Chapter 69: The Finals Approach!

Sen stood among a sea of first and second-year students, listening to Professor Ladia talk about how their final exams would go. Third years students had mock duels to prepare them for their final year, and fourth-year students were prepping for actual graduation duels. So that left students in their first and second semesters with their own final exams. So far, she’d gone over the seriousness of the exams, highlighting the importance of taking pride in your studies to achieve scores befitting your future as a mage. It was all very mushy and Sen had zoned out about three minutes in. To ease his boredom and give his mind a break from thinking over Girch’s request, he thought up new potential spells. 

He shook his head. “No, newts are underrated. Maybe a bat?” Eh, those were clichés. Surely he could come up with something unique for a new butterfly-inspired spell. 

Milim turned to look at him like he’d gone crazy. “Are you alright?”

Sen turned to look at her, realizing he’d been speaking out loud. “Yeah…sorry, was thinking about lunch.” He held his hands up when a look of horror crossed her face. “Bad joke. Spell crafting.” 

“At least someone isn’t worried about exams.” She sighed. 

He patted her shoulder in as comforting a way as he could manage. “You’ll do great,” he said. 

She smiled and turned her attention back to Professor Ladia. “This year's final exams will be more similar to third and fourth-year exams. With recent events, the dean has decided to place more emphasis on combat magic and dueling. We wish for all of you to go into your upcoming years at the academy able to defend yourselves and your peers. We’ve also decided the ranking system will be open to all grades indefinitely from now on, due to how well things have gone this year!”

The rankings announcement earned a mixed reaction. Some students were excited about extra competition; others were worried about crazy first-years showing up and taking the top ranks. 

[I wonder where they’re getting that wild idea from.] 

A board was behind Ladia. It wasn’t unlike the ranking board, but three or four times as long and twice as tall. It populated and Sen saw the long list of names. “What’s this about?” he wondered. 

“Your names are all listed here. We will randomly choose opponents for most of you, though in the interest of fairness, a few of you have pre-selected opponents. Just like with graduation duels, victory is not required to pass. Instead, you’ll be judged on a number of criteria. How you utilize your own magic and what you’ve learned this year, how you adapt to your opponent’s strategy, and your overall competence in combat. Second-years will be graded harsher than first-years, but first-years should still expect a challenge. Normally, students who fail would be given another attempt after remedial courses. However, the dean has decided that this year…failure will result in expulsion from the academy.” Professor Ladia grimaced as she said it.

A chorus of cries and complaints rang out. If Milim had been concerned before, that concern had now doubled. She turned to look at Sen. “People fail every year, and that’s on normal tests. Duels have a higher failure rate. They’ll end up failing way more people than usual!” 

At hearing that, the students immediately around them shouted their protests even louder. Milim’s leg bounced as she contemplated the trial ahead. She was really underestimating herself. He doubted there were many other students who could actually give her a decent challenge. She’d followed him up the rankings for a reason. 

Professor Ladia held her hands up and waited for the complaints to die down. “I know many of you are frustrated and anxious. I understand. Several faculty members protested this decision, but…all of you are aware of the events that have transpired this year. We’re taking every precaution to protect all of you, but we must also prepare you to protect yourselves. As I said, you won’t be graded as harshly as third and fourth-year students. We’ll also take into account the fact that you’ve been preparing for exams more similar to previous years.”

Sen wasn’t sure if it was her words, or just her naturally comforting style of speaking, but somehow she managed to settle the students down. She turned her attention to the board with all their names on it. She nodded, as if to an invisible figure, and the names started to appear next to the ones already present. The pairings for the final exam. There was another column as well that listed the date, time, and place of each student’s final exam. He wasn’t going to scan through all of that.

“Tutor.”

His eyes were suddenly drawn to a certain spot on the board, and he saw his name. He nodded his thanks. As the moments went by, some students cheered when they saw their opponents; others groaned. Of course, the academy would try to keep things as balanced as possible, but there was only so much they could do. Not every matchup would be completely fair. 

[That’s true. Imagine how your opponent would feel if they knew they were about to face the God of Magic they’d learned about in History class?]

Sen stifled a laugh. That was an amusing thought. But as the board continued populating, he was slowly wondering if he would ever get assigned someone. Would this be like the ranking board all over again? An unexpected result at the last moment? 

It sounded silly. It was a first-year final exam. How bad could it really be? He was well beyond his peers. 

The board stopped moving despite the fact that not all the spots had been filled. There were five spots, to be exact. Five students without sparring partners. Sen knew all of them. 

Himself. Mori. Ilm. Samara. Milim. 

The five of them hadn’t been assigned another student to fight. 

Professor Ladia didn’t waste any time. “You don’t need to remember your opponent, though I highly advise against not taking advantage of the opportunity to prepare. But you must remember the time, place, and location of your final exam. Tardiness will result in failure. If tardiness is the result of your opponent hampering your actions, both of you will fail. One for failing to take proper precautions, and the other for interfering with the final exam process. There will be no exceptions. Be on time and be prepared. As soon as you’ve written down or memorized the details of your exam, please vacate the entrance hall. Those of you who don’t have opponents listed, please follow me.”

Sen looked around at his friends. He had a bad feeling about this. 

