The academy exams took place across Lyssia in cities and large towns.

  Morington was the closest city to Ebenshire, about an hour away by wagon, and was the trio's designated examination location.

  Morington was located between Ebenshire and Lorran and was a major logistics hub.

  Magical examiners visited all the Kingdom's cities, and many hopefuls from nearby towns and villages would be traveling to Morington to participate.

  Since examinations were only completed once every four years, a wide variety of budding mages were expected to attend. With the upper age limit of nineteen and no official minimum age, the exams had large intakes.

  Since Kal had only revealed his magic proficiency at age twelve, this was his first opportunity to take the exam, though he likely could have passed at ten. However, that would have made him a household name not just across Ebenshire but all of Lyssia. He had no interest in fame, but had his core not been Demonic, he probably would have gone ahead and done it.

  No matter how good he had gotten at hiding the power and details of his core, he could imagine that kind of attention turning out well.

  “Hey Kal,” Ellie waved, approaching the gate to Kal’s house. Her parents followed a step behind, carrying a loaded burlap backpack for her. Arix, his parents, and Kal already stood by the front door with their suitcases packed for the trip. “Are you guys excited or what?”

  “Kinda,” Arix said nervously, standing beside Kal with his parents behind them.

  “I sure am. Can’t wait to finally leave Ebenshire,” Kal said. There was a sourness to his words he hadn’t expected. School and having just to be a man in a child’s body had worn on him, and the town wasn’t just boring, but he was dying to get out and explore this fantasy world. However, this place had grown on him. It had become his home.

  “Come on. Hurry up, Daedrik,” Yandi called out. “Have you got it all packed?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Daedrik huffed as clanking sounded inside the house.

  “What’s going on?” Ellie creased her brow as she looked toward Kal’s home.

  “That’s just Mom and Dad. Ignore them.”

  “How does a skilled mage struggle with loading a pack?” Yandi said, pushing the door open with her behind as she backed out of the house.

  “Look, I don’t keep tags on everything I own, and besides, what does being a mage have to do with being organized?”

  “Oh, hey, Ellie,” Yandi swung around.

  “Here we go,” Daedrik said, pushing through the door and dropping a heavy pack beside Kal. “You better take care of all this.”

  “What’s in there?” Kal crooked his head.

  “Oh, you know. Mage stuff,” Yandi smiled.

  “Your mother had me collect just about everything that might be useful to you. I tried telling her you’ll be back again before leaving for an academy, regardless of whether or not you get accepted. But apparently, that wasn’t good enough,” Daedrik exhaled.

  “You never know. What if Kal needs that stuff during the exam?”

  “You know using most of this is going to be prohibited during the exam, don’t you?”

  “Most?” Yandi smugly tilted.

  “Fine, forget I said anything. Here you go, Kal,” Daedrik said, shoving the pack toward him and almost sending Kal toppling over as the heavy pack nudged him.

  “Beetle!” Yandi rushed over. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Mom.”

  “Daedrik,” Yandi turned with a wicked glare.

  “What? He’s going to have bigger things to worry about than getting shoved by a bag where he’s going.”

  “Daedrik.”

  “It’s fine, Mom. It didn’t hurt, and he’s right. Academy exams are no joke. I am going to have bigger things to worry about.”

  “Well, you don’t have to go, you know. You’re still young. You’ll only be eighteen when they come around again. You know, your father was seventeen when he did it.”

  “She’s right,” Tammy said. “You three are only fourteen. You’re all still young enough to take the exams next time.”

  “Yeah, no way that’s happening,” Kal scoffed. “I’ve waited long enough as it is.”

  “Yeah, and I’m not letting these two get ahead of me,” Ellie said.

  “What about you, Arix?” Lydia said. “I know we talked about this, but it isn’t too late to change your mind.”

  “It’s fine, Mom. If I don’t join with them now, they'll be fully-fledged mages by the time I do.”

  “There’s just no breaking you three up, is there?” Tammy playfully shook her head. “We should have seen that coming.”

  “You best be prepared. A lot of people have come to see you three go,” Damien said. “I think most people still can’t believe Ebenshire might produce three academy mages in one year. And to think, up until now, you could count the number of academy mages from Ebenshire on one hand.”

