"Quintis, what could you possibly need."
Quintis' face twitched, his jaw growing sharper as he grit his teeth under a tight lipped smile, the veins on his forehead inflating slightly in a very characteristic manner.
"Instructor Auria," He forced out, "allow me to get straight to the point, you seem to have missed an applicant to the warrior course, he has been sitting all by himself in one of the waiting rooms for god knows how long."
"Actuall-"
I attempted to enter the conversation, but was immediately cut off by an irritated Auria.
"Quintis, I know you believe the warrior course and its staff to be intellectually inept, but I'm not that stupid, if you want to slander our capabilities than please try to do so in a less pathetic manner."
"HAHHH?? This kid said himself he was brought there by someone who looked like a soldier, and just stayed their waiting up until I found him during a regular check."
The young woman deigned to face me for the first time, her expression soaked in skepticism.
"Hey, kid, if this old man put you up to this you don't need to worry, just tell me. I won't let him cause you any repercussions okay? So just tell the truth and I'll take care of this idiot for you."
"OIIII!? OLD? I'm twenty eight you know that right TWENTY-EIGHT!!"
"And? You basically hold an equivalent position as mine in the spellcaster's course administration, and I'm..." She paused, having to think for a brief moment, "Barely twenty-one."
"are you KIDDING ME? You're seriously going to compare t-"
"Shut up. You want to deal with the kid right? Fine, just please spare me, I think my eardrums might get infected if this continues."
Quintis, virtually seething at this point, heaved a sigh to calm himself.
"Right, of course, you know what? I don't even care, you can figure it out yourself then."
As Quintis promptly turned and walked off, Auria merely watched, a hint of shock evident in her countenance.
"So... I guess he really wasn't trying something, wait, no... maybe-"
"..."
The woman called Auria took some time to look me over, hoping to find something to confirm whatever suspicions she had. In the end however, she could only give up.
"I guess there really was a mix up. How about it kid, did he speak the truth?"
"Uhm, yes, but if I'm being honest..."
For a brief moment I considered explaining my current confusion, but I changed my mind, I did not have any understanding of the situation, and I would not give up any information that could backfire until I felt otherwise.
"No, nevermind, can I finally take my entrance exam now? I'm actually starting to get kind of hungry. Oh yeah, and my name is Lucius."
"Right, well Lucius I guess I'm going to have to privately proctor this evaluation, so consider yourself lucky."
Auria seemed mildly entertained as she slinked past me into the hall, deftly pulling the door shut behind her.
"Follow me."
And off we went, down the spiral staircase, past the courtyard, and through quite a few different areas. Everything I saw had the same vibe of classical architecture, but each area also managed to be slightly unique. Everything from colorful murals and impeccably carved statues to flush benches and uncorded lamps that somehow released light could be found around wherever this place was. Just from what I had witnessed, it was truly a vast and diverse place, both in scale and aesthetics.
After a long trek, enough so that my legs mildly burned from exertion, Auria led me through a door that opened up into a meters wide platform that overlooked yet another courtyard, this one circular, a multitude of benches lined the space all the way around. Balustrad railings of dark oak lined the entire balcony, two lowkey staircase providing access to the space below.
The enclosed courtyard, on second examination, was clearly designed to serve an arena like function, as the floor below was one of dirt, no rocks or otherwise dysfunctional obstructions were apparent.
Auria had pulled out a medallion with fascinating inscriptions, accessing an otherwise hidden door off to the side, while I was examining the place.
Moments later, she exited with two armfuls full of equipment, which she brashly chucked over the edge of the Balustrad, loud clanging and crashing sounds ringing out shortly after.
I had to wonder if it was really okay to treat the academy's property so harshly.
"What are you staring off for, get your ass down here," Auria called from the edge of the stairs, not bothering to wait for me to catch up as she descended out of sight.
Down on the ground, I continued surveying, getting a better feel for how large it was.
The grounds itself spanned an approximate fifty meters in diameter, the center of the circular space was marked only by a small rounded mound of compacted earth fifty centimeters across and five centimeters high.
"Okay, let's get started, to start let's just have you pick whatever weapon you're most comfortable with. I don't really care for how the standard mandates things, It takes forever and I can just feel you out myself anyways. Go ahead."
My eyes flashed to the scattered pile of equipment, now covered in a layer of dirt.
I confidently strode up to a wooden bokken, the only item that I knew how to hold correctly purely from how often I had witnessed it in 'media'.
Taking up a neutral stance, I held the sword parallel to my body, straight out in front of myself, my dominant right hand above my left.
Auria, the combat instructor, now stood casually, a ghost of a smirk gracing her unmarred ethereal complexion. In that moment, despite her casual stance, she emitted the hair raising air of a deadly capable fighter.
"Come at me, no actives, I want to see your fundamentals in at max effort, I'll be your foil so don't worry about anything."
While another might currently be feeling aggrieved by how she could so brazenly ask a kid to just 'act natural' under that pressure, Lucius' fickle mind was entirely elsewhere.
'Actives? What does she mean by that?'
"What are you waiting for? You better not be activating a skill-"
Auria's snippy inquisition promptly stopped, and Lucius immediately felt that something was very, very wrong.
Out of nowhere, my blood froze, everything around me rapidly began to slow, the confident instructors voice slowing down to a hundredth the speed in a matter of a single second, before stopping entirely.
I felt thick viscous poison flow through my brain, invoking a primal terror as every pore on my skin felt as though sweat was pouring from it.
Unable to move, I felt a wave of insanity as some alien sense told me that the space around me was unstable, a treacherous presence invaded my perception. As time slowed to an absurd and incomprehensible degree, I was treated to the sight of countless divine particles rapidly appearing and vanishing.
A qualitative change occurred with a pervading existential click, the sight of the training grounds disintegrating as though it were nothing at all.
I was now suspended in a void of black, a constellation of those particles, affected even in their mysterious divinity by the flow of time, now also stood still in the barren realm.
That click, which I could only rationalize through the concept of sound, marked my being free to flail about.
My lungs screamed in agony, everything about me being here was false, it hurt, I was dying.
I repeatedly retched, however nothing actually came up, and the dreadful sensation of demise only grew.
I didn't waste any time, there was only one way out, those orbs of power. I knew that, and I didn't question why.
I poured every ounce of will and effort I had into propelling myself towards the closest entity. It was a strange thought, but that was the impression they gave me.
Luckily my efforts actually worked once I moved with a purpose, and I managed to reach it in a few excruciating seconds.
As my hands moved to clamp down on it, I viewed the orb with renewed clarity. It appeared to ripple and fluctuate, a veritable supernova of otherworldly energy despite it's palm fitting size.
All of my panic, pain, and negative feelings flooded out of my body like a breath of delectable fresh morning air washing away a long night of congestion in but a moment.
As my hands clapped together around my saving grace, reality snapped back together around me without so much as a iota of buildup.
"-this is an excercise meant to test your basic capabilities, you can show me your prized 'ultimate move' later on, Dehana knows all you kids these days have one."
I barely listened, only vaguely making the connection that her words were the continuation of where she was stopped beforehand.
'That was, concerning. And this, it's that thing isn't it?'
I examined the semi-transparent panel transfixed upon the center of my vision, perfectly brining to mind but one thought.
I felt joy, unable to help but smile unrestrictedly.
'A GUI panel straight out of a game, I like where this is going.'