When Rai left the gateway, he was back at the Academy grounds. It seems the room between the gateways was only accessible to those going in.

He looked around for a moment, then saw Sin sitting on the grass. She looked over at him with a scowl on her face. Rai walked over to her and sat beside her.

With a pout, Sin asked, “Why do your exams take so long? This time you were in there for nearly an hour. I had to wait out here. Alone. For ages.”

Rai didn’t know what to say, but he did his best to explain the situation to her, “They said they needed to wait for instructors to be available for my test. Then the headmaster came and tested me himself.”

Sin yelled, “WHAT?!” Everyone around them stopped their conversations and looked at the two.

There was awkward silence for a moment before everyone continued their own conversations.

Rai nodded after the attention went away, “Yep! He came and tested me, telling me something about 'wanting to see for himself'.” He mimicked Rodrick's voice, “It took so long because he had other things that had to be done first, I guess.”

Sin placed her head in her hand, letting out a sigh. “Okay, so first your mana orb is faulty and has to be replaced, then the headmaster tests you himself for the physical. What the fuck is up with that?!” She was more surprised than annoyed. Sin had never heard of the headmaster personally testing anyone on the physical exam.

Rai shrugged. He noticed that there were way less students here now, and that the grounds were quite beautiful. He leaned back and lay on the grass. “I wish I knew. He even recognised my sword, which was quite weird.”

Sin looked down at him and raised an eyebrow, “Okay now I know you’re messing with me.” They laughed together, then she lay beside him on the grass.

As time passed by, more students came out of the physical exam gateway. Rai and Sin heard them talking about a loud sound that they all heard during their exam. Some described it as an earthquake, while others described it like it was a bomb. The only consistent point was that everyone who was in the exam at the same time.

Sin turned and poked Rai’s chest as they lay there, “What do you think they’re talking about? Did you hear a loud sound as well?”

Rai shook his head, “Not like they’re describing.” The only loud sound I heard was my own thunder.

“I suppose it's not a big deal then.” She switched the conversation's gears, “Where do you think you’ll end up on the ranking boards?”

Rai hadn’t thought about it before. He knew he would be top three in the physical, and he felt like because he broke the orb in the magical aptitude test he’d probably come first in that, but for writing he had no clue.

“I think I’ll do pretty well in the physical and magical aptitude tests, but I have no idea about the writing one. I knew a lot of the answers thanks to what my aunt taught me, but there were a couple that I couldn’t quite get.”

Sin eyed him quizzically, “Do you think you’ll do better than me?”

Rai looked into her ruby eyes, then let out a light chuckle, “I think I’ll beat you in at least one of the tests.”

Sin looked at him with sarcastic disdain, “You better not think it’s the writing one.”

Rai let out an even louder laugh, which drew a few eyes. “No way, that’s all yours.”

They continued laying on the grass in comfortable silence.

It only took a few minutes for their comfort to be disturbed.

A boy with short black hair, and a posse of similar looking young men following him, stood in front of the two. He spoke with a distinct accent that was only common in noble families. “Sindyl Raven. What a pleasure to see the Princess of the Underworld.”

Sin lifted her head to see who was talking to her, then groaned, and let it fall back on the soft grass. She didn’t want to afford this boy any respect, “Hiron Whin. How awful it is to see you again.”

The noble boy looked back to his posse, “See, I told you she was playing hard to get with me.” The group of boys giggled at each other.

Sin groaned internally, then looked over at Rai, who was laying in the same position as before, staring up into the sky. When did he get a blade of grass in his mouth? She didn’t want to deal with Hiron during her time at the Academy, so she decided to make things abundantly clear. “Hiron. I rejected you years ago, and again after that. I will continue rejecting you. I don’t want to be with you. I literally, most definitely, and categorically DO NOT WANT TO BE WITH YOU.”

Hiron was stunned. Most of all, he didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of his underlings. With venom in his voice, “You will regret that, Princess.”

Sin scoffed, “As if. Now, please and kindly, fuck off.”

Hiron seemed to grumble a roar, and left. His posse followed, though not before one of them spat on the ground before leaving.

Rai didn’t react during the interaction, but spoke after they left. “Friends of yours?”

Sin looked like she wanted to puke at the suggestion, “He’s a chode.” Rai giggled at the word he’d only ever heard from Bort. “Him and his kind think that because they’re nobles they can just have what they want. Hiron specifically, he’s the son of the Arbiter. So when I was younger, he was sent to court me at the Underworld’s Castle balls. I’ve rejected him every time.” She spoke with an air of extreme annoyance.

Rai sympathised with her. Even though he couldn’t envisage himself in such a situation, he felt like it was something she shouldn’t have had to go through. “Sorry that you have to go through that kinda stuff.”

Sin sighed, “Part of being an Aspect’s daughter I guess.”

Rai tried to tease her, “Nobles and their silly games, right?”

Sin agreed fervently, “Exactly.”

Rai looked at her, Sindyl, the noble, then realised that the irony of the joke was lost on her. He decided to leave it at that, chalking it up to a failed joke. He felt like he should work on his comedic timing better. Either way, they enjoyed the rest of the time they spent laying on the grass. There weren’t any more interruptions, and it was a comforting feeling for both of them to be with each other again.

