The academy entrance examination was today.

  Quill was inside the training hall, staring one final time at his Marble Puppets. He had been experimenting and refining their basic movements and reflexes while also adjusting their balance. He had changed almost every single Script and decreased the overall rate of mana consumption, but in the end, he could only do so much with an Iron Core.

  Having to provide mana for just two Puppets was a strain on Quill's mana pool. Even when Pen and Notebook were in their idle state, they already consumed drops of mana. Just the thought of walking them to the academy grounds alone was enough to send shivers down his spine.

  He wouldn't even pass the halfway mark before succumbing to Mana Fatigue.

  Quill sighed before he stood up, resting his hand over the two Marble Puppets. There was no way he could provide the bare amount of mana needed to transport them over to the academy, and so the next best thing that came to mind was to Recycle their mana.

  He brushed his fingers over the Marble Armor of the Puppets. They were warm and solid before he then commanded the mana back to him. At once, the Marble Puppets stirred and liquified around his palm, turning into a slush of white before seeping into his skin. He absorbed the mana he used for Puppet construction back into his Core.

  Quill sighed. As he was now, he could only summon and resummon his Puppets right on the spot. Back then, he could transport entire skeleton armies with nothing but the Emerald Core inside his phylanctery, but with his Core right now, he was nowhere capable of doing that.

  In the end, he compromised by learning the Simple Spell Recycle. It wasn't much use to a mage whose magic was one-time effects, spells that didn't have shape or solid form, but it was helpful for a summoner like him, especially when he needed so much mana so early on. Thankfully, he remembered this same thing from when he was reading about Golemancers.

  ‘

  Simple Spell

  Description

  ’

  Quill closed the Register before a knock resounded on the door.

  “They’re waiting for you.” Rhena was there, leaning against the doorframe. She was wearing her usual leather gear with the daggers by her waist, having a scarf wrapped around her neck. She seemed to have grown the habit of creeping up on him whenever the chance presented itself.

  “Can you not do that?” Quill sighed before turning, following right behind her. She turned and led him through the hall and lounge before descending the stairs.

  Quill turned his eyes. He stared at the door of his room, remembering the nights he was cooking spells on the bed. He then turned to the lounge where piles of books were still stacked on top of each other, and he could only think how much trouble it would be for Haref to clean up after him when he'd be gone now.

  It was strange saying goodbye to a building. It was the same for their old home in Gren, shabby as it was. For most of Quill’s past, he’d been stuck under the same basement of a broken house, but now it seemed like he was moving places every few weeks.

  Quill paced through the main hall before arriving at the entrance. Yereth and Haref were waiting there, almost as if there was a precession going on that he wasn't made aware of. He roped the bag behind him, opening it to see a fresh set of clothes along with bare essentials. He fished out a robe before wrapping it around him, pulling the hood low over his face.

  “We’re going now.” Quill turned to Yereth, her face dragged by a frown before she gave him a warm hug. It was a strange feeling, having your body in the embrace of someone else with no sense of malice.

  “You’ve grown so much, Fenith.” Yereth sniffled on his chest. She was like a small dog buttering up her owner, but Quill could only look forward and turn to Haref.

  “Take care of my sister.”

  “Young mage, this house is only a couple of blocks away from Gilhem Academy.” Haref brushed at his beard, almost as if teasing him before his eyes then narrowed to a serious shape. “Don’t disappoint me. Both of you. Not for myself, but for your own. Your very lives depend on it.”

  “Of course we won't, old man.” A smile lingered on Rhena's face before patting Quill's shoulder. She was either too arrogant or too confident for her own good, and Quill didn't know which was worse. After all, he thought the same thing, too.

  There was no way he would fail such a basic examination.

  That was a silent declaration. Quill wasn't just going to pass the entrance exams of the academy, but he was going to try to reach for the highest metric and rank amongst the Initiates. A mage of his caliber could ask for nothing less than the bare minimum, and the dark elf beside him seemed to mirror that drive.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Quill then started, pulling the hood low over his face before waving Yereth and Haref goodbye from the garden. They pushed through the path before opening the gates, and soon enough, they blended with the passing crowd on the streets.

  It was a bustling day in the magic district of Fen. Stalls and vendors were shouting on both sides of the road, whistling and calling for anyone to come take a look at their stock of magic items. Of course, all of them were nothing but fake and cheap knock-offs. After all, only the Forgemasters and a few other dwarven companies had the skill and knowledge to create real magic items–

  A dwarven stall passed him by. There was one stand that stood out, the vendor's beard too thick and too glorious for him to ignore. Hanging on his stand was an assortment of pendants and bracelets, and one quick look at them was enough for Quill to start gravitating towards the stall.

