Both fighters, Cyrus and Imran, can be seen sitting on the floor of the arena. In front of them lay a scene of utter horror and despair for the lesser minded. Imran purposefully turns himself to face the other direction of all the chopped limbs and spilled entrails whilst Cyrus merely reviews all that he has learned from today's fights. Waking both from their reverie however was the Legionnaire clapping, slow but powerful.
"It is not often the southern region has people who can fight like you can at this early an age. Especially in the same exact batch as one another. So, will you continue?" asked the Legionnaire amidst his praise.
Imran and Cyrus both looked at one another, both taking note of the others physical and mental exhaustion, before turning to the Legionnaire while saying
"Not a chance."
Although Cyrus had his usual cold and emotionless face on and looked as fine as always, if one looked closely they would see the obvious signs of extreme fatigue on him. Considering the amount of strain he put himself through mere moments before, it was a wonder as to how he was still lucid. As for Imran, while his physical exhaustion was not too steep, he was still completely mentally washed out. Having born witness firsthand to such a hellish series of tests, of where he killed for the first time, and that is not even mentioning bearing witness to fellow humans being absolutely massacred by a bunch of undead monstrosities. The two had enough for one day, both currently lacking the strength to even truss a chicken.
"Good, knowing when to quit is also a valuable skill. The Empire will not invest in suicidal fools, no matter how competent they are." He then snapped his fingers and out from the still raised portcullis came a group of people wearing white clothing, with Cilla at the head. They brought along with them two stretchers, quickly and quietly loading the two onto them with practiced ease. The two were then carried all the way through the original tunnel they came in, except this time taking a different turn until they reached an enclosed room. In the room was a table surrounded by many scrolls, papers, and old bound books either on the table itself or on the wall behind in various mismatched bookshelves. There was also a row of beds on the opposite wall of where the table was, with curtains in between each of them for privacy. The rather cold and dark room, on account of it being underground, was lit by a constant massive fireplace that was on the last available wall. Curiously, although it looked like a fireplace and there was indeed light emanating from it… there was no fire but only light and warmth.
The dead tired duo, who could not even be bothered to voice out a complaint or comment on their sudden journey, were placed onto two beds where Cilla began to examine them with a simple diagnostic spell of the Vita domain. As she was looking for more complicated injuries, she healed the obvious ones such as the lip that Cyrus had bit through when he was attempting to dual cast. As she was doing so a low rumbling voice sounded out from behind the mess that was on the table in the room.
"Oh, they didn't die. How unusual an event but a welcome one at that. You will not believe how much trash there is in this region. Bit of peace for a few years and everything just goes to the sewers huh." said a voice that could only belong to Caligo. With the last word spoken, Caligo stood up and revealed himself to those in the room. As he glided from the table to where Cyrus and Imran were being healed, he passed the fireplace which fully revealed his visage. Lean and tall with pale white skin and silver-gray hair, contrasting with his pitch-black robe he looked almost like something from another realm. Driving this fanciful idea home was his eyes, which were silver in color and completely unfocused.
"Come on Caligo, you can't blame the region for its peace. If the Empire allowed its most important region to be a warzone, where would they get its food from then? While every major region is required to be as self-sufficient as possible, we all know the reality of things" retorted Cilla, who had just finished healing the two and was in the middle of producing jugs of water from her own storage equipment.
"Can't argue with that. I just cannot get over how dull it is here… I miss the screams and chaos of the battlefield. Ah, so much source material to work with over there." Bemoaned Caligo, as if his favorite toy were taken away.
"Just think of it as a vacation for the two of us. Besides, we have only been here since the exams started a month ago while you are acting as if it's been years" admonished Cilla with a huff.
"All right all right, I am just grumbling as usual leave me alone" huffed Caligo, oddly tame suddenly.
In response Cilla merely smiled in victory, as she was loading various fruits onto a platter for the two patients to consume. Turning towards the ignored duo she said,
"You two are both quite exhausted after your last test, drink plenty of water and eat your fill. Even though I healed you fully I cannot replace food and drink with my magic, all it does is heal damages not replace the benefit of food and drink."
To which the two merely nodded and began to gorge themselves, already being somewhat hungry beforehand the healing magic only made this feel much worse.
"So how far did they get?" asked Caligo as he watched the two drown themselves in food and drink, somewhat disgusted.
"They made it pass the impossible stage then admitted defeat, quite surprising really" stated Cilla plainly.
"Oh passed the impossible stage, yes, nothing out of the ordinary there. Not like the word impossible means anything" spat Caligo in response. "You two have done something quite interesting to say the least. For reference, we are a month into the exams and only two other groups have completed the same stage you have. Even more interesting is that they each did it with at least three members while you did it with just the two of you." His unfocused eyes looked towards the two, slightly glowing as they did so.
"Nothing too out of the ordinary in terms of your total will reserves… Aero and Terra, standard but powerful. Mors and Vita, well, that is a redundant combination but its apparently working for you. Now how did you two manage to complete those tasks…" mumbled Caligo, as he was seemingly seeing through all that the duo had.
Cyrus was somewhat unsettled at this, as it appeared Caligo had the ability to see far more than one could normally with their sense.
"His eyes do not seem capable of normal sight, does this mean he sacrificed his eyesight for an even more powerful magical sense?" Wondered Cyrus, although he was somewhat cautious as he was in possession of what he assumed was some rather unusual equipment.
As he had feared, Caligo began inspecting their equipment next while Cilla merely watched, perhaps curious as well. First he examined Imran's gloves,
"Hoh, must have spent a bit of gold on this one. Dual runes of focus on each, allowing for greater control over spells."
He then walked over to Cyrus' sword and unsheathed it for a moment, before startling and immediately sheathing it once more.
"Holy hell" cursed Caligo as he rubbed his eyes. "So bloody bright, the hell is that sword… what was your name, ah whatever. You there, that sword is quite a good one. Bit too good in fact, I would highly suggest you not wave it about unsheathed like a madman unless necessary. While only a few special people like me can see the runes in their totality when they are inactive, you can never be too careful" warned Caligo as he walked back over to his table.
"Decent foundation, exceptional equipment and the wits to go with it seeing as they survived that mess. Looks like we found another two decent ones, yay" said Caligo, not quite sounding as happy as his words.
Cilla picked up there cheerily saying, "A happy occasion it is, but for now let me welcome you two to Glacies Academy. We will personally take care of your enrollment so just focus on resting up before returning. I will be looking forward to your future growth" she paused for a moment before whispering to the two, "Caligo as well, although he has trouble showing it."
"I heard that, I am blind not deaf" said Caligo with an icy tone from behind the mess covering his figure.
Cilla laughed to herself in response, completely brushing off the comment, as she closed the curtains around the tired duo before making her way towards a chair near Caligo and sitting down without a care.
Cyrus, however, merely took in this outside information from his senses before promptly ignoring it; rather, he was much more preoccupied going over all the possible implications of his actions, his mistakes made, and the unexpected success of his theory on the undead.