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The signal for the first-year exams to begin resounded. All the first-years were gathered in the garden for their exam. Professor Speranza, head teacher of the first-years, stood before them and looked over their tense faces.
“You will now be challenging a dungeon with magibeasts,” she announced. The students listened—though they had been informed ahead of time—while clumped up in groups. “The dungeon has only grade one magibeasts. You will earn one to five points for each magibeast you slay, depending on its strength. Professors will be observing the inside of the dungeon through miracles, and so there will be no need for you to report anything.”
I felt a gaze on us mid-explanation. It was Quinza’s group. They were whispering among themselves and glancing Stella’s way. It felt nasty.
“Furthermore, we will award points based on the order in which you clear the dungeon. First place will earn twenty points, second fifteen, third ten, and any subsequent students will each earn five points. You will need to earn a total of fifty points to graduate; anything less and you will fail.”
In short, the faster you were, the better your chances would be. Those in the front would have more magibeasts to defeat, and they’d be rewarded for reaching the end first.
With her explanation concluded, Professor Speranza turned, and the professors stationed in the corners of the garden began chanting. A rumbling resounded almost at once. The earth of the garden rose up, forming the shape of a square building. It was like the entry to an ancient ruin that had been hidden underground.
The dungeon opened its mouth as if it were a gate to hell. And with that gate behind her, Professor Speranza lifted her staff. “The first-year practical exam shall now begin. Ignaria Sein!”
Fireworks shot out of her staff. All the students—except Quinza—instantly began casting Wind miracles.
“Ignaria Sein!” Several fireballs in the sky appeared and rained down on Stella.
“Eeek eek!”
Stella interrupted her chanting to dodge the fireballs.
“Iron wall! Terararia Sein!” Iron walls popped up and blocked the fireballs, which exploded and dispersed into the air.
Stella sighed in relief, but by that time, the other students had all gotten a head start and raced to the dungeon. Quinza turned and held a seemingly newly made fan to her mouth. “Ooooho ho ho! Today shall be the day you learn your place. If luck favors you, perhaps there will be one or two magibeasts left for you to defeat!”
Her high-pitched laughter grew distant as she plunged into the dungeon. Feena shrank. Stella gritted her teeth, then immediately pleaded with Professor Speranza. “You saw that, right?! She attacked me! I request we start the exam over!”
“Denied,” Professor Speranza replied without even a flicker of her expression. “Obstructing others is not against the rules in this exam. It is modeled after real conflict; no matter what may happen, it is part of the exam.”
Every syllable she spoke was cold as ice. She stared down at Stella with an intense gaze. “Do you have the time to waste standing here?”
Stella groaned and turned back around. “Let’s go, Feena. We won’t let Quinza get away with this! Winaria Sein!”
“Right. O Spirits of Wind, grant me wings in the name of the Goddess supreme... Winaria Sein!”
Spirits of Wind, take Stella and Feena into the dungeon, fast!
The two of them, now on their brooms, rode the wind into the dungeon.
“Getting held back at the start hurts... Might be best to give up on those twenty points. Which means we’ll need to hunt more magibeasts,” Stella said, muttering to herself while sitting on me such that both legs hung over one side.
Feena lined up next to Stella and smiled. “Relax, Stella. We did more than enough practice for today.”
“True. The battle’s not over yet.”
The pitch-black dungeon lacked a single source of light. Neither Stella nor Feena panicked—instead, they formed orbs of light and used them like lamps.
They advanced down the hall together. Suddenly, Stella screamed, “OW! Something just poked my foot... Can’t see. Luxsaria Sein!”
Spirits of Light, brighten this place up!
Several orbs of light formed in the air. Apparently, we had entered a broad room at some point. Sharp conifer trees were lined up and growing on either side of the path, their thorny branches wriggling like gross tentacles.
“Eek! So many magibeasts...!”
“No, this is good! It’s our chance!” Stella cried. Unlike Feena, she was determined. “O Spirits of Fire, grant me blazes to burn mine enemies away. Ignaria Sein!”
Stella chanted while I visualized big balls of fire. A good number of them formed in the air, only for water to spray out from the tops of the trees, extinguishing the fireballs.
“Hey! Shooting out water is no fair!” Stella cried.
“Stella! Look out!”
Needlelike leaves shot straight toward Stella. I blasted us up close to the ceiling to dodge, but more and more leaves were launched at us.
“These guys are persistent...!”
“Iron wall! Terararia Sein!”
Iron walls formed like shields; the leaves thunked against it one after another.
“Feena, thanks for the assist,” Stella said.
“It was nothing.”
“That thunking doesn’t sound like leaves... Just how hard are those things?”
I went out of range of the trees and touched the ground. The two girls jumped onto the floor.
Stella put a thoughtful hand on her chin. “Mm. They’ll just extinguish any fireballs with water. If we get close, they shoot freakish needle leaves at us...”
“We’ve learned my iron walls can block the leaves. I can form them on either side of the path so we can pass through here.”
“Excuse me?” Stella asked.
“Um...” Feena faltered. “I believe that is what everyone else did to pass through here.”
“Pass through?! Don’t be ridiculous!” Stella barked, pointing a finger to a tree. “Five points.”
“Hm...?”
“These magibeasts have to be worth five points. The fact everyone passed them by and left them behind is more proof than anything. We’ll get five points for each of these. Why pass through?” Stella began counting the conifers, pointing at each one in turn. “One, two, three... There’s ten of these, so fifty points for all of them. We can pass just by clearing out this room!”
“Eeeh...” Feena said. “But, Stella, how would we even hope to do that?”
“I have a plan. Feena, you handle defense.”
Stella left it at that and charged into the room. I could hear Feena hurriedly chanting behind us. Iron walls formed all around Stella.
“What’s the plan here?” I asked as leaves thunked against the walls all around us.
Stella didn’t answer. It seemed like she was still giving me the cold shoulder.
She chanted in the middle of the room. “A hundred days of unending sun cracked the earth, and ended all life. Luxsaria Sein!”
Right. Fire wasn’t the only kind of miracle for taking down plants. Understanding Stella’s intentions, I called out to the spirits.
O Spirits of Light, make a ball of light hot enough to dry these plants out! I called. The spirits responded to my call and gathered above our heads. The temperature in the room rapidly started shooting up. The magibeasts squirted water at the pulsing ball of light, but extinguishing light with water was a pipe dream.
“Mmm,” Stella murmured, looking up at the sun. She seemed satisfied.
“How’s that? Just what you imagined, right? I’ve been studying the bible myself, y’know.”
Feena had read the scriptures aloud during her study sessions. That had helped her memorize it, so it had been two birds with one stone. We were getting the fruits of that now.