After time was up I had collected two more of the magic items from unsuspecting classmates of mine. The walls fell back into the ground without even a pebble left behind of their existence. The patch of grass soon grew back to cover the distrubed areas of the walls.

I stood wiih a sword, bow, and shield at my disposal. Lucy and Leah stood behind me with Lucy in awe over the sword. She was one for all kinds of magic weapons, but a sword was her forte no matter how many times she tried to curse her family name.

The other groups however, all seemed to have a decent amount of stuff as well. I saw one with a flying broom with electrical sparks coming out of it. Another with a headband with a looping circle on it. Hypnosis? Elementary.

The professor walked forward, “Now then, you may be wondering why there are multiple of you with magic items. And that’s because there were enough magic items in that maze for every group to have six items. Now you may be wondering, ‘Professor Arbanes, what’s the point of having these items? Wasn’t the goal for everyone to chase after the group with items?’ and the answer is yes and no. See, that would be cliche. Other schools are already doing that and I’m not one to follow the herd of sheep. No, no this is different…. You all heard of the upcoming festival right?”

A girl with braids shot her hand up, eager in her boots. The professor pointed at her.

“The Festival of the Forsaken is one that is held yearly at our school that invites the mages from all over the kingdom to participate. The winner is usually granted a very rare tome or a magical item that has never been seen before.”

“Precisely!” He chirped. A bit too chirpy if you asked me. “Now then, since you all have magical items, I bet the question remains. ‘Why do we have these?’ And the answer is because you will be using the magical items you have gotten today for the tournament in the festival!”

Murmurs arose once more from the crowd of idiots.

“Mhm, whisper away. The tournament for this year’s festival will be written with a new set of rules. Any and all magic items are allowed into the battle. The battles will be a round robin of teams of Three.”

“Must we all participate?” someone asked from the line.

“Of course because, if any of my students are knocked out in the first round.” A smile crept upon the professors lips. “You will be hereby expelled from this Academy at once. Now then, prepare well! The festival starts in two days!”

With a clap of hands, a puff of smoke appeared where he stood. When the smoke faded away, the professor was gone.

Hmmm, the only reason i attend this school is for the library. Speaking oh which.

I held my palm out and my blue ID appeared. Everything was the same except for my rank. Previously I was merely Rank one, a novice. Now I had gone up a few levels! Rank five. It’s not much, but I would be able to see just what awaits on the other floors. If “He” is correct, something great awaits me at the very top.

I smirked and began to walk away.

“Leo!” Leah called from behind me.

I turned around to see her fidgeting in her steps.

“Can we talk?”

As I was about to answer her, I instead opted for something else. I turned around in my heel, brought out my calligraphy brush and drew a doorway with the library on the other side.

“I have no interest in you.” I said, walking through the door way.

Only I felt my back pushed through, something shoving me inside.

“Well I have business with you, so just listen!” Leah yelled while tackling us through the door.

Sigh, what a fucking annoyance.