They caught up with Professor Ladia, and she led them down the hallway toward the library. When they were far enough away from the clamor of the entrance hall, she turned to them and stopped. She eyed each of them, and then looked to the side, as if searching for the words. “I’m sure you’re all very confused. The truth is, it was decided at a faculty meeting that the five of you vastly outrank your peers. The quests you’ve completed this year alone are proof of that. It wouldn’t be possible to pair you fairly with other first or second-year students.”

Mori nodded. “So we’ll be paired with third and fourth-year students then?” he asked. 

“Not quite. In the interests of fairness, each of you will be evaluated by a faculty member directly,” she said. She paused before explaining, giving it time to sink in.

Ilm looked around. “Wait, we have to fight professors?” she asked. Of them all, Ilm was still the least experienced at dueling. Sen thought it would be a fair match for her to fight another first-year. Then again, she had learned most of her techniques from the memories of a god-level magician. So maybe he was underestimating her abilities a bit. 

[You think?]

“The decision was unanimous. They’ll adjust the strength they use to give you a fair but challenging fight. This was the fairest way to evaluate you without creating final exams for other students that were blatantly unfair,” she said.

Sen had to admit she had a point. He and Mori were way more advanced than their classmates. He’d personally crafted high-grade weapons for Samara and Milim. Most first and second years wouldn’t even have a chance to get one of those at Brightsail Academy unless they were one of the few to reach the top ten on the ranking board in their later years. So, Sen accepted the new reality without protest. So what if he had to fight a professor? He was confident in himself. 

The others looked at him, and he nodded his approval. If he accepted it, he knew they would as well. He believed in them. They’d be just fine. 

Professor Ladia reached into her pockets and pulled out several sheets of paper. She matched the papers to each of them according to their names, and Sen assumed it had their final exam information on it. By the time he took his, Samara had already opened hers. “Sikar,” she said. “Looks like I’ll get to put my sword to the test against that staff of his.” She grinned. She’d never been the type to back down from a challenge. 

Milim unfolded hers and looked up in surprise. “You?” she asked. 

Professor Ladia nodded. “Illusion and Dream magic have a lot of overlap. It makes us good opponents.”

Sen frowned. These matches weren’t just random selections. The faculty had specifically chosen professors that countered his friends. Sikar was a weapons expert and had decades of training with that staff. Ladia’s illusions had once tricked even Sen’s mind, and she’d injured a lord-level demon during the academy invasion with her deception. 

He turned quickly to see Ilm’s slip. She frowned. “Professor Crosp.” 

Sen still had a lot of learning to do regarding historia magic. So he wasn’t quite sure of the reason for matching Ilm to Crosp, but he had a feeling the faculty hadn’t chosen it at random. Mori opened his. Sen raised a brow. 

Mori frowned. “It seems I have Crosp as well. Perhaps there was some kind of mistake?” he asked.

Ladia shook her head. “No, the two of you will fight the same opponent. Although you’ll be sequestered after the first match begins so you can’t swap information. You understand?” she asked.

Mori didn’t seem happy about it, but nodded. 

Sen’s paper was still crumpled up in hand. Everyone turned to look at him. Only Ladia wouldn’t meet his eyes. He squinted at that. He lowered his head and opened the paper. Admittedly, he was surprised when he saw his opponent. 

“Dean Withershade,” he said aloud. The highest-ranking member of the faculty had been handpicked to duel him. 

“That…was at the dean’s insistence. He believed you were too close to the other potential candidates to fight you. He wanted to ensure a…fair test.” She emphasized the word fair. Sen lifted his head at that. His mind wandering. Surely the dean didn’t think any of the other faculty members would let him win. So, what was the real reason? What was Ladia hinting at?

No, the dean wasn’t worried about Sen getting a free victory; he realized. The dean wanted to ensure he didn’t win at all. He was trying to ensure Sen was expelled from the academy. 

[Why would he do something like that?] Tutor asked.

Sen had disrespected the man numerous times since the invasion of Harpis Castle. Even the faculty had taken Sen’s side over his own. He may have even discovered Sen’s little raid on the high-grade artifact collection by now. The dean had many reasons to want Sen expelled from Brightsail Academy. 

He smiled.

Professor Ladia frowned. “You’re…happy about that?” she asked.

Sen nodded. “I am. It’s about time someone put him in his place.” He grinned. After all, if he wasn’t going to stick around at Bright Sail for much longer, he might as well beat the strongest man around before he left. 

It was only fitting for the God of Magic. 

Orttha

It was after hours, and the library had been closed for quite a while when Orttha felt a knock on the door to the special library. He’d closed the library personally today. There shouldn’t be anyone lingering still. His will was the ultimate authority in the library. 

So how had someone hidden from him?

He’d been working at his special desk, so retrieving the journal of hybrid stats was easy enough. He pulled it from the hidden compartment and quickly covered it with an illusion. Now it would appear as a simple book about gardening. He held it as he quickly descended the stairs. It didn’t take long to reach the bottom. Orttha wrapped himself in Protection and Aggression and opened the door. He froze. Suddenly he didn’t think there was much reason to be alarmed. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked. 

His guest was silent.

The thing to his left was not. It growled.

He turned to get a better look at the creature in his periphery before it struck, and his world turned black.