Chương 29: First Stage Fallout

It didn't take long after Ryland joined the others that the first stage finally ended for good. The others had done well to reconstruct the fenced designated area. Its translucent walls quickly solidified into blinding light, the blazing brilliance of it consuming them all. Ryland briefly noted how quite a few of the teams had survived the wintry monster's onslaught. Good for them. Alendra and Kendren were looking relieved, and Sint… Hmm, she wasn't looking very good. Then everything disappeared in whiteness.

The same formal voice that had announced the start of the countdown now spoke again." The first stage of the Entrance Trials within the Trial Zone has now come to an end. To all the teams that have reached and survived within the designated area, congratulations on advancing to the second stage. The second stage is scheduled in two days. Further information about the second stage will be provided shortly." And then Ryland was back in the hall, just outside the dome of Living Mana. Magic was so neat.

They were immediately swamped by the academy officials as soon as they exited.

A couple of them pulled all the candidates away, asking them questions about what happened and going over them to make sure no one had suffered any permanent injuries of any sort, while the rest convened around the dome of swirling colours and brilliant light. The former was normally impossible inside a Reality Demesne, but with the surprising development they had gone through, the officials were just making sure.

Once the immediate concerns about the Living Mana dome had been taken care of, the officials got down to the real business Ryland was interested in. The administrators mostly just wanted to expand on the information given out at the end of the first stage. The second stage was indeed in two days. Just like the first one, they would be told nothing about the specifics of the challenges until the day of the Trials' resumption. At least they were remaining consistent about it.

"As mentioned before," the lead administrator said.

"The second stage of the Entrance Trials will be conducted and overseen by some of the High Academs who have granted us a morsel of their precious time to foster the future of Arcoryx Academy." Ryland once again surveyed the mages who were part of the cream of Arcoryx's crop. He had been about to conclude they formed a varied but impressive lineup all the same, but then he noticed a certain oddness.

While most were busy consulting the officials about the Living Mana dome, some were surreptitiously taking ganders at him. Of course, they couldn't be seen favouring any single student so overtly, no matter how impressive the student was supposed to be. Ryland only ever caught them looking at him through the corner of his eyes. He hid his smile. They weren't nearly as wily as they thought.

"The second stage will consist of three tests in sequence," the lead High Academ said, a golemite man with grey, rocky skin and crystalline eyes. His academy robes had a light coating of dust.

"You must pass all three to pass the second stage. Failure in any one test means disqualification." If that seemed a tad harsh to anyone, no one said so. Arcoryx was well known to be exacting in its testing procedures. They had just received extreme evidence of that, although admittedly, that had been a bit much even for the academy. More importantly, he was curious what these tests were supposed to be.

By the sounds of it, they were going to be a very different set of challenges compared to what they had faced in the first stage Trial Zone. Challenges Ryland hadn't faced before since the Academs were new.

"There isn't much more to say," another Academ said.

"Good luck, candidates. You've done well to come this far. In two days, you will need to dig deep into the soul of your magic." They were, essentially, allowed to go free after that. Interestingly, no one had actually apologized or anything for the Trials. There were complaints, of course. Several of the candidates, especially those who had been eliminated after the insanity with the Glyph of Resonance had started, asked for a retrial. The academy officials declined to answer them one way or another just then.

Ryland was considering telling them exactly what had happened. It was such a simple thing too. But then, they were being ushered out of the trial hall none too gently. Apparently, the officials were cordoning off the Living Mana dome entirely. Ryland was not able to get a word in edgewise, especially after the administrators got rather annoyed with the complaints.

"Please lodge a formal complaint at the administrative office," the official told him in a canned voice when Ryland went up.

"But I wasn't—""Official. Complaint. At. The. Administrative. Office." Ryland sighed.

"Oh, come on." Kendren more or less pulled Ryland away.

"They'll figure it out on their own."

