[Hrozun 01, 0100 A.R]
[Atherion Magic Academy]

Current in-game time 6:23 PM

Without a warning, a magic circle would take the students by surprise after the Headmaster tapped the ground with his cane. Anyone who stood inside the mandala's range was instantly engulfed by a faint yellow glow and then just like that, the students were teleported to the trial's location, three hundred students vanished leaving only the teachers behind.

"Well, there goes the brats. Bahahahaha, the first-years, they must be confused right now!" The Luar, Arturo Ergosí, let out another energetic laugh as he watched the Headmaster take a seat along with them. "I bet ye' they're shitting their pants right now hahahahah!"

"Arturo, language," Eresa hushed the haughty man as she reminded Arturo of the Headmaster's presence.

"Aye aye' I go ya I got ya' but you have to agree with me, your students should be shaking right now."

As much as Eresa was against making fun of her students who she saw as family, she does share the same thoughts as the man when it came down to the children being scared. After all, the exams were designed to challenge one's preparedness for any situation.

"How uncouth, and in front of the Headmaster, shame on you two," Rias Blumon interrupted them.

"I don't mind," taking his seat, the old geezer placed his cane in front of him and stared at the numerous projections floating in front of them, credit going to Viore for casting the spell.

"Hey Rias, since we're all here watching em', who's your favorite out of them?" Asked Arturo while stroking his bushy beard.

"I do not support nepotism, Arturo." He responded firmly.

"Bahahaha! Oh c'mon! I saw ya' shooting daggers at em' Marked Ones earlier, I'm sure you have someone who you favor."

"Even if I did have someone I favor, what is it to you?" The man kept a leveled gaze as he leaned back.

"I, myself, also have a favorite of my own, I'm sure my students would be angry at me for saying this but I am fond of Fiona Agarthas." Arturo chuckled, looking proud as he declared.

"I can tell," Rias shot a look at the man who laughed it off, he sighed and gave in, not that anything bad would come from confessing. "Mathias Ferny, he's the student I'm rooting for."

The others gasped from his declaration, Eresa covered her mouth while looking surprised, "So that's why I saw you tending to the young boy whenever he fell asleep in the library!" A vein appeared on Rias's forehead, he wanted to cast a spell that would put a stop to the enthusiastic woman's blabbering.

"Oh my~ even Mr. Stuck-up has a favorite~" teased the foxy woman beside the man, Viore would grin smugly at the man. "But even if you did favor the boy, I'm sure my Lily would stomp her," declared the woman with confidence.

"Haahh? What was that you said?" A glare was thrown at the foxy woman as Rias challenged her.

"I guess being a stuck-up does a number on your ears. Let me repeat what I said, my Lily would stomp your little Mathias any time." Their gazes locked, both of them attempted to melt one another with the gazes they had.

"U-uhm! I also have a favorite!" Eresa butted in with an arm raised, breaking the standoff, then she announced with flushed cheeks; "I believe Jurn-kun would also put up a fight!" The woman was met with two intimidating-looking figures who looked down at her as Viore and Rias ultimately disagreed. "Eek!"

"Bahahahaha! Let's just see and find out which one of us is right!" Arturo's boisterous voice seemed to calm the others down as they adjusted to their seats.

"We'll see," Rias calmed his shoulders as they looked back at the projections. As they were bickering, a minute has already passed since the exams started, most students had already failed the first trial and were attempting to try again.

The first trial was about testing one's awareness of one's surroundings, they were sent inside a labyrinth that had various traps and monsters lying ahead. Every student had to maneuver their way ever so carefully through the single hallway while avoiding getting hit, as a single hit from a trap or a monster would send the student back into the starting line.

While other students struggled with getting past the traps, only a handful pushed through the course with ease. A female Dragoncrown who owned a pair of wings soared across the congested space with ease while protecting herself with a ball of water, rendering the arrows and fireballs useless against her.

"Yes, that's it, Lily! Make sensei proud!" An ecstatic Viore cheered for her favorite student, Lily Murk as she shot a smug grin at Rias who only adjusted his glasses.

