The Beginning of Zeal

This short story follows a young mage called Zeal and the exam he is about to take to become a true magician.

Disappointment...

This is all life has given me. As a person who always tries to do his best at whatever comes his way, the feeling comes over me way too many times whenever I'm dealing with other people. I try not to blame them. I tell myself that they are people too. That nobody is perfect.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not perfect. Far from it. I have a love hate relationship with myself. But let me introduce myself. I'm Zeal, a young man aspiring to become a mage. I always expect the best out of myself. I punish myself for the tiniest mistake I make. I always push myself to do better. Somehow I've created a voice in my head that is always telling me that there is always something that I can do better.

So I've indulged myself in my studies. I'm a bit above the average person, but since I'm always pushing myself, I end up going over my own limits a lot. There is a constant battle within me between pushing myself to the best and how to control my energy in the best way, so I won't end up collapsing on the floor.

Both learning and doing magic is tedious work. You have to memorise the chants, you have to feel the magic energy and guide it in the right direction. All the same you have to be flexible and keep an eye on your surroundings. There is a reason why mages always stay in the back of the battle. We have to make sure our concentration doesn't break no matter what. Then there is the part of observing your foes, countering whatever they are throwing towards you and switch between offence and defence within a split second.

That afternoon I was in the training area, honing my skills. I was fighting against monsters conjured by an illusion spell. The spell itself was harmless, yet created in such a way that the pain you felt was real. The behaviour patterns of the monsters was included as well and you were always fighting against multiple enemies, a thing that always happened in the real world as well. Like real monsters, they communicated with each other and used different strategies to crush you.

Most people would only train using this illusion spell while in a group. They would improve their teamwork, try out different strategies and tactics and improve the friendship between them.

That didn't apply to me though. I was a lone wolf. I also found people to be unpredictable and believe me, I tried to team up with people in the past. It didn't work out. They failed to see the things they did wrong themselves and put all the fault on others. Being a sensitive guy, I couldn't handle it.

So I backed away from all of it. I started fighting alone. Of course in the beginning things were difficult and it seemed impossible, but it also helped me grow. I became independent and got used to fighting alone.

So there I was, shooting simple magic fire spells out of my hands. Fire was easy to conjure, manipulate and had devastating strength. It could also hurt your allies, but since I had none, it was the best way to clear out the weak monsters.

The illusion spell would send wave after wave of monsters towards you. Each wave would be stronger than the other, smarter than the other and worse, the monsters learned from your actions. Tactics that would have worked before didn't work that well, strategies you used had to be adapted. If you didn't do this, then the monsters would overtake you and you would be in for a world of pain.

You could also choose the difficulty of the illusion. I had started at the easiest difficulty, wanting to warm up a little bit. There was an important exam today and I wanted to exercise a bit to wake up properly. Excited for the exam, I hadn't really slept well. I needed to be able to focus, concentrate and adapt to any situation I was thrown in.

Completing the wave by burning down a big ogre, I paused for a bit and grabbed the bottle of water I brought along with me. I also ate some nuts to replenish the energy I had used up. Just as I planned to do one final wave before rounding up my morning exercise, I sensed the presence of someone else entering the illusion spell. I wondered who it was. It was still quite early in the morning and only a handful of people were awake at the moment. I was planning on eating a proper breakfast and refreshing myself after I was done, since I only had eaten a couple of nuts before coming here.

“Mind if I join you?” a mature female voice asked me. I turned towards her as if I hadn't heard or expected her. I looked at her confused. She was a knight, wearing light armour and a chain mail. She clearly preferred speed above strength. She held a long sword in her right arm and had a shield attached to her left arm. She had long blond hair and clear blue eyes. She was a bit muscly, but in an attractive way. Many boys would fall in love with this woman at first sight. Of course, I wasn't one of those.

“Sure.” I simply replied. Normally knights or people who specialized in a different branch of combat weren't on the school compounds. This school was for mages only. Due to the exam people all kind of specialities of combat were now inside and around the school. It wasn't unusual for a knight to be walking around at the moment.

Speaking of specializing yourself in battle, mages could specialize themselves in what kind of spells they would use. There were offensive spells meant to destroy or deal as much damage as possible. Then there were the healing and supportive spells, spells used for recovery, strengthening your allies or binding your foes. In theory, these were different quite different from each other, but the mages specializing in this direction used both of these spells in the field to be more useful.

The last category was the so called 'blue' magic which focused on learning spells and abilities used by monsters. It was really powerful, but also really hard to learn. It could only be learned in the open field by observing and fighting real monsters. There were only a few mages who had mastered this category. Some offensive mages had learned some of the offensive spells used by monsters and the supportive mages had learned some the tactical spells, like increasing the movement speed of the whole party.

As being still a junior mage, I hadn't specialized myself in any direction. Most mages would do this at the age of thirty. A depth of knowledge and combat experience was required before you could officially call yourself an offensive or supportive mage. Of course people had preferences and it had also to do with something like compatibility with the spells, depending on what kind of spells and what spells mages would use. Every mage had a different view on which spells were better and which ones should be ignored.

As a person who was used to fighting solo I used a lot of offensive spells, but I also had a knack for supportive and healing spells. I actually had a problem with offensive spells in the beginning, but after having decided to fight alone I was forced to learn effective and strong offensive spells.

“Do you mind if I increase the difficulty? It's going to be a breeze if we keep on fighting at this level.” the woman suggested. I saw no problems with that.

“No problem, I was just using this difficulty to warm up. Just set it to a difficulty you're comfortable with. I'll adapt.” I answered. I didn't know at what level she was used to fight, but I guessed that she wouldn't pick an impossible difficulty since there was only two of us fighting.

“I guess you prefer offensive spells since you were fighting alone?” the woman asked me after finishing setting the spell up. I simply nodded towards her.

“I can use supportive and healing spells, but I'm used to fighting alone. If you need any healing or help, just shout or order me what to do.” I gave the woman leadership rights. In every battle, a party leader needed to be present and needed to be decided. That person would make decisions, give orders and would come up with strategies.

