Entering the test arena, a teen boy and girl who looked a couple of years older than Kal took their positions in front of the examiner.

  Even though it didn’t matter in the end, it still irritated Kal that nobody said anything about participants being allowed to take the exam together. He doubted he would have done it anyway since it had been good for Arix’s development, but knowing it was an option might have relieved a little stress.

  Standing several feet apart, the boy raised his hand, and a spiral of purple flames shot out toward the girl, but as they neared her, she inhaled them. Her chest grew as she sucked in the flames, continuing until the boy exhausted his mana and then tilted her head toward the sky and blew them out, creating a fiery, purple fountain.

  The purple fire must have been an elemental spell. Elementalist was a Discipline of Arcane that used spell constellations to turn elements into real spells. It was no doubt a more efficient and powerful method of spellcasting over basic magic. Still, it had never inspired him too much since he could fall back on basic casting if he needed the assistance of an element.

  Mastering spells wasn’t easy, and Kal had to pick wisely to make the most of his mana. Still, it was interesting to see someone deciding to use such magic in their arsenal, especially for an important test.

  He also wondered about the girl’s spell. Perhaps it was some kind of Elementalist spell that focused on control rather than the creation of elements. But for all Kal knew, it could have been anything. The list of spells that were absent from Daedrik’s books was growing longer and longer.

  These are just kids—hopefuls competing for an opportunity to study in an academy. Who knows what else is out there? Kal’s excitement to travel the world only surged at that thought.

  Not only that, but there was no doubt some of the mages here would be hiding their best spells. Hiding your best tricks was common among mages at the best of times. Knowing they would be competing against one another would only add to an already common practice.

  The clerk raised two green paddles, and both contestants bowed and exited

  They were an interesting couple. I wonder if more of their spells are selected to work together. Watching the couple inspired Kal. Perhaps he could find complementary spells for Arix. If his friend was forced to rely upon him because of his Corrupted Core, then they might as well make the most of it.

  “Kal Jakari,” a clerk called out.

  Stepping forward, Kal considered how to handle his exam. Their team already had three people, so recruitment wasn’t overly important. However, scoring a competent fourth member could prove the difference between getting a top-tier academy and not. It likely wasn’t worth revealing his aces over, but it also seemed risky to take it too easy.

  His only second-circle spell, Minor Clone, benefitted greatly by remaining a secret. So Kal would have to devise another way to impress the crowd without using it.

  “Kal Jakari of Ebenshire?”

  “Sure is,” Kal said, standing before the examiner’s desk.

  “You may proceed.”

  Hopefully, this is enough.

  Bouncing on his tiptoes, Kal looked up and cast Swift Step, shooting himself into the air with a sudden burst. The moment he began to slow, he cast Swift Step again, sending himself hurling through the air before jetting himself back down to the ground with a third Swift Step. Raising his head, he dusted himself off and glanced around.

  “Wh-what was that?” The mage clerk coughed and fixed his glasses. “That wasn’t Ernald’s Sprint, was it? Please explain, candidate. What was that spell you just used?”

  “It’s called Swift Step,” Kal replied confidently.

  “Swift Step?” The clerk crooked his head and waved to his assistants, who came running.

  Dropping to his side, the three clerks whispered between themselves. “Ahem,” the clerk cleared his throat. “Participant, who is it that taught you this Swift Step spell?”

  “Nobody,” Kal shrugged.

  “What do you mean, nobody? Who’s your master?”

  “I guess that would be my father. Daedrik Jakari. But he didn’t teach me this spell.”

  “Daedrik?” The man’s face twisted as if the name was familiar. “Okay, let me rephrase. Where did you learn the spell? What book?”

  “None. I made it myself.”

  “You what?” Not possible. The formations—they’re too clean. It is a nearly perfectly efficient spell. There’s no way some kid made it. This Swift Step spell belongs in the core teachings of a beginner's spellbook.”

  “What can I say? I did,” Kal shrugged again. “So, what about that paddle,” he added, glancing at the paddle beside the man.

  “I–I–uh…” the clerk swallowed and gradually began to nod as he reached down for the green paddle and raised it.