  “People?” Kal groaned. “Somebody get me a bag.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Arix said, patting Kal’s shoulder. “We’re in this together. The three of us.”

  “Thanks anyway, Arix. But I don’t think it’ll stop the crowds.”

  I haven’t seen a single person from town around here. Yogi and his men must be busy keeping them at bay.

  “Hey, there you three brats are,” Zander said, strutting to the gate. “Didn’t think you’d leave for your examinations without seeing your master goodbye, did you?”

  “You—our master?” Ellie laughed.

  “Hey, who are you calling master?” Yogi said, pulling Zander back with his collar. “If anybody is the master, that title belongs to me.”

  “Hey, that hurts,” Zander coughed.

  “Look at you three. It’s hard to believe it's the same punks who wandered into my training hall those years ago.”

  “You better try hard,” Zander said. “I don't want to get too far ahead of you three while you’re gone. Mark my words, I’ll be a knight next time we see each other.”

  “You know we’re coming back before we go to an academy, right?” Ellie said smugly.

  “Well,” Zander cleared his throat. “When you see me after that, then.”

  “I’ll be counting on it, Zander. You had better become a knight,” Kal said.

  “I will,” Zander thumped his chest. “I’ll be the bravest and most fearsome knight in all of Lyssia.”

  “Ha, like that's gonna happen, Mophead.”

  “Why you–”

  “Thank you both for coming,” Kal interrupted. “You've been a great help. I'll be sure to have a footnote added about you when my autobiography is written,” he added with a cheeky grin.

  “You better watch that smart mouth of yours, kid. You might have improved, but I can still kick your ass,” Yogi said.

  “Yeah, maybe in a swordfight, old man. But if I'm allowed to use magic? Not a chance.”

  “You're lucky it's a special day, boy. Or I'd be tempted to remind you how effective a sword can be. And what about your little friend—I haven't seen you at training in forever. Did you get scared?” Yogi said, glaring at Ellie.

  “What can I say? I leave the playing with swords to the boys,” Ellie quipped.

  “Excuses. Anyway, Kal, before you leave,” Yogi said, reaching for something. “It's not much, but since you trained to integrate swordfighting into your magic, I figured it'd be best if you had something to take with you.”

  Producing an old sword in a battered, brown sheath, Yogi handed it to Kal.

  “Just something we had lying around the armory. Hopefully, it will be more useful to you.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Thanks, Yogi,” Kal said, unsheathing the sword. It wasn’t much, but he could see the vigorous scratch marks all along the blade where someone had tirelessly worked away the rust and the recently sharpened edge. “Seriously, this means a lot.”

  “Just shut up, kid,” Yogi gritted his teeth as his eyes began to glisten. “Just get better so I don't have to beat your ass next time you’re in town.”

  “Will do,” Kal nodded.

  “There they are,” a man pointed toward the Jakari house, leading a mob of townsfolk.

  “And that's our cue to get out of here,” Kal sighed.

  “Not without a big hug first, Beetle,” Yandi said, rushing forward and scooping her son up.

  “Kal, there you are,” a man said, pushing his teenage daughter to the front of the crowd as they rushed forward. “Have you met my daughter?”

  “Dad!”

  That’s certified creepy.

  “Sorry, everyone. We have to go,” Kal waved. I wouldn't want to miss the examination.”

  “Alright, everyone, clear a path,” Yogi shouted, pulling a baton from his side and tapping it against his hand.

  “Thanks, Yogi,” Kal two-finger saluted and swung his pack over his shoulder.

  “We're really doing this,” Ellie grinned.

  “Sure are,” Arix flashed an uncertain smile.

  ***

  Kal eyed the notification briefly despite it being one of the best he had received. Hitting 20 Wisdom and gaining another 5 mana was no small boon, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

  He glanced at Arix as the wagon they rode shook across the uneven road, bouncing occasionally as it dipped into a puddle-filled pothole.

  Arix's core had strengthened a little when Kal had anchored their Mana Bond, but on its own, it was still weak.

