Gabriel started to breathe a bit more heavily now that he knew that the noble which had kidnapped his sister and caught him was the teacher whose challenge he was going to face. He wouldn’t be recognized though sight as he had cloaked his body since he woke up so the traces of the spell would be nigh impossible to see.

But if he was more skilled than what Gabriel believed, he could see through his disguise as if ripping paper apart. Luckily, he had his mind somewhere else, talking to himself low enough to be heard by himself and his student which had made his way onto him. And he was doing so on purpose.

- Why did it have to be now that we have found the building… – He mumbled. – If only the other introductory teacher had been challenged… Why did the stupid student have to pick me on such an important occasion? I could be uncovering treasures and instead I have to do baby-sitting… – The teacher finished the rest of the sentence on his mind, assuring that he would make sure that this wouldn’t be a waste either.

Gabriel greeted the teacher who acted surprised at his presence, although it was quite obvious that it was an act and he just wanted to get on with it. This challenge couldn’t fit inside a single room, the educator explained Gabriel as they walked a set of stairs downwards.

- Now I’m not sure how much you can really know about mind-controlling magic as it has been publicly a unique set of spells for about two centuries and although this may seem like a lot of time to you, the oldest magics have been recorded over seven millennia ago.

Gabriel simply nodded with these teachings from the noble, as he had already read about it on the books that Kupi had brough to him. He even knew how it officially is said to have begun, when a scientist researching medicine by controlling the muscles of the patients through mana tried doing so with a patient in a vegetative state, controlling the muscles and signals inside of its brain and although he wasn’t able to recover, the scientist managed to make him move and even mumble some things.

He died two days afterwards, but it wasn’t linked to his experiments, the records say, although one can’t really know how much these were changed in case something was found out. And who knows how long these kind of spell had been studied in secret.

This happened with every new finding, everyone wanted to keep it to themselves and until a very good soul found out about it or someone mistakenly made it public it usually didn’t come to the light of day.

There were some exceptions, for example, when a country wants to scare another one to make them rethink their actions, such as the case with the meteorite spells, which had been hoarded by most countries either by stealing it from each other through spies or simply finding it themselves.

This second path meant that there were some differences between the spells each country had so even after one country made it public, other countries may decide to keep their advancements a secret.

There was a change when an independent magician-only city-state was created by the most prestigious wizards and magicians of the time, where now knowledge wasn’t secret so long one was part of the organization. This came with many gains for wizards seeking knowledge, but it also imposed multiple restrictions on the people that decided to join it. Still, the city had expanded so much already that five more cities were created, creating the six magic cities and the magic country, even if they don’t define themselves like that.

Back to the testing area, Gabriel and his teacher had made their way down to the sewers of the city, as was signaled on the walls of this room. If Gabriel simply stepped down the last stairs, he would be in them. But he didn’t know what his task was, so he looked at the expectantly.

- So that we stop wasting both your and my time I will finally explain to you what you have to do. You see, I have been experimenting with deeper mind control, more than just simple movements. I want to control the minds of animals.

Gabriel knew this all too well; he had experienced it himself and didn’t really want to remember, but his brain just made him relive what had happened. At least he also remembered what to expect, as well.

- And with the support of the manor, I have been able to control the basic actions of some wild beasts that you could find in the forest. – With a single movement of his hands two cells on wheels were moved onto the platform they were on.

In one of them were three wolves and in the other an animal which he had never seen before. It had the head of a lion and a snake as a tail, but under closer inspection Gabriel realized that it also had the head of a goat sticking out of its back.

- Right now, they can’t move due to a spell connected to the cell, but the moment these cells open, they will be free to do whatever they want. I want you to bring them here before midnight, if you want to gain my approval. I changed their minds so they’re cleverer than before, although I can’t expand their brains… yet…

Gabriel observed the minds of the animals and realized that the spell these beasts had were simpler than the ones under the mansion and he almost made the mistake of asking why but he realized soon enough that this would make him suspicious. Instead, to make use of his open mouth and not make the teacher doubt, he asked another thing.

- Can I use any method to capture them? – He decided to ask.

- Yes, although there is the condition that they aren’t dead or close to dying nor with enough energy to escape easily. – After a small pause to check if Gabriel had any questions, he continued. – I’d advise to keep a bit more distance from the goat head. Without further ado, I’ll let them free. You can go in three minutes.

Gabriel counted the time on his head and when it was over the teacher didn’t say anything, so he stayed put and continued counting a bit more in case he had messed up, which would’ve been weird as he had a pretty good internal clock. Thirty more seconds passed, and Gabriel opened his mouth.

- Can I go now?

- Yes, you can already leave for about half a minute, I don’t know if you like the zone or me or why you’re staying here, but if you want to get my approval then you should get going.

