Kynos packed up his friend's belongings for the school to send to the family, and brooded mostly in silence. When he was free, which was all of the time not eating, sleeping. or being tutored, he trained alone.

Mithandra, on the other hand, seemed to be busier than ever. The wind mage Arlaand stayed in the city nearby, and he was often seen arranging for one thing or another. The unique carriage, named the Apheliotes Mk. II, was being reworked by Mith. It would once again have wheels, but they would be inside a special casing. The carriage portion would be replaced by a two segment wagon, with less luxury and much more storage room. Adding a few more hidden components, Mith planned to change its name to the Mk. III.

Then, a summon came from the principle. Kynos went to see her at once.

“Kynos, I have some news for you.”

The boy was surprised. He didn't have anyone but Mith to receive news from, and she could just tell him during the tutoring session that day.

“First, Mithandra has informed me that your tutoring is to be put on hold. You may not be able to find her for a week or so, as she is holed up in her workshop. Here is a note from her.”

Kynos glanced over the short note, which merely repeated what he had heard from Charlotte.

“Also, as you missed several sets of exams, they will be administered to you now The written portions will take you three days, one per subject, and there will be a practical test to place you for magic afterwards.”

Kynos nodded. He was eager to test his strength and knowledge.

“As this upcoming week will be a holiday for the other students, I will have Roland oversee your tests.”

Was that alright? Kynos thought that he must have become stronger than Roland, training and learning every day for a year without break. He had even fought pirates and monsters and come out ahead.

“The subjects will be mathematics, language, and history. As a combat type mage, you will be sparring for the magic test. They start tomorrow.”

Kynos nodded, thanked her, and left the office.

Over the next three days, he breezed through the math and language tests, and struggled through history, which Mith hadn't bothered to teach him much of. The fourth day came, and he found Roland waiting on the field of the magic training ground, with many of the teachers, including Charlotte, watching from the side. Some of the teachers stood guard around the area, preventing students from peeking in.

Roland took a bow as Kynos walked forward to stand opposite of him. The setting suns cast long shadows over the grounds.

“Now, young Kynos, let this Roland ascertain the growth of his most promising pupil!”

Kynos glanced at Charlotte, who raised and sharply lowered her hand. Kynos took it as the signal to start.

He silently clad himself in shadow and dashed towards Roland with blinding speed, followed by a phalanx of shadow spikes. Roland broke the pose of his bow in time to put up a solid wall of ice, summoning water from several buckets placed around himself, uttering the single word, “freeze.”

A concentrated beam of heat melted the ice, and the weakened wall was smashed apart by a shadow hammer, converged from the spikes. Kynos reached his arm, clad in shadow, through the falling ice, sure of his victory.

As the black mass reached Roland, he drew his sword.

A blue-silver streak swatted away the shadow, cutting off a segment. Had Kynos not withdrawn his arm, it would be flopping on the ground. The boy took some distance. No student in the school had ever seen that sword drawn, and most people assumed it was there to accentuate Roland's personality. Roland opened his mouth.

“Not too shabby, young Kynos, but I would recommend you not underestimate the power of a seer level mage.”

Roland didn't dash after Kynos, but his sword spread into frost-encrusted segments, linked by a thin stream of water. The shattered ice wall had now reformed as hundreds of ice shards.

Kynos created a large shadow shield in front as Roland began his offensive. The ice shards clattered off the front but the sword cut a large swath into the shadow. As the shield began reforming, the sword twisted itself around as if alive, and making a sound like the screeching of a bird of prey, tore the shield apart once again. The entire shield collapsed under the assault, and Roland stopped moving his arm, looking like he wanted to speak again.

Kynos burst open the floating balls behind the shield, releasing blasts of fire towards Roland. The seer quickly twisted his arm, flailing the whip sword through the flames and dispersing them. Through the steam left behind, he couldn't make out Kynos at all. Roland chanted a single word.

Kynos had taken the opportunity to glide on his shadow in a wide arc outside of Roland's vision, and he closed in from the side at the highest speed he could muster. As he stabbed towards Roland with the short shadow blade he had formed around his hand, it felt to him that the world had come to a halt.

Roland had said, “fly,” and Kynos found his blade blocked by a large falcon made entirely of ice, looking as if it was flying from the tip of the whip sword. The sword had curved backwards at unreal speeds to to meet his own blade, and the falcon had already frozen his hand, holding it in place.

The final test of the exams was over, and over the course of the entire fight, Kynos had forced Roland one step back.