  Quill produced an amulet from the rest of the display. It was a basic Binding item from the looks of it, one that seemed to house a modified Core right at the center, hung up on leather strings.

  “You got good eyes, lad.” The dwarf huffed over the counter. “That there is one of my finest works, a Bluefae Amulet. You can feed it a small amount of mana for extra storage, and it will surely help you in a pickle if you happen to catch Mana Fatigue.”

  “I’ll take it,” Quill said, and Rhena sighed behind him. “How much?”

  “Two golds.” The dwarf said.

  Quill pulled out his Holder before counting the total of coins he had inside. Adding the pieces that Haref gave him, it all amounted to five gold and twenty silvers in total, just enough to buy the amulet.

  He left the stall with a wide grin, wrapping the Bluefae Amulet around his neck before he immediately poured a portion of mana into it. This would greatly help him down the line, especially with how many times he had suffered from a low manapool.

  “You should be more mindful of how you spend your money.” Rhena walked beside him as they continued down the street.

  “Keep your thoughts to yourself,” Quill said. “This is a great investment.”

  Quill’s eyes then drifted to the crowd. He hadn't made it obvious, but he was actively scanning the crowd for any signs of the City Watch. He’d doubted the effectiveness of the Meldhide Cloak that Haref gave him, but it seemed to do wonders in helping him blend in seamlessly with the crowd.

  Now that Quill took a good, long look around, there were many people here hailing from varying regions of Westlands. He passed by wood elves laughing on the edge of the road, their branching horns standing out from the rest of the high elves. There was even a giant towering above the rest, a nine-foot monster of a man brimming with large muscles and blue skin, commanding nothing but attention as he passed by.

  All around, wagons and carriages from different factions passed them by. The noble elf families from the other cities of the empire were flooding into Fen with their grand beasts, while there were humans who preferred horses to draw their carts. The dwarves used Bullhorns.

  All manner of races from all over the Westlands continent had gathered just to partake in Gilhem Academy’s entrance examinations. Quill knew academies were goldmines for Initiate mages, but he hadn't expected the amount of turnout here in Fen. Even the crowd was mostly composed of just Initiates numbering in the thousands.

  “Is it always this crowded every time?” Quill whispered to Rhena. She turned and gave him a confused expression.

  “Shouldn't you know this?” Rhena pulled her head before they passed a guard. “It’s always like this every year, for better or for worse. After all, Gilhem is one of the most prestigious schools in the West.”

  Quill then noted the disgusted looks of the high elves. They didn't generally tolerate other races, more so non-elves than their own, so it would seem that the academy had a stronger hold in this city than he realized before, being able to overpower the amount of prejudice.

  Quill never understood that part. It was one thing for an elven city to have an academy in the first place given their past with the Circle, but it was another thing entirely for an elven city to allow free passage to just about every known race in Westlands. Usually, they only dealt with humans, and even then, conflict was common.

  Quill passed another guard patrolling the streets. He had only noticed now, but inside alleyways and perched on rooftops were City Watch guards. Of course, this number of foreigners in Fen was bound to call the attention of the city council, but it was fine as long as he kept his profile low and hid behind the magic of the Meldhide.

  After all, the City Watch had mixed descriptions of Fenith Cranfether.

  Over the past few weeks, Haref had been pulling strings and feeding false information to the City Watch. With his wealth and political power, he was able to dig deep into records, paying desperate witnesses to make up false statements while also jeopardizing existing documents in others. That alone should’ve been enough to warrant Quill's safety, but he was still on edge.

  That was because of the golden elf–the fire mage he’d fought before. Even the City Watch would hold the words of a noble more important than any common witness, but if that was the case, and if she really did end up surviving, then why was the City Watch still at a standstill looking for him?

  The only reason would be that the golden elf didn't say anything or report anything to the City Watch.

  Quill shook his head. There was no use thinking about it now. The City Watch weren’t so stupid as to let a trail like this grow cold for long, but their slow start would prove useless by the end of the day once Quill became an academy Initiate.

  “Stop spacing out.” Rhena elbowed his side before she stopped right in front of him. “We're here.”

  Rising from the far side of the road was a wall of Marblestone reaching tens of meters high into the air. Towers jutted from above, spaced at even intervals with spires hoisting the flag of Gilhem. It reminded him of the wall separating Fen and Gren, adorned with a water canal on the bottom to feed the maple and oaks at the front.

  The difference here was the stationed guards. Men in uniforms manned the top of the gate and walls, allowing entry into the academy grounds. Instead of the usual City Watch and their armor, there were now Circle guards dressed in formal attire with the Circle's symbol.

  Quill humored himself before passing through the gates.

  The next step forward was clear.

  Thanks for reading!

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