'Forgive me.' The rector sighed heavily, leaning against the tabletop. 'I wanted to talk to you in complete discretion.'
'That much, Karl? In your own office?' Gizel narrowed her eyes suspiciously, eyeing von Konlah.
'Even in my own.' The aristocrat stopped smiling for a moment. 'You are not the sole unplanned guests according to academic customs today.'
'Investigators?' Darius needed no further explanation to understand the situation.
'And the Amethyst Guard.' The rector pointed to the window behind him. 'They demanded to be allowed to observe today's practical exam. Of course, after they searched through what was left of the arena after our little incident.' It seemed that the accumulated fatigue of the last few days suddenly appeared on the man's face. 'Of course, you wanted to ask about that too.'
'We won't hide the fact that we did.' The elf rose from her seat and slowly approached the window. She quickly fixed her gaze on a single point somewhere below. 'Your quick response to our request seemed strange to me from the beginning, and on top of that, you wanted to meet today, and in Solvein of all places. I sense trouble, big trouble.'
'Perceptive as always.' Von Konlah smiled crookedly. 'I always regret that we meet so rarely.'
'The accident during the exam was not a coincidence.' Bleist frowned. He didn't like it. He liked even less what the current meeting might imply. 'The appearance of investigators is understandable, but the Amethyst Guards don't investigate just any poorly cast spell. Something worse has happened.' He thought for a moment. 'Smoke... Red lightning... A silhouette... A deafening roar... Magical shock...' He hadn't thought the matter was too serious before; after all, it was Solvein, and he didn't attach much importance to the incident itself, focusing instead on its effects. However, this seemingly insignificant information changed everything. 'Someone tried to summon some kind of creature during the exam. One that should never have been here.'
'Yes and no.' The headmaster stood up and headed for his desk. 'Anton Vechs, a sixth-year military specialisation graduate, a summoner. He disagreed with the instructors' evaluation and his rejection from the advanced programme, so he applied to retake the practical exams, which had previously proved problematic for him. There was no reason to refuse. The day before yesterday, during the test, he was unable to summon a creature of the required strength, so he was to lose his chance to continue his education.' Von Konlah sighed deeply, leaning against his desk. 'Personally, I think the boy has extensive theoretical knowledge, is intelligent and ambitious, but lacks practical talent. He received a military patent and could easily have enlisted in the army or private units. It seems to me that by conscientiously fulfilling his duties and continuing to train for another three years, he would have become a pretty good officer. However, he was stubborn and, for some reason, almost obsessed with an advanced military profile.' Another long sigh. 'In any case, when he was about to fail, he asked for one more chance. The instructors agreed. Further reports differ in detail, but their overall tone is similar.' The rector reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small, simple box cast uniformly from dark metal. 'Mr. Vechs pulled something out from behind his back. Everyone present agreed that it was a powerful catalyst that would cause him to lose points, but he would still have a chance to pass. It was too late to realise that something was wrong and that the incantation was incorrect. Instructor Hartmann was the first to understand what was really happening. However, it was too late, and the spell, or rather the artefact, quickly absorbed Mr Vechs' mana and life force.
Darius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He tried to focus his thoughts on all the information, not on his own memories. The description was not disturbing, it was terrifying. It wasn't uncommon for artefacts or catalysts to slip out of the control of inexperienced magicians and wreak havoc, exhausting the wizard, but the moment he lost the last of his mana along with his consciousness, the chaos died down. Extreme exhaustion was, of course, very dangerous and could even result in death, but only in extreme cases. However, draining the user's life force was out of the question, even in the worst-case scenario.
What the duke had just described referred to the properties of an item corrupted by black magic. The most vile and depraved kind. In addition, considering the scale and effects of the summoning, Anton Vechs, consciously or not, had attempted to summon Inferni during the exam. Furthermore, it seemed that the monster must have been extremely powerful.
'Was it the boy's doing?' Darius shuddered slightly at the coldness in Gizel's voice. He belatedly remembered the elf's hatred of black magicians. Of course, all those tempted by black magic, regardless of where they were in the world, faced nothing but death. Both in the eyes of the law and in human beliefs. However, for Gizel, black magicians were not only twisted beings threatening the living, but above all, the perpetrators of all her misfortunes, especially her inability to bear children.
'If you ask me, no.' Von Konlah removed the seal from the box with poorly concealed disgust. 'The investigators will probably say yes, at least until they find another lead. The Amethyst Guards won't say anything, they'll just hunt down everyone who could be connected to the case.'
'Amethyst doesn't deal with small-scale matters,' Darius remarked.
'The item Mr Vechs used is just that,' the duke said with a grimace as he removed the lid of the box.
Darius leaned forward slightly, but immediately jumped up from his seat. On a frayed piece of canvas lay several irregularly shaped fragments of lavender jade. They must have once formed a small figurine. From the preserved fragments, it seemed to depict some kind of figure. Bleist felt sick as a dark brown slime oozed out from inside, still moist and pulsating even after two days. It smelled of iron, rotting flesh and something unnatural. Worst of all, elven runes from an old dialect could be seen on the broken fragments.
*************************************************************************************************
'During the exam, you must introduce yourself to the instructor and provide your class profile and attribute,' explained the green-haired boy with round features calmly. He addressed the group of six consecutive examinees, discussing what was going to happen. 'Then you must draw five spells from the thought category and two from the word category. After each card is drawn, you must read the name of the spell aloud. The exam is simple; to pass, you must correctly cast four thought spells and one word spell. Correctness is assessed, not power or accuracy, so there are no targets in the arena.' The instructor's assistant glanced at the next examinees and, without waiting for a response, pointed to the barrier.
On the outside of the shield, Instructor Hine was writing out documents for those who had already completed the exam. He was accompanied by several other teachers and two Guards in purple, gold-embroidered uniforms. The latter watched each examinee very closely.
