"The airship is ready to land! All apprentices are prohibited from indoor activities."
The announcement rang through the metal corridors of the massive vessel, bouncing off walls and reaching into every small room and corner. After a moment of silence, it came again, more urgent this time.
"Repeat."
"The airship is ready to land! All apprentices are prohibited from indoor activities."
The strange, hollow voice of the meal-delivering puppet echoed throughout the airship. Its wooden face remained frozen in a permanent smile as it moved through the hallways, the gears inside its body clicking with each step. After nearly a month of flying through clouds and storms, over mountains and plains, this group of apprentices finally arrived at the end of their journey - the Great Tower Magus Academy.
The airship began to descend slowly, the engines humming with a different pitch now.
Through the small round windows, apprentices could see the ground coming closer - a vast clearing surrounded by ancient trees that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. And in the center of this clearing stood the Great Tower itself, rising impossibly high into the sky, its dark surface absorbing light rather than reflecting it.
Ralth sat quietly on the bed in room 225, his back straight, his mind clear. After ten days of careful recovery and meditation, his magic power had fully returned, flowing through his body like a cool stream. He could feel it pulsing at his fingertips, ready to be shaped into spells. The small room that had been his home for the past month felt strangely comforting now that he was about to leave it forever.
Charlotte also completed the construction of her Mana Reflux in these ten days and learned all the zero-ring spells through endless practice. Her hands were red from all the work she did, day in and day out. But the effort had paid off - she could now feel the magic flowing through her body, responding to her will.
Kevran's recruitment attempt had made them realize something important: if they just fought alone, they would still be at a considerable disadvantage in this exam.
The nobles had numbers and resources, the knights had strength and training. Two apprentices alone would be easy targets.
So the two of them reached an offensive and defensive alliance when Charlotte completed the return of magic power. They would watch each other's backs, share resources, and face the dangers together.
"Ralth, what should we do next?" Charlotte asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She sat on the edge of the bed, holding the bag given by the magus tightly in her hands, her knuckles a little blue from the pressure of her grip. Her normally cheerful face was pale with worry, her lips pressed into a thin line.
The impending life-and-death battle frightened the girl, who had never even killed a chicken before, much less faced monsters or hostile apprentices. The stories her father had told her about the Black Tower exams now seemed less like exciting tales and more like terrifying prophecies.
Even though she is now a magus apprentice with power most people could only dream of, the thought of using that power to take a life made her stomach turn.
"What else can I do? Kill someone or trade," Ralth replied, his voice surprisingly relaxed, as if the upcoming fight was just like going to a restaurant for a meal. He was checking his belongings one last time: the small bag of coins he had managed to save, the book of basic spells he had nearly memorized, the plain clothes that would not restrict his movement.
Charlotte looked at him with wide eyes, shocked by his casual attitude toward violence. "You can't mean that? Who'd even trade," she said, searching his face for signs of a joke. "
Ralth sighed and sat beside her on the bed. "Charlotte, you know the rules as well as I do. Only a limited number will pass. The rest..." He didn't need to finish the sentence. They both knew what happened to those who failed.
"But we could hide, couldn't we? Just make it to the meeting point without fighting?" she suggested hopefully.
Ralth shook his head slowly. "And what if we meet others with the same idea? What if we encounter one of the monsters? No, we need to be prepared to fight. To kill if necessary." His eyes met hers, serious but not unkind. "I hope we don't have to, but hope is not a strategy."
BOOM!
As soon as Ralth finished speaking, the two felt the room shake violently. The few loose items on the desk clattered to the floor, and they had to grab onto the bed to steady themselves. The loud sound of the airship landing came instantly after, a deep, rumbling groan as the massive vessel settled onto solid ground.
"The airship has landed. All apprentices, take your belongings and leave the airship one by one," the puppet's voice announced again, somehow cutting through the noise of the landing.
Ralth and Charlotte picked up their things and walked out of the room, joining the flow of apprentices moving through the narrow corridors. The atmosphere was tense; some faces showed excitement, others fear, but all shared a grim determination. They lined up in a queue according to the admissions magus's arrangement and left the cabin one by one.
When leaving the cabin, the skeleton magus who distributed the apprentices' pockets gave each of them a test tube belt full of test tubes, each of which contained half a tube of emerald green liquid. The skeleton's bones clicked softly as it moved, its empty eye sockets somehow still managing to convey a watching presence.
