And so, the fated day of the preliminary exams came with the following dawn.

Surprisingly, this time Nero had slept well -despite falling asleep late into the night- and was feeling fresh and confident.

His grandma had also woken up early, perhaps due to his grandson's important day -she refused to admit this, however-, and was waiting for him with a full breakfast ready.

"Did you make all this, grandma? It looks great!" He said, as he sat in front of the small wooden table.

"Make sure to eat everything, you hear?"

Nero took a deep breath and stare at the food before digging in. With the way the economy was going, it probably cost a lot of money for grandma Lonia to prepare the feast.

The boy made sure to finish the hearty meal; he would need every ounce of strength he could muster in a few hours.

After taking a bath, he got dressed in his best attire: a white shirt with long sleeves, which he rolled back a little, and black pants with boots made of black leather.

Paired with his pale skin, jet black hair and turquoise eyes, the clothes really suited him. They had been a gift from his grandma; she had gotten them only a month ago for his fifteenth birthday and were of good quality.

Nero put on what little remaining perfume he had -no time to think where he'd get more- and picked up the bag he had prepared the night before.

It contained the reagents the summoning spell would require: a flask of ink, a brush, some arcane powder, and a few parchments of blank paper. He also carried in his bag a pen and another flask of ink for writing down whatever he would consider important to take notes of.

"Alright, then. I'm off, grandma. I'll be back as soon as I can. Good luck in the store!"

"Just be back before dusk, you hear?", she replied.

It was no secret to Nero that his grandma had very little faith in him. Or rather, she saw him as an extremely talented writer whose future was in front of the books, and not behind magic explosions and weird flask experiments.

...but Nero was hell bent on getting admitted, and passing the first test, the preliminary magic exam, would be his first step towards his goal.

He would do it. He would get acknowledged, no matter what.

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

The Nycean College Of Mages was not strictly within the city, but further north. It was a large building complex that housed many facilities, and the whole campus was built semi-hidden inside a very dense forest.

All of the buildings were a beautiful white, and made of the highest quality materials. There were several ways to reach the Nycean College, but only the main southern entrance was available that day to force everyone assisting the event to form a line and be accounted for.

There were many friends, family members, and thousands of townsfolk arriving to the event.

It was a very special week in Nycea, and nobody wanted to miss out on it.

Well, except maybe for grandma Lonia. She would open the store and wait alone all day if that meant not losing the one random customer that might have considered buying a book that day.

The forest surrounding the College had a beautiful fenced path leading to the southern entrance that Nero followed while looking around him.

He could hear the birds chirping, though they were harder to spot in the trees than he had thought.

There were also smaller animals, like squirrels, running about their daily lives, and Nero could easily imagine the forest being absolutely infested with insects.

If there was one thing in life Nero absolutely hated, it was bugs.

Save for a couple of exceptions, like beetles, butterflies, maybe ants, and scorpions -he would still kill the latter ones sometimes, for safety reasons- Nero detested anything that had an exoskeleton, and would either kill it on sight or run away if it was too big and could fly.

Like roaches.

...at any rate, there were also city guards and all sorts of people walking down the path as well, and the mood in the air was festive.

Well, festive for them. Nero was feeling so nervous his throat was going dry, the sight of the white walls that got lost in the forest and wooden gates at the end of the path made his heart beat really loud.

The anxiety was piling up quickly.

He had arrived half an hour earlier than the appointed hour, but there were already several aspirants presenting themselves. He would have to wait in line for a few minutes, just like the day before.

Again, Nero found himself alone, surrounded by people who weren't alone.

The tall boy with the ferocious-looking white dog was over the side, sitting in the grass next to some other guys who appeared to be friends of his. His submission appeared to have been accepted and was discussing something with them before finally going in.

The black haired, unfriendly-looking girl was right in front of Nero in the queue, and he made absolutely sure to not stare at her for another second after accidentally locking eyes with her the previous day, in case she turned around to check if he was still staring.

Fortunately, the queue advanced rather quickly, and soon enough, he was called out by the officials.

"Next!"

"Yes! Good morning, sir." Greeted Nero.

"Good morning. Tell us why you're here." Said sternly one of the guards.

