This night was going to be a long one. I knew it was late and of course I wasn’t the only one going through an assessment tonight. Looking around, I thought there might be at least thirty of us. Standing in the great hall, waiting for something to happen. For someone to come and explain what it was, we were supposed to do. We didn’t have to wait very long.

  The man who called himself Professor Kaivos, entered the great hall through a hallway on the left and climbed the curved staircase. Once at the top, he turned to address us and I couldn’t help but notice in that moment, that his eyes were a vibrant gold. This man seemed to be a master when it came to talking to large crowds. No matter how much conversation had been going on before, at the raise of a hand, everyone fell silent. He waited for a long moment before beginning to speak.

  “Before we begin this… assessment, there is something I need to say,” he said. “If, before arriving here, you had never heard of Aurys Academy… that is a good thing. Your hopes about this place won’t be… well let’s just say, you won’t be entirely disappointed.”

  He paused, most likely waiting for whispers to start or for questions to be asked. Everyone remained attentive and listening.

  “If you have heard of this place, or tried to research it, you will have some idea about what goes on in our hallways. Throw that out, because I can assure you, it is much worse than what you came here assuming. I am not talking about how bad our teaching might be. You will go to class here, you will learn and you will learn well! What I am referring to, are the rules and the students. A lot of that you will find out for yourselves, but one thing you need to keep in mind, is that whatever goes on in those halls, the faculty are forbidden from interfering.”

  That last statement, did cause a round of whispers and questions. The main ones being, “is he serious?” and “What do you mean?” I thought I already knew. The books I had access to when reading up on this school, were a bit more advanced than what most of these other students would have been able to read. And if the way Daxton had acted when I arrived, was any indication, those books were at least partially true. Bad things happened to the students at this school. Whether it was just because of other students or if the teachers and professors had anything to do with those things, remained still to be seen.

  “Hey,” another student said. She was a bit shorter than myself, with long, brown hair done up in a single braid. She wore a jean jacket unbuttoned, with a plain, white shirt underneath and a pair of cargo pants. On her back, she carried a small, teddy bear backpack and there was some kind of staff held by one of its straps. “What… do you think he means?”

  “I don’t know,” I lied. “I guess, we’ll just have to find out.”

  If I did tell her what I truly thought, she might not have believed me. Even if she did trust everything I said, that kind of information could send someone into a panic. That was irrelevant because unlike other schools in this kingdom, Aurys Academy did not have sick days, it did not have leaves or suspensions. You couldn’t get expelled and you couldn’t, under any circumstances, transfer to another school. You could not leave. I was sure that if any student tried… well, let’s just say that was probably why we had been given special cuffs or wristbands with runes spun into the fabric. One of those runes I couldn’t help but notice, was the rune for a locked door. So that meant… it would even be impossible to remove the cuff.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “My name is Jessica by the way,” she said. “Jessica Fairmont.”

  “Christina Bellhaven,” came my response.

  “Listen!” Kaivos yelled from the second floor balcony. “Listen up!”

  It took a few moments, but eventually the chattering did cease and everyone turned towards him.

  “Go down the hallway on the right and you will be taken to the arena,” Kaivo explained. When nobody moved, he waved a hand in that direction. “What are you waiting for? Go now! Single file!”

  I nodded to Jessica and the two of us pushed through the crowd of students to the corridor. It was exactly the same as the one which led into the auditorium. A marble floor, red brick walls and torches spaced intermittently to provide light.

  “So, what kind of mage are you?” Jessica asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see what I am.” I allowed myself a little smile and winked in her direction.

  Jessica folded her arms. “That’s not fair,” she said.

  “Unless you are planning to tell me what you are,” I said. “I think it’s completely fair.”

  It was fair and I didn’t think other students would be talking about what they were. Besides, summoners were rare and not telling people my class of mage or what I was capable of doing, might give me some kind of advantage in the future.

  “You… might have a point there,” she said after a moment. “I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.” Jessica gave me then, the cutest little smile.

  We exited the hallway into what appeared to be some kind of colosseum. I read about places like these in our history textbooks, but didn’t think they still existed. Colosseums were originally places where talented mages could make money by participating in tournaments. Not all of them were fun and games however. Some mages competed because they were prisoners and slaves. They were forced to use their magic to kill each other. I just hoped that what I had learned about this school, didn’t extend to that.

  There were three smaller sections within the colosseum which I guessed, were for three different assessments that were to take place simultaneously. Despite the fact that they were much smaller than the colosseum as a whole, they were still really big. And standing on the other side from us, were more students. Probably the ones who were here to test us.

  I scanned the faces and yeah, there were Daxton and Remmy, waiting for the assessment to start.

  Three people whom I guessed were a few of the professors, stood by each of the smaller arenas. Professor Kaivos strolled up to them and started talking to the only female professor who was waiting there, with her arms crossed. After a moment, he turned to us.

  “Each of you will draw two numbers,” he held up two boxes. “One is for the arena you will be in, and the other number is your place in line. The students behind us,” he motioned with his head to the group standing on the other side of the arenas. “They will be your testers. It is important to note here, that they have been instructed not to kill you… at least this time. So it is fair that I say the same to you. This is not a death match, just an assessment of your skills.”

  The rest of it went rather smoothly. We lined up in single file and picked our numbers. Mine were for arena three and I was the eleventh person to be able to go. Hopefully that meant that I would be able to get my assessment done and over with so I could go to sleep. I let out a long yawn.

  “Hey Chris!”

  I looked to the bleachers where the voice had come from. Emri stood up there with a look of concern and he was holding Senza. I put up a hand and waved.

  “We’re here cheering you on,” came Senza’s voice in my head. “Be careful Sai. You don’t know what tricks they have up their sleeves.”

  I nodded up to him. He was right. I didn’t know a thing about what anyone else could do. Still… this wouldn’t deter me. With my eyes facing forward, I took on a neutral expression and waited for the assessment to begin.