Father Oranos steadily walks up the cobblestone stairs to meet with his superior at the dead of night. Late that night, before he could finish his evening ritual, he received a text from his superior about meeting him on top of the Onus Observatory in Mishewn District. If it were any other person he would have just turned off his phone and dealt with the consequences the next day.

Unfortunately the superior in question is quite the unpredictable sort. He has never really been close to his superior before, that’s why it’s quite shocking that he received an emergency text from her as well.

Father! I need your help! Meet me in the Ballisian Spire in Mishewn just outside of the Onus Observatory. This short text is more than enough to make this elderly cleric scramble to his feet and quickly move to the said location. Honestly, he’s too old for these kinds of midnight tryst. He remembers before in the convent when he used to meet with sisters in secret either in the lowly catacombs or up the derelict towers near his home. It was forbidden of course, but being born in a convent didn’t really give him much options to experience what it was like to be a person outside of the cloth.

After a few more minutes, Father Oranos finally reached the Onus Observatory. In the morning he never really sees much about it nor the other observation towers in Mishewn. To him they were all just like any other looming spires ever present in the other district. But at night, these seemingly mundane towers transform into mythical glass pillars as their mirror-installed walls reflect the beautiful moonlight during the night.

“Look! I said it’s okay! You don’t need to come!” A familiar voice echoes amongst the moonlight. He tries to follow it and after a few turns he finally meets his superior.

Right beside the cliff of the Onus Observatory stands a silver haired woman wearing a beautiful cerulean dress draped on her shoulders. She is like a dream, a mystical creature overlooking the turbulent sea...with a voice pleading over someone through the phone. Lady Threshold is anything but predictable. ”Please M! I promise it’s not because you were late for courier duty last time. It’s really just me, okay?” Father Oranos patiently waits for Lady Threshold to be finished with her call. If he can recall correctly, M is the supposed moderator for tomorrow’s test? Why is Lady Threshold talking to someone in regards to the test? She has never shown interest in it ever before? What’s going on? ”Alright?...Alright! Thank you so much! Yes, yes! You can still visit here after tomorrow, don’t worry. Alright I’ll be seeing you, girl!” Lady Threshold closes her phone and gives an excited jump. Like a schoolgirl rejoicing in passing a test.

After a brief celebration, Lady Threshold spins around and finally realizes that Father Oranos has been waiting for him. “Father! You’re here!” ”My Lady.” Father Oranos deeply bows. It’s really difficult for Father Oranos to remember that Threshold a mage surpassing everyone in the city in age. Despite her youthful appearance and zest, Lady Threshold’s age is said to be in the scale of eons, it’s only through magical means that she is able to maintain such youthful appearance. Yet the mystery of Lady Threshold’s young adult-like attitude still bewilders the aging cleric. You would think someone who has lived as old as her would be far too bored with anything life by now. “You’ve asked for my presence?”

“Yes! Here!” Threshold immediately throws something at Oranos. Surprised and horrified, Oranos quickly scrambles to catch whatever thing his superior threw at him. ”My Lady please!” Oranos, with the last of his youthful strength, was able to safely catch the thing Threshold threw. He looks down and sees an imposing looking crystal. Deep red and leaking with mana from all sides. “Is...is this-?” ”Yes, a mana crystal from the Hameza dungeon.” Threshold quickly clarifies. “I stole- I mean I acquired a couple from RnD to help us with tomorrow’s test.” ”Test?” The old cleric tilts his head, almost creaking it in the process. “What do you mean?”

“You see there’s a change of plans regarding the test. With the reports regarding the dungeon in Hameza continuing to worsen, the test for tomorrow has to be adjusted.” Threshold explains to the cleric. “You don’t need to worry about the details, what I need you to do is cast a resurrection spell for everyone in the test tomorrow.”

“...Excuse me?” Father Oranos is stunned for the first time in a long time. His eyes widened as he slowly processed what kind of request his superior was asking from him. ”What? I thought you were one of the best Ressurectionist in the Convent?” Threshold suddenly questions the cleric’s ability.

“Yes I am but-” This is ridiculous, Oranos thinks. Is this the kind of standard Threshold and rest of the council live by? No wonder they rule all these mages, their scope of what is acceptable magic for them is far too detached for a normal practitioner to ever achieve. “I do not have the mana to do them all.” ”Oh. Right.” Threshold’s mind suddenly clicks as if she forgot to tell something. “Sorry! Damn I sounded like I was asking the impossible. Okay how do I say this, with the crystal in your hand casting delay resurrections to everyone in the test will be possible. I’ve done the math, and based from what I’ve concluded, your method of casting the spell is the most mana efficient one compared to the rest.”