"I have come to participate in the preliminary exams."

"Show us your papers."

"Sure, right away."

Nero pulled out the paper he had received at the Administration Office the week before and showed it to the guards.

They were regular city guards, probably assisting the College with the inspections and safety.

It made sense for the institution to be short staffed on a day like this.

The guard who hadn't received the paper was sitting next to the other one, in front of a table with a big book open.

"Your name?", he asked.

"Nero."

"...Nero."

"Yes."

There were a few seconds of tense silence as the man sitting at the desk passed the pages of the book.

None of the guards were saying anything, and Nero was feeling too intimidated to dare ask if everything was okay. What if there had been a mistake? What if somehow his name didn't app-

"He's on the list."

Oh, thank the gods.

"Go ahead and talk to the College Officer that's standing past this gate, further north. You can't miss him."

"I will. Thank you."

"Give him your papers. Good luck." The guard returned the signed paper to Nero.

"Understood. Have a nice day."

The guards nodded him goodbye and called for the person behind him on the line.

The enormous, ornate wooden gates were wide open for him to cross and set foot, for the first time in his life, inside the Nycean College Of Mages.

He had done it! He was in!

That small victory gave Nero a tiny boost of confidence.

It was for real! He was acknowledged by the College as a candidate for one of its coveted seats!

Within the premises, the fenced path continued. However, the road was cobbled past the walls, an observation that somewhat reminded him of the city and his neighborhood, which got more and more urbanized the closer you got to the Nycean walls.

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The white, columnar buildings stood tall and proud in the distance, connected by the serpentine cobbled paths.

He could also see a plaza with a well in the center, and a huge building right behind it, the largest of the complex.

There was an infinite amount of things to describe and observe; however, Nero had to talk to the man he had approached by walking straight north.

Family members and other attendees were apparently being directed somewhere else.

"Good morning, sir." Greeted Nero.

In front of him stood a tall, robed man, his back so straight Nero thought he looked like a wooden plank.

He was dressed in the white and blue colors of the Nycean College.

"Good morning. Please show me your papers."

"Yes. I have it right here."

Nero handed the same paper to this second, much nicer man, and he wrote something over it before giving it back to him.

It had a red "6" written on it now.

"That is your number. Please follow the path north until you reach the fountain, and from there head northeast to the testing grounds. You will be the sixth to demonstrate their abilities."

"I see. Thank you."

"If you get lost, ask anyone dressed like me for directions. Good luck."

Nero nodded him goodbye and marched on.

So far, so good. He followed the path to the fountain, which was much bigger than it looked in the distance, and stopped for a moment to look around him.

He was being flanked by two white statues: one of a naked man to his right, and one of a naked woman to his left. The statues were very tall, and were extending their arms toward each other. Their hands connected in a firm grip above Nero's head.

In front of him, past the fountain, stood the main building of the College. It was an impressive, white temple of knowledge with a triangle-shaped front and gable roof, made of blue tiles.

Most buildings shared this pattern, as it represented the colors of the nycean flag. Nero had never seen a more magnificent building in his entire life, not even within Nycea itself.

Then again, he hadn't explored the entire capital, either.

At any rate, Nero couldn't afford to waste too much time. He had arrived early to make sure there was some room to take care of any possible problems, not to spend it appreciating the campus.

...he would have plenty of time for that once he was a matriculated student.

He took a deep breath, and directed his steps northeast, following the path that would take him to the testing grounds. It became less and less cobbled until it was just dry dirt crossing the forest, much like outside of campus. Then, the forest opened up to an enormous clearance.

The boy stood in front of a wide, squared marble arena that had a small wooden table and a pot placed upon it. There were wooden benches where other potential candidates sat in wait, many of them bearing menacing looks on their faces.

To the left and right of the arena, there were wooden desks and chairs where officials were sitting and quietly talking among themselves and occasionally to some guards.

Among them, Nero noticed a tall, stern looking woman speaking to an old man who seemed to be in a much better mood than her.

The whole of the eastern side of the clearance was occupied by huge stands that were empty. Then, Nero noticed there were reserved, privileged seats in front, where apparently important people were being accommodated.

So far, the only ones present were the city guard, the College officials, some potential students and acquaintances of the candidates.

