Chapter 019

The Test

Jaysaun lazily walked out of the Rubrum Dormitory. Yellow rays of dawn pierced through the morning mist making the cold dewdrops sparkle upon the green plants. Jaysaun rubbed his numb nose, dressed in a leather combat uniform and having a wand and a grimoire strapped to his waist, he certainly looked like a Hunter.

“Alevier! Hurry up, we might get late,” he yawned. “Man, they had to do this on the weekend, a pity I had to rush back here so early in the morning to get ready.”

“Believe me, it was troublesome for me too to rush back,” said Alevier as he walked across the hall along with Kriso. “Mr Kakol, can you hold this for a moment.”

“Sure,” said Kriso as he accepted the sling bag from Alevier. Although the leather bag was slim, it was quite heavy since it contained a lot of things. When Kriso held it up, it became obvious to him that it was enchanted by space magic. Alevier smiled wryly, he had managed to muster up enough courage to walk up to Waelecia’s door and ask her to enchant it for him.

“What is in this bag?” asked Kriso. “It is quite heavy.”

“Oh, nothing,” said Alevier as he strapped his grimoire to his belt before proceeding to check that his combat gear which was gifted to him by Sinchiya (and thus, looked much more stylish than Jaysaun’s). “I just have some potions in it.”

“Oh, but they won’t break?”

“No, they won’t,” replied Alevier. Waelecia had been gracious enough to put multiple enchantments on the bag for a small price which he insisted on paying since he did not want to be indebted to her for anything. He had willingly volunteered to be a spell target for her research project - lucky him that her new modified dizzying spell had left him nauseous and weakened only for a moment, it was much better than paying several gold coins for a small pouch.

“Some potions?” laughed Jaysaun. “For three nights you had locked me outside because you were too busy brewing potions. Don’t tell me all my suffering of sleeping on the sofa was for some potions.”

“Okay, I have a lot of potions.” The money that Alevier had saved naturally went into potion making, after all, he was an Alchemist. “I actually made a separate batch for you, Sinchiya and Isella.”

“What? You did?” asked Jaysaun in a surprised tone.

“Yeah, I cannot let my friends go empty-handed,” said Alevier. “Mr Kakol, can you give me my bag back, please.”

“Here you go young Alchemist,” said Kriso as he handed him the bag.

Alevier opened it and rummaged across its contents.

“Here you go,” said he said as he tossed a leather pouch towards Jaysaun.

Jaysaun caught it and held it up. “What it in this? It is quite heavy.”

His bag wasn't the only thing that he had got enchanted.

Alevier sighed. “Your potions, stupid. It has three stamina potions and two hemostasis potions along with a bottle of water.”

“Uh, is it enchanted water?” asked Jaysaun.

“No, it is just plain simple water.”

“Stay hydrated, you two,” added Kriso.

“Sure Mr Kakol,” said Jaysaun. “Come, let’s go, your sissy and all the others who want to participate have already left.”

* * *

The Students Council of Yarukok was a prestigious body whose members were selected within the first month of the academic session. Its members received quite some benefits such as access to most of the restricted parts of the academy, access to the more restricted sections of the library, preferential treatment, and held some authority over other students. Besides that, a member would also get a certificate which would lend them some sweet benefits from the State as well as from the Society of Magic itself.

Therefore, when Alevier and Jaysaun arrived at the school, a large number of students had already assembled in the main square; around a hundred and fifty in total - only those who were hopeless about their skills or were simply ignorant had not arrived.

Alevier sighed, this was going to be difficult.

It did not take them long to find Sinchiya who was chatting with Isella and a few of her other friends. When they saw the duo approach, she and Isella bid their friends farewell and waved at the boys in welcome.

“Look who is here,” said Sinchiya. “A moron with a stupid choice in fashion and a sweet gentleman.”

“Hey! Don’t call Alevier a moron,” protested Jaysaun.

Alevier and Isella laughed.

Sinchiya sighed, “Don’t tell me the few brain cell you had, have committed suicide because of your life choices.”

“Jeez, what’s with the hostility, sweetheart,” said Jaysaun. “You are being as cold as the wind here.”

“Well, I heard that a certain someone had spent the previous night making apple cream pies,” she gave him a sharp look.

Jaysaun’s gaze shifted towards Alevier, who innocently shrugged his shoulders, he was not the one who tipped her off.

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Sinchiya put her arm around his neck and came closer to his ear. “Listen here, honey-”

She suddenly kicked him hard in his stomach with such force that even the leather vest could not handle it. A blunt thud made Jaysaun let out a small scream as he bent down in pain and the air was drawn out of his lungs. His stomach felt numb.

