“He did all the enemy making,” Damien replied, crossing his arms. “It’s not my fault they thought I was lying.”

Henry shifted within Damien’s mind and let out a laugh.

“You were.”

Damien ignored his companion. The gray fire in the brazier reached its peak, flickering steadily at a short bit over three times Nolan’s height. The boy stepped back, releasing the bowl and sending a smug grin at Dross. The fire receded, vanishing back into the depths of the brazier. Reena clapped her hands.

“Good job, Nolan!” She cheered.

“It sounds like you’d like to go next,” Dross said dryly, gesturing for Reena to step forwards. He jotted something else down in his notebook and snapped it shut.

Reena followed his instructions, giving Nolan another smile before reaching the brazier. Damien mentally reached out to Henry, well aware that he was still being observed by the nameless girl standing beside him.

She already thought he was weird. There was no point wasting precious time that he could spend making sure the test went according to plan. It’s not like she had any way to know what he was doing, anyways.

Of course, that wasn’t the smartest assumption to make. Underestimating the intelligence of anyone, even if done in an innocent manner, wasn’t the wisest thing to do. Then again, we’ve gone over Damien’s intelligence, so it shouldn’t take you by any more surprise than it took me.

Henry, is there anything we need to do to prepare for the test?

“Boy, I could burn a hole through the roof if I wanted to,” Henry replied, scoffing. “There are two problems with that, though. First, you don’t have the ability to handle that amount of my power. You’d probably explode. While that would be incredibly amusing, I’d find myself back at square one. Second, even if you could handle that much of my energy, would it really be wise for you to display such power? We don’t need to go looking for attention.”

Loathe as he was to admit it, Damien had to agree with Henry’s words. His companion was making a lot of sense, and that worried him. When you start agreeing with the extraplanar eldritch horror you summoned when you were a power hungry thirteen year old, it might be a sign that something’s wrong.

As Damien conversed with Henry, Reena managed to get the pillar of fire to just a little under where Mark’s had been. Her flames were the same gray color as Nolan’s, but they flickered and hissed more aggressively despite not reaching as high.

The blonde’s teeth gritted as she strained, trying to force the flames even an inch higher. They flickered, reaching up for an instant, then collapsed back into the Brazier. Dross wrote in his notebook once again. Then he waved at Reena with it.

“Next,” he ordered.

“Can’t I try again? I was nervous –”

“No.”

“Right, sorry,” Reena said, sighing. She sat down beside Nolan, who compassionately patted her on the shoulder. He was still beaming from his apparent success, but did his best to repress it for the sake of his sister.

“Don’t fret too much, Reena,” Nolan said. “There’s nothing wrong with your score. The average person can’t even get the flames to rise their own height, and this is only a measurement of latent power. Such things can be defeated through skill or even politics.”

“Next!” Dross yelled, staring at Damien and the unnamed girl. “I do not like to be kept waiting. If you don’t choose, I’ll do it for you.”

“I’ll go,” the girl said. “I was helped by a field operative. He said he would send word and has requested to remain anonymous.”

Dross’s eyebrow twitched, but he said nothing. He gave her a small nod.

The girl calmly walked over to the brazier and laid her hands on it. She didn’t hesitate for a moment, and the flames matched her. The moment her hands were on the stone, a pillar of inky black flame launched upwards, stopping nearly exactly at her height.

Calling them flames might have been a mistake. It was more like a single flame – a pillar of dark fire that didn’t show a single flicker or fluctuation. Dross’s eyebrow twitched slightly. Before he could say anything, the girl released the stone and strode back to the group.

“Interesting,” Dross said, jotting something into his notebook. “Impressive control.”

The other four students goggled at his words. The man had actually given a compliment to such a pitiful performance compared to the others. Damien didn’t have long to consider it. He could already feel the annoyed gaze of the mage on him.

He strode towards the brazier, wiping the cold sweat on his palms away on his pants. He stumbled over a crack and had to jog a few steps to regain his balance. Damien heard Nolan and Reena chuckle behind him.

“We’re going to have to work on that pitiful persona,” Henry growled. “It’s honestly sickening. Get some self-confidence, boy. You’ve got a goddamn void creature as your companion, but you walk around like a whipped dog.”

“Shut up,” Damien replied as they reached the bowl.

“Better,” Henry replied. “Now, let’s get you some bragging rights. I’ll not have my partner look pathetic next to these worthless mortals. This world needs to be destroyed with style, and you’re out of season.”

Damien did his best to ignore the ominous warning behind his partner’s joyous words. It was disconcerting to hear a being millennia older than him talking about fashion, but now wasn’t the time to deal with it.

“I summoned on my own. I didn’t receive help,” Damien said.

He drew a slow breath and grabbed the stone bowl before Dross could say anything. It was cold and rough, like stone generally was. Damien was almost disappointed. His hands started to tingle and he felt lines of heat travel up through the veins in his arms. They reached his chest and expanded outwards.

It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it was certainly strange. His body felt warm and vibrant, like he’d just woken up after a good night’s rest with the sun beating gently down upon him.

A gout of sickly black fire erupted from the brazier. It roared past Damien’s face, threatening to spill over the edges of the bowl. The flames were raw and untamed, crackling and popping as they struggled to escape the confines of the brazier.

The pillar of fire rocketed until it was just about where Nolan’s had been. Then it inched downwards by a foot, remaining at that level steadily.