“That's alright with me. Let's first just go with the flow and then decide how to divide our roles in combat.” The woman was taking this as a professional. A smile appeared on my face. She was earning my trust. A thing not a lot of people could do so easily. Keeping my trust was really hard as well.

“That's alright with me.” I noticed how the scenery changed from nothingness towards an open green field. Each illusion battle had a different environment and although you could set preferences, how the battle field would turn out was always random. “It's beginning.” I said and immediately began to prepare for an offensive spell.

Two trolls appeared in the open field. One was ahead of us and the other behind us. They both were about ten metres away from us and slowly began their way towards us. The monsters were about four metres high, had a thick lime-green skin and two small eyes. They were both bald. One of them was holding a wooden club and the other was holding a huge morning star. They were only wearing a brown leather belt and something gross looking that served as their underwear. Trolls couldn't be underestimated. They looked big and slow, but could be lightning fast and had quick reflexes. Their skin was thick and taking one down took a long time mostly.

“You take the one with the wooden club, I'll take the other one.” the knight ordered as she immediately dashed towards her foe. She was testing me. Whether I would follow her orders and if I was able to take down such a foe by myself.

I first set the troll on fire, combusting the air around it. By burning down its weapon it was less lethal, but that wasn't the reason why I did it. Next, I quickly changed the element of the spell I was about to use and tried to freeze the monster. The opposing elements clashed, but instead of cooling down the monster, it inflicted burning wounds all over the body of the monster. While the troll was screaming out in pain and was paralysed by it, I could close my eyes to concentrate on my next spell.

Even with my eyes closed, I wasn't out in the dark. I was skilled in detecting the presence of people and monsters around me. This worked even in this illusion spell I was currently in. Although I couldn't pinpoint their location, I could tell if someone or something was nearby or far away. I noticed that the knight and the other troll weren't close and that I was safe.

While chanting an ancient language I conjured a spear of molten lava, but still hot to the touch. Then I opened my eyes and launched the spear with full speed towards my foe by using a blast of wind. I didn't even have to touch the just created improvised weapon. It shot through the chest, but stayed within the monster halfway through. The troll fall backwards to the ground. I knew it was defeated.

I turned myself around to face the other troll while looking around if any more foes would appear. No new enemies appeared so I started to gather magic energy for a new spell. The knight was moving gracefully and with speed around the troll. She had made several cuts on the arm and hand of the troll which held the weapon, hoping to disarm it. The morning star was huge and moved unpredictable around. I used a spell to freeze the skin and the air around it around its wrist. It soon yelled out in pain and let go of its weapon. I then focused myself on the blade of the knight and infused it with the power of electricity.

From then out the knight struck, slashed and pierced through the skin of the troll while I was using spells that froze its feet and limbs to make it slower and easier to kill. Although trolls also had a knack for regeneration, that had its limits. The knight jumped up high in the sky and trusted her sword into the middle of its neck. The sword was still being powered on by electricity, although that would lose its effect soon enough. Being unable to breathe and having suffered many wounds, the troll fell to the ground. The knight let the sword in the body of the troll and used its body to jump safely to the ground. After a short while she carefully walked over towards the monster and retrieved her weapon.

“That was a fine practice battle if I do say so myself.” the knight said with a smile on her face. I knew that she could have taken out the troll by herself and much more, but I couldn't just stand by and wait.

“Yes, I'm quite pleased with this result myself.” I answered, also with a smile on my face. “It's been a long time since I fought monsters with such a content feeling.”

“You're quite capable. You can join me on any adventure after the exam is over.” the knight said to me. She looked a bit old to be participating at the exam as a knight, but I was never good at judging age. I paid it no heed.

Just as I thought it was strange the illusion was still turning, a roar was heard close. Another troll had appeared out of nowhere. Quickly I turned towards the monster and saw a huge fist flying towards us. My eyes shrank and my heart missed a beat as terror took over me.

“Watch out!” the knight screamed as she moved in front of me, her shield raised towards the fist.

“Thunder Shield!” I screamed as I unleashed my last resource defensive spell I had created. It was an instant spell and it used up a lot of magic energy and stamina. This kind of an ambush wasn't a first for me. The illusions had thrown me in many dangerous situations before and I had somehow grown used to these ambushes. I only cursed myself for not realizing earlier that the battle hadn't ended.

The fist of the troll didn't reach the shield, but was knocked aback by a barrier made out of lightning. Fear and terror had changed into anger and before I knew what I was doing, I had yanked the sword out of the hand of the knight by using raw magical energy and shot it right towards the chest area of the troll where its heart was located. While screaming I used the sword of the knight as a medium to electrify the troll as I shot bolts of lighting out of my right hand. I slowly walked towards the monster while intensifying the power of each bolt with each step. Screaming out in pain the monster was being toasted alive. Only after my magical reserves let out I stopped firing the lightning. Stars appeared in front of my eyes and I almost lost consciousness. I fell with one knee on the ground.

The knight was soon by my side. I noticed that the illusion was starting to fade. The garden area located at the centre of the school came into view. She knelt down near me and gave me something to drink. I gladly accepted her offer and drank all of the liquid. I only realized the taste of the drink that to be of a potion after finishing it. My dizziness soon faded away and I could feel energy returning to me.

“Thank you.” I said as I got up. I then looked at the empty glass bottle and then towards the knight. “Wasn't that expensive? Sorry for gulping it down.”

“That's okay. It is a potion that replenishes magic energy, so it's no use to a knight like me.” I looked confused at her while she walked forward to pick up her weapon. “Ah, this one took quite a beating as well.” The sword she picked up looked ragged and the blade itself seemed to be blunt.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I'll pay you to repair it.” Realizing that I had done that to her weapon, I wanted to make up for it. “I just did that on instinct I guess. I didn't really realize what I was doing. I'm sorry.” I apologised again. The knight just shook her head and smiled towards me, making me even more confused. I knew swords weren't cheap.

“It's okay. I borrowed this from a friend of mine. I'll apologise for it. If he's really angry I'll come find you to help me compensate for it.” I walked towards her to look at the sword. Even as a mage who knew nothing of swords saw immediately that it was beyond repair. Although the monster had been an illusion, the sword hadn't been and it had taken the full barrage of my spell. I was at a loss for words while looking at it.

