Blinking her eyes, Siyla awoke in a sterile, wood-cladded room. She tried to raise her arms, only to discover that grey clamps were locked around them. Glancing at them, she noticed that there were small glass windows on the clamps, and inside them was a stream of silver liquid.

Rotating her neck, Siyla looked around the room, trying to make out her surroundings. She was lying an adjustable, metal, hospital bed, with a comfortable mattress and clean white sheets. By her side was a large window that overlooked a calm, glittering river that lay past a sea of neat buildings made of clean-cut stone bricks, and around her were while cloth curtains. She herself was wearing a long white gown.

A dark-elf nurse bustled through the curtain, holding a glass cylinder that contained silver liquid. She found that Siyla was awake and rushed over to her.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“Y-yes, I’m fine. What’s with these clamps?”

“Oh, don’t worry about those, they’re energy injectors. We can’t feed an unconscious person right?”

Siyla checked the energy flow of her body. Indeed, the clamps were injecting in a steady stream of metallic energy into her veins. Seeing it wasn’t a threat, she tried to get up.

"Where’s my companion?"

“No no, you shouldn’t move too much, you’ve been unconscious for four days. Your body was flooded with death energy, it took two days of radiation therapy to get rid of it all.”

Siyla swiped away the hands and tried to get up again, “Where is my companion?”

Exasperated, the nurse pushed her back down, “He’s in the bed over. His veins and arteries were ruptured and his bones were lightly fractured, not mentioning his exhausted energy supply. He just got out of the emergency bay earlier today.”

Seeing the untrusting look on Siyla, the nurse drew open a curtain, revealing an unconscious Fel on the other side. He looked a little thinner and paler, but apart from that, he was fine.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back up in a day. It was weird though, we couldn’t seem to figure out his dominant energy type, so we injected pure energy into him instead. Nothing that the Association couldn’t deal with!”

“Where am I anyway?”

“You’re in the hospital of the Mage Association’s Collesti branch. You don’t seem to be a registered Mage, so I recommend that you take the examination after you recover. Of course, it’ll take a bit till you’re in tip-top condition.”

Sure, I’ll consult my companion about this when he wakes up.”

The nurse clapped her hands together, “Fantastic, would you like to eat something?”

“Kaza nuggets and Trigis bars please.”

A bead of sweat dripped from the nurse’s face.

By the time Fel woke up, Siyla was lazing in her bed, nibbling on bits of metals while reading a book. His movements attracted Siyla’s attention, who slipped out of bed and walked over to him. Before he could even utter a word, Siyla filled him in with the information.

“Cool, technology here seems to be much more advanced than I thought it was.”

Siyla gave him a strange look

“Nevermind, what have you been doing lately?”

“Not much, I’ve just been eating, reading and cultivating. There wasn’t much to do.”

“I see, well, I guess I’ll be doing the same for a while!”

Before they could continue on, the dark-elf nurse walked into their section, “Oh, you’re awake too! That’s great! Did your companion fill you in on what’s happening?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” She pulled up a chair by the curtain, “Well then, it may be sudden as you’ve just woken up, but what do you think about joining the Association?”

“What are the benefits?”

“Well, the Mage Association is rather similar to the adventurer’s guild, only a little looser. If you join the Association, they’ll recommend you to a Mage academy and give you easy access to many of their services. Such as their mission board, exclusive market and access to hospitals, like this one, free of charge!”

“Wait, free?”

“Ah, I forgot to mention, between the two of you, you’ve been in radiation therapy for a total of four days, used three cylinders of metallic energy and four more of pure energy cylinders, and you’ve used a litre worth of hemostatic potion.”

The nurse paused for a while as she caught her breath, “That adds up to 105.5 crystal coins.”

Fel’s face dropped, though he had 10,000 crystal coins, that was still 1% of his total wealth. Even he could tell that it was a rip-off.

“Then there are the rare metals that your companion there ordered. That brings the total up to 120 crystal coins.”

Fel sighed, “So, you’ve gone on about joining the Association and how good it is, what’s the catch?”

“Well, the whole reason the Association was made in the first place was to prevent wars among the Mage Academies and to suppress the 2nd underground layer.”

“The 2nd underground layer?”

“Yes, they’ve always been trying to invade our layer because we have a large amount of well, living people. They’re mostly undead there. The layer beneath them is full of fire elementals, so they can’t go there, but we’re full of yet-to-be-converted flesh-bags, so they do all they can to take us over.”