“-if I hear that you are staying at some other girl’s house at night again, then this kick will land on a more painful spot.” She humped and pushed him away.

“Oww! G-god damn, that hurt,” Jaysaun barely managed to say something while holding his stomach. “I-I think, my breakfast wants to see d-dayligh-”

He suddenly grabbed his mouth and hurried away.

“Well, Sinchiya can be scary at times,” said Isella.

“But she has a great fashion sense,” said Alevier as he admired his gear.

“Why thank you Alevier,” smiled Sinchiya. “Anyway, are you folks ready?”

“Well, we still do not know what the test is going to be about.”

The selection process of members of the Student’s Council was done differently each year, decided by the President and the Vice-President of the Council themselves. Although every one of them was unique and ranged from treasure hunting to a full-blown monster hunt, all of them were loosely a test of one’s mettle and magical skills - not aptitude. Each student was observed carefully and points were awarded to them on the basis of the guidelines that the President decides - which again was a secret.

So yeah, there was no certainty whether you will be selected or not. But outstanding performances usually made the cut.

Alevier’s heart thumped harder in his chest. The uncertainty was exciting for some reason.

“Oh, that reminds me,” said Alevier as he fished out two leather pouches from his bag. “Here, these are yours.”

“What is this?” asked Isella.

“Some potions that I made for you all,” said Alevier.

“Wow, thank you Alevier,” said Sinchiya. “You are much more reliable than some people.” She looked in the direction of Jaysaun, who was standing at the edge of the square and vomiting in a bin. “Guess, I overdid it a bit.” She laughed wryly.

“There you are, you twat!” came an awfully familiar shout. Alevier’s excitement suddenly turned into frustration as he turned to see the headache of a man approach him with Vymer tugging behind him like a skinny vulture while the blob of fattiness, Rettre bounced behind them.

“Fobas stop, this is not the time,” said Vymer as he tried to hold him back. “We have people here and the test is about to begin at any moment.”

“Oh, but this piece of shit pulled a prank on me, we have to teach him a lesson else he will start taking us for granted!” growled Fobas as he threateningly walked closer to Alevier, pushing away anyone who stood in his way. "Now what kind of a beating would you like you fucking perdant?"

Before Alevier could say something, Sinchiya stepped forward.

“Now listen here you beef head-”

“What the hell did you call me?” Fobas’s expression twitched in anger.

“-I don’t know why you are seeking a fight but if you are to start a brawl here, I will intervene. And that will not end up good for you,” she said with a dangerous glint in her green eyes. She was one of the better combat mages in section Q.

Fobas stopped in his tracks but continued to glare at Alevier.

“Fobas, we will handle these fools during the test, there is no reason to fight them here,” said Rettre.

“Fine,” Fobas snorted and turned away. "But don't think that you have got away with this shit face."

"Yeah, next time we meet, I will break your bones," sneered Vymer.

Alevier folded his arms and made a straight face. “Well, thank you Sinchiya, you saved my mana.”

“Don’t mention it,” she replied. “But what did you do to him that he is so angry?”

Alevier sighed. He looked around and saw people staring at him and speaking about him in hushed whispers.

“Wow, perdant is screwed.”

“But what if he has that artefact? What will happen then?”

“No, it won’t be easy even for a 3rd Star to take down three 2nd Stars, how much of a boost can his artefact provide?”

“But what happened between them? Is perdant acting all high and mighty again?”

“Guess then we will have to join in the fun and teach him his place.”

"I bet even Sinchiya and Jaysaun can't protect him if five of us attack together."

"Meh. Perdant is such a freeloader."

Alevier laughed internally, even though he did not have enough experience in combat, he had plenty of tricks and imagination to cover up for it. He speculated that if he sneaked up on ten of his classmates, he would have sixty per cent odds of winning.

Alevier looked at Sinchiya and said. “We had a bit of a tussle last night.”

“Ugh,” said Jaysaun as he walked back to the group while rubbing his stomach. “What is this commotion about?”

“Nothing, some people just came here looking for trouble, so I just scared them away,” said Sinchiya.

“Wow, that would have been easy for you,” said Jaysaun.

“What did you say?” Sinchiya gave him a hostile look.

“I mean, you are so powerful,” Jaysaun awkwardly laughed.

Alevier and Isella shared a laugh while Sinchiya gave him a look which oscillated between ‘I want to kill you’ and ‘Is that a compliment?’.

