EdgarFig

[ 55 ] Final Exam

Vae had explained that the Big Five academies of Lorran were Sapphire Spire, Vanguard Academy for Battlemages, Umbra Arcanium, The Veiled Eye, and Mount Aegis Citadel.

There was no easy way to pick from the big five, and any mage with half a mind would happily accept a spot from any of them.

The Sapphire Spire was a balanced academy ...

[ 54 ] First Prize

Several minutes after the exam had finished, four government clerks appeared beside them, utilizing some kind of teleportation spell. After placing a hand on their shoulders, they were abruptly transported out of the examination area.

The entire ordeal was over in minutes, the government mages having collected all of the participants and b...

[ 53 ] Clone Trap

The plan worked better than Kal expected. Orbel had surprisingly good control over the wires and was easily able to help Kal direct the clone once it was out of sight.

Orbel explained that he couldn't actually see what the wires could, but he could sense their surroundings as if they were an extension of his mana core. Kal was surprised th...

[ 52 ] Fallen to Thievery

Three hours passed as the two allied teams made their way through the forest. 

Even though they doubted they were likely to find unfound objectives, that didn’t stop them from using those objectives to fuel the lantern. Going over the list, they continued until the stream of blue light began to trail out toward one of the objectives...

[ 51 ] Airship

The shadow of the airship loomed ominously over the little leaf as Team Alpha descended upon them. Within seconds, three of their four members had abseiled down, surrounding Ellie, Arix, and the clone with their abseiling ropes still attached.

Casting a spell in his left hand, a boy with short, spiky hair swung a fist through the air at El...

[ 50 ] Showdown

Kal’s mind raced as he considered their next move. On the surface, it might have appeared bad, but they weren’t the only team with objectives, even if they had the biggest target on their back.

There was one problem. He was fairly certain the airship was faster than rowing a floating leaf, which meant their backup escape plans were out...

[ 49 ] Holdout

The leaves bobbed in the water and swayed against the currents as they pulled up to the pebbly shore. The small island wasn’t far from the Aerie’s banks, but the deep, fast-moving river would dissuade many regardless.

There wasn’t much to the island. A dozen trees perched atop it, their thick roots interwoven into one, with a huge sp...

[ 48 ] Allies? With you?

The three noble kids had proven even more useless than Kal had originally thought. 

After Vae took chase in the hope of backing Kal up, they went on the attack against Ellie and Arix. They had actually gotten close to catching Ellie and Arix and the decoy Astral Pouch with 100 points, but a point-blank wave of the noble boy’s wand h...

[ 47 ] Astral Prince

Scanning his surroundings, Kal searched on, blocking out the mana of everyone nearby so that he could hone in on Caesil.

He wasn’t sure exactly how far his Void Eye could travel, but secret spell or not, being a second circle spell meant that it would have limitations, and Kal doubted its travel distance could be too great.

Not onl...

[ 46 ] Revenge

Slashing at underbrush as he dashed through the forest, Kal closed in on Team Allseeing. They hadn’t been far away, but the moment he sensed the botflies on the move again, he knew they needed to strike.

“It’s nice seeing you so confident, Kal, but Caesil Galador is no ordinary mage,” Vae said as he struggled to keep up.

“I...

[ 45 ] Recovery

Kal ran back and forth, racing through the maze as fast as he could. He had grown frustrated with the maze but still held off from using his core stats. Skidding to the end of a corridor, he wiped sweat from his brow and panted. Come on, you got this. The exit can’t be too much further away.

Shooting off again, he sprinted down ...

[ 44 ] The Prize

His fingers hovering an inch from the lockbox, Kal dispelled one of the clones. The moment he took hold of it, he dove forward, leaping across the podium and clinging to the back side of the pyramid—effectively hiding himself from where the teams would exit the corridors and enter the main chamber.

Kal's suspicion was confirmed when he w...

[ 43 ] Puzzle

Just as Kal was about to cast Swift Step to slow his fall into the pyramid, he felt reality warp around him. Colors blurred, shapes distorted, and sounds muted. Confused, he blinked several times before his lagging brain caught up and realized he wasn’t in the chamber he had jumped down to.

He was sitting in a small room of huge, yellow ...

[ 42 ] Lockbox

The towering volcano was mostly covered by vegetation, which would have hidden it from view if not for it being a huge freaking volcano in an otherwise flat landscape.

The volcano continued to grow as they neared it, and soon Kal detected mana.

Turning to the rest of Team Ebenshire, Kal spotted Vae’s alerted expression. 