“Where is this going?”

“Don’t interrupt me. So, you see, the sole duty of Mages in the association is to band together and defeat the undead when they invade.”

A burly horned man rushed into the section and whispered to the nurse.

Looking agitated, the nurse turned back to Fel and Siyla, “Well, with that, I hope you’ll join the Association, have a nice day!”

Without a second word, she rushed off along with the man.

Fel looked over at Siyla, “So what do you think?”

“I mean, we’ve fought the undead before, and we’ll definitely have to fight them again, so I see no demerit to it.”

“Fair point, they don’t seem to restrict your freedom. To me, it feels like more of an alliance between the Mage Academies than anything.”

“Mhm.”

“And it’ll allow us to quickly integrate with this place, so I think it’s a good deal. Shall we join them?”

“I’ll have to agree with that, though we should recover first.”

Two days later, they were discharged.

---

“So, Siyla, 23, Middle Level 1 Metal Mage, Steelwing Angel right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And Fel, 19, Initial Level 1 Lightning Mage, Deva?”

“Yep.”

“What, exactly, is a Deva?”

“Umm, well, we’re a rather ancient clan, who are reclusive in nature. And… yea...”

“Sure… I’ve never seen tattoos like those, so I’ll take your word for it. Take that hallway to the right and walk right and take the second door to your left, that’s where you’ll have your exam.”

“What’s in the exam?”

“Oh, just a little combat test, to give you a ranking. We'll rank you from F to A in terms of combat ability relative to your Level. To put it in simpler terms, it’s a measure of your competency.”

“What if you’re not a combat oriented Mage?”

“We have other tests for that, but you’re a combat Mage, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Ok, ok. Let’s go Siyla.”

They walked past the reception and travelled down the hall. The Association’s building was rather magnificent, with a ceiling that towered several metres high, supported by huge, thick beams that were decorated by mesmerising banners. In the underground, wood was a valuable resource. Buildings that were made of wood were of much higher status than those made of stone.

However, despite its size and wealth, there were few people inside it. Apart from the staff, there were only around five people in it, all clothed in long robes. They kept to themselves, and every now and then they’d walk off to another part of the building. It was an odd sight.

Fel opened the door to the examination room to reveal a long staircase that led to the basement. After a minute or two of walking, they reached their destination. The examination room. It was an expansive arena, but barren, save for a weapon rack and a few sets of armour in the corner, a chair, a table and a lanky man cloaked in a long, black robe, who was sipping tea from an intricate china tea-cup.

Placing his teacup down, he grabbed the staff by his side and sauntered up to the duo, extending a hand. “Are you the examinees?”

Fel took his hand and shook it, “Yes we are.”

“I should introduce myself, I am Tresten, a high Level 1 Darkness Mage.”

“Fel, initial Level 1 Lightning Mage.”

“Siyla, middle Level 1 Metal Mage.”

“I guess you’ve heard this is a combat test. As for the rules, you can only use the weapons on that rack over there, though you can conjure your own. Other than that, there are no rules. You must do your best to defeat me, and don’t worry, if I’m about to die, the formation will kick in and save me.”

He walked towards the other side of the area, “We’ll begin the duel once we get to the other side. Sorry if I haven’t exchanged too many pleasantries, I find them to be a waste of time. To Mages, time is power.”

As Tresten walked, Siyla and Fel got prepared. Fel went over to the weapon rack and took out a standard longsword and donned a set of plate armour while Siyla congealed a set of armour and a long spear.

Fel stood to the left, while Siyla stood on the right, both sank down their centre of mass, ready to shoot out at any moment.

Tresten was just a step away from the opposite side of the room, “Two physical Mages huh? That’s rare, I guess I’m in a bit of a pickle.”

He set his foot down. Fel and Siyla rocketed out, closing in on Tresten in a pincer formation. Tresten launched a few dark bolts of energy while he weaved a magic circle around him. Fel dodged most the bolts and used a few strands of lightning energy to dispel the rest while Siyla congealed a silvery shield and tanked all the shots.

By the time the duo were halfway there, Tresten completed his circle and placed it on the ground. Siyla launched a few projectiles to interrupt it, but Tresten let out a wave of dark energy that destroyed the incoming projectiles.

The circle sucked up the colour in the room, turning it into a monochrome painting. A wisp of inky shadow hissed out from the centre of the circle. In the next instant, it unfurled into a hulking behemoth. It had a muscular upper body, yet it lacked any legs whatsoever, with only a wisp of shadow connecting it to the circle.