Alevier loosened his shoulders. It seemed like a pleasant morning. He glanced up at the statue of the mage which was placed in the centre of the square. Maybe one day, people with build him a statue too. Maybe.

“May I have your attention,” came a magically amplified voice.

Alevier turned towards the Academy building to see Waelecia and another girl standing at the crystal doors.

"Good morning my fellow students, I am Waelecia Tuwymir-"

Alevier could swear that he heard the fourth year students shudder.

"-the President of the Student's Council. Today you all have assembled here to take part in the trials of the council. The Student’s Council is a prestigious body of the most skilful students…

She proceeded to give a speech informing the students about how great the council is and what all benefits one receives by being a member.

...But all these things will be only granted to a member of the council. And it is not easy to get in - you will require courage, skills, knowledge, wits and a bit of good luck to get in; for this year’s trials will not be easy. So, if you have any doubts about your abilities, back out now else it won’t be a pleasant experience for you. And I am not joking when I say that this year’s trial will be very dangerous - even by my standards.”

Alevier heard a few students talk amongst themselves about reconsidering. Hell, three students were about to leave but their friend pulled them back together. Only those who did not know Waelecia’s danger standards had kept themselves from shivering. In the end, five students ended up leaving.

“Good, So this year's trial, decided by the Vice-President and me, will be... a marathon. And the Vice-President will be briefing you about it.”

The young woman standing beside Waelecia stepped forth. She was a blond-haired bombshell, to be blunt. Her sky-blue eyes scanned through the crowd and her pretty pink lips curved up in a smile. She wore a cloak much like Waelecia, and her alluring curves were visible through it. As she walked, her smooth white legs passed through her cloak and her… plentiful assets bounced with every step.

“Goddamnit, Al,” Jaysaun whispered to him. “She is freaking hot.”

Alevier looked at him and sure enough, he was drooling. He sighed and looked at her again. Well, she was easily the hottest girl he had ever seen, but unlike Jaysaun, he did not let his hormones do all the thinking. He could see very clearly through that thick aura of charisma, the astuteness in her eyes.

“Good morning everyone!” she said in a cheerful voice which was magically amplified. “I am Oriu Peolus, the Vice-President of the Student’s Council and I will be notifying you all about this marathon’s rules, but first we will transport everyone to the starting point. So everyone, please aboard the carriages which will be arriving shortly!”

“What? The race is not going to start from Ambrosio?” asked Jaysaun.

“You heard her words,” said Alevier. “I wonder what will be the starting point.”

Soon enough a large set of black carriages arrived in front of the student’s crowd.

“Please aboard the carriages!” announced Oriu. “Keep in mind that we have limited carriages so don’t be too picky about the one you get on.”

The students slowly began heading towards the large carriages. With their glossy black and gold build and the dark tinted crystal windows, these carriages certainly looked expensive.

Alevier stopped in the crowd of students and craned his neck to look at the horses. Blue and green runes glowed on their glossy hides indicating that these horses were enchanted by strengthening magic and physical enhancement spells.

Although these horses were still a little slower than a steam-powered carriage, they did not blow up due to technical problems. And a lot of people chose to drive a horse rather than a metal box which whistled steam and blasted into shrapnels and boiling water when provoked.

Alevier moved on with his group and got on a coach. The interior of the coach was lavishly decorated with red cushiony seats and a fluffy rug. There was plenty of space inside, as Alevier looked up, he could see the air-conditioning runes. He smiled to himself and sat on a seat next to a girl with choppy bob cut hair which hid the sides of her face.

Jaysaun sat beside him and as more people entered, the coach got stuffy. Cramped up, Alevier did try to not make the person beside him uncomfortable but was ultimately pushed towards her.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized.

She turned her face towards him in annoyance.

To Alevier’s horror, it was Lueirby. Her green eyes locked with Alevier’s grey and slowly widened up in shock making the cutest expression that the boy had ever seen.

“Er- hey…?" he mumbled.

Alevier’s awkward-o-metre silently cracked in his head.

“...” her hands twitched nervously and she slowly squeezed away from Alevier.

“C’ mon Alevier shift, you have got some space,” said Jaysaun, who was oblivious to all this. Alevier was pushed into her. Her face quickly shied away and she tried to squeeze away, but there was only so much she could do. Alevier ended up pressing against her with his side.

He had not prepared for this.

With all the students aboard, the carriages began to move. The ride, for the most part, was smooth - though, a few jerks made a difficult situation for Alevier and even more difficult for Lueirby. But he learned how to keep his arms to himself, unlike Jaysaun whose elbows jabbed his chest with every bump. In something like an hour, they had left Ambrosio and gone south to arrive at a small town called Roreto.

