From blinding light, to pitch darkness, Carmine found herself in a void. The only sound came from her own guarded breaths and shaky footsteps. She saw nothing.

The shock of the sudden transportation wore off after a moment. Perhaps shoving the students-to-be into darkness was meant to make them panic. As for Carmine she'd already survived far worse situations than a little fear of the dark.

With a word she called a ball of light to her hand, tossing it over her shoulder where it hovered in place.

She surveyed her surroundings only to find she'd been encased in a small stone dome. She recognized the layered patterns of lines along its surface, a sign it had been made by accelerated sorcery but days ago. Properly done it would be as indistinguishable as normal earth, and just as tough.

This, Carmine thought, plucking a seed from her pocket, this would break easily.

She placed the seed against the stone and hastened its growth through sorcery. Roots sprouted forth, digging through the rock's surface and spread throughout. Once the seed was thoroughly embedded, Carmine amplified the spelled power. Directing the growth with her hands, she mimicked tearing a hole through the surface of the stone. Cracks spread through the wall, allowing wisps of sunlight through. With a little more force the roots came alive, tearing the ripping the stone open and leaving a sizable hole in their wake. Carmine stepped through it like an open door, but only a step. Any more would send her into a long fall.

Chilling wind rushed into the small dome as Carmine found herself atop a spire high above icy snow. Somehow, she saw green forests to her left, the hazy beige of a desert on her right, even deep blue waters like Reefcliff’s sea. She recognized different biomes all within impossible proximity to each other. Even the sky churned with different weather. A storm rages over the sea, while not a cloud obscured Carmin’s view of the uncanny sky. It too was carved into sets of segmented territory. How this place worked, or even where it was, Carmine knew not, but somehow it mocked the rules of nature by sheer existence.

In the middle of it all, the Laval tower reached down from a breach in the sky and planted itself where most zones intersected. However they made this fake sky and crafted land, the tower stood in the center just as it had in the city.

Carmine noticed a red glow from the tricky pendant around her neck. Unlike before, this seemed more inert, but it did grow stronger when she pointed it at the tower.

That's where I'm going, she thought.

Still in control of the stone splitting roots, Carmine whispered commands for them to wrap around her waist. Fueling their growth with her own energy, Carmine used them to climb down the spire.

An explosion split her ears about halfway down the climb. What the hell was that!?

Carmine looked above to one of the other spires, dust clouding her view. She heard coughing as a human girl about Carmine's age stepped to the edge of their spire. Flowing blonde hair, bright rosy skin, sharp blue eyes, and a general contempt for her situation. Yup, probably one of those nobles Nico said had their heads on too tight. Though this one seemed like she had a screw loose. Did she really create that explosion within the small stone dome? Carmine shook her head, that girl was lucky she didn't hurt herself.

The proud look on the girl's face vanished as she surveyed her surroundings, seeing Carmine already halfway down her pillar.

"I'm not first!?" The human snapped, stopping her foot as she yelled into the distance. "Inconceivable! You!" She pointed at Carmine. "Don't think you've won. We've only just begun."

What was her problem? Carmine lowered her eyes, ignoring the other student’s ramblings.. She continued her climb down, and hoped that would be the end of it.

"So that's how it's going to be." The other student took Carmine's neglect as a slight. "Fine! I'll show you who's the better mage." She started shouting incantations at the top of her lungs. For some reason. Carmine recognized the words as warding incantations. One ward usually did the trick but she kept making them, layering one over another until a blue hue surrounded her body.

That's devoting a lot of energy for just a ward, Carmine thought, she could stop a galloping horse with that much. Why did she need so many?

And then she jumped.

Carmine nearly lost her grip seeing this suicidal plumbet. Was she out of her mind?

The other student crashed into the winter ground below, kicking up a cloud of snow as Carmine wondered if she survived the fall.

When the snow cleared, Carmine saw the student's wards crackle and dissipate, but at least she moved.

