The three days between written and practical examinations passed in a strange, suspended tension.
Zephyr Academy was now a pressure chamber, the pressure intensifying every minute closer it was to exams.
Training grounds were occupied from dawn to well past midnight. Spell collisions flashed across the night sky in carefully monitored dueling circles.
Beast tamers walked their contracted creatures through increasingly complex drills to make sure they were as in sync as possible.
Combat specialists refined footwork to the point of obsession. Even scholars who normally avoided direct confrontation could be seen muttering mana formulas under their breath while tracing stabilization glyphs in the air.
Practical examinations were where reputations were forged.
And where futures could be quietly broken.
On the morning of the first practical day, students assembled not in the Grand Hall, but in the Astraeum Coliseum, Zephyr Academy's newly built primary combat arena.