Roreto was a small rural town with crop fields surrounding it. One could see barns and farmhouses scattered around town which, on the other hand, was a nucleated settlement of mudbrick houses and wooden houses. The carriages, however, did not stop at the town hall that was located in the centre but, at the southern edge of the town.

“Please alight from your carriages,” came an announcement as the carriages passed through the southern wall gate.

The students quickly got off their coaches and assembled outside the southern wall on the grassy ground. Oriu walked in front of the crowd and summoned a balck disc to serve as a platform. She climbed upon it and faced the crowd.

“Everyone! Please listen carefully,” she said in her magically amplified voice. “I will be explaining the marathon now. The competition will start from this point.” She pointed at the wide brick road fenced with steel bars which began right in front of them and continued on snaking across the fields and disappearing into the horizon. “And it will end at the edge of the Southern Forests. You have to follow this road and pass through the checkpoints to complete it. The total length of the race track is around forty miles in case you are curious.”

There was suddenly an uproar among the students. Firstly, the deeper parts of the Southern Forests were infested with beasts and magical creatures that may (sometimes) stroll up to the edge so it was labelled as a danger zone for civilians by the Society of Magic. Secondly, forty miles would take about thirteen hours to cover on foot.

This was just outrageous for a test.

“Reaching the finish line is a necessary condition for joining the council. If you don't reach the finish line by midnight, you will be disqualified. You may use any methods to reach the finish line - vehicles, mounts, teleportation et cetera. However, you may not stray away from the track since that will result in disqualification. Also, keep in mind that you will encounter monsters and traps along the road so please don't return complaining about how a troll ate your friend on the way."

The crowd began churning. Were they sending them on a suicide mission? Some people began protesting.

Oriu giggled and said. “That was just an expression there are no trolls, however, there will be monsters. But rest assured, no one will be killed, the President along with me and other teachers will be observing the race and judging you all individually - anyone on suffering from a serious injury will be teleported out and given treatment. However, that would result in disqualification. You all will be awarded points based on your performance - there would not be any deduction of points for misconduct, but you will receive extra points for defeating - preferably not killing - monsters, passing first through the checkpoints scattered throughout the race course and collecting tokens which will appear randomly on the way. There is a certain cut-off for the points, not reaching the mark will not get you in the council even if you finished the race. Any questions up till now?”

Some fourth-year stepped out and spoke, “But are we allowed to form teams or fight among ourselves?”

“I have already said it, use any means necessary to reach the finish line and there is no deduction of points for misconduct. You may get points for defeating each other or working as a team.”

"And what exactly are the checkpoints?"

“I was getting to that,” she said. “They are basically ten-foot-tall magical pillars with a guardian patrolling around them - they are quite easy to spot and have increased mana density around them, defeating the guardians will earn you a lot of points. There are four checkpoints each separated by a distance of ten miles. It is imperative for you to touch at least two of the checkpoints.”

Alevier rubbed his chin. This was an interesting test. He felt the air around him - unlike in Ambrosio (which had a dungeon underneath it), the air was scarce in mana this meant that his mana recovery rate would drastically decrease. Moreover, he had limited stamina and strength, things were going to be difficult, he must allocate his resources wisely.

“And for third-years,” said Oriu. “Please do not be afraid, we will be lenient in judging you. Now then, you all will be receiving a badge, please keep it on yourselves at all times, not adhering to this rule will also lead in immediate disqualification.”

The girl took out a wand from under her cloak and waved it. From the carriages, a hoard of palm-sized discs with mana wings flew out and circled the student’s crowd before separating and landing on each student’s chest.

“Has everyone received their badges?” asked Oriu.

Everyone nodded.

“That’s great, the race will begin in eight minutes until then you all can do whatever you wish. Good luck, I hope to see you all in the Council,” with those words she turned on her heel and disappeared into the air.

“Hey, Al!” said Jaysaun. “So we are making a team, right?”

“Yeah,” said Alevier. “I don’t think it will be easy to travel a monster littered road alone.”

“Cool. Isella, Sinchiya, will you two come with us?” asked Jaysaun.

“Sure,” said Isella cheerfully.

“I am feeling a bit humble so yeah,” said Sinchiya.

“Great,” Jaysaun rubbed his hands. “Alevier, let’s make a plan!”

* * *

By the end of those eight minutes, a wide assortment of vehicles and mounts had appeared behind the glowing line of mana which signified the starting point. Some students had bought a cart and a horse for cheap from Roreto while others had utilized mana expensive summoning magic to summon their magical pets or vehicles - mana propelled broomsticks and levitating carpets were really popular after all. Not to mention, the magically driven armchair was a promising product which not only offered mobility but comfort too - it was just a tad bit expensive for most people.

