Against herself, Elaine kept her wand aimed right at him, the gleaming instrument trembling in her grasp as she struggled to retain the Essence spiraling within her Core. She was uncertain if Cael had another trick up his sleeve after all. However, watching him cower beneath her, the confidence and assurance stripped from his lodged glance, something else began to wash over her.

Magic. A wondrous force, capable of reshaping reality to the desires and whims of a mage. Elaine understood its potential as well as its peril. She had always strived to use her magic for good, never to harm. Some might call her idealistic, especially in their era. But it was her belief, her code.

However, where had that girl vanished when she permitted her body to take hold of her destiny and cast a spell with the capacity to erase someone's Essence from this world? Where had she been when blades of light severed an endless mist and nearly pierced one of her classmates—a mage like her, aspiring to be a Professional Sorcerer—in the heart?

Quivering, Elaine felt a crushing pressure pour down on her, as if gravity had suddenly gotten a lot heavier, or invisible chains were tugging at her soul and attempting to drag her through the earth into the pits of the Shadow. The golden-colored flickers of her wand perished with a final flash, and the tightness in her throat prevented her from saying anything, nor had she reacted as she saw Cael quickly pick himself from where he'd fallen, snatch his wand out of the grass and dart down the forest path with all the haste of a pegasus, not looking bad at them once.

Now, there was an amusing sight, and under differing circumstances, she might have found it funny enough to laugh out loud. There was the mage, the very same who had acted superior to all four of them, running away in sheer terror. Where had that confidence gone now? Had Elaine evolved to be a threat in his eyes? One that couldn't be defeated alone?

Swallowing, Elaine slowly looked down at the wand clenched in her dominant fist. That was a new spell, Elaine thought absently. My body retook control...and I thought I'd nearly black out from the intensity. Why...why now?

"That's right! Keep running!" Kara shouted, and Elaine flinched when she realized that she and Rolland were now standing next to her. Although Kara still relied on Rolland for support, keeping one of her arms wrapped around his shoulder, and hopefully, neither of them had gotten injured by her attack spell. "What are the odds that'll be the last time we come across him during this exam?"

"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Rolland sighed. "We've drawn him back for now, but we didn't deactivate his weak point. Technically, he hasn't been eliminated from the exam yet."

Kara pouted disappointedly. "Fritz..."

"Well, at least we managed to wound him," Rolland said, cautious yet happy. "That's something, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. Big whoopie," Laurence said dryly behind them. Crouched to one knee, Laurence collected the wand he'd dropped amidst the chaos of Cael's attack with a disgruntled scowl as he whipped his ponytail over his shoulder. "He's probably on his way to report what happened to Adeline and the others. There goes our element of surprise. I doubt any of them will be underestimating us from now on, but that isn't necessarily a good thing."

Kara stuck her tongue out at him. "So pessimistic!"

As the crisp autumn winds swept down from the skies, they enveloped the forest, causing the branches to sway and the twigs and leaves to dance in their wake. At the same time, the dense fog slowly began to disperse, pulling away from the clearing and seeking refuge among the towering galbora trees, resembling a giant creature fleeing from a predator. Within just two minutes, the once-veiled surroundings were utterly devoid of lingering mist.

Edgar and Mercedes—still trapped inside their thorny vine harnesses—twitched and murmured in their sleep, but none of them had been awoken from the duel, which was impressive given how thunderous it had been. Laurence had mentioned Dreamless would be in effect for approximately two hours, but could it also be possible that the charm partially neutered their faculty of hearing?

Laurence flicked the unconscious Edgar on his shoulder, nodding with satisfaction when he recieved no response from the boy. However, when he turned to look at her, confusion hardened his expression. "Elaine?" he asked, raising a brow. "You doing all right?"

Elaine hadn't noticed when it'd happened, just that she suddenly found herself seated on the grass, her hands limp by her sides and her commoner's wand lying beside her. Rolland and Kara must not have noticed either, as they wore expressions of equal shock that mirrored Laurence's bewildered gaze. Elaine brought a hand to her cheek, feeling the damp trail left by her tears. "No...no, I'm not..."

"What's wrong?" Kara exclaimed. "Did that jerk Cael hurt you?!"

