“Well done, well done!” Leonardo said while clapping all alone inside his office. He was rather impressed with how the S-rank trials went.

“But I have to admit, I didn’t expect Mr. Vendrake to just pierce through that shield. I guess that’s why that design was relegated to be obsolete if people at this level can break them.” He added as he took out four brown folders from the stacks on his desk.

They were the files for the four new apprentice ranks that were eligible for the S-rank trials. Namely Rossa Argentum, Estelle Mordigan, Artian Vendrake, and finally Sylvester Clearsight. Looking over the four file folders he took and opened Sylvester’s file.

He then read through the file quickly, skimming over the entirety and seemingly searched for something specific. His eyes, upon finding the relevant information he needed, stopped over a few lines text. Skin folds formed in between his eyes and wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

“Sigh.” Leonardo then let out a deep breath, a serious expression draped over his face.

“I imagine Mr. Clearsight is going to have a lot of questions once this is over.” He worryingly commented as he continued reading Sylvester’s file. Once he was satisfied he placed it back on the table along with the three other folders and piled them together separate from the rest, looking over them with a bemused but troubled expression.

“What a troublesome batch this turned out to be.” He said as he closed his eyes.

“Mona Lisa, are the chambers ready?” He asked silently inside his head, then a female voice replied to his question.

“Yes, headmaster. The scribes have finished the preparations and are ready to receive the Apprentices today.” Mona Lisa’s voice ringed inside Leonardo’s head.

“Good.” Leonardo replied. “Send in the rest now. I will personally guide these four myself.” He commanded.

“I understand Headmaster.” Mona Lisa replied in a compliant voice.

“Now then.” Leonardo then stood up and stretched his arms.

“Time to get to work.” He smiled and soon his figure faded and disappeared from his office, vanishing without a trace.

---

“Now that was quite a light show!” Sylvester exclaimed while clapping his hands slowly over the explosive end of his roommate’s trial.

Rossa remained silent, choosing to remain silent despite Sylvester’s infectious enthusiasm. Suddenly a familiar female voice was heard, echoing throughout the coliseum.

“May the participants of the S-rank trials please gather at the middle of the arena. The headmaster will arrive shortly to guide you personally on your trip to the Chamber of learning.” The voice that seemed to belong to Nitri commanded.

“Sweet reward time!” Sylvester said as he eagerly got up from his seat while Rossa silently followed. The two of them silently walked down towards the arena and met up with Artian and Estelle.

Upon seeing Sylvester’s approach, Artian waved at him rather noticeably, flinging his left arm high into the air although a little restrained. Sylvester returned the welcoming gesture with a knowing salute.

“Fancy meeting you here roommate!” Sylvester opened up.

“Same to you my guy.” Artian replied, a wide grin on his face.

“By the way Artian. Where did you learn that spell? Burst finger?” Sylvester asked.

“Oh that? My mentor taught me that spell. He said it was taught to him by a young and talented mage from way back.” Artian explained.

“Hmm I see.” Sylvester replied as he was satisfied with Artian’s answer.

“So you guys are roommates as well?” A female voice interrupted Sylvester and Artian with a perplexed question. Looking to the side, Sylvester saw that it was Estelle, Artian’s trial partner, that posed this query.

“What do you mean by that?” Artian asked his female companion.

“Well, that lady over there happens to be my roommate. Oh and hi by the way, I’m Estelle. Artian’s girlfriend.” Estelle replied, directing the attention to Rossa who stood there with a blank expression while also introducing herself to Sylvester.

“Oh hi and nice to meet you. I’m Sylvester, Artian’s roommate.” Sylvester replied acknowledging Estelle. His thoughts then came back to Rossa’s figure back when they were spectating.

“I see now, so that’s why she was looking at her during the start. They were roommates. Wait a minute-” Artian thought to himself when a possibility popped in his head. Suddenly, another female voice interrupted his train of thought.

“Given how all four of us were qualified for the highest difficulty trial-” Rossa spoke, catching the attention of the other three, “Then it’s not a stretch that the headmaster arranged this from the start.” Rossa added to the conversation.

“I see that makes sense.” Sylvester agreed.

“Then I guess that moment we were scanned by the twins at the entrance our room arrangements were sealed huh.” Artian added.

“I wonder what would have happened if only three people qualified for the S-rank trials?” Estelle asked, resting her cheek on her index figure while looking up.