“Are you done Al?” asked Jaysaun as he patted the horse that he had just bought. “Should I help you with it?”

“No, just let me concentrate,” said Alevier as he slowly drew a mana rune on the horse’s brown hide.

“I think Brownie is feeling weird with you running your fingers across her skin,” said Jaysaun. The horse grunted as if agreeing with him.

“Just… you realize how wrong that sounds?” said Alevier in an annoyed tone. He flipped a page of his grimoire and stared hard at a diagram. Then he quickly began adjusting the mana rune with his spiritual force which was projected through his fingers.

“Now now it is alright Brownie, Jaysaun is here for you so just bear for a little longer,” Jaysaun caressed the horse’s head and it neighed in delight.

“Jaysaun you are creeping me out,” came the voice of Sinchiya who was seated in the wooden cart which was to be pulled by Brownie.

“Okay, I am done,” said Alevier as he wiped the sweat off his brow. “I have applied two strengthening runes, two endurance runes and a hastening rune. I have made only one reservoir but, I don’t know how to make a collector so you guys will have to supply it with mana. Also, I was not sure of how good I am at conjugating runes or auxiliary runes so I did not apply either of them - thus the efficiency will be low.”

“Oh, conjugating runes? I am quite good at it, you should have asked me,” said Isella from the cart.

“Oh? that’s news to me. I will keep that in mind next time we do something like this,” said Alevier. “Anyway, we don’t have much time. Jaysaun, let’s get on the cart, I will activate the runes as soon as the race starts.”

The two climbed into the cart, Alevier sat opposite to Sinchiya and Isella while Jaysaun took the reigns and sat in the box seat.

Alevier looked around. Everyone had formed groups and had got their hands on some mode of transportation or the other. His eyes came across the trio of Fobas, Rettre and Vymer in the distance. They were mounted on a giant lizard-like creature which was almost seven metres long from its head to its tail. Alevier instantly recognized it to be the tropical green scaled lizard - a quick and strong variant of the tropical giant lizards which were found in the Parvus Continent.

Fobas suddenly turned towards Alevier and gave him a murderous glare. Alevier ended up shrugging his shoulders and not giving a damn which probably infuriated Fobas.

“So how fast you think Brownie can go?” asked Sinchiya.

“Thirty miles an hour, approximately,” said Alevier.

“Man, that makes it a short trip,” laughed Jaysaun.

“Not necessarily,” said Alevier. “We still don’t know what hurdles we may have to cross, I doubt that it would be anything easy. I know my sister, half of us will probably be screwed by the first checkpoint.”

Jaysaun sighed. “Feels like my weekend is ruined.”

“So Alevier, do you really want to get into the council?” asked Isella.

“Yeah, I want to stack up some achievements before I graduate,” said Alevier. “And being in the council will give me plenty of benefits.”

“And we will be able to prevent that unofficial cleanup,” added Jaysaun. “I have heard that there is supposed to be a voting system in the council that is why is it imperative that we all get selected.”

“I will try my best,” said Isella.

“Likewise,” Sinchiya folded her arms.”It looks like the race is about to begin. Coachman, will you please.”

Jaysaun grunted and shook the reins making Brownie pull the cart towards the starting line which was rather crowded.

“I-I think we should not near the starting line right now,” said Alevier hesitantly.

“Why is that?” asked Jaysaun.

“It will get very chaotic as soon as the race starts and the chances of an accident happening are very high,” said Alevier. “The road isn’t exactly wide enough for everyone to move together, and I can bet a magical fight will break out very soon - it is a competition after all.”

“You are correct,” said Sinchiya. “Coachman, please stop the cart and wait for my signal before proceeding to move.”

Jaysaun gave her a sour look.

“The competition will begin in ten seconds,” Waelecia’s voice suddenly boomed across the area. “Contestants take your place and get ready. When I say go, you all are free to cross the starting line.”

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, the chitter-chatters died down instantly and a majority of the students experienced a rush of adrenaline.

Alevier stared intently at the crowd gathered at the starting line. He mumbled under his breath. “3… 2… 1.”

“GO!”

The crowd descended into pandemonium. Carriages, mounts, broomsticks, carpets and a few armchairs charged forward, the faster ones (which mostly comprised armchairs and mounts) took the lead and went forth on the empty road. But the majority was unluckily not so quick, and the fact that they had little difference in speed did not help either.

