Months flew by and the day of the Mage Academy’s entrance exam had finally arrived. In Silver City’s five districts, as well as in the slums, Mage Academy had set up a dozen or so temporary stands in the squares and open areas.

The first part of the exam was extremely simple. All you had to do to pass was to come over to the person in charge of applications and submit your application.

It sounded extremely simple, however, the person in charge was a Mage of the Seventh Order, no higher and no lower. Their job was to sit there, releasing their full spiritual pressure. This was a neat technique for cowing those weaker than you, but it was rather taxing. Wolf found it useless because it was equivalent to leaking large quantities of Soul Force, and if you were already that much stronger than the enemy it was just pointless waste, you could kill them in a bunch of other ways.

However, it was a great way to estimate how developed one’s soul was. Anyone with less than one column in their Mind Hall won’t be able to get within a dozen steps of the examiner.

Every half a year, during the tryouts, many urchins would try their luck, but an overwhelming majority of them failed and fainted. The number of common born children who passed this initial triage was merely a couple of dozen per exam.

***

In Wolf’s part of the Merchants’ District the examiner was a middle aged woman. She sat on a comfy chair, her legs crossed while calmly reading a book she’d brought to pass the time. Occasionally she heard panting, soft cursing and even thuds when the most stubborn, yet unqualified, children fainted while trying to reach her.

The lady wore loose black robes and a veil. She never stopped reading her book, no matter how much noise the hopeless candidates made. She was about to turn the page when a tiny tanned hand took the application form from the desk she was sitting at.

“Excuse me,” the child asked. “Do I have to fill this form, or is this enough to be considered a pass?”

The woman placed down her book and stared at this oddity. A pretty little boy in worn out, but clean and well maintained gray clothes had asked the question. Even though his face was pretty to the point of being beautiful, what was most dazzling about this child were his eyes.

Those eyes had depth no child should ever have. They gave the woman an impression of gazing into a bottomless abyss and it most definitely stared back at her.

After a moment the illusion of facing someone much more powerful than she disappeared. The old woman smiled, fighting back the uneasy sensation of skin crawling and tingling on her cheeks and hands.

“I can fill it for you, if you want,” she said. “You have already passed the test.”

There was an inkpot and a quill on the desk along with a dozen or so parchments that asked for candidate’s basic information. The form was very simple. It asked about the candidate’s first name, family name, birthday, parent names, their status, their family details, race, ethnicity and barony of origin.

However the header of the form clearly stipulated that the only required fields were first name, birthday and race.

Wolf filled in those three with Wolf, his birth date and Human. After which he turned in his application form. The race field wasn’t really a lie either. Wolf never considered himself a half-something. He was one hundred percent Wolf and that’s it.

The middle aged woman took the form with a bit of surprise showing on her face. Most merchant children were literate, but as far as the urchins went, this was her first time seeing one who knew how to read and write.

Not to mention that Wolf’s writing was bold and confident. It was obvious that the boy was well practiced in calligraphy. This was something not many noble children could pull off at that age.

“You’re twelve years old?” she said as she examined Wolf’s tiny stature. He looked like he was eight at best. “You do know that Mage Academy has magical devices which can determine your age if need be?”

“Is my age really that important?” Wolf asked innocently. “I’d heard that the earliest I could apply for the entrance exam was when I turned twelve. I became an adult nine days ago, so here I am!”

The woman wanted to say something, but the boy, no not boy, the youth in front of her was too innocent and charming.

“Fine, fine,” she ceded and pointed at the bench behind her. “You passed. Sit down over there and wait, we have to stay here until sundown.”

As Wolf moved past her the woman gave him a furled scroll from her desk. “Read this. Once the sun sets I’ll be taking you and the other candidates who passed the first round back to the Mage Academy for additional testing.”

Wolf glanced at the scroll and memorized its content. There wasn’t anything complicated written in there. It simply gave a short outline of life at the Mage Academy, on what Academic Credits were and how one could earn them.

In short you could either buy them for rare resources that the Mage Academy required, pay for them with obscene amounts of gold, or complete missions for the Mage Academy that had Academic Credit rewards.

I’ll have to conceal myself better, like Father taught me. This old lady seemed to have sensed my Order for a moment, Wolf thought as he finished reading the informative scroll, which mostly focused on money for some reason.