Not the kind of accident Carmine wanted to see on day one.

The girl sat up worse for wear, already a little bruised and covered in snow, but she still had enough strength to look at Carmine and smirk.

"Ha...s-see that?" She said between breaths as Carmine bid farewell to her sympathy. "First place is mine! See you at the finish, Scarface!"

Carmine's grip tightened around the roots.

Competition didn't interest her, it created anxiety where none needed to be. She preferred doing things at her own pace, whether that be faster or slower than others.

This test just earned an exception.

"You will regret that," Carmine whispered at the upstart. Carmine pulled a length of root free as she scanned below the spire. Naked trees reached up from below, their branches only covered by a thin veil of snow. The cold became her ally, for once, aiming would be simple.

She'd spent a year perfecting her technique for one special trick.

Carmine shouted an incantation of controlled force, guiding the root exactly to the branch she wanted. Her improvised rope wrapped around the tree before she reversed the forced spell to pull her towards it. Most importantly: she learned to stop. Carmine stifled the spell’s energy, gradually slowing her speed until she landed on the branch, feet firmly planted. She looked back at her opponent, still in her snow-drifted crater.

Not so full of yourself now. Where is that bravado?

Carmine coiled the root back around her arm, smirking with spiteful pride, before finding her next destination.

Before she just wanted to prove herself to the instructors; show that she'd been trained well. Now, she couldn't lose.

Carmine wasted no more time, zipping from tree to tree, rushing for the tower before little miss noble could catch up. Even with her behind, Carmine kept her guard up. Whatever this test was, Carmine knew there’d be more challenges than climbing down one tower. Obstacles meant to test their repertoire made sense, but aside from the dome, she saw nothing else but a clear path.

Carmine threw her vine to the next tree, already readying her follow up spell to propel her as leaned on the edge of her branch. As she waited noticed a tingling up the back of her neck just like when Nico would open his portals.

There’s sorcery nearby, she realized, trying to pull back her vine ,yet It refused her pull, growing taught and unmoving. Carmine looked towards the far end to see what snagged it, but nothing barred its way. It hadn’t even reached the other tree yet. Something didn’t make sense, and where unreason holds sway, magic bars the way.

Nico was really proud of himself for that one.

The tension in the root fell away at once, Carmine barely had time to duck before it whipped into the tree trunk behind her.

She let out a shaky breath, glad she avoided a second scar on her face

That's it, she decided, no more progress until I figure this out.

Carmine clambered down , shivering as snow sank into her shoes and covered her shins.

She hated snow, the cold too. In her mind winter was months of hell in an aching body and food with too much salt.

Why did anyone want to make an artificial winter?

She cursed whoever was responsible as she kicked up the snow ahead of her. On one hand it vented her frustration, on the other, it would find the effective range of this weird spell.

"There we are," she muttered to herself as the last bit of scattered snow split in two. Half fell back on the ground, normal as ever. The other half lingered in the air, its fall so slow it verged on motionless.

A slowing field of some kind? Something that restricted movement? Could be...but something still didn't sit right. Carmine's root snapped back with such force even after she stopped pulling on it. What then…

Her mind went back to the headmaster's speech, and his awful joke.

A time distortion?

Carmine stepped back from the threshold. She’d only heard of that extremely advanced tradition. She hadn't so much as spied a word of it.

So how could she get past? As fake wind blew through the trees, Carmine saw a swath of woods move in slow motion. The field extended too far to go around and too high for Carmine to avoid.

Snapping wood drew Carmine out of her planning. She turned to face the disturbance, seeing that girl from before barreling through the underbrush in a blur. She crashed to a stop, carving a trench through the snow as she lost her balance.

Carmine noticed a faint arcane trail streaking behind her before it dissipated.

Raw infusion spells? Nico taught Carmine about those; incantations that pushed the body beyond natural limits. From what she knew, those spells were effective as they were draining. From the way the girl heaved for breath, covered in welts and cuts from her rush through the frozen forest, that sounded about right.