'I'm nervous,' Aiden whispered as they stood by a break in the small wall surrounding the arena. 'Even after the potion.'
'It'll be better than you think.' Draco didn't know if he should answer him at all, so he said the first thing that came to mind.
'Next!' The instructor had just dismissed the last person from the previous group.
Draco, Aiden and four other students entered the arena. Next to the instructor stood a small table with two boxes on it. The dragon swallowed hard, not sure if his stomach was churning because of the stress of the exam itself or because he could feel the eyes of the other teachers and Guards on his back.
'One at a time, please.' The instructor pointed his pen at Draco.
The reptile managed to take a deep breath before approaching.
'Draco Ignis, third year, military profile, light magic,' he blurted out in one breath. The man in front of him looked through the documents he was holding and shuffled a few pages.
'Light magic...' he muttered, writing something down, then gestured towards the boxes, which lit up with a yellowish light. 'Five from the right container and two from the left.' The instructor's tone was completely indifferent.
Draco didn't even know when he found himself at the table and put his hand into the right box. Under his fingers, he felt cold balls about the size of a quail's egg. Trying not to think about anything, he grabbed one and pulled it out. In his hand, he held a glass sphere inside which golden runes burned.
'Kinetic blast,' he read, and the runes went out.
'Good, next,' said the dispassionate voice, accompanied by the scratching of a pen.
Draco put his hand back in the box and repeated the draw four more times. One by one, he pulled out balls with runic inscriptions: light bolt, kinetic shield, flash, and levitation. Then, from the second box, he pulled out two slightly larger balls with the inscriptions: Igun lasso and spark.
The dragon almost breathed a sigh of relief. He had practised all the spells he had drawn thoroughly and could not say that he was unsure about any of them. Thanks to his master's advice, he had no problem with any of the spells, and even used some of them almost instinctively.
'You may begin when you are ready. The order is up to you, you do not need to announce which spell you wish to use. Offensive spells should be directed at the barrier on the right.' The instructor moved back a little to give the reptile more space.
Draco swallowed hard. He tried to calm down, although the audience did not make it easy for him. Previously, only Darius and Gizel had watched his spellcasting training, but now quite a few people were staring at him. He took a few deep breaths and stretched out his arm. The mental image was clear, the transmitted energy was immediately released, and familiar runes appeared around his wrist. Sphere. Target. Flight. Piercing. Destruction. The only difference was that recently, the bracelets with magical symbols also contained Atlantean symbols. The runes glowed more brightly and the projectile flew across the arena.
Without waiting for a command, the dragon raised his hand above his head, squinting his eyes. The mental image of the blinding flash was firmly etched in the reptile's memory after he stared curiously at his hand during the first activation. Even through his closed eyelids, he saw the blinding flash. He waited a moment before opening his eyes. Those outside the barrier seemed unaffected by the spell, but the other five examinees in the same round tried not to grimace or blink so nervously.
Draco, somewhat encouraged by his two successes, gathered energy on the surface of his body. He created a mental image of pushing objects in front of him and pushed the pent-up mana. A runic circle consisting of two alternating words, repel and shatter, lit up in front of his chest. The released energy quickly activated the spell. There was a dull thud, like the sound of a dry log falling on a stone surface. The force of the spell threw away the pebbles and rock fragments lying on the arena.
As the last of his thought magic, he decided to show the kinetic shield. He stretched out both hands in front of him and recalled his first spell. He poured a large portion of magic into the image and watched as a golden barrier glistened before him. He glanced at the instructor, but the latter said nothing and continued to wait.
Word magic was next. The spell he decided to use was one he used very often. Moving around the estate at night, looking into the cellars and reading late into the night. He uttered a few words and seven balls of golden light appeared around him with chains of runes burning inside. They glowed with an even, warm light that was pleasing to the eye. He held the spell for a moment before looking at the instructor.
The man scribbled something in his documents before dismissing the dragon and instructing him to speak with instructor Hine. The reptile moved towards the second teacher. Passing Aidan, he smiled encouragingly.
'You can do it,' he whispered.
'Draco Ignis, student of Earl Darius Bleist, light mage,' Hine read from the evaluation card he had already prepared. He did not wait for confirmation but began to write something down.
Something exploded behind the dragon. However, the thunder was muffled by the barrier. Draco looked over his shoulder. Aidan must have cast a spell because he was pointing at a charred spot on the ground. Reptile closed his eyes for a moment and looked back at the instructor. Hine didn't even seem to notice the explosion.
'Everything's fine.' The man nodded, seemingly more to himself than to Draco. 'You can go to the next exam. Do you know where?'
'Yes, sir. The Tower of Earth, training room number four.' Draco barely managed to stop himself from standing to attention, clicking his heels and chanting the answer in Dagonese.
'Very good.' Hine glanced at his notes once more. 'That's all, you may proceed to the next exam.'
*************************************************************************************************
Draco was in no hurry. According to the official document, the combat exams did not start until noon, but it seemed that it was possible to speed up one's turn. However, the dragon was in no hurry. On the one hand, he needed to calm down a bit, and on the other, he needed a guide. He really needed one.
Aiden caught up with the reptile as soon as Draco set foot on the grass in front of the arenas. The boy seemed happy. All his earlier anxiety, fear and turbulent emotions were forgotten.
'Which room do you have?' Aiden was clearly more excited about the prospect of fighting.
'The fourth in the Tower of Earth.
'I have the fifth.' The red-haired boy grinned.
'Then we're going in the same direction.' Draco smiled slightly.
'Almost, yours is on the first floor of the basement, and mine is on the second.'
'It's just a number, Aiden.'
'But how many stairs...' The red-haired boy tried to be ironic.