"It...it happened again..." Elaine said softly, side-glancing her wand. "It's been so long that I had forgotten what it felt like. I...I just need...a moment..."

Laurence nodded in understanding. "I've never seen you cast that spell. Not once during any of our training sessions." Elaine remained silent, her soggy eyes glued to her lap. "And I'm willing to bet not even you knew you could cast it, right? In other words, you just had a spell distortion, didn't you?"

"A spell distortion?!" Rolland gasped. "Those are extremely dangerous! They could even lead to a Rejection if one isn't careful!"

"Yup, and they're mostly caused by stress and anxiety," Laurene muttered, shooting a glare at Rolland. "So, you might want to stop talking about Rejections and what have you, loose lips."

Rolland winced with embarrassment. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, Elaine..."

"It's fine, Rolland," she replied flatly. "Professor Knight told me they were purely situational. My first few distortions were a byproduct of my inexperience with my magic. I thought I'd grown since then. I thought I was...improving as a sorcerer." Elaine bawled a fist and frustratedly slammed it into the ground. "But I'm just as incompetent as I ever was!"

"Don't say that, Elaine," Kara confided reassuringly. "You're the reason we still have a chance at passing this exam."

"Plus," Rolland added swiftly, "now you have another awesome Light Magic spell under your belt. Once you've mastered it, you'll only get even stronger."

"The fact is, we can't change what happened," Laurence muttered as he tramped over to them. "And there's no point beating yourself up over it now. I guess, as sorcerers in training, we'll have to get used to bucking our toes and scraping our knees. You had a spell distortion today, and you might even have one tomorrow, too. Who knows?"

"Hey, Laurence. Has anyone ever told you you're terrible at cheering people up?"

"No."

"Ah, that makes sense," Kara said with a false smile. "Allow me to be the first, then: You're terrible at cheering people up!"

"Well, what do you want me to do? Feed her a bunch of lies?" Laurence grunted. "She's too smart to buy into crap like that anyhow. But, Elaine, you told me you believed I had the potential to be a Professional Sorcerer in the future. Were you lying?"

Elaine shook her head. "No, I...I would never lie to you about something like that..."

"What a relief," Laurence exhaled. "Then, how could I in good conscience be named a Professional Sorcerer if the person who inspired me won't be granted that honor as well?" Elaine froze from his words and steadily lifted her chin at him. That smile seemed odd on his face, and he was reaching down for her with his hand. "Come on. You won't let one mistake break your spirit, will you? Let's pass this stupid exam already. I'm overdue for a nap."

Elaine couldn't help but chuckle—he really did have an awkward smile—as she clasped hands with him and allowed him to gently pull her back up to her feet. "Thanks," she grinned, brushing off the tears below her eyes. "I needed that."

Laurence yawned into his freehand. "Don't mention it. Man, this academy is such a nuisance."

"So, then, what's our next move?" Rolland asked cautiously.

Elaine spun to face the two of them with a burst of confidence, the winds carrying her blonde hair as rivers. "We're going to the Butt Rock, and we're going to win."

"Wait, what?!" Rolland exclaimed in disbelief.

Laurence crossed his hands. "Now, this should be good."

"Look, we've proven capable of fending ourselves from the Griffins. In their eyes, we're an unpredictable factor in this exam," Elaine explained firmly. "If you ask me, I think we should ride this wave of momentum and storm their gates when they least expect it."

Kara traded quizzical glances between Elaine and Laurence. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, we're not exactly in the best shape."

Of course, Elaine had already taken her team's condition into account. Kara's shoulder was injured, Laurence had used up a significant amount of his Essence, and the bruised and bloodied Rolland appeared on the verge of collapsing at any moment. Despite this, their odds weren't hopeless. "We don't have to beat them, necessarily; just hold them off long enough to touch the rock."

"That is the exam's objective, after all," Laurence agreed.

"You've trusted me so far," Elaine continued, looking at each of them with a resistant stare. "Give me another chance."

Kara sighed. "As long as I score higher than a B minus, I'll be content."

Rolland's shoulders sagged. "More pain for me, lovely..."

"Whatever gets me to my bed faster," Laurence yawned loudly. "But I'd like to hear more about this plan of yours before any decision is made."

Elaine nodded at him. "Right. So, what I'm thinking we do is—"

Clapping.

