Crowds of Initiates were flocking to the stage, blanketed by the shadows of the castle walls surrounding them. The suns were setting behind the rooftops, and what once was a morning field brimming with thousands of aspiring Initiates was now only a handful left in the late afternoon.
Quill pushed through the traffic, following right behind Rognor’s frame. It was a handy thing having a giant by your side in situations like this. They inched closer to the stage before Quill then found his eyes drifting to a far scene through the crowd.
It was the golden elf in the crowd, talking with the curly-haired human from the foodhall before. They seemed like they knew each other, but Quill couldn't tell from the distance. He was about to start heading towards them before a hand then snatched his elbow. It was Rhena.
“Hey.” She said before her eyes then drifted to Rognor and Narrah behind him. “New friends of yours?”
“Acquaintances.” Quill corrected her. “I almost thought you failed the examinations. I haven't seen you in the foodhall.”
“So you were looking for me?” Rhena grinned. “Did you miss me that much?”
“Hardly,” Quill said. “Haref would kill me if something happened to you.”
Rhena nodded to the other two, a gesture of manners, before she then turned to Quill again. “That won't happen. I was bored half to death with the written test, but other than that, it was fine. I was catching up with some friends.”
“Is that so?” Quill sighed. In a way, he was relieved that Rhena was here. It was a familiar face in the crowd of strangers, and her brash personality was better suited to handle the conversations between Rognor and Narrah. Being isolated for centuries really made Quill's social skills plummet.
The crowd then hushed as Kael climbed the stage.
He congratulated the Initiates for passing the tests. The man talked about a lot of sentimental things, but Quill would rather have him get straight to the point. He finally mentioned the final test at the end, and in order to advance as official Initiates of the academy, the crowd was separated between the combat and non-combat mages.
The combat mages were ordered to stay behind at the courtyard, while the non-combatants were guided by academy staves inside the castle by the overseers. Their final test would be held inside the building, while the combat mages’ final test was going to be held right here in the courtyard.
Once the non-combat mages left the area, Kael then announced the rules for the final test.
It was very simple. The test was going to be a mock battle between two combat mages. It was a way to show magic capability, combat ingenuity, and overall prowess in a one-versus-one scenario.
The specific mages that were going to face off one-on-one in the final test were pre-determined by the scores they received from the previous tests. A panel of academy mages will be handling the scoring process of the final test, and a Healer and Arcanist were ordered to stand by to cast supporting spells if ever the need arises.
The first of the mages was called once the field was set, and they stood on opposite sides of the field. The distance was far enough so that melee-oriented mages would need to find and close a gap, but it was close enough to prevent an uneven advantage for long-range mages. The Arcanist weaved Scripts in the air before casting a Protection spell, a common support spell that shielded the target's body from a lethal strike.
The bell then rang. The first fight was underway.
The two mages weaved Scripts in the air before casting their own spells. If Quill was being honest, it was slow and sloppy, almost as if he was looking at children throwing mudballs at each other before the bell then rang a second time. The fight ended when the first mage landed a spell on the other mage, breaking their Protection.
As Kael had mentioned, a loss here did not mean an automatic rejection from the academy. The one-on-one battle was more a way to show off spells and combat tactics as aspiring combat mages. In the case of those two, though, it was more than apparent that they wouldn't be passing this year.
Their fight alone was a suffering Quill couldn't bear to endure any more of.
More and more names were called, and every time, the mock battle always ended with the break of Protection along with a ring of the bell. The suns continued to set behind the roofs of the castle as the crowd of Initiates grew smaller and smaller, and when the shadows were at their longest, the next two mages were called.
“Narrah Vinehare and Rognor the Dog.” The overseer of the mock battle called them both to the field. Both of them had their mouths caught open, unexpected of the match-up pitting them against each other, and Quill was no better.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Quill turned to the two, nodding to them both before they stepped forward to the field. It came as a surprise, of course, but Narrah and Rognor couldn't let that get the better of them. They were mages after all, and they couldn't let the prospect of familiarity get in the way of their goals, especially now when they were so close.
Narrah and Rognor shook hands before starting on opposite sides of the field.
Narrah readied her bow, pulling it from her back before knocking an arrow to the string. She was a Ranger Archetype, a mage that imbued physical projectiles with enchanted effects from her spells. It was going to be interesting to see how she would handle an obvious Tank like Rognor.
Rognor, in turn, swung the giant tower shield behind his back, the thick metal gleaming orange and blue from the sunset. But something was off about it. The thick slab of metal was actually shields, split in half with one for each of his hands. As far as Quill could see, he had no weapon aside from those two shields.
A question then came to his mind the moment Rognor slammed the shields with a Was he planning on winning the fight with that?
The Arcanist cast his Protection, wrapping Rognor and Narrah in a translucent veil before the bell then rang.
The fight then started.
