Rowan winced as the healer’s magic set into his arm, fixing the bone that had been fractured. Although he had won the race, it had been at a horrible cost to his body. Were it not for Faebrook’s healers, it was likely that he would have been made a cripple today.

A small price to pay for a life. Even if he had been rendered permanently a cripple, in order to join Faebrook, Rowan would do anything. So long as he was alive, he would work to accomplish his dreams. An arm was nothing compared to that.

Thanking the healer, Rowan collected his swords and regrouped with the other applicants. Half an hour later, the final race came to an end, a petite, strawberry-haired elf winning over her four competitors. As the injured returned from the healers tent which had been set up a short distance from the examination ground, the bearded examiner waved his hand, a large black crystal clutched within. With a shuddering quake, the obstacle course began to disappear right before the surprised students' very eyes.

The hedges twisted inwards, returning to seed before disappearing into the ground entirely. The columns of basalt and granite shuddered, collapsing into a pile of sand so fine it disappeared into the wind without a trace. While, the obstacles of water and earth both sank into the ground, disappearing as surely as if they had never existed to begin with.

Knowing magic, there’s a good chance they didn’t. Normally, Rowan would have chuckled at the thought, but today there was no time for laughter. There were two tests left between him and entrance to Faebrook. If he failed… No. Rowan told himself. I won’t fail.

Oblivious to Rowan’s resolve, the bearded examiner flourished the crystal once more. This time, no hedges or walls emerged from the soil. Instead, six large rings of earth formed, one in the middle and five around it in a star pattern, the grass receding to give way to hard-packed arenas of dirt. As the arenas took form, the soil of the outer five arenas began to change colour, each taking on a slightly different hue as the arenas finished forming.

“The Test of Combat!” the bearded examiner shouted, grabbing the attention of the applicants, many of whom had been staring at what his magic had wrought. “This test is fairly simple. Each applicant will be made to fight a bout with another. The winner will automatically receive a passing grade, while the loser will be graded purely upon the skills they showcase during the fight.”

At these words, five other examiners materialized next to the bearded man. Rowan recognized two of them from the Test of Knowledge, their stern faces having been effective in utterly dissuading him from sneaking a peek at his neighbour’s papers. As he watched, the examiners each took up a place beside a different arena, leaving the bearded man in front of the centremost arena.

“When it is your turn to fight, a light will appear above your head and that of your opponent,” said the bearded examiner. “The colour of that light will correspond to that of the arena you will be fighting in.” As he spoke, each of the other five examiners raised their hands, runes appearing briefly above them before disappearing. A moment later, ten beams of light shone down upon the applicants, each beam hovering over a different student. “No weapons or techniques are prohibited,” the bearded examiner told them, raising his own hand as he produced a silver coloured beam that shone down upon two nearby applicants. “Good luck.”

The Test of Combat was extremely straight-forward. Two applicants entered a ring, one left, often with less of themselves than they had entered with, but that’s what healers were for, right?

Nervously, Rowan watched the other applicants as he awaited his own turn. The level of skill displayed was high, as expected of those who sought to be admitted to the prestigious ‘Adventurer Academy’. Doing his best to quell the anxiety that raged inside him, Rowan reviewed everything that Tethis had taught him, striving to remember even the smallest of bits of advice on fighting imparted to him by the elf warrior.

A pale light broke Rowan out of his reverie. Looking up, he nodded grimly as he beheld the silver glow that signified he would be fighting in the centre ring. His feet heavy, he trudged towards the arena, his eyes active as he scanned the crowd for his opponent.

Arriving next to the bearded examiner, he was surprised to see that his foe was someone that he recognized, the girl clad in black whose entire clan had shown up to see her off earlier. Now that he was closer, he could more clearly see the features that he had noticed when he had first laid eyes on her.

Her eyes were a pale rose, not a shade Rowan had ever seen in a human, with ears that were tapered like an elf’s, but less pointy than a true elf’s ears would be. Her skin was pale, almost translucent in the sunlight, giving her an ethereal look.