“Hey, don't be so sad. I should be grateful. Although it was just an illusion, you saved our asses back there. I can take a beating, but that doesn't mean I like pain.” She was trying to cheer me up. I smiled towards her as thanks, but still felt down and responsible. I then checked the time from my pocket watch as it was a habit for me to do. I almost cursed when I realized how late it was.

“Oh no, I don't have much time left.” I said with a grunt.

“Sorry for taking up so much of your time.” the knight said to me.

“Don't be sorry, it's my own fault for losing track of time. I still had fun doing this. I'll gladly take you on your offer. I wouldn't mind going on an adventure with you.” I said to the knight. She then held out her hand to her. I first looked confused at it, before grabbing it and shaking her hand.

“I'm Bianca.” the knight said. I finally had a name to call her. It reminded me the famous Magic Swordswoman Bianca called Bianca the Graceful. Although I couldn't imagine that woman standing in front of me at the moment.

“Zeal.” I answered smiling and looking into her eyes.

“Zeal, huh? A good name.” she mumbled. I pretended not to hear.

“Anyway, I really have to go now.” I walked over towards my stuff and picked it up. “I haven't had proper breakfast yet and I'm already running late. Talk to you later.” I simply waved a bit and walked away towards my room. I quickly dropped my stuff in my room on my bed, grabbed my staff along with some vials with some potion in it and put them in my robe. Potions were really expensive and I had kept these vials for a big day like this. This exam would rate us as mages and would separate the elite from the common.

After this exam my three months holiday would start as well. I still had no plans, but I would probably stay at this school and continue my studies. I hadn't reached where I wanted to be at all. Many people would be going on an adventure, but since I wasn't a team-player nor did have anyone to go with, studying was the only thing left for me. I would probably go home to visit my parents for a couple of days, but that was it.

I headed towards the cafeteria which would loaded with people. Normally all the students could barely fit in here and now all those students from the other schools were here as well. The exam was held each year at a different school. It was the mages' school turn this time. Each school would also contribute several judges for the exam and there were also scouts and important guests present during the exam. There was also rumour that Bianca the Graceful was invited this year, but I didn't believe it. For some reason it made me think of the knight Bianca I had met this morning, but she hadn't used any spells during their mock battle. I still found it strange she had a potion for mages with her, but she probably already was part of a party and carried it around for the mage of the team. I paid it no heed as I ordered my breakfast and searched for a place to sit down.

I heard a female voice calling my name as he walked past the many tables. Searching for the origin of the sound, I saw a classmate waving towards me. She had reserved a place for me.

“I figured you would have forgotten the time. Although it isn't like you.” the female classmate said to me. “Did something happen?” This girl was one of my few friends which I had. She was the only friend I had which was in the same class as mine. Her name was Selphy and she was an half-elf. She looked quite young, but was already twice my age. She was a talented mage and she would sometimes team up with me. She preferred to use supportive magic and was well liked by everyone. I had no idea why she was hanging around with a lone wolf like me, but I enjoyed her company. Besides, she was quite a beauty and I could admire her beauty for hours while daydreaming.

“I merely lost track of time.” I answered, not wanting to tell the whole tale. I wanted to eat my breakfast in time so the food wouldn't hold me back during the exam. It was really irritating to have food still in your stomach being digested while you were in a battlefield. So my breakfast this time was easily digestible, but also nutritious.

“Hmm...” Selphy let out, sensing that there was more to it than I wanted to say. She didn't pursue the matter though. “It seems that rumour of Bianca the Graceful visiting this school today wasn't a rumour after all. Some fans of her attending this school have apparently seen her strolling around. It seems she has a glamour around her that prevents people from recognising her, but some of her hardcore fans have seen through it. She was gone when they saw through it though, so nobody has spoken to her without realizing it was her.” Selphy loved rumours and was a fan of Bianca the Graceful herself.

“Really?” I replied not really interested in the rumours. My mind was focused on the exam and the exam only. The time for chatter was when it was over. Selphy pushed me softly with her shoulder, almost causing me to spill my food on the person sitting next to me. I glared towards her in annoyance.

“You really need to learn how to relax. What fun is life if you're serious like that the whole time?” She meant well. She cared for me as a friend and I appreciated it. I merely wasn't in the mood for idle chat.

“I'll relax after the exam. Now, will you let me focus on my breakfast? Thank you.” The words came out more harsh than I wanted to. She shifted her glance towards the empty plate in front of her, looking down. Guilt overcame me immediately. “I'm sorry Selph. I'm just nervous I guess. This exam is important you know. I have no idea what to expect nor how to prepare myself for what's coming. I guess it's driving me insane.” She looked back at me and smiled. It seemed she had faked the hurt reaction and had forced an apology out of me. She was always able to do things like this to me. It was because I cared for her. If it was any of my other classmates I wouldn't have given a damn. She knew me too well.

“Then help me search for Bianca after the exam.” she baited with a grin on her face. I had fallen for one of her traps again.

“Alright, you win. I'll help you.” I faked a sigh and let a smile out while I continued my breakfast. It wasn't that I wasn't interested in meeting Bianca the Graceful myself. She had perfected something that almost no one ever had. She fought like a knight, but used magic to strengthen her attacks. She could use healing, supportive and offensive magic and she could turn the tide of the battle within a single moment. It wasn't that nobody had tried her way of fighting before, it was just that she was that good at it. She could have finished off the troll I fought that morning in a single strike. She was like a one-man army. The party she was in housed many other talented people, although it seemed their party missed a mage. She and her party had even taken down a dragon, a magical and intelligent creature capable of burning down villages and cities if it wanted to.

Luckily people were smart enough to leave dragons alone, but occasionally a dragon was woken up or his territory was trespassed and it would break out in a rage. Luckily negotiations could be done when the dragon calmed down, but sometimes the dragon couldn't be calmed down or negotiations wouldn't go well and the results were disastrous. An elite party would often be dispatched, but it had never happened that nobody would die in such a fight, until Bianca's party had fought one. To defeat a dragon without casualties and without a mage in the party who could heal them was just... epic.