The youth closed his eyes and entered his Mind Palace calmly. Over the years he’d gotten used to the trance-like state he entered when refining his columns. Ever since he’d completed his first Mind Hall he was more or less able to pay a bit of attention to his surroundings even when carving.

The problem was this damn column. Wolf had grown somewhat numb to the illusions from it, but they were still terribly distracting. Wolf believed he would’ve long since finished the refinement if not for those sensual scenes invading his mind.

While Wolf sat there with his eyes closed and a jacket across his lap for good measure, two more youths passed the exam. The first was a fourteen year old young woman, while the other was a twelve year old young man.

The young lady came from a local merchant family. She was too well dressed, heavily perfumed and wore layers of makeup. The glance Wolf stole gave him an impression of an extremely spoiled brat, and he felt an instant dislike towards her.

The examiner also barely spared the young woman a glance before telling her where to sit and handing her the promotional pamphlet for Academic Credits.

The other youth who passed had arrived half an hour before sundown. At a glance he seemed more interesting and amicable than the spoiled brat sitting next to Wolf.

He wore expensive clothes, but they were selected with considerably more taste than the young lady’s. They emphasized style over price tag, which caught the examiner’s attention.

When the middle aged woman read the youth’s application she actually bowed.

“This way Sire,” she said and respectfully handed over the promotional material with both hands.

Wolf was surprised enough by this that he opened his eyes once more. Ninth Order Mages are peers of Barons, while those at Eighth and Seventh Order shouldn’t be too courteous with them. Does that mean this guy is a Viscount’s son? But why would he come here?

Nobles are exempt from the first test. And even if they weren't, why would he come to the Merchants’ District?

As Wolf gave this newcomer a more detailed look he didn’t find him radiating any extraordinary soul aura, but he might have been suppressing it like Wolf was?

Nope, I don’t think so. Sure, he’s well dressed, stands with his back straight and doesn’t look pompous like the bejeweled chandelier sitting next to me, but there’s nothing extraordinary about him otherwise.

The Mage actually offered her chair, but the boy shook his head.

“No, thank you,” he said with a smile before walking over to the bench.

The youth stopped and greeted both Wolf and the merchant girl with equal courtesy. Then he sat down and started reading the scroll he was given.

The young lady smiled, batted her eyelashes and performed a curtsy while introducing herself and saying she was single.

Wolf got up and mimicked the same shallow bow the other youth had given him while saying “Hello”.

The other candidates didn’t notice anything, but the examiner was surprised that Wolf had performed the exact same bow down to the last millimeter.

A diamond in the rough, the woman thought. I hope they don’t ruin him the way they did me.

However she didn’t say anything. She had her own problems and was trying to claw her way to becoming a Baroness.

Half an hour passed quickly. The moment the horizon fully swallowed the sun the examiner got up from her seat.

“The deadline has passed,” she proclaimed. “Let us return to the academy. I hope that all of you have read the scrolls I’ve given you.”

The youths nodded and obediently followed behind the woman.

Father said that commoners were accepted at the age of twelve only if they could cast spells of the Third Order, Wolf contemplated his next steps. Since Anna said that the times have changed I might get turned down if I can only cast a Third Order spell. Should I cast a Fourth Order one? That would probably be a safe bet.

And so Wolf had decided that during practical examination he would cast a Fireball.

As the youth made his unrealistic plans on what he needed to do to pass the entrance exam, the examiner boarded a large carriage drawn by a tandem of horse type Monster Beasts.

Climbing aboard Wolf noticed that the leather seats were well padded, while the walls of the carriage were finely lacquered. Unexpectedly, the thing that came to Wolf’s mind was that even though the coach was very luxurious it was still a far cry from an actual Portable Mansion.

The young lady examined the interior with wows, the tall youth didn’t seem overly impressed, while Wolf just sat down and continued his meditation. The examiner took a look at her charges before she continued reading her book. Wolf wondered what kind of book would require a Mage of her Order to spend time going through it, but didn’t pry.

As time passed the woman stole glances at the polite youth. Wolf noticed her odd behavior, but ignored it.

Instead, he focused on his work to pass the time.

After riding the carriage for some six hours Wolf suddenly had the feeling of being watched. His eyes shot open. He frowned deeply while glancing left and right, but the feeling of being watched was almost immediately gone.

