Entrance Exam

They were led into the arena deeper inside the Academy, humming faintly with magick.

Why did Haruki know that word? But he doesn’t. Will he?

This place wasn’t just a stadium, however. It was a coliseum built for trials, a place steeped in centuries of bare footsteps from the men of old. Towering stone walls rose high around a circular pit, carved with runes that shimmered faintly like veins of molten gold. Seats for spectators and officials spiraled upward in rings, but this was no ordinary viewing gallery; glowing crystal orbs floated over the stands, refracting light into sharp beams that swept over the battlefield like searching eyes.

At the heart of the pit, the floor was flat and bare… at first. Then, with a deep, grinding roar, the arena began to shift. Plates of stone rumbled and groaned as they slid apart, like a living creature stretching after a long slumber. From beneath, titanic slabs of rock surged upward, twisting and turning until they formed towering maze-like corridors.

Spires of stone pierced the sky, archways curled overhead, and narrow paths branched into shadows. In seconds, the once-empty arena floor had transformed into a labyrinth of polished black stone, each surface etched with glowing sigils that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Up in the Overseers’ balcony, where many of the Elders were off tending to other matters, Elder Oric sat back on his tiny chair that was barely able to hold his massive weight, with each moment putting more strain on the steel as he was chowing down on what looked like crispy chicken feet, bones and all.

“They’ve grown more ambitious with the maze design this year,” he muttered, his voice gravelly with age, yet still jolly and enjoying.

Deacon Loto approached him, with hands folded neatly behind his back.

“We’ve told everybody to ‘keep it challenging’ and all.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“You know,” Oric cleared his throat, “do you think we made the correct decision?”

“About what, sir?”

“That Haruki young man. Quite frankly I still don’t know what to think of him. The Rite was clear. But…”

Loto nodded his head.

“You’re worried that he is too weak, Elder?”

“I suppose… whatever worry I have won’t be important until the written exam. Laymen who can fight – those are numerous and common. All intellectuals will eventually learn to fight, however. I’ll be willing to wait for strength to grow. He would not be the first in this regard.”

Back in the arena, a horn blew into the sky once – a low, mournful note that reverberated through the arena like a warning bell. Students in their black robes filed into the labyrinth’s entry gates, each gate closing behind them with a heavy clang.

Haruki found himself in a narrow hallway of obsidian stone, the faint glow of runes casting eerie light over his face. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

From above, jagged rifts tore open in the air, glowing red-orange like molten lava. Clawed hands and glowing eyes peered through as the first wave of elemental monsters slipped into the world. Fire elementals, with their bodies flickering like bonfires given shape, flapped their wings down from the rifts in long streaks of flame.

Cracks of lightning followed shortly after, heralding these sleek, serpentine creatures made of pure stormlight. Water elementals came next, oozing from glowing portals like living waves, slithering down the walls to block narrow corridors. Mere moments after that, their shell armors materialized out of thin air, and in their hands they wielded crystal constructs made out of roaring steam.

In the Overseers’ balcony, Loto’s voice cut through the chaos. Amplified by magick, it echoed across the entire arena.

“Candidates! This is your first trial. Close the rifts. Defeat the elementals. Show us your worth!”

The monsters were approaching, one by one, their shadows looming over Haruki. Closer and closer now. With every heat and ice filling the crackling air.

His breath came in shallow, rapid bursts, each echo of his heartbeat pounding against his ears. Until it all came to a breaking point:

This moment – when Haruki shouted at the top of his lungs, rushing in the opposite direction.

Haruki stumbled into the twisting corridors of the maze, the black stone walls rising like cliffs on either side. Then continuing on, he darted down a narrow passageway, narrowly avoiding a burst of flame that licked the ceiling and sent sparks scattering across the polished stone.

“Why am I here?” he muttered under his breath, skidding around a corner to avoid a shard of lightning that shot from a crack in the wall. “This… this is insane!” His legs pumped faster, carrying him over uneven surfaces, dodging debris, and skirting around rifts that glowed with molten light. Every instinct screamed for him to run, to escape, to find a wall and hide behind it.

At one particularly tight turn, he stumbled into a hallway too narrow to maneuver, the walls pressing in, when he froze as a fire elemental surged toward him.

And here – the flapping of the creature’s wings was the only thing ringing in his mind. This alarm bell banging against the inside of his skull, over and over again.

Overpowered. Completely, utterly, impossibly outmatched.