The abrupt sound of clapping cut her off.

With furrowed brows and puzzled looks, she, Rolland, and Kara swiveled their heads, searching the wooded area to pinpoint the origin of the sound. As far as Elaine could tell, there was no one else present in the forest clearing apart from the four of them. However, her focus shifted to Laurence, who was intently staring at the treetops. Following his line of sight, she finally noticed a stooped figure perched on a protruding branch of a galbora tree.

His dark hair cascaded in the wind, reaching such lengths that one might mistake him for a woman. A broad, mischievous smile spread from cheek to cheek, revealing a row of gleaming teeth, and only when all eyes turned up at him did he cease his boisterous clapping, the echoing noise disappearing from within Elaine's ears. "Wow, what impressive magic you have," the stranger smirked. "Looks like my gamble paid off. I finally found you, dear Alight."

*

* *

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What the hell is this?!" Jared shouted, shaking his fist in the air profusely. "Who the hell's interfering with my exam?!"

Allan narrowed his eyes in a focused gaze, and there it was—a massive barrier stretching across a large portion of Glyph Forest, forming a colossal dome. Normally, Allan would have been able to sense the presence of a mage creating such a barrier, especially one of this immense size. Whoever had conjured it must have been a truly skilled master of their craft, for it had materialized in an instant. By the time Allan had recognized it, the barrier had already solidified into existence.

As soon as it appeared, all twenty-three magiscreens, which had been meticulously monitoring their students, simultaneously went defective. Each screen now showed nothing but chaotic static within its flickering, translucent border, making it impossible to glimpse the activities of the individuals under observation. Allan reasoned that this must be an unintended consequence of the barrier. Evidently, someone intended to thwart any attempts at intrusive surveillance.

Allan grunted to himself. "So, I take it this isn't your doing, then? It's not a part of your insane Midterm Exam?"

"Like I'd be able to keep something like this a secret," Jared loudly replied, a pure look of concern washing over his defined face. "You know I'm terrible at Enchantment. I usually depend on you or Howard for that sorta stuff. Should I have attempted to build a barrier like this, I'd be too exhausted to host my Midterm." The large man cursed as he swung a fist to his side with speed that blurred the motion. "And with the magiscreens down, we're as blind as a mole troll on a sunny summer day!"

"Speak for yourself," Allan whispered. Closing his eyes, sheathing his gaze, Allan opened himself up for his Magic Sense to take full effect. A hazy landscape stretched before him in the pitch void, and one after the other, Essence Signatures sparked to life like torches along the trail of an underground cavern.

Allan carefully identified each of the twenty-three Signatures representing his students, making sure all of them were accounted for. A fleeting sense of relief washed over him, but it quickly dissipated as he noticed more torchlights flickering into existence. To his dismay, he couldn't recognize any of them, and there could potentially be many more hiding in the creeping darkness of the trees.

An array of Essence Signatures adorned the dark canvas, resembling scattered shards of flaming light. Migrating clusters of these Signatures suggested some level of coordination among the wielders. While most of the manifestations appeared as feeble as those of a Novice Sorcerer, a handful of them exuded extraordinary and potent magical energy, surpassing the standard set by their comrades.

With a sudden gasp, Allan's eyes snapped open, and he instinctively took a step back, nearly stumbling. "They're in danger..."

Jared glanced at him worriedly. "Huh?! What did you see?!"

Allan's hair dangled around the circumference of his face as he aimed an irritated, partially ashamed scowl at the cragged ground below his feet. "Dammit! I was too slow with my investigation!" he grunted angrily. "How could I let a scheme of this magnitude go unchecked?! It's...it's happening all over again..."

"Investigation?" Jared said curiously. "What investigation?"

A smoldering classroom filled with crying kids, putrid flames engulfing those around him, the whispers and moans of a tarnished legacy cooked in hellfire; that horrid day weighed fresh on Allan's memory as he reached for the wand at his side. The sunken ruby implanted into the handle of his wand ignited along with the magic that turned his eyes red, Essence pouring out of his Core and enveloping him with its power.

"I refuse to let it happen. Not if it can be avoided." Allan cut his head toward Jared, who flinched with surprise. "We haven't the time to idle, Jared. Our students' lives are in jeopardy. Contact the Gray Cloaks and the headmaster. Inform them of what's happening here and that we demand immediate reinforcements."

