Sofie's eyes were ringed with dark circles, her hands still clutching a small stack of notes.
Even as she walked toward the gates, her lips whispered half-finished formulas, her eyes darting nervously across the paper.
Klaus walked beside her, hands in his pockets, looking annoyingly calm.
At the entrance, Varion and Lady Sera were waiting.
Varion's stern gaze softened when he looked at Sofie. "Do well. Your hard work will pay off."
He shifted his eyes to Klaus. "The same to you, boy. Don't waste this chance."
Lady Sera smiled warmly. "Both of you… trust yourselves. You'll shine brighter than you know."
She held little Varnyx nestled in her arms, the little beast snoring away happily. She added with a laugh,
"Bonded beasts can't enter until their partner passes the exam. So he'll be spoiled here with me."
Klaus gave a small nod. "Figures. As long as he's fed, he's happy."
The head butler approached, bowing. "Your belongings have been placed in the carriage."
With that, Klaus and Sofie boarded.
The city unfolded before them like a vision of the future. Skyscrapers of shining glass stretched into the sky, neon runes flickering across their surfaces.
Mana-lines powered floating billboards and crystalline transports streaked overhead.
Sofie sat stiff, furiously scribbling notes, muttering every formula under her breath.
Klaus leaned against the window, eyes half-closed. "You'll burn yourself out," he murmured.
She didn't even glance at him. "Shut up. I'm not failing the first step."
Klaus sighed and dozed off.
Moments later, the carriage stopped. Before them loomed the colossal gates of Eryndor Academy.
The butler bowed one last time and left.
The first gate rose with twin dragon statues massive, carved from obsidian and glowing faintly with runes.
Their eyes blazed as if alive, watching the students pass through.
"Okay, that's… intimidating," Sofie muttered.
Through the second gate, squads of armored Archeon soldiers stood in perfect formation, their presence radiating discipline and raw strength.
The security checks were suffocatingly thorough.
And then came the third gate as what lay beyond made their jaws drop.
The academy opened like a world unto itself.
Towering spires of marble and glass pierced the sky, while floating platforms carried students across bridges of light.
Streets bustled with shops, smithies, and arcane stalls.
Flying vehicles zipped overhead, while bonded beasts soared freely beside their masters.
Klaus exhaled in awe. "This… is like an entire continent."
"Wow…" Sofie whispered, eyes sparkling despite her nerves.
Sofie recalled what Varion told her. "Father said someone would come to guide us to the exam hall."
Klaus shrugged. "Alright, let's wait."
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
Sofie's fists clenched. "If they don't show in the next ten minutes, I'm going to rain meteors on this place!"
Klaus tried to calm her. "Relax, maybe they're just late. Big campus, lots of ground to cover."
But an hour slipped by.
Sofie stood up, cheeks red with fury. "That's it! We're finding it ourselves."
Klaus smirked. "About time."
Wings of flame burst from Sofie's back as Asteria's power flared through her.
Klaus summoned the wind, his body blurring
The moment Klaus shot into the sky, the air cracked like thunder. Clouds split apart in his wake, the sound of rushing wind roaring like a storm.
Students and passersby below shielded their eyes, gasping at the spectacle.
Sofie soared behind him, blazing like a comet.
Then a voice boomed from the academy's broadcast towers:
> "Attention! All students taking the entrance exam must be in the hall within two minutes. Late attendees will not be tolerated."
The two glanced at each other and pushed faster.
The exam hall came into sight, its massive doors already beginning to close. With one last burst, they slipped inside just before the gates slammed shut.
Both landed, breathing hard, and scanned the notice board.
Finding their seat numbers, they hurried to their places.
After two minutes, silence blanketed the hall.
The doors sealed.
A woman in her fifties stepped forward, her presence commanding yet calm.
Her hair was tied in a high bun streaked with silver, her robes adorned with intricate golden runes.
Ten invigilators followed in disciplined silence.
"I am Head Examiner Lysandra Vael, overseer of this year's trials," she said, her voice clear and sharp. "You are here to prove your worth. The written exam comes first."
Her eyes swept the crowd like a hawk's.
"Each subject is separated into categories. You will be tested across mana theory, elemental compatibility, and tactical applications. Cheating is impossible. The time limit is three hours."
With that, the examiners vanished like mist.
A resonant bell rang.
And the exam had began.
Klaus flipped through the pages of his question paper , lips curling into a small smile.
"Heh. Guess my studying actually paid off."
Beside him, Sofie already looked doomed.
Her pen tapped against the paper, eyes darting helplessly between half remembered formulas.
She whispered under her breath, "Why… why does mana density calculation have so many stupid decimals—?!"
Klaus leaned back, chuckling.
And the hall filled with the sound of furious scribbling pens.
---
Sofie's pen squeaked like a protesting bird for the entire three hours.
She gnawed the eraser end, rubbed circles on the margin, and at one point, in a panicked haze, drew a tiny phoenix wearing a graduation cap beside question 12.
She whispered decimals to herself like a prayer, muttered the mana-density formula until the ink blurred, and, somewhere between "mana curve integration" and "resonance coefficients," she'd accidentally written
"Klaus is cute" in the corner which she immediately tried to erase with so much force the paper tore.
Around her, the hall was a forest of pens scratching and grinds of mind gears. Sofie's forehead beaded with sweat.
The formula columns looked like enemy lines, and she was out of ammunition.
Klaus, by contrast, finished halfway through and then spent the remaining hour leaning back with a smug half-smile, scanning the room with the bored patience of someone who had long since won the trivial war of academics.
When the bell rang, he folded his paper like a ninja and slid it into the pile.
Three hours ended. For a second the room hummed with relief then everyone's papers electronically vanished into thin air, leaving only the faint scent of ozone.
An announcement chimed from the academy speakers:
"Physical examination will begin momentarily. Please make your way to the North Arena."
Sofie's soul nearly left her body on the spot.
She went translucent at the knees; Klaus had to slap both her shoulders until the woman in front of them who owned three mana-cats and a broom looked at them funny.
"Hey wake up," Klaus hissed, shaking her.
She snapped back, blinking like someone surfacing from deep water.
"How was the test?" he asked.
Sofie sighed, cheeks burning. "History and culture nailed it. Mana theory I think my pen betrayed me."
Klaus suppressed a grin. "Then let's move.
The physical test's where you can actually swing things."
They walked toward the North Arena which, of course, was the one place on campus that drew the entire senior class like moths to a bonfire.
A group of them noticed immediately.
They stepped out of the shade in slow, casual formation: six tall seniors in black and crimson trim, the kind of kids who were less "students" and more "walking legacy."
A ripple went through the crowd; whispers spread like quicksilver.
"Oh no it's the infamous group," someone breathed.