Everyone knew that tale and that's how Bianca the Graceful got as popular as she is now. Even the Kings and Queens of countries wanted to be good terms with her.

“Well, I guess it's almost time for the exam huh?” Selphy said suddenly as she stood up. I had been daydreaming again. I checked the time again and noticed that she was right. Although the both of us would participate in the exam that was scheduled in the morning, we were placed in different groups. Content with finishing my breakfast and checking my preparations for the last time, I stood up as well. We moved our plates to the counter where they would be taken away to be cleaned and parted ways with each other. With my staff in my hand I felt strangely confident that I would succeed at anything they would throw my way.

“The exam this year will be a mock battle fabricated by the illusion spell you all are so well accustomed to.” the teacher said to us while walking back and forth in a steady, yet calming pace. I was sitting behind a desk in one of the many classrooms of the school. The class was filled with mages, knights, archers and other people whose class I didn't know. “You will be formed into parties of four people and we will decide on the teams. You will be judged on both individual skills as how well you work together as a team. You will need to appoint a leader for this battle. The leader will be judged differently from the rest of the group, so think before you elect yourself as the leader. The others will be judged on how well they can follow orders, but may also defect from orders if they are insane. If the leader says to chop of your leg, use common sense and defy his orders. Several judges will observe the battle. Results will be announced directly after the battle.” Murmurs were going around the classroom. Nobody expected the results to be announced immediately. I found it quite relaxing. I didn't want to wait for a long time before I got the results. That was truly nerve wrecking in my eyes.

“We have prepared several illusion spells, more advanced than the one you are used to in order to make sure the exam can be conducted in one day. To raise the stakes we have changed the rules a bit. Wounds inflicted during the battle will have an effect on your body as well. If you get set on fire, than you will suffer burn wounds. They won't leave you scarred, but you won't leave the fight unharmed. So don't do anything funny or stupid. The battle will be over when the judges have seen enough. Not any sooner, not any later.” the class was filled with murmur once again. Nobody had suspected this.

“Silence!” the teacher shouted once and the class fell silent. The teacher waited for a few seconds before continuing, raising the tension in the classroom. “When I call your name, you will step forward. After a group of four is assembled you will walk towards the garden. During this time you may discuss who will become the leader of the party. After setting foot in the garden, the illusion spell will activate and the exam will begin. I wish you all good luck.”

The teacher fell silent after that. I shut down all sound around me. I had hoped that something like this wouldn't happen. Fighting in a team wasn't my speciality and since I fought solo, I wasn't used to adapting at all. I had no experience as a leader and my judgement was different from the leader most of the times. I could hold my own ground, but since that teamwork was also a big factor in the exam, I was afraid that I wouldn't make it because of that factor. I also feared that if the synergy of the team was off, I would be getting a bad grade because of it.

“Zeal!” my name was shouted and I clumsily stood up. I grabbed my staff and walked towards the front of the class. I hadn't paid any attention to what had happened around me, so I only saw at that moment that I was last member of the team.

Our party consisted of a knight, an archer, a mage and me. The knight would be the only one of the front, so it was important to keep him safe. The mage was in another class than me and seemed only a young mage to me who was even more nervous than me. The knight showed a confident expression and the archer had a neutral poker face on.

“I wish all of you luck.” the teacher said, gave us our queue that we should move towards the garden. We all nodded and walked the first seconds in silence.

“Since I'm the one at the front lines, I'll elect myself as the leader of the party.” the knight immediately said to everyone and he started to walk in front of us to show us his position. “Do any of you have any problem with that?” he asked almost annoyed and defying, looking at us with his head turned while he kept walking forward. “Good.” He said after a while while we kept silent.

“What is our strategy for the battle?” I asked, trying to calm myself and to prepare our party for the coming exam.

“You guys will protect me as I will fight my way through the monsters. Don't get in my way, heal me when I'm injured and just keep out of my way.” the knight ordered while continuing to walk confidently.

“What if we get ambushed?” I asked our leader.

“Figure something out yourself. Use your own head. Just don't get in my way. I'll show those judges just how capable I am.” I sighed. I was afraid this would happen. Our self-elected leader was only thinking about himself and not about the others. We had no real strategies on how to operate throughout the fights and would need to improvise at any given time. If we lost track of our leader we would lose him and have lost the one who was capable in close range fights. It seemed that I had to take matters in my own hand, although it wasn't exactly following the rules. I approached the other mage.

“Hi, I'm Zeal. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name in the classroom.” I introduced myself and tried to get a reading on my other team mates.

“I'm m... mmm... Math.” the boy nervously said while stuttering.

“Pleased to meet you Math. Would kind of magic do you mostly use?” I asked the nervous boy. He had his hood over his head, so I couldn't see his face nor how he really looked. He was a head shorter than me and I was a bit below average length myself.

“I... I'm good at healing and supportive spells. I can use offensive magic, but mostly the basic of that.” I nodded at him.

“I see. I'm used to chanting offensive spells, so I'll leave the support and healing to you while I focus on the offensive, just don't forget to defend yourself when you're in danger.” Math nodded at this and somehow acted a bit more normal, his stance relaxing a bit.

“Mila.” the archer replied when I came closer to her. She seemed to be an elf. She had leather armour around her body, but parts of her were still open and vulnerable. Her bow was made out of wood, but seemed to be enchanted. I guessed the same was for her arrows and quiver. “I will help Math protect our leader. I am capable at close range, but I can only defend myself. Don't depend on me if you're in trouble.” I nodded towards her. I saw two daggers sheathed at her belt.

“I see, thanks for the information. That will help.” I replied.

“Let's make this exam work out.” Mila's face remained neutral. She would probably be more agile than us during the battle. She would probably do her own thing during the fight, but she seemed more reliable compared to our leader.

The knight was still walking in front. He had a two-handed claymore attached to his back and was wearing full body armour. He was wearing a helmet under one of his arms. He would be able to take a hit, but he wouldn't stand a chance if monsters would group up on him. I was worried that he would get too far away from the rest of the party and get us separated. He said that he was the leader, but he had made no effort to make sure his orders would be heard. I guessed there would be no orders during the battle, just a bunch of complaining shouts from him.