"The only thing they need to figure out is that Ryland was in there…" Alendra muttered. Her words made him look around. Looks. Glances. Whispers. It was clear that, though the true extent of everything that had happened had been obscured by the chaotic storm inside the Trial Zone, rumours were already swirling. Rumours about him. And no doubt, after they had surveyed the evidence, the officials would come to a damning conclusion as well. Hmm. Ryland wondered if Alaric would end up nursing an aneurysm.

Sint came up to Ryland. Therian faces were always a little difficult to read because the physiology of their expressions was never constant. A leonine head like Sint's emoted rather differently from a vulpine one or that of a mustelid's. This was worsened by the fact that whatever Sint felt, it was far too complicated for Ryland to decipher just then. Maybe he ought to cast another [Mindscape].

"Thanks," Sint finally said.

"You're… welcome?" Ryland replied. Her eyes and fangs both flashed.

"I still think you're… horrifying, frankly speaking." She took a few moments before continuing, clearly wondering how best to explain herself.

"Accruing impossible power is like accruing impossible wealth. It's almost impossible to acquire without having committed atrocities along the way. That said, you've helped us a lot, so I'm grateful." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Ryland slowly nodded.

"I believe I understand. And I would be lying if I didn't admit my eyes had been opened in some ways as well. So for that, I thank you in return." He smiled at his other two teammates.

"I thank all of you." Kendren beamed at Ryland.

"We should all gather around for another [Snapshot] before we depart." Ryland caught him flicking glances at Flitchard on the other side of the hall, which he couldn't really blame him for. Kendren had been hit rather hard. Alendra was the last holdout. Ryland arched an eyebrow at her, and Kendren elbowed her rather painfully. She finally took a deep breath before sighing it out.

"Alright, fine. I'm grateful as well. Grateful that we were all able to work together—" She received some more glares. From Kendren and Sint that was. Ryland just had his eyebrows raised." Alright," Alendra hissed.

"I'm grateful… to Ryland specifically… that we won so handily. And for the assistance I received with my fear of heights." Then she crossed her arms and looked away with a harrumph.

"I'm just trying to impress that I'd have made it through the first stage regardless." Kendren beamed at her, and Ryland smiled.

"Since we're all comrades," Kendren said after the formalities were done.

"How about we meet up after we're all official Arcoryx Academy graduate students for a nice meal?" Alendra stared at him.

"Seriously? Is the most apathetic member of our little team trying to corral us into a dinner party?"

"Come on now. I may be apathetic about my entry into Arcoryx, but I'm certainly not apathetic about the lot of you."

"I think I'll pass," Sint said.

"And since we're more or less done with business here, I'll be taking my leave. See you all in two days." True to her words, Sint turned around and walked away. Just like that.

"And there she goes," Alendra muttered.

"Do either of you think she's a weird one?" Kendren and Ryland exchanged glances before staring rather pointedly at Alendra. It took her a second to realize what her other two teammates were doing. She scowled. They parted amicably after that. Ryland wished them good luck on the second stage of the Trials that would happen the day after tomorrow. None of them returned the wish. Apparently, Ryland wasn't someone who needed luck. He supposed he could agree with that sentiment.

As Ryland left the hall, he felt magical senses creeping up on him. Sneaky. Having suppressed the majority of his Inscriptions, he was a smidge more vulnerable to such magical questing. But certainly nowhere near enough for anyone or anything at the academy to actually glean anything substantial from him. The ones that got closest simply recoiled before they could discover anything about him at all. And the few that forced through anyway… they got shattered. Ryland didn't look around.

Most of those who had sent in those questing tendrils of magic wouldn't dare actually admit they had done so. They'd be looking away, pretending they had done nothing of the sort, refusing to acknowledge their unsubtle attempts to satiate their curiosity. In other words, this wasn't the Academs trying something. This was his fellow students' work. Ryland put it out of his mind as a familiar excited voice called.

"Sir!" He turned with a smile.

"Viren. You…" His eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight of the boy rushing at him.

"You're looking rather…"

"Wealthy?" the boy prompted with the widest grin Ryland had ever seen on his face. Tallow poked its head out of the far more expensive—and oversized against his comparatively smaller body—coat than he normally wore. The kitten meowed in greeting. Ryland eyed the heavy necklace dangling from Viren's neck and rings flashing on his fingers.

