideas."

Arlana returned the smile to him briefly before turning around and looking out the window again.

The group had already left, and the students were allowed to traverse the premises in a regular manner again by now.

"This year is going to be different from all others... we really need talent if we are to succeed, master."

"I spent decades at the helm of this institution and I can assure you, lass, that I have never seen a more promising batch of contestants in my many years working here. But if you want even more assurance..."

Arlana turned again to him. The elder had a cheeky smile on his face.

"...allow me to arrange the groupings for the final exams."

The headmaster nodded.

"Then, I leave it in your trusted hands."

Ser Eldrich offered her a slight bow, which Arlana returned, and walked out of the room.

She walked up to a cabinet and grabbed a picture that rested on top of it.

A man was smiling merrily with a woman and an old man at a festival.

Arlana slowly ran her finger through the man's face.

"Did you hear that? An idea on par with yours..."

The man's cheerful smile, Arlana's memories with him... the happier they were, the more pain they brought her.

But not that day.

That morning, even though the tears were still there, Arlana returned his smile with her own.