I was more at ease now that I had talked to my other two party members. Although we had to improvise a lot, we still knew what role everyone had in the battle and that was better than knowing nothing at all.

I tried to keep on breathing calmly as we walked into the garden. As soon as the four of us were all inside of the garden the area around us got dark. A couple of seconds later the illusion spell formed an area and the exam had started.

It was the worst luck scenario for us. We were inside of an dungeon like area and the four of us were standing in the middle of a crossroad of four different hallways. This was really unlucky. The plan was to have the leader at the front, but he couldn't be at four places at the same time. We would likely get assaulted from four different directions.

“This is an unfavourable position we are in, we should move in one of the corridors. It's better than being assaulted from two sides than four sides.” I quickly said. Our leader turned his attention towards me and looked annoyed at me. “Your orders, leader?” I asked, not wanting to piss the knight off.

“Follow me!” he shouted and walked into the hallway in front of him. We followed him while eyeing the area around us. Before we knew what had happened we were teleported back to where we were in the beginning.

“It appears some kind of trap.” Mila said.

“We should try another corridor.” Our leader said and walked off again. I quickly burned part of the wall of the hallway we were moving in before catching up with the rest. Mila nodded to me, agreeing with my actions while Math seemed to be even nervous. It seemed to me that his knees were shaking. I hoped the young mage wouldn't pass out of fear. That would be most troublesome.

Just like before, we were teleported. I looked around the edges of each corridor, looking for the burned marking I had placed, only to notice that there was none.

“This is useless, we keep getting teleported back no matter where we go. I say we stay and fight here!” the leader shouted. I walked towards him and shook my head.

“I disagree that we are getting teleported back. I left a burned marking the last time we walked towards a hallway. There isn't such a marking here. That means we are getting teleported to another place.” Our leader looked and me and opened his mouth to argue with me, but I was quicker. “I do agree with you that staying here is the best option. If we keep getting teleported to another spot, that could also mean we could be teleported into a trap. Although this situation isn't favourable to us, it doesn't hold any traps as far we have noticed. I can see and sense what's coming towards us from here. We were told we would be fighting. The goal is to defeat the monsters, not to seek an exit.” I said to our leader. I could see Mila nodding, agreeing with me, from the corner of my eye. Math kept quiet.

“The plan stays the same, I'll be at the front and you guys protect me.” our leader shouted towards us. Clearly things weren't going as he had planned and he was already unable to adapt to the situation.

“Let's just hope they won't ambush us from all sides...” I said softly. Our leader had placed his helmet over his head and had drawn his sword and hadn't heard me fortunately. I was already dismissing his capability as a leader and wouldn't follow most of his orders. I would trust my own judgement.

I nodded towards Mila and Math as they too prepared themselves. It seemed that they trusted me more than our leader. If I wanted, I could take over leadership during the battle. I just hoped it wouldn't have to come to that. My guts were telling me something else. I sensed a presence to the right and to the left of me.

“Protect me!” the leader shouted while he stormed of towards the hallway to the left of me. I nodded towards Mila as I took position to face the enemies that had started right of me.

Giant spiders came crawling towards me. Some of them were clinging towards the walls. I looked up, but saw only darkness and no ceiling. I hoped no monsters would surprise us from above. Having no allies in front of me, I shot fireballs towards the spiders taking them down one at a time. I knew that this would be only the first wave and that the monsters would be coming towards us without end from this point on. The real challenge was yet to unfold itself.

“Spiders to the left of us as well.” I heard Math scream, panic in his voice. Our leader was busy with his side. Mila shifted her attention to the new wave of enemies, shooting arrow after arrow. I noticed that her quiver would fill with arrows from time to time. I kept focusing on the task before me.

“Heal me!” the leader shouted from behind me. I trusted Math that he would do his job and kept taking out the foes in front of me. They kept on coming and I knew that if this would keep up, my magical energy and stamina would run out one moment or another. Still, there was no other option than to keep on going.

I felt the ground shaking and sensed a monster coming from the hallway in front of me. The spiders had stopped coming from my side and I had planned on helping Mila.

“Spiders clear from this side!” Mila shouted and I glanced towards her hallway and saw that she was right.

“Almost clear from this side as well.” Math shouted as I heard the leader shouting and making several battle cries. “The other side seems clear as well.”

“Big monster incoming from this side!” I shouted while gathering magical energy for a strong spell.

“The same over here!” Mila yelled.

“Help me defeat this troll you idiots!” our leader ordered us. He was indeed facing a huge troll, similar to the troll I had faced during my practice fight with Bianca. I gritted my teeth as I saw another troll, accompanied by two ogres coming towards me. The troll in front of me let out a battle and the ogres sprinted towards me. I shot bolts made out of electricity out of my staff towards the ogres, taking them down first. After that I let it rain lightning on the troll, taking it down in mere seconds. I then focused my attention on the lane of Mila and saw that fortunately her hallway only had the troll. I infused the arrows of Mila with electricity and sped them up with a burst of wind. They pierced through the skin of the troll, but didn't really inflict any damage.

“It's skin is too tick and it regenerates too fast.” Mila said frustrated.

“Just try to slow it down for a bit.” I said to the elf as I closed my eyes. Immediately I opened my eyes again as I felt the descend of monsters from the ceiling. I pointed my staff towards the ceiling and blasted a wave of fire, burning some of the monsters and revealing many more giant bats and spiders coming towards us.

“Ignore the troll Mila, focus on what's coming towards us from the ceiling.” I said to the archer. She immediately followed my order and shifted her attention to the masses of foes descending down towards us. I quickly made a wall of fire at the hallway where the troll was still coming towards us. I then shifted my attention towards the hallway of Math and our leader.

The knight was bleeding from his head and his helmet had been knocked off. The troll was forcing him backwards. Math was trying to slow down the troll, but the binding chains that appeared out of nothing simply got broken.