She tired herself out just catching up. Carmine sighed, turning away to more important matters..

"Th-thought…thought you had the win already, did you?" Noble girl stumbled to her feet before she even caught her breath.

How was she still talking? Why was she still talking?

"Wuh- what's the matter?" She forced herself to stand on wobbly legs. "Did you tire yourself using that weird spell? Lucky for you they're willing to accept anyone here."

"Maybe gloat when you can stand up straight." Carmine retorted, crossing her arms against her attempted bully.

She grinned inside her hood as the other student's face went red. The "noble" cupped a handful of snow and gave it an enfeebled throw. Carmine watched it fall wide, slowing as it entered the distortion.

"What in Vembris' name?" The girl shared the same confused frown Carmine had before. "Some kind of restraining field?"

"Not quite. It's a-" Carmine caught herself. "Sorry, you don't need me to explain, do you?"

"O-Of course not," The girl sulked to Carmine's side. "Whatever it is is irrelevant. If it's meant to slow me, all I must do is overpower it with my own spell."

Carmine held back a snicker. She had no idea what she was dealing with and her first plan was brute force.

"What's that?" The girl snapped her head to Carmine with a contemptuous glare.

"Nothing," Carmine pulled her scarf over her smirk. "By all means, show me how it's done."

The student narrowed her eyes, lips tightened holding back curses and beratement no doubt. Carmine only thinly veiled her doubt, and that only irked the student further.

"Fine!" The student turned towards the distortion, her second thoughts rising to her face as the snowball she threw still hadn't hit the ground. She looked around, eyes darting from clue to clue the same way Carmine's had before she arrived.

"You going?" Carmine asked.

"Yes! Be quiet, I'm...concentrating."

"Really?" Mock surprise dripped from Carmine's voice.

"You just watch!" The student leaned forward, placing her hands in the snow as she prepared for a sprint. Her voice thundered with infusion incantations. Yarish runes ran over her legs, constricting cloth as they tightened against her skin. It honestly looked painful.

"See you...at the finish." She growled, sweat pouring off her brow. Snow burst from behind the student as she rushed forward. Carmine's eyes could barely keep up with the speed until the student ran into the distortion. As expected, her pace slowed, but not enough for Carmine to be comfortable.

She uncrossed her arms. At this rate she'd fall far behind.

Think. She had to get past distortion. No spell Carmine knew could power through like the other student did, but perhaps she could protect herself. Loathing as she was to take ideas from her competition, Carmine thought of how the other student used wards to protect herself from gravity.

Perhaps Carmine could weave a bubble from wards specialized for magic?

No way to know but to try.

Carmine pulled a snail's shell from her pouch. Unlike her opponent, Carmine knew using components saved herself more energy and time..the shell helped ward structure, and snails moved with their shells on their backs. Carmine hoped that essence would keep the ward intact as she moved.

She recited her incantations, turning the ward's focus against magic rather than mundane forces. Like the bratty blur had before, Carmine layered the spell a few times until she saw a translucent shell form with her at its center, Its violet spirals identical to the shell Carmine held in her palm.

She moved to the distortions threshold hold.

This better work.

With one last deep breath, Carmine stepped forward.

Invisible knives plunged into her eyes as a vice crushed her brain. By her second step her knees buckled as she grabbed her own head. Never had her mind pounded with such agony. The ward's edges shrunk inward as Carmine felt the pressure as a weight trampling her mind.

How did they expect anyone to beat this?

In that brief moment of distraction, a crack fractured her ward, mirrored in the small shell she held. She pushed all other thoughts from her mind. So long as the ward remained, she was safe. All she had to do was focus on feelings of safety, and the ward's intent would endure.

Push through the pain, Carmine told herself. This is nothing you haven't faced before.