"C...Consider it done," Jared said with a wobbly smile.

"In the meanwhile," Allan considered, glancing back at the barrier, "I'll get to work clawing my way inside."

Dark energy from the very pits of the Shadow encompassed him in a ring like spiraling black flames. They crawled up his legs and frame, coiling around the arm that kept his Nightshade Wand raised overhead, radiating beams of purple-colored light. The wind wasn't to account for the rustling of his clothing and his long hair that lifted weightlessly off his shoulders and floated around his head, but rather the pressure of his magical energy, so strong that others were intimidated by his Signature alone.

Flicking his wand forward, Allan grunted, "Shadow Magic: Umbra Ustum!"

Tendrils of pure darkness peeled off the ground and arose to his sides, liquid masses of shadow malleable enough for some to mistake them for oil. However, as Allan concentrated on his spell, the five arms of shadows hanging on either side of him were swept over by a glistening coating that would have them turn tangible to one's touch, hardening to the strength of pure iron.

Still tethered to the ring of shadows encircling him, all at once, the black-colored tentacles lunged forth, extending past the ledge of the rocky shelf and at the barrier with the precise speed a griffin could only aspire for. One by one, the shadow tendrils impacted the translucent wall, waves rippling over the dome as hoops originating from wherever the tipped end of a tendril penetrated.

Allan grimaced as he watched each of his manifested appendages rebound off the barrier in a detonation of sparks, fracturing into smoggy pieces prior to disappearing in the sunlight. It was as Allan predicted; it'd take more than one Professional Sorcerer to erase the barrier for good, even a sorcerer of his level.

Behind him, he saw Jared speaking to someone through the communication amulet inside the silver-colored cuff strapped around his meaty wrist. "That's right! A barrier the size of a surgin' stadium!" he roared urgently. "Look, I don't care what you have to do! Just get over here! Now! And update Headmaster Valerian while you're at it!"

Cursing himself, Allan realized he likely wouldn't make much progress at dispelling the barrier before support arrived. However, when it was that his memory became clouded by the day he nearly lost everything, Allan found himself brandishing his wand as threads of shadows twisted around his dominant arm. He wouldn't let such a tragedy repeat itself. Never again.

*

* *

With a hand placed over her chest, Fearne felt a pulse of raging Essence storm through her veins, echoing out of her being and transmitting a message to the three feral plants towering above her: Defeat the enemy mages.

Before they even emerged, Fearne was certain that she stood not a chance against the Glacial Girl, especially if she was being supported by an accompanying mage, and deep in the back of her mind, that thought lingered strongly, refusing to fade. She couldn't comprehend the source of the Hidden Melody nor why it was filling her with newfound power. In reality, she hadn't the opportunity to ponder.

With a flick of her dominant hand, completely engulfed in vibrant green flames, the colossal veladora snaptrapper on her left descended into view and lashed out towards its target, its enormous jaws opening to reveal rows of human-sized teeth designed for tearing flesh to shreds. 

Roots and vines climbed out of the fissures forming in the grassy terrain beneath her boots, binding, bending, and twisting with one another until they created a natural perimeter of ever-shifting plant life around her. They looked like elongated fingers lacking bones or definition or maybe wriggling earthworms breaching swampy soil amidst a savage rainstorm.

The slithering roots doubled her height, and the narrow openings between the provided her. with a clear window to view her enemies. Even so, Fearne understood that the roots were not as durable as the snaptrappers themselves, and she had yet to determine whether they were part of the monstrous creatures or independent entities altogether.

A famished roar jetted out the mouth of the snaptrapper extending across the clearing, moving its malleable stalk in a slithering pattern that reminded Fearne of grass snakes she'd often spot in her mothers' gardens. As the beast closed in on its targets, it collided with a translucent barrier of turquoise-colored energy, the raw impact enough to ward it away, the plant retracting itself with an anguished snarl.

Behind the barrier, holding a glowing wand in front of him, Simon pushed his pair of glasses up the bridge of his nose and gave a strict nod at Adeline beside him. The auburn-haired girl returned the gesture and, with her Advanced Wand clenched inside a fist, she lowered into a crouch before bolting through the barrier, making a bee-line straight for Fearne.

