Standing in front of the line was a woman with olive coloured skin and long black hair which lay on her shoulder in a braid. The most noticeable thing about her were her soft brown eyes which somehow emitted both a fiery and calm expression.

Looking up from her note pad she smiled and addressed the candidates.

“Hello everyone, my name’s Kira and I’ll be your examiner during today’s test.”

Once her introduction was out of the way she lead the candidates into a large courtyard behind the academy.

In the middle of the courtyard a smug looking young man glanced at the candidates before looking away, treating them as nothing more than ants crossing his path.

Walking up next to the smug young man, Kira introduced him to the rest of the candidates. “This is Egon Coulter, due to a recommendation from a mage-knight he has been allowed to directly join the mage-knight academy without having to go through the examination.”

Hearing his introduction Egon literally started to ooze an aura of arrogance.

“For today’s examination you’ll be sparring with him while I observe. To pass all you need to do is win my approval.” With a smile on her face, Kira ushered everyone to the side-lines except one boy.

“Since it’s just an examination about whether you have the potential to be mage-knights we’ll do it bare handed, start when you’re ready.”

Staring down at the arrogant young man in front of him, the candidate put up his hands and got into a combat stance.

Seeing some random ant look at him with such fiery eyes, Egon felt an overwhelming feeling of disgust.

Wind started to gather around the candidates legs as he shot forth leaving behind a cloud of dust and arrived before Egon with extreme swiftness. Twisting hips he aimed to end the fight fast by knocking Egon out with a punch to the face.

Watching the fist become larger in his eyes a malicious smile couldn’t help but creep onto Egon’s face. Lightly tapping his foot on the ground a wall on earth shot up and bore the brunt of the candidate’s attack.

Feeling an overwhelming amount of pain on his knuckles the candidate gripped his fist and backed away with tears welling up at the corner of his eyes. Feeling a sense of danger the candidate turned around only to find Egon standing behind him with his palm covered in flames stretched out towards him.

Seeing the situation take a turn for the worse the candidate used wind to enhance his speed before jumping back in retreat. To the candidate’s surprise Egon just looked at him as if he was looking at a helpless lamb about to be slaughtered. Lifting his right leg Egon stomped down hard on the ground causing cracks to surface. Covering his right leg in the wind element Egon leapt towards the retreating candidate with a speed that could only be described as a blur. Appearing in front of the shocked candidate like a phantom, Egon’s flame covered right hand shot out towards the candidates face.

Seeing the fear within the candidate’s eyes a feeling of superiority filled him. Grabbing onto his face, Egon let the full force of the flame explode!

In the distance Daelos and the rest of the candidates watched in horror as a disfigured body made contact with the floor.

Not bothering to look at the disfigured figure below him or the other candidates Egon’s eye only caught sight of Kira. “Next.”

Daelos looked over towards Kira only to see her cross out a name on her note pad. Realising she was being watched Kira raised her head before sending out a female candidate.

Hearing her name being chosen to fight Egon next, the female candidate couldn’t help but start to tremble as perspiration rolled down her face. Seeing the body of the first candidate still letting off some smoke, caused her to feel like she was about to puke.

Looking at the shivering girl a small sense of pity flashed across Kira’s eyes. Placing her hand on the girl’s shoulder Kira spoke to her in a gentle voice. “You can back out now if you want to.”

Catching her breath a look of desperation covered the girl’s face. Gritting her teeth a look of resolve covered her face. Facing Kira the candidate shook her head before stepping towards Egon.

“Erm…” interrupting the girl’s steps a voice sounded out from the remaining candidates. Looking behind her the girl saw a tanned young man address the examiner. “Miss Kira there’s still a body on the courtyard.”

Looking away from Daelos, Kira saw that the burnt body was still in the middle of the courtyard. Waving her hand the body started to float towards her and the rest of the candidates.

Looking at the horribly disfigured face Daelos couldn’t help but ask if the person was still alive.