Some sort of a boundary Spell Formation? he thought, but remained silent. However, he could see that the old woman was looking at him with mild surprise. The other two candidates hadn’t noticed a thing, while Wolf acted on reflexes he’d developed traveling towards Silver City…

Wolf smiled sheepishly and the woman continued reading her book. The youth bit his lip. He had to stop giving such stupid and obvious clues about his superior senses.

However, he really felt a bit excited. He’d finally entered the Mage Academy. His father had introduced it as the place where he had made several great friends and learnt all the basics of magic.

Considering how highly Archibald had valued this institution it was normal for Wolf to share those high expectations. Even though he already knew more than mere basics of magic and he was perfectly capable of making friends anywhere, he was still bound by his promise.

Wolf was busy having unrealistic expectations when the carriage finally drew to a halt.

“We’re here,” the middle aged Mage said. “Tonight you’ll be assigned temporary quarters. “Your Lordship, there’s no need for you to mix with commoners,” she added and formally bowed towards the tall youth who shook his head.

“I think I would prefer to sleep here,” the youth replied after a short moment of silence.

“As you wish, Sire. If you have any problems just let the hallway attendant know. I wish all of you good luck tomorrow.” The woman didn’t seem too happy with the young man’s decision, but where he slept was none of her business. She left, regretting that she’d failed to sell him a favor cheaply.

The three youths found themselves in front of an imposing stone building. Their immediate surroundings were well illuminated, while the rest of the campus was blurred in the darkness of the night. Only Wolf could take in the whole scene and the elegantly maintained grounds.

A moment later the door of the stone building opened, and a young man in his mid twenties walked out, followed by a woman of similar age.

“Greetings,” the man said. “Your exam will take place tomorrow. Until then you will be under our care. Please follow me to your dormitory rooms.”

The pair led the way, and at the first intersection the woman brought away the only female candidate. Wolf and the other youth followed their guide through the labyrinthine building for a couple of minutes before suddenly coming to a halt in front of a door, no different from several dozen identical doors they had passed.

“This room is free,” the man explained while opening the door. “It accommodates up to ten people. Just pick whichever bunk you like and rest well. You will find a simple meal inside and if you’re thirsty there’s a tap with running water in the bathroom.

“I’ll pick you up in the morning and take you to have breakfast before you continue your exam. Just so you know, if you fail tomorrow, Paladin and Spell-Blade orders have representatives watching the test, looking for worthy candidates,” the man said reassuringly. “Besides, since you’re as young as you are, you may decide to wait for two more years and then you will certainly be admitted into the academy despite being of common birth.”

While Wolf listened his thoughts wandered. Those people sound strong. I would like to have a spar with them someday. But I think challenging Sword-Sage dojos would probably be more interesting. Especially the nine dojos which are located in Highseat, at the heart of the empire.

The two youths entered their room. Wolf looked around, touched the nearest bed and then picked a corner to settle down for the night.

“My name is Wayde,” the tall youth suddenly said with an outstretched hand. “I turned twelve five months ago, just barely missing the previous admission period.”

Wolf turned around and, seeing the outstretched hand, he took it while smiling a bit. “I’m Wolf. I turned twelve just a couple of days ago,”

Then, in an exceptional maneuver of social adaptability, he continued heading to the corner, sat down cross legged with his back against the wall and closed his eyes.

He originally wanted to sleep in his armchair tonight, but he didn’t want this Wayde guy to know that he had a Ring of Holding.

“Do you know that for a commoner to enter the Mage Academy at the age of twelve they have to at least be able to cast spells of the Second Order?” that Wayde guy asked after a moment of awkward silence. “Even then, their admission is not always guaranteed. To make sure they can enter the Mage Academy at twelve commoners have to at least match up with the geniuses from the noble families and be able to cast spells of the Third Order.”

Wolf already knew this, but he’d never asked his father for the reason behind this rule. Conveniently there seemed to be a person in the room that knew the answer.

“Do you know why that is?” Wolf asked.

“Actually, I do,” Wayde answered. “There are no separate classes for commoners of that age, because they are rare. That means that they will go to the elite class together with noble children. As you might expect, nobles would only allow a genius to enter the same classroom as them. Even then, you are likely in for a rough time. Well, that’s assuming you can even enter the Mage Academy.”

“Thanks for the tip. I can take care of myself,” Wolf replied with a more genuine smile and entered his Mind Hall.

What he had heard now had only cemented his decision to cast a spell of the Fourth Order tomorrow.