She pulled memories from her past, Nico taking her into their new home for the first time, walking as Father led her by the hand through town. She focused on her feelings in those moments as she rose back to her feet, resting one hand on Mother's spellbook.

The crack in her ward vanished as it pushed back to its normal size. The world moved slowly around Carmine as she braved her way through one step at a time. She stomped past the other student, still blurry from her high speed in a slower time. That brat could never learn this idea came from her.

Ever.

Before she could get too proud, the migraine reminded Carmine she still had much to learn.

There had to be an easier way of doing this, she thought, cupping one hand over her face to shield from all the light. This place didn't even have a sun. Why was it so bright?

One foot in front of the other, Carmine moved forward until, without warning, the pressure stopped. She grabbed a handful of snow and tossed it outside her ward. Never had she thought she'd be glad to see snow fall.

Carmine released the spell, and released her need to stand along with it. The snow cushioned her fall as she pushed more of it against her still throbbing head. She tried to shout curses, but all she managed was an angry groan. Carmine swore if she ever learned who came up with that challenge she'd flood their room with spiders.

She took time to breathe and let the pain die down. Every time she opened her eyes, the light sent echoes of pain all through her head. To hell with the competition, she’d move when she could see straight. When the migraine turned to just a particularly bad headache she sat back up and opened her eyes just in time for a blur to crash in the snow next to her.

"Shit," Carmine grumbled on instinct.

"What?" The student pulled her head out of the snow and turned to Carmine, aghast. "How did you get here!?"

"I walked."

“And I ran. I didn’t see you sauntering around.

“Maybe you need to pay more attention to your surroundings.”

The other student grumbled, standing over Carmine.

“I don’t know how you got her before me, but it looks like you exhausted you.” The snobbiest smirk split her face. “Unless nosebleeds are common for you.”

Carmine flinched, rubbing her face to find a thin streak of blood on her hand. Her cheeks flushed as she avoided the other student’s eyes. Looking down, she noticed that the student put all of her weight on one leg.

“And what about you?” Carmine looked back up. “Twist an ankle? You’re favoring one leg pretty heavily there. Think you can still walk?”

“That’s none of your concern!” The student put her weight on both legs in defiance. Pain twisted her face and her leg gave out beneath her. Back in the snow she fell, eyes shut tight, holding her calf, teeth grit in a grimace. “O-ow.”

Carmine furrowed her brow, remembering all the time she’d spent as a pseudo-nurse to Vale. No matter if they were screaming, cursing or your worst enemy, you treat them.

That was Vale's creed anyway, and It annoyed Carmine to no end right now that she felt compelled to follow it.

"Hey," Carmine grumbled, reaching for the student's leg. "Let me see."

"Why?" The student snapped, glaring. "Keen to make or worse, or just want to gloat?"

"Why do we do this Vale?" Carmine whispered to the sky before turning back to the student. "You're not going anywhere right now; you can barely stand. You really think I'm going to waste my time and energy making it worse? Somehow?"

The student's glare wavered as embarrassment pushed it away. "When you put it that way...You know what you're doing right?"

"I'm the apprentice to the new medical instructor," Carmine explained dryly. "Now, leg."

The student extended their leg as much as they could in Carmine's direction and pulled up the pant leg. Rings of unnatural bruises circled her leg. Yarish runes left her skin purple exactly where Carmine saw the spell dig in.

"You do this to yourself?" Carmine shook her head.

"Powerful spells have powerful side effects." She replied with pride. "I can take it."

"Say that when you can stand."

Carmine examined the student's leg, finding swelling surrounding the bruises. "How does it feel?"

"Painful." She replied the obvious. "And it gets worse whenever I try to move."

"Probably because you pulled a muscle pushing yourself with all those infusion spells. You're lucky it's not worse."

"I can take-"

"You think you can take it, I know. Let this remind you that your body isn't as strong as your ego."

"Rude." She frowned.