“He’s fine, besides the scars caused by the fire, holy light should be able to heal him.”

Off in the distance Egon and the female candidate faced off against each other.

Avoiding a ball of fire aimed at him, Egon covered his legs in the wind element and charged towards the her.

Learning from the mistakes of the previous candidate, the female candidate chose to create a wall of fire in front of her before creating some distance between her and Egon.

A brief look of annoyance flashed across Egon’s face when he saw her create a fire wall. Covering his whole body in a vortex of rotating air Egon charged through the fire wall like a stone passing through water.

Seeing Egon easily tear through her fire wall and approach her at a rapid speed, the candidate placed her hands on the ground a sent out a row of earth spikes.

Watching the earth spikes approach him Egon couldn’t help but sneer. “Struggle as hard as you can, you’ll soon understand the difference between us.” Charging towards the earth spikes Egon let the vortex of wind covering him form into arc shaped wind blades and shot them towards the earth spikes.

Watching as the wind blades cut through her earth spikes the candidate wanted to retreat and avoid close quarter combat as much as possible. Before getting the chance to retreat a wind blade appeared at her side blocking off her escape route.

Narrowly avoiding the wind blade the candidate felt movement in the earth below her feet. Before getting the chance to react two small earth spikes shot through the ground and pierced the soles of her feat.

Feeling that something was wrong the candidate felt her body freeze as her brain slowly registered the amount of pain she was in. Feeling an overwhelming sense of pain shoot through her feet the candidate wished for nothing more than to scream out in pain. Just as she opened her mouth she felt a cold sensation wrap itself around her neck.

Due to the pain in her soles the candidate hadn’t realised that Egon had already closed the distance between them and was currently standing before her grasping her neck.

Feeling that it was becoming harder to breathe the candidate tried to grab the arm grasping her throat, unfortunately just the slightest bit of movement caused the pain in her soles to skyrocket wracking her feet in a torrent of pain.

Watching the candidate’s pain filled expression an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction overcame Egon. “You only have yourself to blame for this, a commoner challenging a noble was a ridiculous notion in the first place, but you still went ahead and confronted me anyway.” Watching the candidate’s eyes roll into the back of her head Egon finally released his grip on her throat letting her body fall. But because of the earth spikes still pierced into her soles, instead of falling to ground she instead fell into a leaning position.

…

“Hey Lyla.”

“…Yeah.”

“Is it okay if I don’t fight this guy?”

Lyla hesitated before she answered. “I…think that’s for the best.”

“I…think so as well.”

After watching two matches where both candidates had ended up in such miserable states Daelos felt his enthusiasm of becoming a mage-knight quickly dwindle. “Miss Kira, I don’t feel so good, I think it’d be better for me to go home and get some rest.” Gripping his stomach Daelos looked at Kira with a pained expression.

Looking at him up and down Kira couldn’t help but smile. “Sure, but you’d have to pay the leaving fee.”

“Oh…how much are we talking about?”

“Nothing much just 10 gold coins.”

“….”

“Lyla how much money do we have left over from Hathor?”

“Hmm considering how much you spent on high class inns and luxury foods I’d guess about 4 or 5 gold coins.”

“…”

“Miss Kira is there another way to pay the leaving fee?” Using the greatest techniques he’d ever learnt: puppy dog eyes Daelos tried eliciting her sense of pity.

Looking at him with her ever caring smile Kira couldn’t help but find him amusing. “Rules are rules.”

“Didn’t you say to the other candidate that there was still time to back out?”

“Actually I was speaking to all of you at that time, but besides that one girl the rest of you didn’t respond so I took your silence as consent.”

How the hell was I supposed to know that you were talking to all of us when you were clearly focused on the girl?

“Get ready your sparring next.” Ignoring Daelos’s pitiful face Kira went and retrieved the unconscious body of the female candidate.

Squaring up against Egon, Daelos couldn’t help but feel nervous. “Hey Lyla, I could really use some good ideas right about now.”