  Going by the examiner's reaction, I have a sneaking suspicion that my display was enough. Kal did his best to fight back a smirk.

  The reaction was immediate as the green paddle rose above the clerk. Most kids clearly hadn’t realized what was so special about Kal’s display at first, but hearing the clerk’s reaction changed all that.

  Dozens swarmed to the temporary fencing around the text arenas, calling his name and trying to get Kal’s attention as he walked back toward the crowd.

  The hopeful mages pushed against one another, trying to wave Kal down, but he hadn’t gone and exposed such a spell just to recruit any old average mage.

  Let’s see, he narrowed his gaze as he looked through the crowd. There was no need to make a rash decision now that he had caught people’s attention. They could wait for the right candidate to expose themselves.

  “Kal,” Ellie called out, waving him over.

  “Hey, Mr. Jakari! Over here,” a young man wearing red robes shouted. “I’ve got top-tier first-circle Astral spells. I’d make a great addition to your group!”

  “Pick me, Kal,” another waved beside him. “Defensive Martial spells. I’m the front liner you didn’t know you needed.”

  “Sorry, but we’re not making any decisions right now,” Kal said as more mages gathered around to sell themselves.

  “What, why not? I’d be perfect for rounding out your group. “The spell I cast in the examination was only a taste of what I got.”

  “Nah, pick me. I’d win,” another mage challenged, pushing through the others.

  “I’m sure you’re all great,” Kal said, swamped by a circle of mage candidates around him. “But I can’t make any decisions until we at least know the Hunt’s rules.”

  “What, seriously? Come on. I’m exactly what you need. Don’t think I will wait around if another group offers me a position.”

  “Yeah, man. We all got options.”

  “Ha, his little trick went to his head,” a mage scoffed and turned away. “Who cares if you made it yourself? It’s ultimately just a movement spell.”

  “Yeah, like I’m gonna beg for some kid,” another huffed and broke from the crowd.

  “Sorry, guys,” Kal said with a grimaced smile as the crowd soured on him.

  “Pfft,” the robe-wearing mage shook his head and turned away. “Your loss, kid.”

  They sure turned on me quickly. Then again, there are a lot of good mages around.

  “Kal, you sure that was wise? That Astral mage sounded promising,” Ellie said.

  “Dunno. But I doubt they’ll be the only mages who want to join us. Besides, we still don’t know the rules. It’s kind of hard to know what spells we’re missing if we don’t know what we’ll need. Anyway, I’m getting hungry,” Kal said, his stomach rumbling. “Maybe we should get something to eat.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “What about the other contestants?” Ellie questioned.

  Kal was also concerned about missing out on the show, but his stomach growled again, refocusing his wandering thoughts.

  “We’ve seen most of them, haven’t we?” Kal said.

  “It looks like it,” Ellie agreed.

  “I’m hungry too,” Arix moaned, rubbing his belly.

  There had been many entertaining spells to watch, but many of the mages had also been casting rather mundane spells. Kal didn’t want to miss out on anything intriguing, but the reality was many of the top contestants were hiding most of their best spells.

  “Do you guys just think with your bellies? Shouldn’t we be watching and learning what other mages can do?”

  “I know but,” Kal looked down at his belly and grimaced. “It’s been a long day, and those biscuits on the wagon were tiny.”

  “Yeah, I’m with Kal,” Arix desperately nodded.

  “I mean, you can always stay,” Kal smiled.

  “You don’t think I’m hungry too?” Ellie snapped. “You want me to stay and watch while you two gluttons stuff your faces?”

  “That’s not what I said,” Kal protested.

  “If you two are eating, then so am I!”

  “We never said you couldn’t,” Arix said.

  “It was implied,” Ellie retorted.

  “I swear it wasn’t,” Arix slumped.

  Kal remained silent. Happy that Arix had caught Ellie’s ire.

  “Sure it wasn’t,” Ellie said.

  ***

  Nestled away in one of the off-shooting streets, the trio huddled around a table in a cozy nook of a small tavern and eatery. The curved window encasing the little nook stared out into the narrow streets, allowing a great view of the bustling Morington daily life.