They noticed that, over time, the frequency of people leaving the gateways was decreasing, which meant that the exams were coming to a close. A wave of excitement rushed through them as they realised. They would soon get to see the results, and who placed top in each of the exams.

As the final person left the gateways, a voice from the stage boomed. It was the suited man from before. “Thank you to all of the examinees who have partaken in this year’s Academy entrance exams. If you look at your badges now, you will see whether you passed each of the exams. W is for writing, P is for physical, and M is for magical aptitude. If your light is green, then you passed. If it is red, then you failed. If you passed two out of three of the exams, then it means you've passed as a whole. If this is the case, then please keep your badges on you, as important information will be transmitted through them. If you wish to leave now, you can.”

He paused to clear his throat. “If you wish to see the ranking boards for each exam, they will be revealed shortly. Since the exams finished earlier than normal today, they will be revealed in a few minutes. The order of revelation will be writing, physical, then magical aptitude. They will be revealed within five minutes of each other. Once again, thank you for your patience and hard work. We cannot wait to see you all in your first lessons in two weeks’ time.” He left the stage.

Sin sat up, with Rai beside her. She shook him, as if he didn’t even hear the spiel of information that somwhow flowed out of the man like a river. “Did you hear? They’ll reveal the ranks soon, let’s go over to the boards so we can be ready to see them!”

Rai allowed himself to be shaken, with his head flailing back and forth. Not a particularly bad feeling. He was surprised at his own thoughts. “Yeah yeah, let’s get going.” He noticed that Sin didn’t look at her badge. She’d already assumed that she passed all of the tests. Rai hadn’t checked his yet, and anxiety began welling up within him.

Rai had to be sure, so he stole a glance at his badge to see all three lights were green. Phew.

The boards were only a small walk away, on the other end of the courtyard. When they arrived, they saw a small group of people already gathered. It was surprising to Sin, since she thought more people would have been interested in who was at the top. Turns out that they were just early, and there was a massive crowd gathering behind them.

Most people knew that they wouldn’t get into the top five, but the boards had enough space for fifty people per exam. And some people were there just to see who the top performers were.

The writing board was revealed first. There was no warning, it just happened.

– First – Sindyl Raven –

– Second – Lina Reen –

Sin was ecstatic, she turned and hugged Rai. Rai looked over her shoulder to see his name a little further down the list. He was numbered at twelve. “No way! I’m on there too!!”

Sin let go of him. She stared at him blankly. “Don’t lie Rai. It’s not good for your health.”

Rai still had excitement in his voice, “No, seriously! Look!!”

She turned and skimmed down the list, to see Rai at number twelve. “What the... look at you! The farm boy really grew up!” She reached up and patted his head. Was he always this tall?

A moment after, Sin’s badge shot a beam of light into the sky.

A voice came from the board, “If you look for the beam of light, you’ll see your rank one.” Everyone turned towards Sin.

Normally, she would be anxious at such attention. But, this time, she was proud of her achievement. Her anxiety wouldn’t steal this moment from her.

There were voices in the crowd, some spoke about how beautiful she was, while others were calling her an ice queen – presumably because of how she spoke to Hiron.

The voice from the board spoke once again, “Up next is the physical exam rankings.”

The board revealed the list.

– First – Sindyl Raven –

– Second – Rai –

Sin whispered under her breath, “Holy shit.”

This time, Rai hugged her while bouncing in joy, “I’m second! And you’re first again!”

The beam of light came once more, accompanied by the same message from the board. But hardly anyone looked at her this time. They were already bored, and waited for someone new to show up.

After a few moments, the board spoke again, “Up next is the magical aptitude test.”

This was it; Sin could make history in the Academy here. Her goal was so close.

– First – Rai –

– Second – Sindyl Raven –

The voices around them grew excited again, as there was a new name in the first position. They noticed that he was second in the physical exam too, so they were even more excited to see who it was. Everyone was looking around, waiting for the beam of light.

Rai looked at Sin with remorse, “Sin. I’m sorry.”

Sin shook her head, she had tears in her eyes, “No. Don’t be. This was a f-fair test. It hurts now, b-but it’s you. If it’s you, then I’ll b-be fine.”

Rai smiled softly, and thought about how mature she’d always been. She was the same when they fought as kids.

The light beamed up from his badge.

Everyone looked over at him, and some noticed that he was stood next to Sindyl.

One elven girl broke the silence by blurting out her words, “Oh fuck, he’s hot.” She immediately covered her mouth and grew red. A handful of eyes were drawn to her, and there were some chuckles among them, but the majority of the crowd agreed with her sentiment. There were some murmurs about how handsome he was, and some even questioning the relationship between him and the ‘ice queen’ since they were stood next to each other.

And with that, the exams were over. Rai comforted Sin a while longer, but she seemed to be getting over it fast. The students had mostly dispersed.

Rai and Sin walked out of the Academy grounds together, then Sin asked what she wanted to earlier in the day. “Where are you staying?”

Rai realised he hadn’t told her yet, then smiled and said “Devil’s Secret.”

Sin smiled back, “Oh really? Me too.”

“...”

“...”

Sin’s smile turned into confusion, “WHAT?!”