"Don't think you've won yet," As the man spoke, the foxy woman flinched along with Arturo and Eresa as they watched a certain student running across the magic projection. A young lad with brown-hair zoomed through the halls with great speed, triggering the traps after he has passed them.

Mathias Ferny made use of his wind and lightning magic to cast [Nimbus Boots] which greatly enhanced his speed and agility to dodge the traps. The other students in the background struggled to keep up with Mathias and Lily who took the lead neck to neck in terms of pace.

"Bwahahahaha! Don't forget about me!" In a boisterous shout, Lily and Mathias looked behind them as the voice called out. They were all stunned to see a piece of the floor burning ablaze as it soared through the air while a red-haired female stood on top of it with a smile.

Rias and Viore shot a surprised look at the laughing Arturo as the Luar stroked his beard calmly, "Bahahahaha! I expected nothing less from you, Fiona! Go get em'!" Cheered the man as three candidate students reached the finish line with all of them passing through the portal at the same time.

Three minutes have already passed and three students had already entered the second trial. While this happened, Eresa clutched her hair as she ogled at the screens with panic, "Jurn-kun!? Jurn-kun!? Jurn-kun's not here!!" The poofy woman was alarmed to find her favorite pupil absent.

"Are you sure you didn't just miss him? Did you check?" Arturo implored the panicked Eresa attempting to calm her nerves.

"I triple checked! He's not anywhere!" She announced causing the others to raise a curious brow.

"Are you sure he didn't just skip?" Rias asked.

"Oh my, this seems quite the predicament won't you say?~" chiming in with a smug look, Viore covered her grin as Eresa went red in the face, flustered by her colleague's expression. "Now now Eresa, no need to be so worked up~"

Before things got out of hand, the Headmaster who had stayed reserved for a while now, spoke to them, "Do not be flustered Mrs. Ijania, control yourself." The woman draped in a wool dress could only grit her teeth to contain herself. While Viore chuckled to herself, she was not ignored by the Headmaster, "And you too Mrs. Slitherine, I expect you to act a little more mature than this."

The foxy woman seemed to flinch as she earned the geezer's cold hard stare. After getting scolded, the four of them went speechless for a moment as the tension filled the air, the only one unaffected by the atmosphere was the Headmaster who carefully watched the projections and kept track of the students being shown.

Following the Headmaster's lead, the teachers eventually forgot about their quarrels and silently watched. Nearly half of the three hundred students had already reached the second stage after seeing the three candidates enter the finish line.

They complimented some students who succeeded while criticizing others, aside from the trials there was also the performance which was carried on by the teachers who would go on to inspect a student's ability. And most students were failing at this aspect.

While they proceeded to judge the students, at the corner of Arturo's vision were three silhouettes, the sound of hurried footsteps can be heard as the figures drew closer.

"Hey, do we have new transfers today?" The Luar asked curiously as he questioned the poofy woman beside him.

"Not that I know of, no, we don't have any, why?" As Eresa responded she was guided by Arturo's pointer finger directed at the hallway leading towards the courtyard.

All four of them shot a confused gaze at the figures who soon stepped under the moonlight. When they were still amidst confusion, one of the figures shouted, "Wait! We're still here!" Yelled a panting Jurn Fern as they reached the wooden platform where the teachers were.

"Well well if it ain't your favorite little star child," Arturo stroked his beard as he saw the poofy woman's face brighten at the sight of Jurn.

"Jurn-kun! You're here! See I told you he wasn't in the trials!" Her celebrations immediately came to a halt as she realized one little detail, "Wait...if Jurn's not in the...oh no. Don't tell me you were late!?" Eresa would clutch her head again while in another fit of panic.

Viore who had stayed quiet as of now shot an interesting look at the young man and the others standing behind him. The Headmaster did not react aside from sparing the students a glance while staying silent.

Rias stood up from his seat, his brows furrowed into a tight-knit while glaring at the tardy students, "What is the meaning of this!?" He demanded to know.

"We apologize for our belatedness professor Blumon, I had to run and inform–" he was not allowed to speak any further as Rias cut him off.

"I know that you are late, I was asking why did you even dare come here knowing your tardiness?"