  “I’m starving,” Arix slumped into the table. “I can’t believe I haven’t eaten since that tiny, little biscuit.”

  “Step one, completed,” Kal leaned back in his chair. “Now we just need to figure out what this whole Magic Hunt is about. They said we’ll compete against each other, but if killing or seriously harming one another isn’t allowed, how exactly is that going to work?”

  “Could be a bunch of mini exams, like competitive games,” Arix wondered aloud.

  “If you guys knew so little, then why were we so eager to leave? Who knows what we could be learning about our rivals right now.”

  Kal’s belly audibly groaned as if in protest to Ellie’s words.

  “Why do I feel like that thing is our fourth group member?” Ellie narrowed her gaze on Kal’s belly.

  “Hah,” Kal scratched at the back of his neck. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Ellie. Besides, we’ll also need our energy to pass this thing.”

  “Energy?” Ellie repeated dryly.

  “Look, many of the best mages here probably already have groups. And those who don’t are likely in a similar position as us. Think about it. If you have valuable skills, why would you want to rush into a group that might not complement you? Until we know the rules of the exam, we’re taking a massive risk with any decision we make.”

  “I suppose,” Ellie crossed her arms. “Still, I feel like we’re missing stuff.”

  “Remember how they said the failures to pass would be offered government employment?” Arix said, shifting the conversation. “What do you think that’s all about?”

  “No idea,” Kal shrugged. He really didn’t have any idea. He had read all about the exams and had never heard anything about the government offering employment to those who failed the examinations. That said, it wasn’t something that tempted him in the slightest.

  “Excuse my interruption, but could I have a moment of your time?”

  Kal looked up to see a soft-spoken boy with a brown bowl cut. He looked about the same age as them. Kal probably even had an inch or two on the boy, and he wasn't particularly tall for his age, either.

  “Can’t you see that this booth is taken?” Ellie rolled her eyes.

  There's something about this kid. Kal inspected his boy's Core and had to stop himself from gasping when he realized it was entirely hidden like his own.

  “You know, it's generally considered rude to inspect people’s Cores in the confines of a city, doubly so within a formal establishment such as this.”

  “You could tell?” Kal’s brows perked.

  “You can't? Interesting,” the boy said, his meek yet oddly confident appearance expressionless.

  “Interesting—why?” Kal probed.

  “The fact that you've gone to the lengths of entirely hiding your Core, yet you haven't trained in inspection detection. It’s quite odd, to be entirely honest. The two usually go hand-in-hand.”

  I guess you miss this kind of stuff when your training is entirely self-led. Damn it, Daedrik, you could have said something.

  Blaming Daedrik for his lack of knowledge was a bit of an easy out, Kal knew. He had always preferred learning alone and never bothered to hide it.

  “So, you inspected me as well?”

  “I did. Guilty as charged. But it’s not often you see a junior mage using a spell they designed themselves.”

  “Kal Jakari, is it?”

  Kal nodded.

  “You're not the scion of a great house of assassins or spies, are you?”

  “No?” Kal crooked his head.

  “Interesting.”

  “Why is that interesting?” Kal said, trying not to sound exasperated. But the strange kid constantly abstrusely saying interesting was starting to grate on his nerves.

  “Because it's a technique used but, more importantly, taught by assassins and spies. Few others see the value in learning but, more importantly, wasting Mana Focus on maintaining such techniques.”

  Mana Focus? Kal almost forgot he had read about Mana Focus in the book's footnotes about hiding Mana Cores. The technique was required for advanced Mana Cloaking.

  Mana Focus was used for many spells but was usually reserved for spells with ongoing effects, like buffs. There were only so many things a mage could use their Mana Focus on, and so few would choose to waste capacity on something like hiding their Core’s details unless subterfuge was an important part of their job.

  However, for Kal, cloaking his mana had come so easily and naturally that he had forgotten about it.

  “I must say, you've certainly piqued my interest. You’re quite the intriguing fellow, Kal Jakari,” the boy said, sliding into the booth opposite Kal and pushing up against Ellie.

  “Oi, watch out.”