“Delay Ressurection?” Oranos widened more as Threshold seems to have forgotten to add “the delay” prefix to the spell she’s asking. Not only is the spell asked from him far more difficult, but a delayed resurrection requires a trigger to activate the spell casted on someone. Managing a trigger for what could be thousands of people at the same time is never meant to be done by a single person. ”In terms of the trigger, you only need to do it once. When the test is over.” Threshold explains. “So you only need to cast the spell on everyone and wait for the test to be over until you trigger them all at once. Is that clear?”

“Why would I only need one trigger? My Lady, what's going on?” His confused and shocked face slowly turns to concern. Normally a delayed resurrection is used to bring someone back up after they’ve died. But saying that he only needs to trigger the spell once means that people casted with this spell will stay dead until he uses his spell. Something’s not right.

“Don’t worry, the responsibility will be all on me for this one.” Threshold tries to calm him down a bit. “I’ve looked into the test for tomorrow, and I can safely say this’ll be nothing more but a farce on what our goal is supposed to be for Hameza. A decorated tournament with some anti-magic stuff will not cut it. If we continued with the test proper, we’ll be sending our new residents to the slaughter...or even worse.” Threshold’s eyes narrow in focus. This is the first time Oranos has seen the often carefree Threshold be serious. It unnerves him how determined his superior is at the task at hand.

”A-alright fine My Lady.” Father Oranos gives in. Whatever these changes are if Threshold is serious enough to helm it, then he doesn’t see any harm from it. “But I do still need to remind you of my concerns, my lady. Yes having one trigger lessens the toil of the spell, but I’m still unsure how this crystal can help me cast it over thousands of people.” He voices out his concerns in regards to the specifics of the spell.

”True, I guess it’s hard to grasp how powerful these crystals are if you haven’t seen them in action.” Threshold goes to her pocket and brings out another mana crystal. The same one she gave to the cleric. “Let me show you.” He raised the crystal up high and started pointing at the sky. “Tell me father, have you heard of my prowess when it comes to astronomy?”

”No, my Lady, I haven’t heard it before my apologies.” Father Oranos quickly replies. Threshold is known for a lot of things but astronomy has never been a part of it.

”No, it’s okay. Because it’s the truth. I don’t know shit when it comes to astronomy magic. But-” The crystal flashes in crimson as Threshold begins to cast a spell. “I’ve picked up this spell from one of my friends before, he said that this spell will allow me to change the weather at any place at any time, but it requires a ridiculous amount of mana to do so, triply so if you’re not practicing astronomy at all.” The crystal burns bright red as the clouds slowly take shape corresponding to Threshold’s command. Oranos stands motionless. Controlling the sky to one’s bidding is not an easy task even for an astronomancy apprentice. And regardless of how old Threshold was, being able to control the weather despite none of the training is utterly impossible. It’s like asking a necromancer to grow trees like a druid. Yet despite that, she is able to do so using sheer force through a simple spell. After a few minutes of channeling and controlling the sky, Threshold slows down her movement until the sky returns to its serene position.

“There I’ve scheduled a specific weather condition for tomorrow.” Threshold wipes away the sweat from her brow. She looks at the crystal in her hand and even Oranos can visibly see that the crystal is only at half capacity. “How about it Father? Do you believe in the power of the crystal yet?” Oranos looks down at his own crystal in his hand. Such power. The ability to do anything at will at the palm of his hand. A primeval temptation slowly urges from within him. To use the said crystal for selfish means rather than the task at hand.

But, thanks to his discipline he learned in the convent, he is able to stave off the rising sin from within and places the crystal in his pocket. “I do believe it now, My Lady. Such a terrifying power, and they say an entire cave’s worth of crystal is on the other side of the Hameza dungeon.”

”Yes, that’s why the residents who will be handling the district must be more than just your typical mage. They need to be tested not only in their skill, but also their instincts and camaraderie. Tomorrow will be the first time I will be personally handling a test, and I will make sure it produces the type of residents we could be proud of.” Threshold conviction grows stronger as they continue their talk regarding the test.

”And I will help you for whatever you need me for, My Lady.” Oranos is now convinced. Whatever happens tomorrow, it’s sure to work out well with Lady Threshold helming it. “I simply hope nothing bad might happen tomorrow.”

”Oh don’t worry, whatever happens happens.” Threshold brushes them off. “Their adults already right? They can handle anything we can throw at them. It’s not like there’ll be kids in the test, right?”