Fearne marveled at the sheer amount of confidence she must have had to charge straight at three abnormal and hungry snaptrappers. With barely a moment to spare, she summoned a surge of power, causing the green flames around her to billow with a new rhythm. Fearne then issued a new order, commanding both snaptrappers to veer toward Adeline. At the same time, the twin titans roared and lunged at the advancing ice mage from where they had originally sprouted.

As Adeline ventured forward, each step left a glistening trail on the grass, marking her path with ice. In the chilly air, her breath plumed out in cloudy streams at the corners of her mouth. Her hair danced in the wind, swept back by the momentum of her rapid stride. Suddenly, two snaptrappers closed in on her, prompting Adeline to come to a sudden halt. With determination, she raised her wand high overhead, poised for what came next. "Ice Magic: Cael Erara!"

Countless bolts of crackling energy erupted from the tip of her wand, streaking through the air like shimmering meteors ablaze with blueish fire. The relentless onslaught hammered into the towering giants, halting their advance with such incredible power that they were unable to move any closer to her.

With each forceful blow, a layer of ice would slowly envelop the delicate heads of the plants. In less than a minute, Fearne's snaptrappers had no option but to withdraw, otherwise risking being frozen in place, and while she suspected that they might be able to escape from such an icy prison eventually, she imagined it would certainly be a challenging and possibly painful ordeal.

With the plants taken care of, Adeline spread apart her feet on the ground and whipped her wand toward Fearne. "Ice Magic: Cael Venatis!"

The earth shook violently as the grassy ground split apart, revealing a massive spire of icy steam that shot up into the sky. This frozen monolith, erecting twice as high as she was tall, materialized before her eyes. As she looked on in wonder, more of these icy spires emerged, forming a rugged pathway of frost and cold gusts of wind that rapidly extended toward her.

Fearne braced for impact, anticipating a spire to ram straight into her. However, at the last moment, as an ice spire shattered earth just a few steps in front of her, an entangled assortment of winding roots and vines swiftly coalesced into a sturdy shield, barely budging as the heavy force of ice slammed into the hardened plantlife. The resulting crash reverberated through Fearne's ears, and she felt the vibrations of the ground underneath her, forcing her to stretch out her arms to maintain balance.

Through a slit in her flowering defensive, Fearne caught a peek of Adeline, who seemed to be preparing another spell. Fearne couldn't allow that. Thrusting a hand before her, Fearne shouted aggressively, "Go! Stop her now!"

The final snaptrapper lurking behind her, still untouched by the crystalizing ice, swiftly leaped over Fearne's head and charged toward Adeline, and to Fearne, it looked as if the girl was ready to confront the creature alone.  That was until invisible fingers pulled her away, the snaptrapper's jaws snapping close in the spot where Adeline would have been standing had she not moved, and it aimed its eyeless gaze at the ice mage being forcefully propelled through the air away from it, entirely against her will.

Simon exhaled. "I thought I told you to be careful."

"I was fine, Simon. I could have handled it." Simon softly placed her back on the ground; however, Adeline stumbled a fair bit before regaining her footing. "It's odd, isn't it?"

"Hmm? What is?"

"We've been dueling each other for twelve minutes—I counted—and Fearne's magical energy hasn't depleted in the slightest."

"If anything, she's only grown stronger," Simon grunted in agreement. "Where is all of this power coming from? Surely if she was always this strong, I would have sensed her long before now. Has she been holding back on us this entire time?"

Adeline shook her head, smiling. "Whatever the case may be, we're allowing her to decide the flow of this duel." Lowering into a crouch, Adeline leaped forth in a rapid sprint yet again, her gleaming wand in hand at her side. "I'll alert you when I need support, Simon. From now on, remain where you are, and let me end this!"

It looked as if Simon was on the cusp of arguing with her, opening his mouth for a rebuttal only to grunt in frustration and give a nod. "I'll trust in your judgment, then, class president."

As she observed Adeline charging towards her with unwavering determination in her eyes, ice crystals swirling in the air behind her, Fearne found it impossible to deny the overwhelming sense of disbelief that engulfed her. The sheer absurdity of the situation dawned on her—the fact that she had managed to hold her ground against two powerful sorcerers to the extent that they both now regarded her as a formidable adversary was almost surreal, leaving her struggling to process the improbability of it all.

