“Wait Makoto, don't help her. We don't need to add burden on us.“

Makoto almost turned around and slapped the real burden but held himself back. In the middle of the forest, they had found a young girl stuck in a net.

'did that dragon make these traps too?' Makoto wondered as he grabbed the knife and walked over to the girl. His eyes scanned the ground for any traps and approached the girl.

“Makoto!“ Shea shouted from ten paces away.

“Isn't another person worth nothing for someone with your skill?“

Shea, happy at being praised, smirked and ran his hand through his hair. “Well, you make sense so.“

Makoto ignored Shea and cut the net open. The brown-haired girl fell when the net couldn't hold her anymore. She dusted her clothes off and bowed.

“Thank you very much.“

“Don't worry about it,” Makoto answered. “Did you leave alone?“

The girl nodded. She raised her necklace, a blue arrow pointing in the direction Makoto faced glowed on the glassy necklace.

“I am Joana from the Vego family. This pendant is an item blessed by spirits to guide me out of troubles.“

Makoto had heard of a few of the noble families even if he hadn't met any. Marquis Vego was a famous figure in the Empire as a spiritualist. Since people close to spirits had to enter the spirit realm or had pranks played on them by the spirits rather frequently, he didn't find it odd for someone of such a family to have this item.

“You planned to get a headstart?“ Asked Makoto.

Joana nodded again. “I thought I could hide well, but going alone was more dangerous than I thought.“

Makoto was surprised that people already seemed to be thinking of this as a test. It was clear to him what both of them needed.

He stretched his hand out. “We were hoping to find a guide.“

“And I was hoping to find someone to watch my back.“ Joana added as she shook his hand.

“This is Shea,” Makoto introduced his friend first. “I am Makoto Barabanki.“

Joana and Shea both flinched as Makoto mentioned his family name.

“You mean from that knight family?“

“Hoh… I didn't know you were someone skilled too, my friend.“

“Uh, yeah. The Knight family. Since everyone is equal in Wrydhaven I hope it's fine to skip formalities.“

“Of course!“ Joana cheerily answered.

***

Luckily enough, Makoto had finally found a guide now.

The journey from then went rather smoothly. With an arrow that always pointed 'out' of wherever Joana was trapped, they didn't have to be worried about getting lost at all.

“Don't touch that mushroom, it's poisonous.“

“We can't go in that direction, there are traces of a beast here. Probably a boar.“

“Should we just leave Shea in the trap?“

Makoto, being the most experienced in the trio when it came to forests, guided them away from trouble. Of course that didn't stop Shea from stumbling into a trap every third or fourth time.

After walking till evening, the trio finally started to see the signs of an exit. The woods started to grow less dense and the roads seemed more paved.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Makoto and Joana, now far more relaxed walked in the lead and mused on the nature of the traps.

“That dragon principal is suspicious, it might be him,” said Joana.

“I thought so too, but looking again, doesn't it feel odd that these aren't magical traps? I'm sure the dragon would use magic.“

“You don't think there could be people living in these woods, right?“

“Maybe.“ Makoto shrugged. “They looked a little crude and old… what if our seniors made them?“

The people who were forced into the entrance test by the dragon the year before and earlier might have made the traps to survive. The thought sent a shudder down Joana's spine. She offered a quick prayer for the ones who would end up stuck behind.

“Hoh… so you mean these traps were made by seniors. Naturally, if they were skilled enough to catch me!“

"Yes, yes," said Makoto.

"In that case, those golems must have been made by our seniors too."

"Probably—Wait what?!" Makoto and Joana snapped to the side at Shea's words. Standing a slight distance from them was a humanoid golem, one just a little shorter than Joana. They took a step back in surprise, but Joana's pendant now pointed directly at the golem.

Makoto approached it first, slowly closing in. Clearly, no senior would make the golem, or at least they hoped so.

The golem rustled as soon as Makoto entered its range. The misty scent of old moss carried into the wind as the wood golem moved. It left a damp encaving in the ground where it had stood, perhaps for a very long time.

“New Students. You have made it to the end of the forest. But to leave you must use your mana!“

Makoto stiffened up at the words of the wooden golem. It was a test! The exact type he had thought of.

“Unless you can prove your ability to manipulate mana, you cannot defeat me and enter the rift that leads out of this forest.“

“Manipulate mana? But we have never done it! We are freshmen!“ Joana snapped back at the golem, but the response that returned was unfortunately not helpful.

“New Students. You have made it to the end of the forest.“

It was on a loop.

“Hmph.“ Shea smirked. “This must be because a wizard should be able to learn on their own. We have no choice but to take the test.“

Shea pushed past his two comrades and stepped up to the golem. The golem stretched its hands and Shea grabbed them.

Makoto and Joana thought they should intervene, they didn't know if they would get the chance again. The two of them leaned in and whispered; 'if we are unsure of what's to happen, we should let him be our scapegoat.'

And so, unbeknownst to himself, Shea was chosen as a lab rat.

“Now! Infuse your mana, activate the magic!“

The golem proclaimed, waving its hands. It had a clear penchant for drama!

“Oooooh!“ Shea exclaimed… and nothing happened.

“Now! Infuse your mana, activate the magic!“

“I just did! I am trying!“

“Now! Infuse your mana—”

It didn't seem like anything bad was going to happen. After a few more minutes, Joana pulled Shea back and stepped up instead.

“Haah, be careful, this guy is a formidable opponent even for someone with my skills.“ Shea said, wiping his forehead.

Even though the requirements sounded simple, using mana was a very dangerous act. No one in the Empire practiced magic without the guidance of a proper academy and at a young age, but Joana from a family of wizards—spiritualists at that—had some inkling of using her mana.

The wooden golem repeated its words as Joana grabbed its hands.

“I heard magic is largely related to visualization. You have to imagine that your mana is pulsing through your circuits and leaving to even start it…!“

Joana's eyes widened in surprise as she started the visualization. There was no doubt, the golem was facilitating the moment of mana in her.

With the help of the golem and some of her own talent, within three tries Joana could feel her mana moving through her heart and to her palms before wisping out of her skin like a sigh.

A few more tries followed and Joana's mana finally seeped into the golem. A magic circle etched on its back gleaned with an ethereal blue glow and the space behind it started to change. Instead of the outskirts of a forest stretching far and wide, fog covered the grounds behind the golem.

“Magnificent!“ The golem yelped with fierce emotion, making Joana jump a little. “You have proven yourself. You may go! Next!“

Joana stepped behind the golem and pumped her fists.

“We should be the first ones right? We did it! I'll wait for you guys here.“

Makoto clapped, amused at the sight.

He was about to head to the golem when Shea took the lead instead.

“Just visualization, huh? Not a problem. I can do that.“

Makoto let Shea go ahead. Though he knew that failing wasn't a problem, he could never be too careful.

Shea smirked, ran a hand through his hair, and closed his eyes.

“Now!“

“Infuse your mana!

“—the magic!“

And nothing happened again… Shea stepped behind once more.

“I weakened it for you, Makoto.“

Makoto stepped up to the golem. Just like Joana, he visualized and tried to sense his mana. He could feel the pull of the golem, helping him circulate it.

After a few tries, he finally sensed his mana. At once, he ushered it all out through his circuits. Once he was conscious of the mana, it became increasingly simple to control it. The sensation was similar to sloshing water around in his mouth.

The mana hit the golem

“Magnificent!“

The circle on the golem's back glowed…

“Huh? What?“

… And it stopped. No magic activated, the mana was here and completely used up.

The golem broke the script in its surprise. “It can't be…”

Makoto suddenly coughed and spilled out blood.

“That was all the mana you had??“