The rest of the week involved Nick doing his usual routine of pushups, going to the battle simulation building, studying space and soul magic and working on his new rule magic spell. Nick's progress on the latter was slow but he could feel his understanding of rule magic increase with every mistake and correction.

The Monday morning that Nick was to accompany Carla to her family's tournament had finally arrived. Nick got dressed in his usual attire of a polo shirt and a pair of jeans pants and not long after he received a call from Carla Jenner.

"Are you ready?"

Nick replied without much enthusiasm in his tone:

"Sure I am miss Carla. Where should I meet you?"

"Drop the miss, you can just call me Carla, I'm not your teacher Nick. Anyway, I'll pick you up at the academy gate, I already received permission from the academy to supervise you while you and I go on a 'field exercise'. You just have to get an exit permission card form the guard stationed at the gate."

"Field exercise? Is that really what we are calling this, isn't it more accurate to say that I'm your mercenary."

Carla let out a chuckle:

"Don't be so dramatic, Nick. So long as you do well, I will grant you your reward."

Nick sighed internally.

(I have a bad habit of making deals with powerful Magicians. I hope I won't regret this one.)

"I'll be at the academy gates within the hour."

"Good."

Carla hung up the phone and Nick grabbed his backpack and made his way over to the academy gates, having already ate earlier that morning. It was around 11 am as Nick stood in front of the guard post situated near the academy gates. He walked up to the reception counter of the guard post and said to the security guard on duty:

"Good morning, my name is Nick Capitol and I am supposed to be getting an exit permission card from you."

The old guard looked at Nick with an almost empty gaze that made Nick alert. Nick sensed a feint magic energy coming from the guard's body; although this guard did not feel as powerful as Carla, Nick was almost sure that the guard could kill him easily. The guard spoke flatly:

"Nick Capitol...I have an exit permit card for you right here. This card allows you to leave the academy and return during the seventh day after you go beyond those gates. If you do not return by then, you will be considered truant and you and your supervisor will face punishment. Do you understand?"

Nick nodded his head in response.

"Sure do."

The guard took a glossy plastic card from somewhere below the counter that had a red colored 'E' on the front and handed it to Nick.

"Once you leave the academy, that card will be bound to you no matter where you go so you don't have to worry about losing it. It will act as a tracking device and a health meter so that we can monitor your condition. You can leave now."

Nick left through the academy gates after receiving the exit permit card ; as soon as he walked beyond the gates, the 'E' on the card glowed a bright red and the card merged with Nick's right palm, becoming a scarlet E on his palm.

(A tracking device and a health meter, huh? Almost makes me feel like cattle.)

Nick was the recipient of a very valuable scholarship from the British government as well as someone who had absorbed many of the academy's literary resources so they would not let him freely roam the country until he was in his third year and could be considered a well enough instructed apprentice.

A black and silver town car drove beside Nick as he waited for Carla to pick him up and when the window rolled down, a clear feminine voice could be heard:

"Get in Nick, I want to get there early to scout out our competition."

Nick looked through the window to see Carla wearing a purple short sleeved dress with her brown, long hair tied into a bundle. Carla had a white complexion and a glowing disposition despite her age. Nick didn't say anything in reply and quickly entered the town car.

Nick sat opposite to Carla and remained quiet as the car drove along the road, waiting for his so called supervisor to say something.

"So Nick, how's the scroll making coming along?"

Nick felt embarrassed upon being asked this question as he had not made even one scroll to fulfill his contract but he did not let his embarrassment show on his face. Nick calmly replied:

"It's going great Carla, I should be able to fulfill the contract on time and the quality of the scrolls won't disappoint you."

"Ha, ha, that's good. We are going to one of my family's estates in a relatively rural part of the region which should take about an hour and thirty minutes for us to get there. Once we are there, there will be some meet and greets, a little speech by my uncle and then the tournament will begin and probably won't be concluded until the next day so you are in for an eventful trip. Take this time to think on your spells and battle tactics if you want."

"Honestly, I'm a little surprised that you are still at rank 1 considering your results within the academy. Are you purposefully not promoting yourself to rank 2?"

Nick shook his head in response to Carla's question.

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"No, I've spent most of my time in the academy studying so I still have more active meditation to do before being able to promote to rank 2."

Nick replied with a half truth and Carla nodded her head in understanding.

"Studying is good young man but remember that the basis of your survival is actual strength. All your competitors will be rank 2 Apprentice Magicians but that shouldn't be too great of a hurdle since the difference between rank 1 and rank 2 is not big. If your opponents were rank 3, you and a mop would probably have the same probability of winning the tournament."

Nick smiled awkwardly in response to Carla's critique but knew that she was probably correct. Nick needed to do much more hours of meditation than his peers to get to rank 2 because of the characteristics of his mindscape but the benefits of his special mindscape already made up for that inconvenience.

After talking a little with Nick about mundane things like what he had eaten that morning and why he chose to wear jeans and a polo shirt of all things, Carla sat back silently and waited for the car to reach their destination. Nick also sat back silently and looked through the window as it passed different buildings, trees, etcetera and became lost in thought.

(All of my opponents are rank 2 and have probably been under the influence of Magicians far longer than me. When I fight them, I shouldn't hold back, if I am planning to explore a realm like Carla promised, I have to get good results.)