Spectators wouldn't be allowed to enter until preparations were ready, it seemed.

With no other choice but to wait, Nero approached the wooden benches and sat on an empty spot.

Shortly afterwards, two people sat to his right. The boy with the dog took an empty space, and a friendly looking girl he had never seen before sat between him and Nero.

She was dressed in a yellow dress and wore dark brown halfboots.

He tried not to look at her too much, but her perfume was sweet and lovely, and it kind of distracted him a little bit.

"She's beautiful, isn't she? That's headmaster Arlana" Commented the girl, referring to the woman talking to the older man.

Nero turned around quickly, but then noticed she was talking to the other boy.

"Yeah? I guess she is.", he replied.

"The elderly man is ser Eldrich, the previous headmaster.", she added.

"No, he is not.", corrected Nero.

They both turned to look at him.

"Between Ser Eldrich and headmaster Arlana, there was a headmaster called Creonte. He was Eldrich's successor, but died in an accident some four years ago, and so Arlana took over his post.", he explained.

"...now that you mention it, that's true. I had almost forgotten about him...", she admitted.

Unfortunately for Creonte, headmaster Arlana's excellent reputation was overshadowing his name, but people who read about the history of the College extensively, like Nero did, knew headmaster Creonte had planned and set in motion many of the measures that were continued under Arlana's regency, which greatly improved the College's facilities and teaching methods.

It was truly a tragedy that he would not live to see the fruits of his labor, and his presence was said to be dearly missed within campus by the other officials, especially by current headmaster Arlana herself.

Soon enough, the stands began to get filled with people. Some participants were asking the others what numbers they had been given, and nearly all of them looked very anxious. Nero was no exception, though he was eager to step up to the arena and show everyone the spell he had prepared.

Nero didn't need to count them: according to the official announcements made by the College, there were a hundred participants, including himself.

The unfriendly looking girl was sitting alone at quite a distance from him, in another bench, with her arms and legs crossed, and was looking at nowhere in particular.

She was wearing a tight, scarlet sleeveless outfit and fingerless gloves. Her lower clothes were a pair of black scarlet shorts and half boots, though hers were a little different from the yellow dressed girl next to Nero.

She looked like she was ready for a good workout.

The entirety of her striking outfit was decorated with golden coin-shaped ornaments, lined up below the golden strings they were attached to.

They weren't made of actual gold, obviously, but her ornate outfit showed she had exquisite taste in fashion.

Once the stands had completely filled, and the spectators were already buying food and drinks from vendors, a tall and slender man dressed in black walked up to the arena and stopped at the center.

Everybody was looking at him.

He performed a quick spell and amplified his voice many times over to be heard properly by the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Young and elderly alike! The Nycean College Of Mages welcomes you all!"

The crowd roared in the stands, making the ground tremble.

Even though most people called it the College of Mages, or College for short -including Nero-, the official name of the institution was exactly the one the announcer had recited.

It really was one of the most important yearly events. The exams for potential candidates were an event most people paid good money to see, since they lasted for an entire week. The mood in the city became festive, people would place bets on contestants...

...some would even try to guess who would die next, since that was not an uncommon occurrence, either.

"I hope everybody is comfortable and ready to witness what the youngest prodigies of our fair republic have to offer! But, before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of this very first test in a very quick manner!"

Nero gulped.

"Participants will be called by numerical order and required to cast one magic spell, like every year! However, this time around, our most honored guest, Ser Eldrich here, will be standing on the arena with them!"

The crowd cheered once again as the old man walked up the steps, placing both hands of his behind his back. Ser Eldrich was a much beloved figure, having served as headmaster for over thirty years before giving up his position to Creonte seven years ago.

The cheering died down once Ser Eldrich stopped walking and stood next to the wooden table with the pot on it that was placed in the center of the arena.

"Contestants will not only have to successfully cast a magic spell, but they will also have to pass any tests Ser Eldrich places upon them! They can be absolutely anything! So sit tight and don't even blink, lest you miss out on the action!"

Ser Eldrich smiled and waved to the cheering crowd.

"Allow me to welcome you as well to our dear College.", he said, "thank you all for coming here, and good luck to all contestants. Now, if you would be so kind, contestant number one, please step forward."

