Crawling under the wet canopies of the magically-built buildings, Selica slinks through the shadows as she closes the distance between her and the excavation site. Even up to this time, she’s still unsure whether her decision is the right thing to do, but she does know that every moment she holds her hand, the worse things could get for either her or the kid.

After beating the kid bloody and half-dead, the old mage gives him another good kick in the gut and shouted, “Go! Finish the hole, so we can finally be done with this wretched test.” His voice flairs in annoyance. Selica notices that his mood is affected by not only due to the boy’s incompetence, but something else as well.

Selica inches closer, minding the debris in her every step, though for sure the obvious waterless bubble she’s in will be exposed sooner the more she walks closer to the excavation. She deduces that slinking around like a rat would just put her in danger, she has to take the initiative before he notices her.

Now one would think that Selica would have made an elaborate plan consisting of stealth, magic, and even a bit of teenage bravado to successfully rescue the kid. However the recent debacle she’s been through has given her some much needed perspective in the whole situation. Challenging an old mage of his status-and arrogance for that matter, in a battle of wits and magic is surely suicide. And even if she could save the boy from him by some miracle, their current cave project is paramount for her and her friends to pass this test. Whether she wants to pass this test in the first place is irrelevant for Selica, having a secure path towards success for her friends is more important for her than her own desires.

So balancing all of these facts in her head Selica begins formulating different plans. One plan to push through while the other as a last resort. She first starts forming her first plan, but the more she picks the steps for it, the more she’s worried about what becomes of it.

“What if it doesn’t work?” She mutters to herself. Selica’s overthinking has made her gradually overestimate her opponent and she has begun to second guess her own plan.

To settle her worries, she slowly pulls out the paper wrapped close to her chest. Thankfully the paper was not as wet as it could have, meaning it’s still usable. Maybe this is her last resort?

“No..” The plan immediately comes to her mind, but suddenly realizes how foolish it was. But, if things go down hard, then maybe this can do it? She tucked the spell back and secured it closely to her chest. This is her last resort, if everything truly fails, then this will be the one thing that could at the very least defeat him. After which she returns back to formulating her original plan, now more confident, or maybe less worried is the better term, in the outcome of her scheme.

After finalizing her plan she gives herself one big sigh to remind herself of her plan.

It’s now or never, she thinks.

She placed her hand over her chest and dispelled her Psy-shield bubble. After the shield has dissipated Selica confidently jumps out to the open field and begins her plan.

“Help!” Selica shouts at the old man and the boy. Surprised, the old man immediately pivots behind him and sees Selica running towards them soaked head to toe.

“Please help me! Is there a space in your team?” Selica asks groveling. The first part of her plan is to temporarily join the old man’s team. She needs to know more about their plan, this excavation, and have him be comfortable just enough for her to actually make a move on him. Remembering his arrogance from before, Selica knows a bit of pandering can help smooth over his hostility towards her. Both the old man and the boy are speechless by Selica’s arrival, but the old mage especially so. “Huh.” He utters. “Little Sparrow, how nice of you to join us.” ”Huh?” Selica suddenly remembers what he called him earlier today. “Little Sparrow”, hearing it again makes her stomach lurch, but she has to keep it in to make this work. “Y-yes! You were the guy earlier!” She wanted to punch him so badly, “I apologize for what happened earlier. So please let me join your group.” The old mage gives her a good look, scanning her from head to toe. Then suddenly he snaps his fingers triggering a sonar-like wave originating from him. The wave covered the entire excavation behind him and the buildings behind Selica before it disappeared from the rain.

He closes his eyes intensely, feeling every nook and cranny that his wave has just scanned. After the wave disappeared, he opened his eyes with a smile. “Apology accepted.” He finally answers, “I would have prepared a proper punishment for your outlandish display earlier, but-” This time he focuses on looking at Selica’s clothes and face, “It seems like this conflict has given you enough punishment as it is.” He walks back towards the excavation, “Come, I need as many hands as I can.”

First part success! Selica thought to herself. She was so worried when the old man first saw her. She could feel his disgusting presence towering above her, inspecting every single thing he could lay his eyes on. And that wave just now was the same, Selica thought that it was similar to a sonar ability to see other people’s presence. Selica was right to treat him with such preparedness. The old man may be arrogant, but he does not let his hubris cloud him from simple deception.

“Thank you!” Selica finally answers back, “M-may I know the name of my savior, sir.” She might be laying it on a bit thick, but instead of being annoyed by it, the old man seems to relish on it.