“…Try not to die.”

“Gee thanks.”

Thinking about the previous two battles, Daelos tried to think about the best possible manoeuvres to take. A straight forward attack is basically suicide and attacking from a distance didn’t help the second candidate. And considering that my control of the fire element is basically non-existent. If I’m going to win then I’ll need to slow his movement and take him out there and then!

Not realising that he’d been focused on defeating the opponent instead of surviving his onslaught Daelos got into a stance that made it easier for him to dodge to the left or the right.

Seeing that both parties were ready Kira yelled out “Begin.”

As soon as she finished speaking Egon once again enhanced his speed using the wind element and charged towards Daelos at an unparalleled speed. Arriving in front of him Egon shot out a palm covered in flames.

Feeling the heat of Egon’s flames lick his face, Daelos instinctively threw himself to the ground narrowly avoiding the strike. Feeling that the attack was to easy to avoid a sense of crisis revealed itself on his face. Rolling on the ground Daelos managed to dodge the sudden eruption of earth spikes shooting up from the ground.

“Oh look at you, dodging my attacks twice, quite commendable.” Raising an eyebrow Egon looked out at the figure covered in sweat. “When your done getting treatment you can go back home and brag about it.”

Not relenting in his attacks, more and more earth spikes shot towards Daelos. Feeling his lungs start to burn Daelos kept moving around the courtyard mindful of the earth spikes and the wind blades aimed at him.

As if watching a show Egon couldn’t help but mock him. “C’mon now if you start to slow down your going to lose an arm and a leg.”

Although he wished for nothing more than to strangle Egon, he knew that what he was saying was right. And just as he was thinking about how to avoid the next wind blade, an earth spike that was longer than the others shot out and impaled itself deep into his left shoulder.

*ARGHH*

Feeling a sharp pain attack his shoulder, Daelos soon felt a similar pain assault his right leg. Looking down he saw another earth spike sticking out the back of his leg. Seeing the earth spikes protruding out of his body and the sharp sense of pain he felt attacking his senses, Daelos felt his consciousness slowly start to slip.

“DAELOS!!!” Screaming out, Lyla’s voice penetrated his consciousness rattling him from his unconscious state.

A silver radiance flashed through his eyes as a force Daelos hadn’t felt in a long time erupted out from his body. The earth spikes in his body and on the ground disintegrated into nothingness once they came into contact with this force. The swirling wind blades aimed at him dispersed and the ground around him split into multiple cracks.

Seeing his attacks disappear Egon couldn’t help but feel a sense of shock and annoyance. How dare trash like you remain standing in my presence! Seeing Kira ignore him and stare at Daelos with interest, a strong intent to kill gushed out of him.

Holding out his hand Egon summoned a ball of fire and fed it energy until it grew to a size large enough to cover the distance between him and Daelos. A crazed look settled in his eyes as he threw the huge ball of fire at Daelos “DIE!!!”

Seeing the huge ball of fire fly towards Daelos, Kira couldn’t help but wish to rush over towards him. Shit! If that hits then even holy light won’t be able to save him! If it wasn’t for the other candidates being in the blast range she would have directly destroyed Egon’s attack.

Seeing the ball of fire approaching him, a calm expression filled Daelos’s face. Looking down at his palm, a distorted vibration could be seen hovering just above the area of the skin. Raising his arm in front of him the fireball seemed to shudder when it made contact with the distorted vibration, instantly dissipating into nothing, leaving Kira, the candidates and Egon in a state of shock. What the hell was that!!

Pulling back his arm, Daelos tilted his head as he blankly stared down at his palm. Looking back up to the distant Egon, a palm strike shot out towards him and a small fire ball struck his chest causing him to stagger back. Seeing his attack hit its mark Daelos couldn’t help but smile as he fell unconscious.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

What just happened!