Narrah muttered a Quickscript before letting an arrow loose, zipping through the air with a green streak before Rognor raised a shield. The arrow midair, duplicating into three more projectiles before bouncing off the shield, while the two others slid along the sides.
It was a neat spell, but Narrah needed to be clever with her spell to get around Rognor's defense. She knocked an arrow a second time, but within the time it took for her to ready her bow again, Rognor had already bridged the gap. He roared before dashing and shoving his shield forward, steel slab rearing straight for Narrah before she then muttered another Quickscript.
She dashed and wrapped around Rognor’s behind, maintaining a distance and leaving a green trail behind before she then let another arrow loose, splitting into three projectiles zipping towards Rognor. He was caught off guard, and this time, he couldn't move in time.
And that was when Rognor cast a spell, muttering a Quickscript under his breath.
When the arrows reached his chest, Quill had thought the Protection had broken and signalled the end of the fight, but surprisingly, it was still intact. The arrows only bounced off Rognor’s chest as if his skin was made of solid stone, breaking and splitting to the ground.
Narrah was caught off guard. Rognor regained his stance before starting towards her, and with every step, Narrah in turn sent volleys of arrows his way. But they were useless against the shields, and even when one of the arrows found its way to Rognor's chest, it only bounced off his skin. Rognor was like a walking fortress, a castle impenetrable to arrows.
That was it. Narrah understood it was her limit. Even without the shields on Rognor's arms, her arrows couldn't do anything to break through his spell to crack his veil of Protection. Her mana must be running low, too. Using that many Quickscripts was bound to eat away at her manapool.
Narrah raised her hand, turning to the panel of judges to surrender, before she then dropped to the ground with a sigh.
Rognor had won.
“Well, that was something.” Rhena rested her weight on Quill's shoulder. “What do you think? Will they pass this time?”
Quill stood in silence, his eyes staring at the panel before he eased a smile. “I think so. They're good mages, better than I currently am.”
“Narrah’s a bit too reliant on Quickscripts, though.” Rhena said. “She was practically throwing her spells around, emptying her manapool.”
“She’ll learn.”
Quill turned to Ragnar and Narrah. Quickscripts were a combination of written and spoken Scripts, resulting in a shorthand version of Scripting that allowed faster casting of spells in exchange for twice the normal amount of mana. It was usually used by melee and short-range mages, so it was strange how many times Narrah used it.
In the end, though, it seemed that both of them were able to curry the favor of the panel of judges. Four out of four proctors raised their hands for Rognor, and three out of four raised their hands for Narrah. Two hands were required to pass, and it was safe to say both of them had done so. Rognor and Narrah shared a grin before running back to Quill and Rhena.
“You're one strong giant.” Rhena knocked on Rognor's shields behind him. “This thing is heavy. How are you able to carry this?”
Rognor pumped his chest with a fist. “Thank you. I’ve been working with my brother to hone my Strength Attribute for a few years now.”
“Why the two shields?” Quill said. “Surely it would be better to carry a weapon in your other hand.”
“I… just like shields.”
Quill blinked before he tittered and brushed it off. Rognor was as simple as any man gets, and if he wanted to carry and fight using shields, it wasn't his place to interfere. Just as magic was special to him, a shield was the same to Rognor.
Quill then turned to Narrah standing at the edge, head turned and brooding. She was smiling, but something about it seemed wrong in a way, and it was obvious what she was thinking about. A loss was a loss, and no driven mage would be happy with that. At least she knew where she was lacking.
“You rely too much on Quickscripts.” Quill was straight to the point. “But you were good for an Initiate. It was fun watching you.”
Narrah blinked before she eased a genuine smile. “I’ll take that as consolation, then.”
“Rhena Direthen and Elarah Solheathe.” The overseer announced on the field, calling for Rhena to the field next. Quill humored a cough before Rhena jabbed his shoulder, but the moment she stepped out, no one would’ve expected her opponent to be the golden elf from the other side of the crowd.
A cold sweat dripped down Quill's cheek. Out of all the prospective Initiates in the academy, she was facing off against that pig.
Elarah Solheathe.
So that was her name.
Thanks for reading!
Click the cover to start reading on Royal Road
LAST REALM KEEPER'S GOLDEN AGE PROJECT (LITRPG OP MAGE MC)
FantasySlice of LifeAdventureActionLight Litrpg
Orius Kane already lived his legend.
He reached the apex of magical power, survived his age’s greatest calamities, and retired to the Realm Keepers: a circle of Archmages sworn to keep the world from ending.
What to expect
- OP MC
- MC and Apprentice Pov
- Organisation building
- city building eventually
- Weak to strong side character
- Slice of life moments
- No MC romance
Starring
- Orius Kane - Our Irreverent Realm Keeper
- Emmeline De Valemont - Our suffering guide/apprentice
? Read on Royal Road
? Start at Chapter 1
The golden age of magic may be dead. Orius Kane disagrees. He’s willing to drag it back, kicking and screaming if he has to.