"Don't injure yourself," Carmine countered, reaching into her pack for one of Vale's ointments. "She should ease the pain. Now stay still." As Vale had done for her, Carmine used the ointment as a conduit for her sorcery. She opened Mother's spellbook to a new chapter written in Carmine's own hand. She recited.healing magics she learned from Vale, and coaxed the student's natural healing to quicken a little earlier than normal. By the time she finished, the swelling receded, and the bruises turned to a fading yellow.

"There." Carmine snapped her book shut. She sighed, even more exhausted. "Now don't go running off, or you'll tear something that won't fix."

"C-can that happen?" Fear crossed the student's face.

"Yes." Of course it could, wasn't that obvious?

"Very well," The student rose to her feet, hesitantly testing her leg with more and more weight until she stood balanced. "You really fixed it."

"I started to." Carmine stood up as well. "Your leg will do the rest."

“Is it normal to be hungry after that?”

“Yeah, Your body’s healing. Now take it easy, understand?”

"Of course. Of course." The other student met Carmine's eye just long enough for the latter to see embarrassment. “What is your name?" The student asked in a shaky voice.

Now she asks. "It's Carmine," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes as the headache came back through.

"Very well, Carmine." The student gave a short bow, for some reason, and then stood straight and proud. "Know that I, Adelaide Winters, owe you a debt."

"Uh-huh."

"And...I apologize...for calling you Scarface."

"Right." Carmine nodded, and tried not to hold a grudge. Tried. "The tower isn't far. Good luck-"

"Wait." Adelaide raised her hand. "There may be another trial there. As exhausted as we are, it might give-" A deep sigh escaped her, "It might give us trouble. Maybe we should arrive together."

"Now you want to cooperate?" The headache intensified. "I thought this was a competition to you."

"I'm being pragmatic dammit!" Adelaide caught herself raising her voice and cleared her throat. "It's. Simple. Pragmatism."

"Fine." Carmine didn't want to admit it, especially to Adelaide, but she wanted nothing more than to sink into a bed. "We can finish this quickly and be done."

The walk to the tower took only minutes. Carmine and Adelaide climbed the stone steps to a large dias where the tower made its foundation. No one else arrived yet. Adelaide smirked seeing they were the first one's there, though it wavered a little when she turned to Carmine.

It's mutual, Carmine replied in her head.

No door broke up the tower's walls, but Carmine knew that didn't mean there wasn’t one.

"I thought there would be an instructor, or at least a senior student." Adelaide commented as she surveyed the scene. "This is the end, isn’t it?"

"Maybe the test isn't over yet," Carmine suggested. She looked towards the tower and saw Yarish runes carved into its side. "Over here." She called out.

Adelaide rushed over and looked over the runes alongside Carmine.

"I don't recognize this spell." Adelaide confessed.

"Spell?" Carmine furrowed her brow. "It's not a spell, it's just writing."

"Of course it is, I know how to speak the words."

"Do you not know what they mean?"

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Adelaide narrowed her eyes, turning away. "I suppose we had different teachers."

"I thought all mages could read it." Carmine furrowed her brow.

"It's not as common as you think. I would have preferred to learn, but I don't think my instructor knew what they meant either."

"Good thing I can." Carmine turned her attention to the writing. "Pupils of our minds, heed this truth. Knowledge transient lone learner's make. Learned hands grasp another, create knowledge undying. Our apprehension, an enduring circle. A mind and mind to share the burden."

"Okay," Adelaide droned. "They couldn't have written that a little better, could they? Perhaps for a person to understand."

"The ancients had different minds from us." Carmine stepped back from the wall. "But yeah, deciphering their meaning is hard." Carmine looked back across the constructed landscape. "I think this script is authentic."

"Meaning…"

"The instructors didn't write. Look around, a desert next to the sea, a lush forest beside a place with arctic cold? This place obviously isn't natural, maybe the ancients made it."

"Perhaps. What does that have to do with our test?" Adelaide shrugged, the mystique lost on her.