“If all three of them are of the same gender, then they all share a large room, if not then one of them will obviously enjoy a solo room experience.” A voice from behind them suddenly answered from behind the quartet, surprising all four of them.

When they turned and checked where the voice came from, they saw the figure of the headmaster warmly smiling at them.

“Headmaster?” All four of them exclaimed in unison all with different levels of reactionary shock.

“Please please, compose yourself.” Leonardo said to the group.

“Now I know you might have a few questions, but let me answer them later when we’re done with today’s final activity.” Leonardo smiled, his eyes darting towards Sylvester in the smallest of moments that Sylvester himself didn’t notice.

“Now then, shall we get a move on, young ones?” Leonardo asked as he conjured a door right in front of Sylvester and company without even looking or acknowledging the act. Sylvester once again reminded of the massive gap seemingly unbridgeable gap between him and the headmaster.

The Headmaster then opened the summoned door and gestured for the four of them to enter first.

“Oh and ladies first.” Leonardo jokingly said with a smile.

Just as Leonardo asked, Rossa and Estelle went first followed by Artian and Sylvester. Upon passing through the door Sylvester noticed that he was now inside a small windowless circular room that was shaped like a dome.

The floor was cushioned with a soft material reminiscent of a mattress and the walls were of a reflective material almost like a mirror. A single light source hung at the very top of the dome and was shining a bright white light.

Sylvester then immediately realized something was amiss, Artian and girls were no longer with him! Before he could try and investigate he suddenly heard a voice invading his mind.

“Welcome to the Chamber of learning!” The headmaster’s voice echoed inside Sylvester’s head. Without missing a beat, the headmaster continued on with his speech.

“This room contains the knowledge of almost every spell available at the academy!” He continued. “As for how you can gain access to it, well let’s begin shall we.” The headmaster’s voice now sounded a bit mischievous.

“Now, I want you to think of a spell you want to learn. No need to be specific just think of anything you want or need.” The voice instructed.

“Anything I want or need huh?” Sylvester thought to himself. “I guess something I can use to control or tamper with something from afar would be good.” As soon as he placed this image in his head, the mirror-like walls started showing symbols all over in a rather disorganized manner.

Sylvester, while a little baffled, decided to closely inspect one of them and soon realized that they were the names of spells.

“Remote possession?” Sylvester said out loud as he looked at the one closest to him. As soon as his gaze focused on that particular spell more details about it popped up, explaining how exactly that certain spell worked. Towards the end however, numbers colored in red can be seen.

“500?”

“Now my dear Apprentices, let me explain what exactly it is you are seeing.” The headmaster’s voice now echoed inside Sylvester's head again.

“Those numbers are the cost you need to gain access to that spell. They are points you gain by doing field work tasks for the academy depending on the difficulty of course.” The voice explained.

“Now then, let’s see just how many points you were rewarded for completing the S-rank trial.” As soon as the headmaster finished talking, a set of numbers then appeared above the description of the spell.

“Oh yeah, the S-rank option earlier said only 300-” Sylvester read aloud.

“OH! I GET IT NOW!” He exclaimed in realization. “So that’s why this spell was in red, because it was literally IN the red.” He then made a shitty pun all to himself, it was a good thing nobody else heard that aside from the headmaster.

“I trust that you understand now. Please I will give you time to pick a spell you want.” The headmaster’s voice instructed.

“But, after you choose a spell I suggest bracing yourself for impact. Some of you are first timers after all.” The voice warned before disappearing again.

“What? What did he mean by some? Oh well I don’t care.” Sylvester thought to himself as he browsed the spells available to him. Soon he happened upon a spell called “Dark strings”. It was a spell that allowed Sylvester to conjure invisible intangible strings that he can solidify at will. It only cost 250 points.

“Huh this seems interesting, I could make good use of this!” With very little deliberation he decided to pick this spell. Once he made up his mind a notice appeared in front of him, asking whether he was sure of his choice.

“Of course I am!” He eagerly declared.

Soon, the entire of the mirror surface cleared out of all other images, and a symbol slowly formed right in front of Sylvester. It was a pentagon shaped spider-web all encased by an open hand, fingers outstretched.

Sylvester continued to look at the symbol in confusion when he suddenly felt a sudden painful sensation inside his head. A pain so intense it forced Sylvester on his knees, desperately clutching to his head.

A pain he was all too familiar with.

The excruciatingly painful sensation of his brain being pierced and seared from within!