  People would be able to inspect him and see that he was still in Stage 1, not that it was a disqualifying factor for the exams, but it wasn’t a great look. Not only that, but his Mana Potential was abysmal for a mage taking the exam. However, what worried Kal was earning people’s suspicions.

  He couldn’t tell Arix to stay in Ebenshire, not after everything they had been through together, but a kid as weak as him having access to 25 mana just didn’t make sense.

  25 was the limit Kal found himself able to currently store within Arix. They learned from training that it would slowly drain away over a few days if he didn’t top it up. Not that it mattered. Kal could recover 25 mana in less than an hour of meditation.

  He had been clear with Arix not to show off more than he needed to pass. He just needed to cast Empower once and do it well. There would be merit in a mage with limited mana casting one first-circle spell well and efficiently; Kal just hoped it was enough.

  “Something wrong, Kal?” Ellie asked

  “It’s nothing,” Kal said, looking out across the road as it fell beneath the shade of the forest canopy.

  ***

  The wagon jostled into the city of over a hundred thousand souls around midday.

  It was Kal's first time seeing an actual city in this new world, and he was almost as excited to look around as he was to get to the exams.

  Ever since reincarnating, his main goal has been to make the most of his second chance at life, and a big part of that was exploring this new and magical world. However, practicality had gotten in the way of that, so he had focused on improving himself as much as possible while he was young. But now he was finally reaching a point where he could start to cash in on all that hard work. A prospect that was making him increasingly giddy.

  “Alright, ‘ere we are,” the wagon master said, pulling to the side of a busy street.

  Crowds of people pushed through the cobbled streets around them. They were dressed in actual fashion, unlike the locals in Ebenshire, who wore whatever rough clothes they could afford.

  The fashion was peculiar to Kal’s eyes—an era wedged between Victorian Europe and the Middle Ages. Women with powdered faces dressed to the nines in fine gowns passed, their arms looped through those of men in neat suits, only to be trailed by knightly figures in full-plate and swords dangling at their sides.

  There were, of course, the shoeless peasants with dirty faces and toothless grins, but they didn’t stand out among the wealthier denizens.

  “Hey Kal, this way,” Ellie said, distracting him from his thoughts.

  A crowd pushed toward a street in the distance, and as they neared, they spotted an abundance of wizard hats, cloaks, and robes donning the people.

  The hopeful mages weren't hard to pick out from the locals. Their robes and cloaks were made of fine fabrics, and many carried intricate staffs and wands. Several carried more conventional-looking weapons, like swords, axes, and maces. But most had glyphs etched across them.

  Kal noticed that many of their weapons and clothing were encrusted with rare jewels and fine metals or woven from colorful fabrics and furs. It was Glyph Binding.

  Glyphs required magical materials to fuel the spells or mana they contained, which was exactly what many of these adolescents donned. Kal had his own magical items, the spheres, but they remained in the woods, hiding the burrow and his fiendling underlings.

  All kinds of spells could be bound to items using Glyphs, usually only limited by the materials used to craft the item. However, casting spells often came more naturally to mages than shooting them from a magical staff. So, most Glyphs were used to enhance the mage's natural abilities. This could vary from Glyphs that directly enhanced a mage's preferred spells, a simple mana well to draw mana from when desperate, or even utility and defensive spells to help round the mage out.

  One of the most common was defensive amulets. They were cast into rare, mana-conductive stones used to hold a powerful defensive spell to act as a last line of defense and save a mage’s life when all else failed.

  None of these kids look poor, that's for sure. In fact, Ellie and Arix might be the only two mage candidates who don’t own a single magical item.

  Not that Kal was any better of a position. The old cloak his father had given him sure looked like it belonged to a mage, but it definitely wasn’t magical.

  Kal realized that Daedrik likely had a few items he could have spared. He had accepted the loss of his spheres rather easily. Perhaps he wanted Kal to figure it out on his own. Or maybe she just didn’t want to power him up more than he already was. His father had always been worried about Kal catching the attention of the wrong people, and depriving him of magical items might have just been an extension of that, he figured.

  Suddenly, the flimsy old sword Yogi had given him from the town armory no longer felt adequate.