Everyone strived to quickly leave the crowd.

The ambitious youths, slightly blinded by the spirit of competition, used whatever spells they had to slow their competitors. Mana missiles, ember shots, mud spikes and minor zappers were some of the few spells which the students began casting. It was only a matter of time before something catastrophic happened.

Those on mounts were having it easy since nature had planted an inbuilt driving system in their rides, they could navigate through the crowd relatively easily. And their riders could attack and defend without having to worry about crashing.

The ones on carriages were having a hard time finding openings to go through. But they were doing fine when compared to others

Those on broomsticks were having the shorter end of the stick. The worst thing about flying brooms was that sitting on them was a pain in the ass. Not to mention, balancing on them required some skills. But these were the problems were associated with it when it was used for travelling and not when it was being attacked by multiple people from almost all directions. Brooms were simply not made for battles like this.

Those on carpets were not having a good time either, like brooms, carpets were ill suited for combat. It was pretty easy for someone to light a corner of the carpet on fire and watch their opponents helplessly fall to the ground clinging to a burning piece of cloth.

The road somehow seemed to narrow down and the crowd became… well, crowdier.

Some people realized that they must leave the hoard so they sped up and used spells and other measures to support their plan. However, this backfired when it induced even more aggressiveness in their peers. Some of the people at the back tried to recklessly manoeuvre through the crowd. They had already gone quite far from the starting point but Alevier could feel the tension from such a distance.

The ones on flying vehicles tried to go over the fencing and take a shortcut but were knocked back because of some barrier.

Then that happened. There was a loud explosion.

Apparently, some genius thought it to be a great idea to set off an explosive spell or something of that sort exactly in the front of the crowd. With a loud burst of hot air and fire, a carriage crashed into another which began a chain reaction resulting in a lot of crashes, groans and curses and broomsticks crashing into people’s faces.

The students who lost their mode of transport tried to drag down others with them. The race course suddenly turned into a battlefield. Some escaped, but not everyone was lucky. A series of explosions, blasts and profanity was heard by the few shrewd ones who decided to remain at the starting line.

There were bright flashes of blue light which indicated the teleportation of injured students. It had not been five minutes and three people had already been disqualified.

Jaysaun looked at Alevier. “Bruh...”

Alevier closed his eyes and shook his head.

“...I think we should start moving,” said Sinchiya. “Their fighting should die down in some time.”

“Yeah but, it seems like those people over there won’t let us pass,” sighed Alevier. “We can only wait until the fight gets over. I am sorry, we lost precious time because of me.”

“It is alright Alevier,” said Sinchiya. “Brownie would have not been able to outrun them and we would have been caught up in the fighting.”

“Hey, don’t underrate Brownie, she is very fast,” complained Jaysau and the horse snorted as if to agree with him.

“I am just being a realist,” she grumbled.

“You are hurting her feelings,” said Jaysaun.

Sinchiya gave him a deep look.

“What?” asked Jaysaun.

“You are retarded,” she said with a straight face.

“Hey-”

“Guys, can we work on the problem?” Alevier butted in. “Has anyone got a solution?”

All of them went silent in deep thought.

Alevier thought of using shield spells and ramming their way through the battlefield. But was such a thing feasible? Maybe. Should he tell them about this plan? He hesitated.

Then suddenly, Isella spoke out. “Well, there is something that I can do, but that would result in me going out of order for some time. So should I do it?”

“We don’t have a lot of options,” said Jaysaun immediately. “So do what you can, I will protect you!”

"Go ahead," said Sinchiya.

“Okay,” Isella got up and raised her wand high up in the air and began chanting something under her breath.

“Wai-nevermind,” Alevier sighed. He was going to ask her what exactly was she going to do but due to hesitation, he could not. And now she was already in the middle of spell casting. Old habits die hard.

He glanced up at Isella, she had her eyes closed and her hand was gently hold up her wand above. He could sense an exorbitant amount of mana being emitted from the tip of the wand and condense into a spell even though he was not a sensor.

He suddenly recalled that he never asked Isella about her mana capacity. And from the look of the burning ball of flames slowly inflated above her wand, she had quite a lot of mana.

Some of the students who stayed back glanced at her curiously before backing away. After all her spell was already three foot wide and did not seem to stop expanding anytime soon.

The size of the spell usually did not indicate its might but this spell certainly looked threatening.

“Okay, what is she doing?” asked Sinchiya as she slowly shifted towards the corner of the seat.

“Looks like some high-grade spell,” said Jaysaun clearly impressed by her.

“It is a modified artillery spell,” said Alevier. “I mean it seems like one to me.”