He then rushed towards the tunnel where the wolves had gone, because he expected them to be easier targets than the chimera and also because they could, in theory, divide and so finding them could be much more tedious.

The magicians’ manor was located in a higher portion of the city, so the sewers weren’t flooded with water, it just had some puddles of water here and there and a mushy substance that filled the rest. It was like moss, but it was reddish instead of the usual green which Gabriel had seen in the forests.

This made it rather easy to track the wolves as even though they were clever they wouldn’t think of hiding their traces. So, after a few minutes he found the trio of canines munching on some dead creatures they had killed.

Before Gabriel had the chance to attack, one of the wolves heard him and called for the attention of the two others. He was going to fight them, it seemed. This was new territory for him. Not the fighting, but rather fighting in such a limited area and also trying not to kill his opponents.

Thankfully, Gabriel had rested well last night so he had enough energy to fight both these mutts and the chimera… so long it didn’t prove to be too much of a challenge. Therefore, he wanted to capture the three single headed beasts with haste, rushing towards them with a metal bar he had found while he had followed the dogs.

He wasn’t really sure where to hit them so that he wouldn’t fail the test and he decided to hit them near their head, on the spine with the hope of hitting their nerves and knocking them out quickly. The wolves fought with their best, but Gabriel was no match for them.

After he had defeated the trio, he carried them from his start point at which point he realized that the mutts would escape if they woke up, so instead of being able to search and prepare to fight the chimera, he had to induce a deep sleep for the three dogs which wasn’t that time-consuming, but it did drain his energy quite a bit.

He didn’t know what time it was, and the teacher had left him so he could only guess how much time he had left. He thought for a moment to rest and try to regain some of his internal energy back but the ambient here wasn’t favorable for doing so and he didn’t have much time either, so it would be most likely a fruitless endeavor.

After following the tracks of the chimera, some of which crossed each other on “+” and “T” intersections, Gabriel was now in front of the horse-sized monster. He was facing the snake’s head when he first saw him and it seemed that the whole animal could see him as well, because it stood up and spun around, to have the lion head facing towards him.

The goat head was what Gabriel was most worried about. He was tasked to defeat this thing without killing it or maiming it too much, but all three heads could kill him and one of them even indirectly, if it lit the red moss-like plant ablaze.

Gabriel knew that this wouldn’t be as easy as with the wolves, so instead of charging towards it, he stayed put and decided to first learn how this chimera moved and attacked to see if he could find a weakness. He believed that even if he knocked one of the beasts head it would still be alive and kicking so instead of targeting the heads he should go for the legs, as they would maim its movements and would make it easier to capture it.

This hypothesis was also backed due to the fact that all three heads had brains and all three were under the effects of mind controlling. The hind legs of the chimera were like the ones of a goat, while the ones at the front like a lion. He would attack the back ones first.

While he planned all this, he was evading attacks from the front paws of the beast and also bites both from the lion head but also from the snake one, which was attached to the movable “tail” of the chimera, also made of scales.

Gabriel believed that this animal should have very durable legs so when he hit the joints of the back right leg of the chimera he put quite a formidable force, but still tried to go for the incapacitation rather than damage and was shocked when the bones of the leg stood out of it, as if he had broken several joints at once.

And he had, given that this chimera wasn’t a natural animal, but rather also one of the teachers experiments. But Gabriel believed that it was natural, therefore it should have evolved naturally and had therefore grown strong on its body parts.

But this was just parts of animals glued together with their minds as well. The goat head which breathed fire hadn’t done so yet, because if it did it would also burn its own mouth. It was all just an unfinished mess. The government wanted a beast for war and this chimera idea had been pushed forward but it was still too soon for it to be ready for real use.

This challenge was a way to test their progress and see how powerful their versions had become. The one Gabriel was battling was quite old, but had managed to survive through its cleverness, although newer chimeras were much stronger, but lacked on intelligence. This was part of the mind-controlling teachers’ job to progress on this area to make monsters smarter so that they could fight for the country.

Gabriel managed to defeat it quickly, realizing that it wouldn’t use its flame breath and it was rather weak in comparison to how it looked. Gabriel took the body back to where he started and checked if the wolves were still intact. They had moved a bit, but they hadn’t escaped.

His teacher came back after about ten minutes and when he looked at the situation was surprised.

- How did you manage to beat the chimera so quickly? – Was the first thing he asked, as he was puzzled.

- It was quite easy. It didn’t burn me at all, and it personally feels like an unfinished puzzle. The parts may be there, but it hasn’t reached its full potential yet.

The teacher didn’t reply, but thought for himself for a moment, then simply gave Gabriel his approval and guided him out. They waved off and Gabriel could now enjoy a well-deserved break, he thought, as he tiredly made his way back to his home.