She felt that her success in combat could be attributed to the enchanting Melody of Nature, particularly the Hidden Melody that she could still discern amidst the cacophony of sounds from the forest. Although she couldn't comprehend the connection between that Melody and her sudden increase in power, she was determined, like Adeline and Simon, not to let trivial questions distract her. This fierce duel was one that Fearne was set on emerging victorious from.

Adeline's boots pounded forcefully on the frozen grass as whirlwinds of ice spun around her, tugging at her hair and her cape, which billowed wildly over her shoulder. As she slowly raised her wand into the air, preparing to utter another spell, Simon abruptly intervened. "Adeline! Watch out!" he cried desperately.

"Simon, I ordered you to—" Adeline gasped as—unlike earlier—she was pushed several feet ahead. Without warning, a series of thorny vines burst forth from the ground with incredible speed and accuracy, effortlessly piercing through the solid wooden trunk of a galbora tree that stood fifteen meters away. Fearne's heart skipped a beat at the terrifying sight; if Adeline hadn't dodged in time, those lethal thorns would have surely ended her life. Someone was pushing the boundaries of their already dangerous exam to a reckless extreme.

"Thorns?" Adeline coughed, knuckling the ground as she rose to one knee. "Who could have..."

Adeline fell silent, and Fearne swiftly covered her open mouth with her hand. Simon's legs shook as he released the wand from his grasp, his gaze slowly dropping to the thorn vine piercing his chest and arching through his back. "...Hallocks..." he said tightly, lines of blood leaking out of his grimace. "...That's not...good, is it?"

"Simon!" Fearne screamed.

In a state of shock, eyes peeled open, Adeline steadily picked herself to her feet, lips quivering in disbelief. Simon lay face-first on the ground, his arms and legs sprawled out, not moving save for the rise and fall of his diaphragm as he took slow breaths. "Who is responsible for this?" Adeline whispered before red-hot anger exploded on her face. "How could someone make such a haphazard mistake?!"

"I'm responsible, and it was no mistake." Adeline shot her scowl to who had just spoken, as did Fearne shift a curious, if not worried, glance. Approaching them was a tall woman with a slender build, dark-brown hair framing the sides of her angular face and blowing with the breeze. "I was hoping that attack would have been enough to subdue two of you at once. Guess I'm growing sloppy."

True to her words, there wasn't a hint of remorse in her grinning, dark green eyes. An Incantian, from the looks of it, possessing ivory—perhaps a tad bit paler than most others—skin, and she came dressed wearing a sleeveless black dress and open-toed, platform sandals. Her shoulders bounced as she studied Adeline with a chuckle, then tossed a side glance to Fearne, causing the girl herself to freeze. "Your magic's strong. I can see why they were so insistent on you lot. And here I was thinking you were nothing more than spoiled brats with rich parents."

"You're not affiliated with Glyph Academy," Adeline retorted, thrusting her wand at the woman. "That just leaves the question of who you are. And why did you attack my classmate?!"

The woman brought a finger to her smiling lips and leaned forward, a hand placed over her hip. "Tone down the volume, darling. No need to be so dramatic. As for who I am, well, it hardly matters if I told you, but for convenience's sake, you can call me Valenka."

Fearne became immediately aware of a commotion behind her as a group of men emerged from the forest's dark depths. They were adorned in tattered cloaks and garments, each armed with either a worn dagger or a wand. Their numbers seemed to swell as they poured into the clearing, tallying perhaps fifteen or more in total. Every one of them wore a malevolent smile, characteristic of a mage who showed no qualms about staining their hands with the blood of others.

"And the reason we're here," Valenka continued, slapping a hand over her forehead and baring a poisonous sneer at them, "is because our employer is paying us a great sum of tokens to deliver you novices to him as sacrifices."

Fearne gulped. "Sacrifices...?"

Adeline's grimace grew darker. "They must be warlocks."

"So unless you want to end up like your friend over there, I suggest you drop your wands and come with me peacefully." Valenka licked her lips as she spun the black-colored wand in her fingers. "My boss is a very impatient man."