“But aren’t they restricted to the military?” asked Jaysaun.

“Yeah, but my sister got her hands on the teleportation spell and some other restricted spells in her second year, it is not surprising that Isella knows some restricted spells; she has a rich background after all, and you two also have access to some of the restricted spells,” said Alevier with a hint of nervousness in his voice. The ball of fire was already five feet wide. He glanced at the ongoing battle in the distance. She was not going to blow those people up, was she?

Isella slowly opened her amber eyes and said, “Firefall.”

With a flick of her wand, the ball of flames shot up in the air like a projectile drawing a wide flaming arc in the air menacingly heading towards the battlefield which was scattered with broken carriages, burning carpets, pieces of shattered wood and metal and some badly injured animals. Well, Oriu did not say anything about ensuring the safety of their mounts, did she?

Some people noticed the spell heading towards them and looking at its size and the energy that it emitted, they deemed it as a treat which would screw them up if they did not erect defensive barriers around themselves.

As the spell curved down towards the ground, it was greeted with multiple dispelling waves which did little to obstruct its path. Some people cast mana shield in its way, but they were simply ripped apart by the spell.

It was some ten feet above the ground when Isella whispered, “Explode.”

And there was a bright flash accompanied by several blue flashes (which no one saw because they were blinded but the initial explosion). Alevier heard a deafening blast and a hot gust of air blew on his face. Even from five hundred meters or so, he could feel the shock waves generated due to the spell. He really should have asked her what she was going to do. But it is alright, everyone screws up, Isella just screwed up everyone with her Firefall spell.

Alevier slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, there was a wide crater on the road with burning debris all around it. He felt a pang of pity for the mounts and animals caught up in the blast since they probably were not teleported out before the blast like the students.

However, there were some pressing matters he had to deal with. First, Isella had fainted, and with a soft thud she collapsed on the cart’s floor, her skin was paler than usual and her breathing was shallow and soft. Probably, she pushed herself too much - but that was a good thing, she would be a rather terrifying dhampir if she had not been magically exhausted from casting such a destructive spell.

Secondly, people around him were casting aggressive glances towards his team and he definitely heard someone say, “That girl is dangerous, we should eliminate her for good measure.”

“Let’s attack her right now, she is unconscious.”

Alevier looked at Sinchiya’s surprised expression. She stared right back at him. For a short moment they communicated with their eyes, and Sinchiya, having understood Alevier’s intentions shouted. “Coachman, get us out of here!”

Jaysaun did not to be told twice, he took the reins and lightly whipped Brownie, who immediately began running at full speed down the road making the cart jerk forward and causing Alevier to almost lose his concentration. He immediately pulled out his grimoire quickly cast a mana shield to tank an oncoming ember bullet shot at Isella.

With a loud bang, the spell crashed into the shield which effectively defended against it. He proceeded to cast some more shields since he could already see people chanting some nasty spells. Well, whatever.

He glanced forward and saw the crater close towards them. It was quite wide and the ground around it was steaming. The rubber tires would not be able to hold on for much time if they were going to pass through that. Alevier’s mind ran at high speeds and suddenly an idea struck him.

“Sinchiya!” he called out. “Cast a wide inclined mana shield at the edge of the crater.”

“Ugh, what?” Sinchiya asked with a doubtful expression.

“Just do it!”

She began preparing the modified shield spell. Alevier looked at Brownie and sent a small Mana signal.

"Activate." The tunes on Brownie's hide began to glow and the cart suddenly accelerated. The spells fired at them narrowly missed their mark because of it.

Sinchiya was done preparing the shield and as the edge of the crater came within her range of spellcasting, she waved her wand and a translucent inclined slope of force morphed into existence.

"Alevier, is this what I think it is?" asked Jaysaun nervously as the smoking crater neared.

"I am afraid yes," replied Alevier.

"Ah, so be it," he said as he lightly whipped Brownie to go faster. Brownie neighed in response and pulled the cart with all its might.

Alevier quickly flipped open a page in his grimoire and hastily drew a rune on the cart's floor. He did not know if this was going to work but he did not have any choice, did he?

He looked up and saw the magical ramp close in. He quickly completed the rune and activated it making it glow blue indicating that miraculously it had worked.

“Brace yourselves,” said Alevier as he held the railing of the cart with one hand and began creating another spell model with his other. Sinchiya quickly held the unconscious Isella fast and grabbed Jaysaun by his waist so that he would not fly off.