“My apologies, of course. The name is Count Dimas, Fourth of Tamagares Council of Mages.” He looks back again at Selica and bows, “Please do remember it. You wouldn’t want to blemish my name when you recall your rescue now would you?” He then pivots again and continues walking back.

Count Dimas.” Tamagares? Council? What are those? Selica curiosity almost bit at the mention of these words, but her focus reeled her back to the mission at hand. Slowly Selica follows Count Dimas towards the excavation site, keeping an eye on her surroundings.

The make-shift excavation site is a bit shallower than what Selica would have expected. Only around 10 ft tall, the mouth of the cave is simply supported by what looks like wood at first, but upon closer inspection they are the materials found inside the buildings. The workers, or more properly called the golems, are around 4 ft in height but their stocky build allows them to dig and carry large boulders away from the cave.

“These golems look familiar,” Selica notices something peculiar about the golems. Though they are obviously made from the same ground she is standing on, the golems' eyes on the other hand seems like something she has seen before. The way their pupils look at her seems to remind her of something.

“D-do you like my work?” Selica’s stare is broken by a soft voice from a boy. She turns around and sees the kid, all dirty from the dirt and rain mixing on his whole body, looking at her. “I-I’m also sorry for earlier.” ”Earlier?” Selica tilts her head trying to recall when has she ever seen this boy before. ”I-I mean earlier wh-when I ch-choked-” The boy realizing this stammers as she tries to explain to her.

Then it finally clicks to Selica. “That was your golem?” The tall lanky man is this boy’s golem. No wonder his name was so familiar for her as well. She looks back and indeed all the golems here have the same eye as the one from earlier.

“Y-yes!” Gregor continuously stammers “I’m really sorry! When the Master makes me do things, he uses my golem to do his bidding.” Selica recalls being magically choked before, at first she does recall the magic coming from the golem, but the essence of it is far more similar to Dimas than this boy.

“Are you two done?” The Dimas interrupts their discussion. “Gregor, clean up this mess you’ve made, now!” He points at the huge cave-in at the very end of the cave. “And you girl, what’s your name again? Go make sure there’s nobody around to hear us.” He whisks his hand and suddenly Selica can feel a bodysuit like filament covers her. It’s a “Psy Shield”, and the way it molds exactly to her own body impresses her more than being disgusting by having this old man’s magic covering her. “Here, something to protect you from that stupid rain.”

“Yes sir, right away!” Selica scurries off immediately before giving away her name. With the new “Psy Shield” on her she immediately walks out of the cave, and starts looking for a spell on her notebook to make it as sound proof as possible.

“Ah there it is!” She raises her hand as high as she could, “Bubble! Mute!” The two-spell combo covers the mouth of the cave with a bubble-like sphere. The sounds of the working golems are immediately silenced when the sphere is successfully placed.

“Whew,” Selica is already holding on her knees by this point. Forget the Psy Rain, her body is already so tired from casting all these spells without any breaks.

“Impressive, for a little girl.” Dimas slowly walks out of the sphere-covered cave. “Creating spell combinations, even if they are rather basic, at such a young age is a good sign of your potential.” Selica should feel proud of being praised for her magic, but for it to be Dimas just makes her want to puke from it. ”R-really?” Hold it in Selica, she says to herself, not yet. “But I wouldn’t have done it without this shield of yours.” Selica gives herself a good look, nudging at the effects of the “Psy Shield” on her.

“Ah yes, the “Psy Shield”.” Dimas quickly acknowledges what she means. “It’s very fortunate I’ve already learned that spell before coming here.” He sighs, “To think I’ll be using it already right as I was entering the city.”

“But I’ve heard some rumors-” Selica thinks it’s time for her to begin the next step of her plan. Selica prepares herself as she starts to mutter in a low voice. “That what we’re residing in would be as dangerous as this test itself.” ”Oh you mean the dungeon?” The sudden realization Selica had when Dimas mentioned it almost broke her meekly facade. “On the contrary, little sparrow. The dungeon is the greatest thing we could ever hope for.” Dimas’ ecstatic voice floods Selica’s sensibilities.

