Kalon looked towards the eerie forest entrance as he ran towards it, morning fog could be seen enveloping the tree line. The beat of his heart ran rampant as he prepared himself for what was about to come.

"If I can find a Crescent oak, I should be able to use the sap to mask mine and Terrances presence from any tracking spell that any D-Rank mages could cast. The problem is they're only found deep in the forest and I don't know if we can last long enough to make it there." Kalon thought to himself.

Kalon had spent many years in the service of mages, he had learnt a lot in those five years. He memorised many of the spells he had seen used in his time at the castle. Understanding the capabilities of those around him was paramount to his survival. If he so much as made eye contact with the wrong mage he risked being incinerated, electrocuted or worse. He made it his mission to be aware of the risks around him. He did so not only for his own safety but also because he deep down had secretly wished he awakened a mana core and that the knowledge would one day be useful to him in getting stronger.

The two boys soon then broke through the tree line and were greeted by nut-brown towers blanketing their vision in every which way. To an ordinary person this would be disorientating, but too Kalon. It felt like he was finally back home.

As the boys ran at a full sprint they simultaneously weaved through the trees, ducking and dodging any branches blocking their path. Kalon was making sure to take note of his surroundings, in order to lead Terrance through the safest route he could see available to them. Although they couldn't escape the inevitable nicks and scratches from the brambles lying low to the forest floor.

The two soon encountered a road block. Directly in front of them was small ravine occupied by fallen trees and large boulders.

"What do we do now Kalon?" Terrance asked.

"We can't waste time finding a way to traverse down and not to mention scaling our way back up, for all we know the hourglass has already finished. We have to go around." Kalon replied with worry in his eyes.

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"Ready yourselves apprentices, the hourglass only has a quarter remaining, with that the slaves should have already had a forty-five minute head-start. I know you're all eager but remember these boys are mana-less, I and the other nobles have seen fit to extend their time in order to provide you all with somewhat of a challenge." the fat man announced.

A chubby boy no more than fourteen sporting black wavy hair with a middle part approached the fat man atop his mount.

"Faaaathhheerr, can we please just go after them now? I can't bare to wait any longer and I'm itching to try my new conjuring spell." the boy asked.

"Edwin my boy I wish I could let you but I've already come to an agreement with the others, I can't go back on my word now. They'll only see it as weakness if I were to do so for my own son." the duke replied.

"But father I--"

"The answer is NO and that is final. You will wait the allotted time, now go and wait with the other apprentices."

The boy pulled the reigns of his mount in frustration and headed back towards the other apprentices who were waiting for him.

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The boys had reached the end of the ravine and had continued in their original direction. Straight towards the heart of the forest. Though they were nearing their limits. The two needed to take a break. Upon inspection on could see Kalon was fairing exponentially better than Terrance. Terrance had always had a weaker constitution than most, even among the mana-less. Because of the current predicament Kalon had to make a decision.

"Terrance, we'll stop and rest here for a couple minutes. We need to give ourselves some time to recover."

"I can keep going, I can do it!" Terrance responded.

"You need rest Terrance, you'll only slow us down if you continue in this state. Don't let pride cloud your judgement."

Terrance nodded knowingly, surrounded by an air of melancholy.

"I need to be better, I'm only holding him back." Terrance told himself.

The two had stopped in a small clearing that had a few large stones dotted around the landscape. They both took a seat on said stones and silence befell the two. They hadn't much to say to each other right now as the reality of their situation cluttered their minds.

Two minutes passed and Terrance broke the silence.

"Kalon... I want you to know... If we don't make it out of this, I want you to know you've been the best friend I could ask for. Thank you... seriously."

"Terrance, we'll get out of this, I believe in us. We just have to find a crescent oak, get it's sap and we'll be home free." Kalon replied in an attempt to reassure his friend.

"What does the sap do?"

"It masks our scent and makes our presence undetectable. It would take a high C-Rank mage to utilise a spell powerful enough to bypass the saps effects."

"What about our tracks?" Terrance asked.

"I can't mask those with anything in the forest but I doubt any of the those pampered apprentices know how to track anything by skill alone. They'll most likely rely on their spells, they have too much faith in them. To them nothing beats magic." Kalon answered in an analytical manner.

"To be expected of the almighty Kalon, you've really thought it all through."

"Don't patronise--"

*pop**bang*

Kalon was cut off.

An explosion could be heard interrupting their conversation.

"What was that?" Terrance yelled.

The two boys then looked to the sky through the canopy to see remnants of a fireball. It was initially hard to make out but the two could see it was definitely the remnants of a fire spell.

"That must be the start signal, the apprentices are coming. We have to go NOW!" Kalon said with terror in his eyes.

The two stood in a panic and once again started to run.