They sped up even more and swiftly climbed up the ramp. It happened in an instant. Brownie gave it her all and jumped with all its might, the magically lightened cart followed behind. Alevier felt a jerk and a feeling of weightlessness overtook him, and a funny feeling tickled his stomach as they began to fall.

He looked over the edge, the wide crater was flaming and smoking its jagged surface was charred and glowed red in certain places. He held his breath as they passed the middle of the crater. Alevier hoped that his calculations were not wrong but the fact that they began falling a little earlier was too much of a blazing beacon of ‘You messed up’ to be ignored.

He bit his lip and activated the spell model in his hand, pouring in almost half his mana. A long curved mana shield morphed into existence in front of them. With a heavy thud and a nasty crack, they landed on the makeshift ramp and smoothly descended. But hell, the ramp did not connect to the other edge of the crater and it was slowly but steadily moving downwards.

“Sinchiya!” yelled Alevier. “Cast a mana shield like the one before!”

“Hold Isella,” she said as she let go of Isella. Unfortunately, Isella slid away from Alevier as they accelerated. Alevier cursed under his breath as he let go of the railing and lunged towards Isella.

Sinchiya quickly completed her spell and cast yet another inclined mana shield.

Alevier quickly grabbed Isella by her arm and crashed into the other side of the cart. But suddenly the slope changed - they were climbing up the ramp. Due to this Alevier and Isella began sliding towards the open edge of the cart with was littered with broken mana shield which had survived the attacks from their opponents. But they were slowly fading away too. Alevier glanced at their competitors who were following behind - flying towards his makeshift platform in a similar fashion as his team did. He began chanting a dispelling spell and pulled up Isella.

With his free hand, he grabbed on to the railing just before he felt a terrible jerk and realized that they had jumped. He quickly pulled up Isella to his neck and tugged her limp body over him before wrapping his legs around her. Once he was sure that Isella was locked between his legs and would not go flying around, he freed his hand and aimed his palm towards his curved mana shield which was occupied with his competitors and fired the de-spell. In a blink, the mana shield disappeared and a few people dropped down into the flaming hole.

Alevier sighed to himself in relief. As he once again felt that they were falling, he firmly shut his eyes and waited for the impact. And there it came, with a thud which rattled the cart, they finally made it to the other side of the crater.

“Ow!” But the impact made Alevier hit his head on the floor and almost lose his one hand grip so he panicked and grabbed the railing with both his hands. Just barely avoiding slipping off. He opened his dizzy eyes and with the support of the railing.

He pushed Isella away from him and let go of the railing. He slowly sat up and looked at Sinchiya, who had a smile of accomplishment on her face.

“We did it,” she said in relief.

“Oh man, that was so freaking cool,” exclaimed Jaysaun. “We should do this again sometime.”

Alevier sighed before saying, “Sinchiya, please take care of Isella.”

He glanced back at the crater which was slowly becoming smaller. A number of people had made it through and were coming for them. The chase was not over.

* * *

“What is this mist?” asked Jaysaun. Sometime later, after gaining some distance from their pursuers, they had arrived at a junction where the road divided into three. They chose one randomly since they did not have much time.

“Hey Alevier,” Isella suddenly whispered in his ear. “I can sense the mana thicken up ahead. Besides that, I can also feel the life force of people… but something is obstructing it.”

Alevier made a thoughtful sound.

“What is it?” asked Sinchiya.

Alevier glanced up and broke out of his thoughts. “Oh, it is nothing, I can just feel my mana reserves fill faster. Is it just I or the mana in the air has thickened?”

“Now that you mention it, I can feel it too,” said Sinchiya in a surprised tone.

“Same here,” said Jaysaun. “Looks like Isella will be able to blast people more often now.”

Isella let out a wry laugh. “That was… a spell which takes quite some time to prepare - I can’t do it much often and I am rendered useless after using it.”

“It is alright! I protected you last time, I don’t mind doing it twice,” laughed Jaysaun.

Yeah, all of Alevier’s mana shields were for show, it was Jaysaun’s driving which saved the day. Which it partly did so Alevier was willing to let him take the credit this time.

“Hey, did the road just disappear?” exclaimed Sinchiya.

Alevier looked around but the unending blanket of white fog obstructed his view, he could only see a hint of green on the ground below. The air suddenly felt much colder, his sense of direction was gone.

He felt dizzy but then he heard a distant scream. A high pitched scream like that of someone who had seen their worst nightmare echoed across the fog. Then there was another, just as muffled as the previous one and Alevier saw a hint of a blue flash through the fog.

Something was wrong.

“Uh, g-guys?” stammered Isella. “W-we are surrounded.”