"We were hoping you would allow us to participate in the exams," Jurn forced himself to swallow his fear and spoke up.

"Such insolence!" Rias was about to punish them but the Headmaster raised a hand, stopping him. "I understand." Swallowing his anger, the teacher took his seat as the Headmaster took over.

"Mr. Fern, I have heard many great things about you from Mrs. Ijania and I am aware that you know about the rules of the exams as a student of the academy, no?" The geezer's silver stare intensified as it landed on Jurn. "We do not tolerate tardiness, even if it's from a scholar."

"I am well aware of that fact Headmaster, and I am willing to take the punishment if necessary but please make an exception," he looked behind him, eyeing Sylvia and Viola then back at the old man, "Allow these two to take the exams, in exchange, I'll take any punishment." The young student clenched his knuckles until they turned white.

Jurn had no idea why he was going this far for the two of them, he felt so stupid right now while also thinking this was the right thing to do. If he had a few regrets right now, he doesn't care.

The old man continued to stare at the young man, continuously pressuring him while understanding what he is to do about this young man. Jurn's determination and his willingness to put others above himself was something to be admired but while this was all good, Yuvjta Ermin was a man who operated with rules, if anything were to break these rules then...

"Uhm excuse me but don't you think it's unfair?" In an instant, everyone in the area stared at Sylvia who raised her hand as she spoke with a nonchalant tone.

"This girl..." Rias was once again controlled by the Headmaster as the old geezer, for the first time, had a genuine look of interest in his eyes.

"Please explain how this is unfair...Mrs..." The Headmaster took note of every students' name but this was the first time he has ever laid eyes on Sylvia.

"Sylvia Ducette and this is my sister Viola Ducette," she introduced themselves, patting her sister on the back. "And yes, we were the cause behind Jurn's tardiness. I understand that the exams are important and all but to punish him because of our ignorance? I don't think that's a fair trade, at least let us have a say in it first."

"And what solution do you propose?" The geezer raised an eyebrow. It was then that Sylvia had a small smile on her face.

"How about a bet?" She announced with confidence in her expression.

"A bet?" The four teachers looked at each other, each having different reactions as Rias had an annoyed expression while Viore had an amused one. Arturo and Eresa almost choked as they heard her. A student having the gall to be late and going as far as to challenge the Headmaster in a bet? It was never heard of!

While the others had difficulty comprehending the situation, the Headmaster had already taken into the girl's terms and asked, "Elaborate."

"If one out of the three of us finishes this trial or whatever and gets to first place, how about letting us off the hook?" Sylvia shrugged while Viola and Jurn looked at her with disbelief.

"And if you don't?" The Headmaster asked, a bit of weight was placed in his words as he inquired.

"Might as well get punished, we did insult the Headmaster by offering to bargain with him," the girl said.

There was a moment of silence between them, the Headmaster was in deep thought, not taking his gaze away from Sylvia.

"You plebian! How dare you–" once again Rias burst into a fit of rage but was not able to finish his sentence as the Headmaster cut him off. Again.

"I'll allow it," the geezer stroked his beard as he said so then tapped his cane on the ground, another transportation circle appeared as a gentle light covered their bodies. And as they were being engulfed, the Headmaster had one last thing to tell Sylvia, "Keep your word Mrs. Ducette as this will be the first and last I would allow such a thing."

[Trials]

"Why did you do that!?" Right after being transported into the trial grounds, instead of doing anything to progress, Viola grabbed her sister by the collar and shook Sylvia violently, "Can't you see we're already broke!? How can we survive if we lose our only living space!? In the first place, how do you expect us to finish this if we only have three minutes left!?"

"Eh!? So you're willing to put Jurn's career in danger!?" Sylvia fought back and grabbed her sister's collar. They went ahead and bickered for a while, leaving a confused Jurn standing beside them with no idea of what to do.

"Uhm guys...please don't fight..." It was Jurn's first time seeing the two at each other's throats and he felt a little skittish at what to say to get to stop.

"I can't believe you, saying all that without even telling me about your plan, honestly," Viola relaxed her grip releasing Sylvia as the bard rolled her eyes, "That something you always do."