Currently, that look was directed at him in a way that made Rowan’s jaw clench. Hers were the eyes he had seen so many times across so many years in Taureen. Utter disdain for the boy in front of her was reflected inside, and her posture made her disregard of him all the more clear. She was obviously a noble, and to him, that made her an enemy.

Fifteen years of grievances instantly flared up within him, and it was with difficulty that he suppressed them, forcing himself to remain calm. Getting worked up did not help in a fight, Tethis had made sure to beat that lesson into him at least. The thought of Tethis worked, and Rowan managed to quell the anger welling up inside of him, for now at least. He was still going to beat this arrogant girl’s ass, but he would do it for him, not because of her.

Fully resolving to show her that he was not just another street rat who she could bully around as she pleased, Rowan checked her for weapons. Upon her hip sat an athame, the hilt ornate and capped with a large jewel, but he could see no other weapons on her person. A martial artist maybe? Or a mage?

Neither option was attractive to Rowan. Ideally, he would have liked to fight a swordsman, given that most of his experience in combat so far was against Tethis, who had wielded a sword when they fought. Or a wolf, but it was a little unlikely that there were any wolves among the applicants. The coyote beastman he’d raced earlier was the closest thing he had seen to a wolf, and his fang had been decidedly more deadly than Rowan wanted to face right now.

Focus. Assuming that his opponent was a mage, Rowan was in trouble. Although Tethis had trained him well, she had only had a month, and fighting against a mage was a completely different experience than fighting a warrior, at least according to Darm.

When in doubt, knock them out. Tethis’ surprisingly pithy advice resonated in Rowan’s head. Nodding to himself, Rowan widened his stance, preparing to charge his foe the moment the battle began. If he didn’t know what she was capable of, then the best strategy was simply to not give them the chance to show him. I’ll end this in the first exchange.

“Begin!” the bearded examiner said, bringing his hand down to start the fight.

Instantly, Rowan charged forward, his blade at the ready. His opponent simply stood there, her eyes devoid of emotion. As he passed the halfway mark, she raised her hand, a ring flashing as a magic circle appeared in front of her. Becoming alert, Rowan raised his blade in front of him, his legs still moving as he aimed for her head.

So long as I don’t take it head on, I can probably take one spell. Rowan decided, more than ready to sacrifice his flesh in exchange for victory.

With a flash, the magic circle disappeared, six leaves appearing in front of the mage. Hovering in the air for a moment, they suddenly shot forward, leaving blurry green afterimages in their wake as they sliced towards Rowan.

Jerking himself to the side, Rowan avoided four of the leaves. The fifth he caught with his shortsword, slicing the leaf in two before it could strike him. The sixth leaf, however, penetrated his defenses, cutting deeply into the skin of his abdomen.

131/150

Hissing in pain, Rowan moved forward, not daring to stop as another magic circle appeared in front of his opponent. A moment later, six more leaf daggers shot his way. Clearly, his opponent did not plan to give him a chance to catch his breath.

Dodging what he could, and parrying the leaves aimed at his vitals, Rowan attempted to draw close to his opponent, but the constant barrage of spells made it difficult. Worse, the bloodloss from the several deep cuts he had sustained was starting to take its toll, his vision blurring at the edges as he did his best to corner the spellcaster.

As yet another magic circle appeared in front of his foe, Rowan raised his blade, prepared to defend against the attack in any way possible. However, the expected leaves did not appear. Instead, the ground was what filled Rowan’s vision, as he slammed heavily into the packed earth of the arena. Feeling his nose break, Rowan attempted to roll, but a constricting force on his feet made movement difficult.

She got me, Rowan realized dully as he moved his head to look at the object responsible. Coiled around his ankles was a vine, several inches thick, that had grown from the earth below him, clearly summoned by the spell she had just cast. Looking back at his opponent, his view of her was obscured by an enormous sphere of rock hurtling towards him, aimed straight for his head.

Damn, Rowan thought just before the rock slammed into his skull. I really hope that's not lethal.