  “Sorry,” he said to Ellie without breaking eye contact with Kal. “My name is Vae Adore Draken of Gailbrooke. Scion of the infamous House Draken.”

  House Draken? I think I remember reading about them in Daedrik’s book on influential people and families. If I'm not mistaken, they're a noble house famous for producing assassins.

  “I guess you already know who I am,” Kal said.

  “Of course, I watched your examination test with steadfast fascination. But your family name eludes me. It’s familiar, but I can't quite place it. Are your family lords in a border region, perhaps?”

  “No,” Kal shook. “Just bureaucrats mostly.” At least, that’s what he understood, though Daedrik rarely talked much about his family, and Kal had been too interested in his own learning to inquire.

  “Government mages,” Vae grimaced, his face twisting from standing blank slate for the first time.

  Is that a bad thing?

  “Ahem, sorry. Please accept my apologies. I didn't mean to offend,” Vae said, clearly reading Kal’s expression.

  “It's fine. I’m not too eager to go down that path myself.” Not only did the prospect of becoming tied to the government sound horrible, but Kal really didn’t feel particularly protective of his adopted family, save Yandi—she had been a great mother.

  “You're most accommodating, Kal Jakari. Being around your kind is refreshing when you’ve spent so long among the noble class.”

  “Sooo, what's your deal, buddy? What's with all the interest in our Kal?” Ellie pointed her fork at Vae.

  “It’s not just Kal. You're quite an interesting little group. Most of you, anyway,” he glanced sideways at Arix. “I would be quite honored to be given the pleasure of working with your group.”

  “Get in line, buddy,” Ellie said, pointing outside toward several gawking kids who had arrived since they took their seats. No doubt, there were plenty of mages still struggling to find groups, and as far as they were aware, Kal was still on the market.

  “Wait, Ellie,” Kal said.

  “What, you want this weirdo in our group?”

  Kal hadn't made his mind up on Vae, but having a contact in a famous noble house of assassins intrigued him for many reasons—and not just because learning that inspection detection technique sounded useful.

  “Let’s just hear him out, Ellie.”

  “Well, then? What can you even do?” Ellie said, narrowing on Vae.

  “Well,” Vae said, and his skin began to mirror the color and texture of the wooden seat he sat on. “The spell’s called Chameleon.”

  “Eh, I can still see you,” Ellie rolled her eyes.

  “Unfortunately, Lesser Invisibility is a third circle spell,” Vae sighed, his skin gradually resuming its natural color. “However, I shall learn it someday.”

  “Don’t listen to her, Vae. That was a pretty neat spell.” Kal wasn’t just trying to be nice. While it wouldn’t fool anybody who saw him cast the spell before their very eyes, Kal was quite certain it could be useful.

  “I suppose it isn't horrible,” Ellie huffed.

  “With a spell like that, he could be our scout,” Arix said excitedly. “That could be pretty useful, don’t you think?”

  “Do I take it your party accepts my proposition?”

  “Not so f–”

  “We do.”

  “Kal! What happened to waiting until we learn the rules? I thought we would, like, talk about decisions like this or something.”

  “He's perfect. Look, you've got healing covered. Arix has sniping, and I'm like a Swiss Army knife. So it stands to reason we need a stealthy party member.” Kal lied. He didn’t feel like explaining to Ellie in front of Vae that he thought this was the perfect opportunity to form a relationship with a powerful noble. And that most wealthy nobles had likely already decided on their groups for the exam.

  “Stands to what reason? You're just making stuff up. And what in the endless planes is a Swiss Army knife?”

  “A colloquialism, but that's not important.”

  “A colloqu–what?”

  “Fabulous. So, has your team decided on codenames?” Vae said.

  “No, but we should,” Kal nodded thoughtfully.

  “Wait, not so fast, pal. We never agreed to ac–”

  “I like it,” Arix said. “Can I be Bullseye?”

  “A bit on the nose, but I don't see why not,” Kal said.

  “Is there something in the hair? What's happening?” Ellie grasped at her air.

  “Cheer up,” Vae patted Ellie's back. “I believe we’ll make an absolutely stunning group. Hurrah to us.”

  “I hate you all,” Ellie groaned.