"I'm sorry for leaving you out of it," the Elken apologized sincerely while a bit flustered.

"No no you did nothing wrong, I just got carried away for a moment," Viola admitted.

"So...apology hug?" Sylvia asked while fiddling with her fingers.

Seeing her little sister, Viola chuckled and spread her arms, "Apology hug," they went ahead and hugged each other. After reconciling with each other, it was then that Sylvia and Viola decided to focus on the trials.

"So how does this trial go? I assume we just need to get to the finish line as fast as possible, right?" Viola consulted the two while staring at the course ahead, there were still a handful of students attempting to finish the course but nearly all of them had already advanced to the second trial.

Jurn went ahead to explain how things worked, "Yes and no, yes you need to get to the finish line to proceed but at the same time you'll be graded by the judges at how you tackle certain things while under ten minutes."

As Jurn was explaining, Sylvia took her time to wander about, behind them was a wall with symbols placed on it. She tapped her chin then started prodding around while Viola and Jurn discussed with one another, "So how much time do we have on us?" Viola asked.

"Since we were late, I guess roughly two minutes and still going," Jurn answered her.

"Then how are we supposed to catch up if everyone is already a few steps ahead?" The Bard did not look particularly worried about what Jurn could tell, in fact, she even had a calm air around her which Jurn has never felt before.

"You don't look worried?" Jurn begged to differ.

"Oh I am worried but..." As the Bard replied to him, Sylvia called out from behind as they both turned to them, "Hey guys I found a shortcut!" Sylvia happily announced.

"A shortcut!?" Staring at Sylvia with disbelief, Jurn was stunned to see Sylvia phase through the wall.

Looking at Jurn's surprised expression, Viola finished her sentence, "...I'm not worried about us." She grinned.

[Third Trial]

Standing in the third trial's location, students were faced with a colossus sitting on an equally large chair while a huge dining table sat in front. In this trial, the student is asked by the colossus to choose between two golden chalices, each chalice has different effects.

One of the chalice's effects puts someone into a deep sleep marking them as a failure while the other one teleports the drinker back to the academy. This was supposed to test one's decision making under pressure.

"Wait! Give me more time! I need more time!" A student begged for his dear life while on his knees, sweating buckets as the colossus reached out his gigantic palm and grabbing the student.

"Time is up." It announced in a deep thick voice before gobbling the poor child up. Once done swallowing his meal, the colossus looked at the next person in line, "Choose your cup." It said to them.

"So this is the third trial? I guess the Headmaster went ahead and made it a little more fitting," Mathias Ferny walked up between the chalices and scanned then compared one another while the colossus counted.

7

6

5

4

"Found it," Mathias said while pointing below his feet. The colossus stopped its counting and leaned its head down to look at where the child was pointing. Once it was close enough, Mathias activated his [Nimbus Boots] and stole the necklace around the giant's neck then drank from the real chalice.

"Well done." The colossus praised the boy as Mathias' body was shrouded in light.

[Academy]

Mathias wore a smug grin as he appeared in the courtyard, he found the trials pretty easy and had a good laugh from it. Looking around, he was confident that he finished the trial first but boy was he wrong.

"So ya finished it as well?" The grin on Mathias' face faded and turned into a frown as he stared at a female Beastclaw, Fiona Agarthas regarded the boy with a dull gaze.

"How did you get here?" He asked.

"The same way you did," A voice called out from his other side as Mathias went to face Lily Murk who shared the same dull stare as Fiona.

"Yeah you sure took your time," Fiona said casually.

"What do you mean!? I finished it first!" He declared, unable to believe the fact that he wasn't even close to being fourth.

"Sorry to burst your bubble bud but none of us even got into third place." The Dragoncrown shook her head while shrugging, her nonchalant expression added more to Mathias' frustration.

"Then who did!?" The boy demanded to know.

"Turn around," Fiona told him as the three of them stared at a female Elken wearing a witch hat, walking away into the dorms.

"Apparently she got her first and with a margin of a minute and a half," Lily Murk elaborated with a sigh.

"She doesn't even look strong, I can't believe she got past us without us