“Fel, Siyla, meet Garagath, my Dark Djinni. Have fun!”

The Djinn drew in dark energy from the circle and compressed it into a misty sphere between his hands. It then released it in a concentrated blast of energy towards Siyla, vaporising the grey floor as it went, Forcing Siyla to hurl herself to the side, only to leap around in a desperate attempt to dodge a round of Tresten’s attacks. Fel raised his sword and cut it down on the dark djinn, though Tresten, yet again, released a volley of dark bolts to interrupt him.

“Hehe, works like a charm.”

Though the jeering annoyed Fel, he remembered that physical Mages were meant to have a low expenditure and outlast conventional Mages. If he gave in to Tresten’s taunts, he would be quickly defeated, especially since Tresten had far greater firepower than he did.

Seeing that Fel wasn’t tricked, Tresten moved on to the next trick up his sleeve. He waved his staff and sent out half a dozen miniature magic circles that moved to surround Fel. With his other hand, he ordered the Djinn to bombard Siyla with bursts of dark energy to keep her busy.

Wispy snakes slithered out from the circles and flew towards Fel. Along with them came a wave of dark energy, forcing Fel to discharge a large amount of lightning energy. He then coated his blade with a small amount of lightning energy and sliced the snakes apart before continuing to rush towards Tresten.

In that time, Tresten had weaved several more circles that surrounded Fel yet again and blasted out streams of dark bolts like machine guns. Unlike before, Fel couldn’t rely on his blade to cut them apart and had to form a barrier of lightning energy, making him waste even more energy.

The only reason Fel was still standing was that lightning energy countered dark energy. Even though lightning energy had a high expenditure, only a strand of it could annihilate an entire ball of dark energy. Though it had to be noted that Tresten was two minor levels ahead of Fel and had a greater pool of energy.

But Siyla wasn’t lazing about. She pressed her index and pointy finger together than waved it in the air, letting a strand of metal trail behind it. The strand elongated, and when Siyla had completed her gesture, she cut it off and made it sail towards Tresten.

It soared faster and faster, breaking even the sound barrier. Tresten rapidly directed the djinn to block it for him, but, while it managed to do so, the strand of metal sliced it in half. The upper half, now disconnect from the circle, dissipated in the air, forcing the circle to spend a large amount of energy to reform the djinn.

Siyla stumbled and almost fell to the ground, her body, thinner than before, but she spread out her wings and launched a volley of needles at Tresten.

Fel saw this opening and cycled the rest of his lightning energy through his lines. He expanded the circles on his shoulders, forming golden arms of light while his lines lit up, encasing him in an armour of lightning. Without a second to spare, he blasted out lightning energy at his feet and hurtled towards Tresten, leaving after-shadows in his wake.

This caught Tresten by surprise, who mobilised his energy to form a thick, shadowy wall. But a wave of Fel’s sword tore apart it. Tresten ejected a cloud of jet-black mist to throw off Fel, who dispersed it with a strike of his golden fist.

In a last-ditch effort, Tresten lit up the runes on his staff, instantly forming a dozen crystalline shards of dark energy before firing them towards Fel. Siyla's arrows destroyed four of them while Fel's golden fists and armour annihilated the rest.

The concentrated dark energy invaded Fel’s body and gnawed him out by the inside. Fel didn’t have the time to purge it and simply let his flowing lightning energy suppress it, choosing instead to continue to charge towards Tresten.

Fel's sword sliced apart yet another crystalline bolt, the great power shattering its blade. Lacking another option, Tresten shoved raw dark energy at Fel, not having any time to weave a better spell.

From the distance, Siyla launched a hail of needles and arrows at Tresten, dispersing his wave of formless dark energy, allowing Fel to close the distance and launch a point-blank attack at Tresten.

Spiralling lightning energy through his arms, Fel launched six, fierce punches, each connecting squarely with Tresten’s weak points. Though Tresten tried to protect himself with crystalline plates of dark energy, dark energy was offensive by nature and couldn’t resist the onslaught of lightning.

The first and second crushed his ribs, the third his abdomen, the fourth his face while the last two arms grasped his throat and strangled him. Before long, bright beams of light burst out from the ground, separating him and Fel and healing their wounds.

Coughing lightly Tresten sat up, “Well, that was unexpected, I guess you both get a B”