"Fine. From the sound of it, there should be something around that requires-" Carmine sighed, "cooperation to solve."

"Something to do with this perhaps?" Adelaide dragged her foot across the snow, clearing it away to show parts of a spell circled engraved in the dias."

"When did you-?"

"You lost me halfway through the translation." Adelaide admitted, pointing behind her to another part of the circle already cleared. "I figured my time was better spent searching."

"So you weren't listening." Carmine glared. What happened to wanting to learn?

"I was half-listening." She shrugged back. Adelaide turned her attention to the dias, pulling an ebony wand from her sleeve. She shouted a spell at the top of her lungs and her words truly became wind. Within a second, not a snowflake remained.

With the whole spell circled revealed, an idea clicked in Carmine’s mind.

"I recognize this," she pointed at the circle and grabbed her necklace. "The spell circle that brought us here looked nearly identical."

"Nearly?" Adelaide raised a brow, doubting Carmine again.

"Look," Carmine pointed at the runes. "They're signs for transportation and translocation, the same words are used for portals-"

"I still can't read Yarish, show-off."

"Ugh, fine. The spell that brought us here had one active position. This circle has two." Carmine pointed to the pair of triangles drawn in the spell's center. "It's a two person portal. The spell is already written and imprinted on the dias, all we have to do is provide the power."

"Just say that!" Adelaide threw her hands up, impatient to finish. Before Carmine could even retort, Adelaide moved to one of the triangles. "Hurry up! It's bad enough I have to share this win."

"You know what? Fine." Carmine had enough of this forced partnership. "The sooner we're done the better."

Carmine took the position opposite Adelaide. They both placed their hands on the edge of zones and channeled the magic in the dias.

The circle glowed to life, growing brighter and brighter as it blinded both students to the world outside.

"Whoever stands first, wins." Adelaide challenged as the light enclosed them. Carmine rolled her eyes as the world around distorted.

When the light fell away, they found themselves back in the courtyard, in front of the stage where the headmaster made his speech. The adults had moved to the edges of the yard, leaving just Adelaide and Carmine in the center.

No other student had returned.

"Yes!" Adelaide exploded to her feet, pumping her fist skyward.

Carmine realized all eyes were upon them. First was a bad idea, she thought, pulling her hood tighter.

"Impressive," The headmaster clapped from on stage. "The spires barely lowered a moment ago."

"Were- Were we supposed to wait?" Sweat started on Adelaide's brow, as if the mere thought of disqualification meant the end of the world.

"Not technically." The headmaster tilted his head thinking. "Most students don't risk a fall from that height, but you do you. Good news is you've taken your first steps as students of the Laval institute-"

"Uh, dear-" The headmaster's wife tried and failed to get his attention.

"By the advice of the Ancients long ago, knowledge is meant to be shared and learned together."

"Dear, wait for all the-"

"To make that happen, the next step is for each student to build their own mage circle. A team of six that will work and live together for your years at the tower, and hopefully the years beyond."

"Dear- please-"

"But fret not, for you've already chosen your first partner."

Nooooooo.

Cold revelation washed over Carmine as she looked to Adelaide, sharing the same mortified look.

"Congratulations to all of the new partnerships, may they flourish in the years to come."

The headmaster finished his speech to a confused and haphazard applause from the audience, though the headmaster's wife ended that with a sneer.

"Great...rehearsal dear," She said to the headmaster. "Now be sure to do it exactly like that when all the students are back."

The headmaster's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He turned away from the crowd in shame.

"Why do I have to make the speeches?" He muttered.

Carmine smiled, sympathetic in that regard. Vale caught her eye from the stage. Her mentor gave her a wink and smile. Carmine spotted Nicholos in the crowd of spectators, the one face smiling at her. He nodded her way, one that said I'm proud of you.

And for once, Carmine felt that she truly earned it.

I did it Nico. I won.