Crap! This was not the reaction I was hoping for, she says to herself. She hoped that the mention of the dungeon would scare off Dimas and leave this excavation attempt completely. “How can it be the greatest thing?” Selica genuinely asks. “I’ve heard the things in there, the monsters, the fauna. How can something so dangerous be so great?” ”Ah truly the youth is wasted on the youth.” Dimas places his hand over his head. “I will forgive you for your ignorance due to your age, and the situation you might have learned it might not be conducive enough to marinate the dungeon’s implications.” He dismisses Selica’s fears. “Yes, yes a dungeon has its dangers, as any dungeon always is really, but the treasures inside is what truly makes it all worth it. Mana crystals, especially one found deep in a dungeon as ancient like that, is the lifeblood of any mage. One crystal could propel a mage into heights of mastery only our forefathers could dream off.” His eyes flicker in excitement as Dimas narrates his grandeur.

“With just one of these crystals, you can make an entire planet kneel to your power, little sparrow. Imagine it, one whisk of your hand and mountains will part, oceans will dry up, and others will slaughter others for your sake.” Dimas gives the shocked Selica another good look over. “Of course, as a young mage like yourself, you will still need guidance on how to properly use a crystal such as that, let alone magic in general. A mentorship, like what I can offer in exchange for your allegiance, is perfect to help you fully become the mage you are destined to be.”

“Does everyone see it that way?” Selica stammers. “Is everything just all about power?” Dimas scuffs at the naive girl’s reaction. “My little sparrow, it was this city’s representatives themselves who told us about everything, the crystals, the, well the supposed, tournament, everything. Everyone here came for the crystals and were armed to the teeth to fight in a mage’s gauntlet. All of it for a promise of power. Is that not why you’re here as well?”

Selica replied in silence. Her face at first shows shock, but the more Dimas continues his delusional tirade, Selica’s face becomes darker and darker.

I can’t let this man enter Magecraft City, she says to herself. Does this man, standing above his own madness and sick ambition, represent what all mages truly are? No, of course not. Bigz, Gallian, Ashlin, and even Shellon have nothing similar to this putrid aspect of a man. ”Gods this rain.” Dimas suddenly complains, trying to clean his soaked clothes from the rain. The rain at this point is a deluge, you can barely hear anything due to the noise of water crashing down on the blood-soaked arena. “Honestly, of all the details the representatives could have missed, it had to be this rain. So annoying.”

Selica slowly stands up and looks at Dimas. Her eyes burning in both determination and clarity. She finally understands everything. About the Silencers, the rains, the exam, everything.

Her theory is: There was a plan made by the corrupted officials to cherry pick individual mages to be the new residents of the city’s new district. People who are in favor of them, will share their discovery within the dungeon to them rather than share it with the city in accordance with the city's rule. However, someone, and according to Enyi someone BIG, on the higher echelon of that council realized what was happening and hastily switched the exam from a tournament into what they have now, thus explaining the disgruntled Silencers regarding the test.

The plan was to catch the people who readied themselves for a magical tournament off guard with a test that focuses on low-magical survival rather than high-magical conflict, ideally culling the informed mages immediately from the get go. The end goal of the exam is meant to funnel the fortunate stragglers to a choke point as they climb up the hill and kill them off in the process since only the people who know the prize at the end of this test will be crazy enough to try and succeed in this exam. This exam, as gruesome as it already is, is one elaborate trap for the sake of the city’s future.

Dimas notices Selica standing up, “Oh, finally dropping the act, are we?” Dimas stares at the rising Selica, face soaked by the torrential downpour. “I must say I was impressed with your confidence to walk all alone here to end me. So I entertained you for a bit, waiting for you to make your move.” He scoffs at her and steps a few feet back, creating some distance between them.

Is she just finding a convenient cause for her overflowing hatred towards Dimas? Most definitely so. Is her theory wrong? It probably is based from her track record, she tells herself. Even by her own planning, this is a few steps way too early to consider attacking Dimas right now. But the sudden spark of determination is enough to motivate her to act right now. “Ice Knife.” Selica utters her spell as a magical knife slowly crystallized on her hand. “And don’t get too full of yourself, I didn’t come here for you, I came here for the kid. But I guess, right now I am here to end you.” Despite her anger and theories, one thing is clear for Selica, she has to kill Dimas for the sake of this city and her friends wanting to enter it. Even at the cost of her life.

“Hahaha! Has anger truly clouded your mind, little sparrow. You do know I’m the one letting you cast your spell right now, right?” Selica immediately lunges straight to Dimas, but he immediately responds by snapping his fingers, dispelling the “Psy Shield” coating her.

But the ice knife didn’t get washed away.

“What-?!” Selica stabs her Ice Knife straight at Dimas’ heart before he could even react.