"What is this?" Charlotte whispered to Ralth as they accepted their belts, the glass tubes clinking gently against each other.
"It seems that this is the nutritional potion," Ralth thought to himself. To Charlotte, he said, "Something to keep us alive in the forest, I'd guess. Don't drink it unless you need to."
Outside the airship was an open space with dim light, as if the sun itself was reluctant to shine too brightly on what was about to happen. Dozens of magic airships were neatly arranged in the air, their huge bodies blocking out much of the sky. They varied in size and design - some sleek and streamlined, others bulky and practical, all bearing the marks of different kingdoms and guilds who had sent their candidates.
Under their shadows, tens of thousands of apprentices were neatly arranged in a large square formation, standing shoulder to shoulder in the vast clearing. The ground beneath their feet was hard-packed dirt, worn smooth by countless previous gatherings.
Ralth followed the team into the large square formation, finding his place in the crowd. The air was filled with a mixture of sounds - nervous whispering, the rustle of clothing as people shifted in place, the distant calls of strange birds from the forest edge. Above the square formation, a white-bearded magus wearing a black robe and glasses was floating quietly in the air, about twenty feet above the ground.
The old magus's beard flowed down to his chest, pure white against the black of his robes. His glasses reflected the light strangely, making it impossible to see his eyes. He held a staff made of some dark wood, topped with a glowing blue crystal that pulsed gently like a heartbeat.
"Yueres Magic Airship No. 050 has arrived, recruiting 198 apprentices," announced Trakk, stepping forward from the group. He bowed deeply to the floating magus and reported in a clear, formal tone. His voice carried across the clearing despite not being raised, suggesting some magical enhancement.
After the floating magus nodded slightly, a barely perceptible movement of his ancient head, Trakk left quietly, returning to the airship without looking back at the apprentices he had brought to this place.
His job was done; their fates were no longer any of his concern.
"Quiet."
The voice of the floating magus was not loud, but it reached the ears of every apprentice with perfect clarity, as if he was speaking directly to each of them. The whispers and murmurs died instantly, replaced by a silence so complete that Ralth could hear his own heartbeat.
Ralth looked up at the magus, studying him carefully, and a sense of fear from the bottom of his heart instantly struck him. It was not just the man's appearance or position that inspired this fear, but a sense of being in the presence of a power so vast and alien that his mind could barely comprehend it.
Although this magus did not reveal any aura, he gave Ralth the feeling that he was a completely different creature from the recruiting magi who had tested them aboard the airships. Those magi had been impressive, yes, but this one... this one made them seem like they were apprentices themselves.
Is this what a real magus is? Ralth wondered, both terrified and fascinated. To have such power, to command such respect without effort...
"Welcome to the 422nd entrance examination of the Great Tower Magus Academy," the floating magus spoke again, his voice calm and measured. "I am Yousef, your vice-dean, and the examiner of this exam."
Vice-dean Yousef swept his gaze across the crowd, seeming to look at each apprentice individually despite their vast numbers. Ralth felt the weight of that gaze as it passed over him like it could see through his flesh to the very core of his being.
"There are a total of ten examination rooms for this exam, each with a thousand people," He continued. "There will be ten monsters in each room. The monsters will have magic items prepared by the academy, and apprentices with sufficient strength can hunt them by themselves."
Charlotte gasped softly beside Ralth. Monsters? They would have to fight monsters as well as other apprentices? The stories had mentioned challenges and trials, but not this.Murmurs rippled through the rest of the apprentices.
"Now," Yousef continued, raising a hand for silence, "there are additional details you must understand. First, the test area is a magically isolated zone. No outside help will reach you. The environment will be harsh, and you will encounter creatures and dangers meant to test your ability to survive and adapt.
"Second, you are allowed to fight, steal, and strategize and murder as you see fit, to achieve your goals."
"Third," Yousef said, eyes narrowing, "anyone who fails to arrive in time or loses all their crystal balls will be considered disqualified. There will be no second chances, nor will the academy assist in returning you home. You will be on your own."
"You have one hour before the exam begins. Prepare wisely."
With that, Yousef turned on his heel and strode away, leaving the apprentices to process his words.