The minotaur raised its axe high above it and lashed the axe at Ermand, snorting loudly.

"Vertella vertaine!" He cried at the top of his voice with one of his hands against the monstrous creature.

A spark that arose from the air near to Ermand's palm plunged into the bull's eye. The axe in his hands flew away from the grasp of the bull and landed somewhere far to Ermand. The creature groaned in agony and hid the right eye with its palms and fell onto the rocky ground, creating a massive thumping sound all over the tunnel.

"I'm sorry but I have to live too. I hope you'll be fine," Ermand said, panting. He somehow managed to get on his feet.

Thanks Emile.

The sides of the tunnel began to crumble. Ermand staggered toward an exit through which bright light shone into the tunnel. Even though it had only been a quarter of an hour, it felt equal to an hour for him. He's exhausted already.

The mouth of the tunnel ended with a cliff at its end. Ermand turned left and right for a way out.

Where is that crystal?

He leaned into the river that flowed deep down with bubbles formed at its surface. Ermand extended his hand. He felt warm and humid. Vapours were formed on his palm, warm water vapours. The river water is boiling.

He heard a strange screech that sounded as if it belonged to a bird.

What now?

Ermand revolved around, observing the environment around him with his feet rooted to the ground. His eyes descried a figure that was shorter than him. It climbed over the steepy rocks of the tunnel above Ermand. The green eyes of the creature penetrated into Ermand's eyes. He stood motionless, his eyes opened wide.

Why isn't there light anymore?

Something hopped onto his chest and pushed him.

It must be the creature! Why is everything dark?

Ermand realized he was falling only when the heat of the boiling river underneath him permeated into his body. Before he could cast the protection spell, Ermand was submerged into the hot water. Hot water rushed into his nostrils and choked him. He wiggled helplessly in the water. He tried swimming toward the surface but something twisted around his ankles and pulled him to the depth of the river. A burning sensation cropped up in the bridge of his nose as the water gushed into his nose.

Bubbles fled from his mouth and nostrils and he was slowly engulfed into the river bed by the seaweeds.

When he opened his eyes, his vision was obfuscated. He felt the presence of somebody sitting close to him.

I'm not drowned?

"What is your name, dear?" A woman's voice sang. She concealed his forehead with her palm and gently ran her finger to his earlobes.

"Er-Ermand."

"You will be alright in a matter of a few minutes, Ermand. If you feel any discomfort, do inform me, alright?"

Ermand didn't get a clear picture of the woman but nodded in the direction where the figure was.

"Can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in the Healers' department of health care and casualty. I'm one of the nurses here. It's common to fail your first DCT and feel uncomfortable to find yourself in bed here."

Ermand nodded again before shutting his eyes and snuggled his head on the white fluffy pillow. He was drenched and his skin was cut although, but they were not hurting him.

When Ermand woke up, he found Emile near to him. He looked fine except the scratch on his glass.

"How do you feel?" He asked, brushing his fingers against the deep cut on Ermand's knees that gaped through the torn jeans.

"Not bad," Ermand replied, his eyes scanned the room around him. A few students were resting on their beds while a few were talking to each other.

"What was your score?"

"It's win or not, Ermand."

"And?"

"I was close to my crystal but something unexpected hit me from behind. The end, or so I thought."

"I'm barely saved like this because of you or else I'd have lost my limbs."

"Really?"

"The spark shooting spell saved me in the last moment when I thought I'm almost dead."

"Nice. You're slowly learning. You'll catch up with class and carry it all before one in the next test."

"I hope... Where are the others?"

"Edwin is unconscious still. Timothy's in the next room. Charlie and Odin are there at the far end."

"Did anybody surpass the test?"

"No one among the Defenders."

Ermand laid his head deeply into the pillow and closed his eyes.

"I want some more rest."

"You can, but not here. In the dorm, chum."

"What about the next classes?" Ermand got up in his sitting position on the bed.

"Do you know what time it is? The test took nearly the whole day. The sun's already setting now. Look." Emile walked near the window to Ermand and pulled the curtains to reveal the red sky.

"Wow. So I must've slept for a long time."

"Quite a lot. And hey, we got our uniforms stitched."

Ermand nodded slowly and glanced over the two boys chatting with each other at the end of the room.

Since he put all of his day and night's effort for the test that had been announced a week ago, he thought the DCT would be a bit undemanding. It didn't end well but at least, he's okay.

"Ermand, get up or you'll be late," Emile tapped on Ermand's shoulder who was in deep slumber.

"The uniform fits me well," Timothy said, admiring himself in the mirror.

"Mine is a bit loose over the sleeves," Charlie complained.

"Where's mine?" Ermand slowly got up and grabbed the package from the side table near his bed.

It had his name on the package. His clothes inside had been neatly wrapped and laced with a coir rope.

"Did they take the correct measurements for yours, Ermand? Look what they did to mine," Charlie said, throwing his white silk shirt on the bed.

"I don't know. Let me see if it's good," Ermand mumbled, undoing the coir knot.

Three sweater vests, one a navy blue, other a bottle green and the final piece a maroon, lay on top, neatly folded. When Ermand unfolded the sweater, he noticed the symbol of Agledon stitched on the chest region with a silver silk thread. Under the sweater vests, three similar white shirts of silk lay and finally three pairs of pants that match the colors of the sweater lay at the bottom. A maroon, a navy blue and a bottle green silk tie was neatly hidden between the folds of each shirt. The clothes were mildly scented with lavenders.

After bathing, Ermand put on his luxury clothes that fit him perfectly. He stared at the mirror, not admiring how he looked but at his face that rarely showed radiance. He slowly peeled off the bandage at the corner of his jaw.

"Ah," he tried stifling the stinging sensation. The cut was still there, raw and unhealed.

"Hey, where is it? I know I kept it here!" Charlie bleated, rummaging in his wooden chest.

"What have you lost?" Timothy asked while he brushed his hair neat.

"The Preparer," Charlie replied.

The Preparer?