Nick was hell bent on exploring realms, he wanted to experience the same feeling of adventure that he had during the end of year exam. While Nick's mind continued to wonder, his eyes eventually ended up on Carla as she also seemed lost in thought. She had her legs folded with one on top of the other and the appeal of one of them was enhanced by the fact that her dress was split at one side allowing Nick to see a section of her thigh.

(Carla's actually very attractive for her age. Not that it's any of my business but I wonder whether female Magicians like her ever get married?)

As Nick continued to eye Carla's leg, he suddenly heard her speak:

"Be careful Nick, don't you know that curiosity once killed the cat?"

"Huh?"

Nick snapped out of his daze and looked away from Carla's legs to look directly at her face; his cheeks flushed a bit in embarrassment at being caught.

"He, he."

Carla chuckled and asked without any shame:

"Nick, do you want to have sex with me?"

Nick's expression became awkward, not knowing what to say. Carla continued:

"It's fine if you do, after all, Magicians are generally a promiscuous bunch but I am not most Magicians. Don't let your eyes wonder."

Nick replied nervously:

"Yes maam."

Carla chuckled again and turned to look out of the window.

Nick sat awkwardly in the car and waited for them to reach the Jenner family estate.

................

At around 2 pm, the town car drove up a cobbled road to get to a pair of large steel gates. The gates opened at the car's approach and the car traveled another two hundred meters to get to a large mansion.

When Carla's town car had arrived, there were already a line of vehicles in front of the mansion so the town car parked behind the last one and Carla and Nick exited. As soon as Carla stepped out, a loud greeting shout could be heard:

"Big sis Carla, how comes it took you so long to get here?"

A woman one head shorter than Carla ran out from the gathering of people at the entrance of the mansion and gave her a very intimate hug. Carla replied while hugging the woman:

"I was busy with the store's business this morning and I also had to pick up my champion before coming here."

The woman replied with a tone of exasperation:

"I don't know why you even bother with that store, with your talents you could definitely get a high position within the ministry of magic and they would definitely give you all the cultivation resources you need."

Carla shook her head and replied:

"I like being independent, anyway, let's not talk about that right here. Alicia, let me introduce you to Nick Capitol, my champion for this tournament. Nick, this is Alicia Jenner, head secretary within our family and my little sister."

The women's hug loosened and Carla introduced Nick to Alicia. Alicia turned her attention to Nick and after spending a few moments looking him over, she seemed visibly unimpressed and turned to Carla, asking:

"This is your champion, you realize that he is a rank 1 Magician right?"

Carla's right eye twitched a little and she replied while pinching Alicia's right cheek with her left hand:

"Of course I realize that little girl but he is stronger than he seems. I have no doubt that he will win me some benefits."

Alicia knocked Carla's hand away and said with squinted eyes:

"Oh, let me see if that is the case then."

Nick who had been idly watching the women's interaction at the side with no intention of saying anything suddenly felt a sense of imminent danger. Without thinking too much about the implications, Nick activated one of his spells.

(Blink.)

Within an instant, Nick appeared one meter away from his previous position; Nick had been practicing his spells for weeks so now he was able to cast them at a moments notice. Near the spot that Nick had just been, a large creature that seemed like a praying mantis became visible with its sythe like claw stuck in the ground where Nick had just been standing. Nick pointed his right index finger at Alicia and was about to cast another spell.

(Rumbling...)

However, before Nick could finish forming the laws of the spell, he suddenly felt a suppressive force come over him, halting his actions and his magic sea became completely still.

(What the hell is this.)

At this moment, Slade said to Nick:

['This' is the difference between a rank 4 and a rank 1 Apprentice Magician.]

Nick looked to the side to see Carla looking at him with a glance that gave no room for complaints. In a few moments, Nick felt the suppressive force disperse and he was free to move again. Nick looked at Alicia with a menacing glare but she ignored him and spoke to Carla:

"Interesting, you actually got an Apprentice Magician who knows such a good space path spell to be your champion. Where did you find him?"

Carla replied:

"He is one of my customers."

Alicia looked at Carla blankly for a while and then burst into laughter:

"Of course he is. Well, I have to go greet our other relatives so I will see you later big sis."

With that Alicia waved her hand and the praying mantis like creature disappeared and she walked back to the large group of people who were too busy talking among themselves to pay their scuffle any attention.

Nick was looking at Alicia's back with pure malice when he heard Carla speak:

"Calm your mind Nick, it's actually a good thing that I stopped you from casting your spell at Alicia, she doesn't look it but she is a rank 3 Apprentice Magician and one strong enough to kill you with a flick of her finger. She was just testing you a little so let it go."

Nick wasn't appeased but he put on an indifferent expression to mask his anger. Carla knew how he felt so she consoled:

"Sorry about that, rich kids can be a little playful, that's all. The good news is that your use of your spell impressed her a bit. Not many rank 1 Magicians have a movement spell as good as yours or even have the qualifications to cast one of such quality. I also sensed spacial magic energy gathering around you when you were about to cast your other spell before I interrupted you, so you really are a space Magician, huh?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just a magic fanatic."

Carla looked at Nick with an amused expression.

"He, he, of course you are. Let's not waste any more time and go inside."

Carla turned around and walked to the entrance of the building to greet her relatives and Nick was expected to follow her. Nick walked one meter behind Carla, looking back at the spot on the concrete ground that had been sliced by Alicia's creature; the gash was 10 inches deep, meaning if that had connected to his body, Nick would have definitely died.

(Testing me, huh? What a joke.)

Nick clenched his right hand with silent rage and continued to walk forward.