“Math, together with me, Binding Chains.” I told the mage as I walked towards him to join up. We both closed our eyes and concentrated, gathering magic energy. After a short while I was ready for the spell. I hoped that Math was ready as well. “Now!” I shouted as we luckily unleashed the spell at the same time. Bonds of light wrapped itself around the body of the troll, holding it in place for a few seconds. Our leader took this opportunity and dived his claymore into the body of the troll, piercing its heart and taking it down.

“About time you idiots!” he said while he turned around to face us. Exhaustion came over me as I had already pushed myself too far. I had to conjure a shield as I felt the presence of a monster coming towards me with high speed. The giant bat slammed right through the barrier and body slammed me to the ground. Fortunately Mila shot it down quickly after that, before continuing with her onslaught. While still on the ground I grabbed one of the vials that was in my robe, pulled the cork out of it and quickly drank it. I felt a bit of my depleted energy return to me. Math helped me get up. Our leader was near us, taking down the monsters coming from above. I immediately got back into action, first healing myself and Mila, who also had gotten hurt. I used basic offensive spells to take down the rest of the monsters.

Just when seemed to be calming down around us, a scream from the troll that we hadn't taken down could be heard. The wall of fire had died down and it was coming towards us. It didn't have a weapon, but something about the troll seemed different from before.

“Let's hurry up and take this one down as well.” the leader ordered as he ran towards the troll. The troll let out another battle cry and at that moment I knew what was different. Trolls could turn into something people called their Battle Rage. If a troll was angered too much, they fell into this state. For a short period of time they were even faster and stronger than before. Their regeneration seemed to be instant as well. It would only last a minute and after this their regeneration would be non-active and it would be slower and weaker as well. The problem was surviving that minute. Trolls in their Battle Rage had taken down many adventurers. That's why trolls were a force to be reckoned with.

“Wait, you don't stand a chance against it now!” I shouted towards our leader, but the knight ignored my warning and went straight towards the troll. Math unleashed another Binding Chains on the troll which encouraged our leader even more to dive in recklessly. Before the knight could even inflict a single wound, the troll broke free from the chains in an instant and slammed the knight to the wall, knocking him unconsciousness.

The trolls grinned towards us before he let out another battle cry and dashed towards us. Mila shot arrow after arrow in rapid succession towards the troll, but the arrows just bounced off the skin of the monster. She jumped out of the way before the troll could hit her, but the troll had anticipated this and used one of its arms to push the elf against the wall.

Math had fallen to the ground in fear and was shooting basic spells one after another towards the troll. The troll however seemed to be unaffected and it slowly walked towards the shaking mage. I knew I had to take a risk. I could take the troll down with a single spell, but it would harm my allies as well. I prayed for the best as I lifted my staff in front of me towards the battle raged monster.

“Lightning Bolt!” I shouted as I unleashed my spell on the troll. Normally mages wouldn't scream out their spells just like this, but I had learned that by doing so it would gave the spell a little bit of extra strength. Desperate, I had just screamed out the name of the spell, not even realizing what I was doing.

As I was standing behind Math the spell flew over the boy, but part of it hit him. The bolt of electricity shot right through the monster, crashing into the wall and taken down part of the stone that shot down and landed on the monster, burying it alive. Mila had been in the neighbourhood and had to dash away not to get buried as well. I almost collapsed to the ground, having drained my reserves. I fell down on one knee.

“I'm sorry Math, Mila. I had no choice.” I weakly said, fighting to stay conscious. I took the rest of my vials remaining in my robe and gulped them down as well. I slowly got up, healed the wounds of Math and helped him get up.

“I'm sorry Math.” I said to the young mage.

“That's okay. You did save me after all.” His hood had fallen back, revealing a bald head, pointy ears, big eyes and a big nose. Math was a gnome. He didn't want people to know this and that's why he hid his face. I helped him get up. We walked over to Mila and healed her wounds.

“That was quite the risk you took.” Mila said to me, getting up by herself after getting healed.

“I'm sorry you had to go through that.” I apologised.

“It was risky, but it worked. We are still alive, that is what is important.” the elf answered. It didn't seem she was angry at me, but I couldn't tell. Her face remained neutral and there was little emotion in her voice. We walked over towards our leader and tried to wake him up after healing his wounds, but the knight stayed unconscious.

“Looks like he is out cold.” I said after throwing water to his face with a simple spell. I looked up towards the other hallway as I heard sounds coming from the distance.

“Looks like the test isn't over yet.” the elf woman said, taking her bow back into her hand.

“So it would seem.” I answered while weighing down our options. We weren't in a good position. We lost our leader, not he had acted like a leader. Still, he was a capable warrior and none of us was great at close range fighting. Although I had gotten a bit of my energy back thanks to the potion I had kept around, I wouldn't last another round. Math looked exhausted as well and the quiver of our archer would run out of arrows sooner or later, being enchanted or not.

“We cannot continue like this. I suggest we retreat. We're near a teleportation point. I suggest we drag our knight towards that point and hope it will take us outside or some place where we can think of a better strategy. I'll collapse the wall in front of us and make a barrier of stone.” The others just nodded. The group had a new leader and it was me. “You guys go ahead and don't forget to take our 'leader' with us.” I closed my eyes and concentrated. I used to power of the earth to move the stones of the walls to the left and right of me. I picked strategic points to as much as rumble would collapse with the walls before I would dash away. I opened my eyes and gave the final push, turning around and running away as fast as I could while the walls behind me came crashing down on the floor.

I got teleported to another location, but the others didn't seem to be in sight. Instead of ending in the middle of the crossroad, I got teleported at the beginning of the hallway. I didn't hear the rumble of collapsing walls behind me, so I stopped running and kept walking forward, cautious for anything that could come my way. As I came closer to another crossroad, I saw something glowing in the middle. It seemed like some kind of portal. Guessing that the other members must have gone through this portal as well, I walked into it.

Bright light blinded me and I moved my hands in front of my eyes to shield them. I slowly moved my hands away to let my eyes adjust to the sudden light. There were rocks and mountains around me and I saw the rest of my party members standing just ahead. It seemed that the knight had woken up as well. The group seemed to be in some kind of discussion. It seemed to me that the exam wasn't over yet.