"And here I thought I was the real victor here." Viren laughed.

"You are, sir. You are! I'm just rich now, and it's all thanks to you."

"You are relieved of your duties," Alaric said.

"Kleador." Young Lord Kleador, one of the graduate student leaders of the Excursion Club, was looking aghast.

"Surely Headmaster, you cannot simply hand out such a sentence. I've barely gotten the chance to submit my defence."

"What is there to prove? That you have credible excuses for why you left behind one of the academy students?"

"I—""I am a rather busy man, Lord Kleador. Please excuse me if I don't have time for excuses. As you can see, I haven't banned you from the Excursion Club or anything. I simply believe there needs to be a change in leadership." The lordling's face was unreadably cold. Of course he wasn't going to take it well. Alaric had known it. But it was the curse of his position to be the judge, jury, and executioner of decisions such as these. Kleador finally sighed.

"Is this a permanent ban or…?" Alaric pursed his lips. The sheer shamelessness boggled his mind.

"You are lucky you don't have a permanent black mark on the rest of your academic record, Kleador."

"And all for the simple mistake of leaving behind one student? I checked up on him, you know. He seemed to have returned just fine. It wasn't like I abandoned him in the middle of a high Tier dungeon or something." Alaric stared at the youth. He was having a little trouble deciding if he was just that stupidly ignorant or if he thought Alaric was that stupidly ignorant enough for him to get away with that statement.

"Said student was in a Gold-ranked dungeon," Alaric said. The lordling's mouth fell open.

"Impossible. I know he's here in the academy, safe and without a scratch!" Alaric sighed again, trying not to rub his eyes.

"Please leave before I am forced to expel you from the club entirely." Kleador looked like he wanted to argue, but Alaric looked up. Whatever he saw in the Headmaster's eyes was enough to make him decide that his presence was starting to grate. He performed the most perfunctory of bows before making his exit. Alaric sighed. That was one terrible business down. About a thousand more to go. Secretary Lahm came in after a while.

"I have the reports you requested, Headmaster." Alaric was signing off on some of the fund allocation for the new semester. He really needed to see what was up with the Department of Spirituality. This was the third time they were seeking a budget increase in the span of one year.

"And you have the summaries too, right?"

"I do, Headmaster." Lahm cleared his throat.

"To start off with, Nailined Dungeon near Sunstile has indeed collapsed, just as Ryland stated. We sent a small inquiry and the locals have confirmed that the dungeon is no more. It's been eradicated entirely. Secondly, the number of observers for the Entrance Trials numbers in the scores, if we're counting merely nobility."

"And if we aren't?" Lahm gave the Headmaster an apologetic look. Alaric sighed.

"I already have my hands full dealing with the faculty who had nothing better to do than staring at the Trials," Alaric said.

"The number of questions I've gotten after someone leaked that I was the one responsible for Ryland's entry has gotten terribly out of hand." Lahm slowly retreated while respectfully facing his superior.

"What a regrettable state of affairs, sir…"" Indeed. It hasn't even been a day since the Trials ended, and they're already surmising it was foreign magic interfering with the Living Mana and the spell circle they Inscribed within the Reality Demesne. Foreign magic via the foreign mage I apparently thrust into the Entrance Trials in an unnatural manner." Lahm appeared slightly stricken, now half a dozen handspans further back.

"What an uncouth way of phrasing things…"

"I've already told High Academ Tyra that Ryland is not a plant from the Royal Court, and I've had to reassure the Department of Battle Arts that I'm not trying to recruit a living weapon. And that's just the faculty. Did you know the High Warden sent me yet another insane message from the Oracle about a Calamity being afoot in the academy?" Lahm laughed very, very nervously where he stood near the door.

"I believe, sir, that it's almost time for our lunch break." Alaric sighed so hard that his beard rustled.

"You are right. I need to calm myself. And hope that we see no actual issues." He got up and stretched his old bones.

"Because if we do, I don't want to think of what happens next."