One of the candidates yet to fight looked over towards Egon only to see him lost in thought as he held the area of his chest hit by the small fireball. If one looked closely enough they would see his body tremble as his fist clenched tight enough that his knuckles looked like they were about to pop out.

…

“How many secrets are you hiding from me.” Looking at Daelos with impatient eyes, a smile that was also not a smile was aimed at him. After passing out at the end of the fight, Lyla attacked him while his mind was weak and forcibly dragged him into the mind space where she was basically god.

Staring blankly at the white space surrounding him, Daelos’s thoughts were plagued by one question. Why’s it still empty?

Looking at her lazily Daelos couldn’t help but feel tired. “It was meant to be a surprise.”

“Surprise?”

“Yeah, originally I would have used it from the start, but that Egon guy didn’t give me a chance until he thought I was knocked out.” Yawning at her question Daelos felt like a mountain was on top of his body. “Can you let me rest for a bit? I promise I’ll explain everything to you once I wake up.”

Seeing the dreary look on his face, Lyla had no choice but to end her interrogation here. “Fine, but I’ll hold you to that promise.”

…

Hearing the sound of wind blowing past his ears, Daelos found himself waking up with a strenuous groan. Upon opening his eyes he was greeted with the beautiful sight of a clear blue sky. This wouldn’t have been much of a problem if not for the fact that Kira was also there.

“Why are you here?” still feeling a bit drowsy this was the first question he could ask.

Smiling like usual Kira couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. “I’m here to escort you to the mage-knight academy of course.”

Mage-Knight academy?

“I GOT IN!!”

Covering her ears Kira couldn’t help but wince.

“Wait a second didn’t I fail the entrance exam.”

Removing her hands from her ears Kira looked at him clearly annoyed with his loud voice. “Calm down would you. Do you remember the requirement needed to pass the examination?”

Requirement?

“Ah! I needed to win your approval!”

Nodding her head Kira looked at him with a gentler graze.

“Does that mean…I won your approval?”

“Uh huh.”

“But didn’t I lose.”

“Winning was never the goal to begin with. All of you candidates assumed that was what I wanted and ended up making stupid mistakes. Honestly if you had just showed off your mastery of the Laws instead of focusing on defeating Egon then I could have ended the fights much quicker, unfortunately you guys were too stubborn and ended up making fools of yourselves.”

“Why did I pass then? If I remember correctly my battle with Egon consisted of me mostly running around the courtyard.”

“True, it was quite a disgraceful display, but it was what you did in your last moments that allowed you to pass the examination.”

“What I did?”

“Yeah, in the final moments of the battle, your mastery of the laws surpassed Egon’s and you destroyed his elemental attacks. Not to mention that you’re the only candidate that managed to land an attack on him, that feat alone is enough for you to pass.” As she spoke a trace on excitement could be heard in her voice.

Surpassed his mastery of Laws? Is that how she sees it?

“Okay I understand that I passed the exam, but shouldn’t you be conducting the rest of the exam.”

A confused look surface on Kira’s face. “Why would I?”

“Because it’s your job!”

“Oh…I forgot to mention the exam already ended. You’ve been unconscious for the past five days.”

Huh

“You’re lucky though, we’re just about to arrive.”

Arrive? Finally taking a look at his surrounding’s, Daelos realised that he was actually lying on the back of a huge eagle. Looking ahead of him, Egon’s cross armed figure could be seen standing on the head of the eagle overlooking the sky like it belonged to him.

“Erm…Kira.”

“Hmm.”

“Didn’t you say we would be arriving soon.”

“Yeah.”

“Then why aren’t we descending?” Looking over the edge, Daelos saw nothing but clouds beneath them.

“Because the academy isn’t on the ground.”

“What does that mean?”

“Instead of asking me all these questions, if you just looked in front of you all your questions would be answered.”

Looking in the direction Kira was pointing to, three huge island in a triangular formation came into view. They’re floating!!

Seeing Daelos’s expression, Kira couldn’t help but feel proud. “Welcome to Mato, home of the mage knights.”