“You guys are failures!” I heard shouts from our 'leader'. “My only orders were to protect me and you couldn't even do that! You incompetent fools!” Mila had looked neutral the entire time, but she now looked really pissed.

“I see you're finally awake.” I said to the knight as I arrived at the scene.

“YOU! You didn't even help me one time the entire fight. I saw you aiding the elf right away, but you didn't even help me once, what kind of a team-player are you?! You failed to follow my orders. I knew you were the one who could be trusted the least.” I ignored the screams of the knight as much as I could.

“I see you guys made it out safely as well. I'm glad.” I said to both Math and Mila. They nodded towards me. Math had his hood over his head again. It seemed he wasn't comfortable showing his face.

“Don't you ignore me!” the knight grabbed my robe, but I immediately send a shock through his hand.

“I'm taking over command.” I said to his face, looking him directly in the eye. “All you care about is yourself. I worked together with Math and Mila to take down the monsters. It was me that made the decision that leave that dungeon. I also ordered not to leave you behind.” I told the knight right in the face. I saw the frustration growing in him.

“I would have left you behind if I had been given the choice.” Mila said to the knight, still pissed off. The elf didn't take criticism kindly.

“I... I vote Zeal for our leader as well.” Math said weakly. He flinched when the knight looked angrily at him.

“Fine, have it your way.” the knight finally said while raising his arms into the sky. “So, what would you like us do now, oh mighty leader? You might not have noticed it, but you guys left my sword behind. I don't have a weapon.” While I looked around me, I saw a something that I had seen for a rock move. The rock came alive and rose to its feet. Wings were unfolded, claws were scraping on the ground and eyes and big as myself were opened.

“Who dares to disturb my slumber?” the dragon asked, his voice low and drumming through over bone of my body. Its mere presence made me almost piss my pants.

“Run.” I whispered. The others slowly turned towards the dragon. “Run and don't look back!” I ordered and shouted towards my party. They immediately broke out into a dash, even our brave former leader.

“You will not escape.” the dragon said and breathed in deeply.

“I am sorry to disturb your slumber!” I shouted towards the dragon, hoping to distract it. If it would attack us, we would all die. “My friends and me were just having a heated discussion. We had no idea that we were in the presence of such a grand, mighty and majestic creature such as yourself.” I had held my hands in front of me, trying to let the dragon know that I surrendered. At the end of my last sentence I knelt down before the dragon and did not dare to look it in the eyes.

“Your flattery will not save you, measly human.” the dragon used the last word as a curse. “I'm quite grumpy after waking up in such a manner. I think I will take out my anger on your first.” The dragon once again took a deep breath. I could see the oncoming fire going through his throat. The only thing that crossed my mind was one thought.

“Is this how I die?”

Survival instinct took over and I used pure magical energy to push myself out of the way, landing hard on my side, but dodging the raging inferno that was coming forth from the mouth of the dragon. The dragon looked surprised at me as I got on my feet again. It showed a mouth full of teeth to me and I thought it was grinning. It raised his front claw and swiped it towards me.

“Thunder Shield!” I screamed as I put almost all of my remaining energy in that spell. The spell held the claw for a moment before it was bounced back by the shock. I shot several bolts of lightning towards the dragon, aiming for its wings. I wasn't aiming to defeat it. I was just merely holding its attention. The longer I could hold out, the bigger the chance the rest of the party would survive. The dragon growled agitated and took another deep breath.

I had waited for that moment. Gathering all of the magical energy that was left, I prepared myself for one final spell. Just before the dragon wanted to open his mouth, I unleashed the spell.

“Binding CHAIN!” I screamed with all of my might. Chains of light were pulled over the mouth of the dragon, not letting the fire escape. I used all of my willpower to keep the massive jaw of the dragon shut. I was fighting against my own fading consciousness to keep on going. The fire within the dragon was finding its way back into the body and destroying the dragon from within. The dragon growled and moved around as it was in pain. Unable to go on, I gave up the fight and let myself fall into a deep sleep. A smile knowing that I had done all I could was on my face while I fell to the ground.

I woke up in the nursery of the school. I tried to get up, but my head was pounding like crazy and I fell back onto the cushion. The light hurt my eyes. My whole body felt heavy and I felt pain in body parts that I didn't know existed. I groaned out in pain.

“Easy there.” the voice of a female said to me. I slowly tried to open my eyes, the light hurting my eyes and making my headache even worse. A woman with blond hair and blue eyes which I didn't recognise at first was sitting next to the bed.

“Bianca?” I asked. She looked different. She also looked familiar, but my head hurt so much I couldn't think.

“Oh, you remember me. I was worried you had already forgotten about me.” the woman teased.

“What happened?” I asked. I had trouble speaking and only whispers came out of my mouth.

“You don't remember?” she asked me. I slowly shook my head. I felt like I was in a daze. “Well, you used up all of your magical energy in the exam. You also got stomped upon by a dragon while lying unconscious. Since part of the damage got through because of the illusion spell, your body is kinda beaten up. I heard the judges were so fixated on watching the fight that they ended the spell a bit too late. Sorry for that.” I had closed my eyes again. The headache was too painful to keep my eyes open. Slowly I remembered what had happened during the exam. I wondered if I had passed it. I had done the best I could with the party members presented to me. I could have dealt differently with the knight though. I still didn't know his name, but didn't mind it as well. I still didn't like the guy.

“What happened to the others?” I thought out loud. I didn't even realize that I had asked that question out loud.

“Oh, they escaped from the dragon. The exam ended after you collapsed though. We let the mage and the ranger pass the exam. The knight we had trouble deciding on. Oh, it seems they want to talk to you in person before before they announce the results of your exam.”

“I see...” I was able to let out before I lost consciousness again.

The next time I awoke most of the pain was gone. I was dismissed from the nursery after they fed me some soup. Someone had laid out new clothes for me from my room as I had worn white clothes while I had slept in the nursery. The school itself was quiet and it seemed there was almost nobody around anymore. The holiday season had started and almost every student had left the compound. Only a handful of teachers and students had remained. I had been the last one to leave the nursery. It even felt like I was sent away so the nurse could start her holiday as well. This holiday only occurred every four years, so most people were glad to have a long time off.