"Oh! That's me!"

The girl right next to Nero stood up and quickly walked up to the arena.

The crowd cheered for her, as she was an absolute beauty. Her light brown hair flapped in the wind and once again Nero felt like he was being surrounded by her sweet aroma.

He sighed. Girls like those never paid any attention to him.

"What is your name, lass?", asked Ser Eldrich.

"My friends call me Elanee.", she replied softly.

"I see, I see. Would you rather have me call you that?"

"I wouldn't mind if you did" said Elanee with a smile.

Damn, she was good at getting on people's good side.

"Marry my son, Elanee!", someone shouted.

There were laughs in the stands.

"Very well, then. Please cast a spell."

"Right away."

Elanee stretched her left arm forward and aimed her index finger at the pot next to Ser Eldrich. After a few moments, the pot began to shine brightly.

"Oh! Is it an enchantment?", asked Ser Eldrich, "How did you do this?"

"I did nothing to the pot. I simply manipulated the arcana in the air, surrounded the pot, and then lit it."

"Very good! Excellent job."

Elanee smiled.

"Now, could you please break this pot with just arcana? I would like to see you do that."

"Of course."

"Also, the pot has to shatter in at least twelve pieces.", clarified Ser Eldrich.

"I.. I see."

The lack of confidence in her last answer was more than evident. Breaking the pot with arcana alone would be simple enough for someone like her, but to manipulate it in such a specific way was way more complicated.

Nero frowned and started to think. Theory said that arcana flowed through the cosmos like an ocean, and that planets like Nero's were crossed by these currents. Mages would tap on arcana and manipulate it using their own life arcana, mixing the two together, to cast what people commonly referred to as "magic." This quickly lead untrained practitioners to exhaustion.

Elanee was tasked not with piercing the pot with a concentrated beam of arcana, or making the arcana blow like wind to push the pot down, so how could she...?

No, wait! That was an option! If Elanee swept the pot away with a wind blow, it would fall off and hit the ground, shattering!

...but then, how could she make sure the pot would break in at least twelve pieces? It could split in twenty or just six of them, depending on many things, like the speed and angle...

Nero bit his lip. The old man had given quite the test to a novice practitioner, and Elanee didn't seem to be having that much of an easier time coming up with a solution.

She walked up to the pot to examine it.

"You can't touch it, lass.", said Ser Eldrich.

"Hmmm....", she mused.

Then, Elanee made an interesting face. The pot looked resilient enough, but she appeared to have thought of something.

She took a deep breath, then extended both her arms towards the pot, this time with her palms open.

Silence.

Everybody seemed to be holding their breath. At least Nero was.

Then, the pot began trembling, threatening to fall off. Elanee pressed her lips and focused more.

Slowly, but surely, the pot's trembling calmed down, until it almost completely stopped moving.

Then, all of a sudden...

BANG.

The pot shattered in countless, tiny fragments with a loud sound.

The crowds cheered once more.

"Amazing! For a moment there, it looked like the pot was about to fall off! Then, nothing! And then, ka-boom! We're off to a good start! A big round of applause for our first contestant, Lady Elanee!"

The men in the stands roared.

Blegh.

"Splendid! Very well done.", congratulated the old man.

"Thank you, Ser Eldrich.", she smiled, panting a little bit.

"Tell us, how did you do it?"

"I decided to slowly fill the pot with arcana , and began compressing it. At one point it became so much it grazed the inner walls, but I managed to stabilize it and concentrated more and more of it for a few more seconds. Then, I created a stable layer of arcana with the other hand, to cover the pot, and simply let go of the concentrated arcana inside.

"I see. And since the opening was closed by your second wall of arcana, it had no other way to exit but to burst through the pot in all directions.", finished Ser Eldrich.

"Yes."

"Very good! You may go back to your seat now, lass. We shall announce the passing contestants at the end of the day."

"Understood."

Elanee offered a quick and respectful reverence, and walked out of the arena back to her seat, right next to Nero.

The people would not stop cheering until Ser Eldrich himself raised his hand, asking for silence.

"Now, if you would be so kind, participant number two... please step up."