  Sorry, Yogi, but as soon as I get a few coins to rub together, I'm totally replacing this thing.

  He didn’t know what kind of spell he would want infused in a magical sword, but he knew it would be better than what he had.

  “Look, that must be the registration line,” Ellie said, pointing to a line that ran down the street. The line led to a few tables where several clerks, dressed in gray, suit-like uniforms and wearing stereotypical wizard’s hats, sat, furiously scribbled notes.

  “Really, why are there so many people here?” Arix groaned.

  Only doing the exam every four years must attract a lot of hopefuls. Official mage numbers only count real, licensed mages, and not just everyone who has managed to awaken their core and can string together a basic spell or two.

  It dawned on Kal how many people across the Kingdom must fail exams and end up some unlicensed spellcaster.

  Becoming a licensed mage or attending an academy wasn’t just about prestige and knowledge. Many things required a mage license. For example, demon bounties could only be collected by a mage.

  “Looks like we're waiting,” Kal said, walking to the back of the line.

  “I thought being a mage was supposed to be exciting,” Ellie moaned.

  “You’re not a mage yet,” Kal reminded her.

  ***

  “Kal, why are so many people looking at us?” Ellie said, inching closer to Kal and Arix.

  “Not sure,” Kal replied, scanning the crowd.

  She was right. Dozens of eyes stole glances at them from all across the crowd.

  We must be some of the youngest participants here. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s probably why everyone is so interested in us.

  “Probably just our age,” Kal reassured.

  “I hope so,” Arix said.

  “Next!” A mustached clerk yelled, and the trio turned to realize they were next in line.

  “Come on then,” Kal said, leading them to the table.

  “Please fill out your names, ages, hometown, core affinity, and any other questions noted on the forms,” the clerk said, tapping beside a pile of forms.

  Core affinity? I should have guessed they’d want to know that.

  Kal planned to write down Arcane, as he had told everyone, but there was still a tinge of fear someone would notice it wasn’t. The same went for Arix, who he reminded to tell people his core was Martial prior to leaving Ebenshire.

  Kal realized there was a plus side to so many mage candidates. It increased the likelihood of them being lost in the crowd.

  Kal looked up from the form and caught Arix’s gaze, who nodded knowingly back.

  Don’t let me down, Arix, Kal thought. He hadn’t strictly told Arix to write his affinity down as Martial, but he was confident he would pick up on that.

  Rubbing at his eyes, Kal filled out the form. Childhood had spared him the bureaucracy of this world, but these forms brought back memories of his past life he wished he didn’t have.

  I so dearly hope this doesn’t become a regular thing. Kal groaned internally.

  There was nothing to be done about it. Academy mages almost always became licensed mages, and like any government, they likely wanted to keep a tight leash on people of interest. The first step to that was almost always gathering information.

  So much for the libertarian dream of a fantasy world with no rules, he thought.

  “What’s this part about?” Kal said, picking up an additional loose page at the bottom of the pile of forms.

  “Special waver,” the clerk replied without dragging his gaze away from his papers. “This year’s applications have been particularly numerous and as such, we’ve had to add an examination round. But don’t worry. Failure isn’t the end. The government has decided to add a special catchment for those who pass the preliminary exams but fail the additional stages. You’ll be able to go directly into the government's employment,” the mustached clerk looked up blankly.

  Yeah, no. Something tells me that the offer isn’t what it seems. There's no way I’m becoming a government goon, regardless of what happens in this exam.

  “And what’s the additional exam?” Arix said.

  “It’s called the Mage Royal. You’ll be split into teams of four and faced against one another. Don’t worry, though; the name is a little misleading. Violence between candidates is strictly prohibited. That’s about all I can say. You’ll learn the rest of the rules if you pass the preliminary examination. It should make for a particularly entertaining exam year.”

  Yeah, right. Damn, I was not prepared for this. Wait a minute. He just said we’re going to be put into teams and pitted against each other, didn’t he?

  Kal turned his gaze to the crowds of hopeful mages around them. That’s why they’re all looking at us; now I understand.

  They see us as easy targets!