I slowly walked towards my own room, my body still hurting. I found my staff inside my room. There was also some cards on my desk. One was of Selphy wishing me to get well soon. It also said she had passed the exam and that she was spending the holiday back at the Elven village she was raised. She asked if I could come visit her sometime. It brought a smile on my face. It would be nice to see her not in a school environment. I would probably go visit her after visiting my own parents.

The second card was from Math and Mila thanking me for my efforts during the exam. Both of them had passed and Math had made a funny drawing of an angry knight. It was supposed to be the knight of our party. It made me laugh for a little bit.

The final card was white and it told me to come towards the director's office as soon as I would read this. Confused I left my room and walked towards the room I was called to. I had never been in the director's office before, so I had a think for a bit on how to get there. After taking a few wrong turns I finally arrived at my destination. I knocked the door before I entered.

“Enter.” a voice beckoned me to come inside. I softly closed the door behind me. A wooden desk was at the end of the room. There were prices placed on display against the wall as well of some pictures in which I didn't recognise anyone. The person sitting behind the desk had their chair turned away from me. “Please, sit down.” There was a chair placed in front of the desk and I sat down on it. The person turned the chair around to face me. For some reason he or she was wearing a mask. The light coming from the windows was blinding me, so I couldn't get a clear view on the person sitting in front of me.

“Before I announce the results of your exam, I have a few questions for you. Please answer them truthfully.” I understood that the answers would determine whether I had passed the exam or not so I nodded.

“Before you entered the exam, your team elected the knight as the leader of the party. May I ask you why?” the person asked me. For some reason the voice seemed deformed and I couldn't get a clear holding on it.

“The knight elected himself as leader. He seemed like a stubborn person with a lot of pride. I didn't like him, but didn't know much about him nor my other party member to go against his decision. I guessed he had experience as a leader if he elected himself.” I answered truthfully, thinking back hard on what had happened. The person seemed to write something down for a bit.

“Next question. You seemed to help the ranger before helping the leader of the party. Why did you take that action?” I had to think for a bit who my interrogator meant with ranger, but I finally guessed that was another name for the archer in our party.

“Mila was holding down the lane on her own, like myself. Our party leader had the aid of Math. I trusted their capabilities and decided to help the one who had been facing the lane by herself, just like myself. I had talked with Math and Mila before the exam and we had come up with a battle plan of our own, since the battle plan the party leader was incomplete in my eyes. It only focused on our leader and not on the entire party. The plan on focusing on the safety of the leader seemed unsuitable in the situation we were in.” Again, the person in front of me wrote something down.

“Last question. Why did you engage the dragon on your own? Did you think that you could take it down on your own? Are you so arrogant that you think you could take down a dragon just because you had taken down a battle raged troll?” I shook my head. “Answer me!” The furious tone dumbfounded me a little bit before I answered. The person kept ticking on the desk impatiently, waiting for an answer.

“I did not think I could take the dragon on my own. Not only that, I knew that even if the party had been in perfect harmony with each, fully equipped and fully rested that we would all have died anyway. I send the others away so that they would survive. I no longer realized that I was trying to pass an exam. I knew that if we all would try to run away, we would still all die. The only option I saw during that time was to distract the dragon for as long as possible to give the rest of my party members enough time to escape. As newly appointed leader of the party, I was taking responsibility as leader and was trying to get the rest out alive. I did not think it was noble or anything of the sort. I simply did what seemed best at that moment.” I answered.

“That is all there is to it?” the person asked.

“That is all.” I waited while the person turned around the chair again and seemed to think. My heart was pounding like crazy. The seconds seemed to last for an eternity and I noticed I was sweating like crazy. Finally the person turned their chair around and took of the mask in front of the face. The light from behind the desk seemed to be a bit milder as well. I looked at the face of Bianca and I looked puzzled at her.

“I have reached my conclusion. You passed. Congratulations Zeal.” Bianca said to me. I still couldn't understand what was happening.

“Um... Bianca? What is going on?” I asked confused.

“You look so cute like that. I'm saying that you passed the exam Zeal. Not only that, you came out top of your class. The stunt you pulled with that dragon was awesome. I wouldn't have thought of something like that. Too bad you were out of energy or you might have escaped alive. You really had me hanging on the tip of my chair.”

“Wait, you were watching the exam? You were a judge? Just who are you Bianca?” Zeal asked confused.

“You are quite slow on the uptake, aren't you Zeal? Well, I guess this glamour is working pretty well then.” Something seemed to happen and suddenly I recognised the person sitting in front of me. I suddenly asked myself how the hell I hadn't recognised the person sitting in front of me.

“I am Bianca the Graceful. I was invited to be a judge here. I took a personal interest in you when we fought together against those trolls in that simulation. I decided to personally judge you on your capabilities and even went a little bit too far trying to push you to your limits. Sorry about that.”

“Wait? You were the one setting the dragon loose on me?” I asked the celebrity sitting in front of me.

“It was a sudden inspiration that took over me. It took a little bit to convince the other judges, but it worked out in the end. They were most impressed with you during the exam Zeal. Especially one of your teachers. He said he had never seen you act like that and he looked proud in the end, even though you lay flattened on the ground beneath the foot of a dragon.”

I let out a sigh. I was glad that I passed the exam, but I wasn't sure if I was happy that Bianca the Graceful had taken a personal interest in me.

“So... Let me ask again.” Bianca continued after clearing her throat. “Will you go on an adventure with me?” She held out her hand towards me. I accepted with both of my hands grabbing hers.

“I would be honoured.” I answered.

Disappointment is still present in my life. People that do selfish things and only think of themselves disappoint me every time, even though I lower my expectations every time. Yet at the moment, that disappointment doesn't bring me down anymore. I'm surrounded by wonderful people and friends and the greatest concern I have is that I don't disappoint them. That sounds easier than done though.

Author's Note

Please send any feedback both on grammar and how to further improve my stories.