[ 41 ] Top Five

“Ah, guys,” Arix said, casting the holographic leaderboard before his eyes. “We’re top five now.”

“We’re ranked fifth?” Ellie’s eyes brightened as soothing azure light radiated from her hands. The pain from Kal’s injuries had already subsided thanks to her magic, and while Sooth wasn’t a true healing spell, it would g...

[ 40 ] Albinoid

She was fast. Faster than Kal had expected. But her speed was the least of his problems. 

Thanks to his mana sense, he knew the direction she was coming from, but it was vague. All he had was a sense of speed of the descending blur enclosing on him. 

Perhaps if he were blind and forced to constantly rely on this skill, he c...

[ 39 ] From Beneath

The bubbling water reached a crescendo as if the river itself was boiling, and Kal felt himself lift into the air. He didn’t know what it was beneath him and didn’t want to find out. Taking hold of the leaf’s edges, he cast Swift Step and sent himself and the leaf gliding away.

Unfortunately, in desperation, he had sent himself flyin...

[ 38 ] Mushrooms

The forest thinned as it gradually gave way to a clearing. At the heart of the clearing was a giant redwood surrounded by downed and rotting trees. Whoever had downed the trees hadn’t just down so to clear the land but had been dragging trunks from elsewhere into it.

The reason became evident as they stepped closer. Hundreds of mushrooms...

[ 37 ] Thieves

Arix aimed his bow at the big guy with an arrow nocked. Vae had shot forward before the speedy, cloaked figure could get back to her feet and now stood with his boot pressed against the would-be thief's cloak, pinning her to the ground. 

Ellie was still sitting with the shimmering blue shield hovering above her, and Kal glared across ...

[ 36 ] Night watch

After waiting a short moment to confirm they were alone, Team Ebenshire walked along the shoreline, following it for the rest of the day as they searched for a starfish.

The objective list hinted that the Rainbow Starfish could be found on the banks of the Aeries, where islands dotted the lands. It sounded like it should be easy. The only ...

[ 35 ] Stubborn Mule

A large, jagged rock rose from the little island as if it were its horn, and standing atop it was the bandana-wearing teen, pointing at the leaf floating toward their little river sanctuary.

“Oi hands up,” Alron shouted, shadowed by an outstretched leafy branch that crept over the thin, pebbly beach that they approached. “State your ...

[ 34 ] The Island

“Come on, stop being a thickheaded brute. Just give us the carapace, and we’ll help you get off this island,” Michel demanded, slapping his palm.

“No way,” a rough-looking, short-haired boy about seventeen shot back. He wore the magical cloak on his back like a cape, leather knee-high boots, and a bandana, making him look more li...

[ 33 ] Carapace

Perched from atop a towering redwood, four teens eyed an island at the center of a particularly wide section of the Aeries.

“Do you think it's clear, Michel?”

“Not sure,” said the short-haired boy, who must have been about fifteen or sixteen. Peering through a narrow part in the tree’s foliage from their vantage point, he t...

[ 32 ] Demonic Botflies

Kal was right. Once they were near the area labeled Redwood Grove, he could feel the demonic mana in the air.

It was much weaker than what he felt from Bougie and Wort, but the presence was the same.

It was also undeniable that the distinction between mortals and magical creatures was more than just how they awoke their cores. The bo...

Royal Road release

Reborn with a Demonic Core was released the other day on Royal Road!

[ 31 ] Let the Hunt Begin

Starting location: 142. North Eastern Morington along the left bank of the Aeries.

“This appears to be our starting spot,” Vae said, lowering to one knee to ruffle the grass where the mana mark was placed. “Not a terrible spot.”

“Except there’s the freaking Aeries between us and the ex...

[ 30 ] Magic Hunt

As the sun set, the government mages gathered the young participants back to where they had the preliminary exam. 

The little, divided arenas had been removed and replaced with a podium where the mage clerks stood.

“With no further delays, let us announce the rules for the Magic Hunt. As you should all know by now, directly at...

[ 29 ] Preliminary Exams 2

Entering the test arena, a teen boy and girl who looked a couple of years older than Kal took their positions in front of the examiner.

Even though it didn’t matter in the end, it still irritated Kal that nobody said anything about participants being allowed to take the exam together. He doubted he would have done it anyway since it had ...

[ 28 ] Preliminary Exam

Wow, that guy’s huge.

Kal looked across the crowd at a giant of a man. He stood at least a foot or so taller than those around him, with solid, squarish features and a body of hard muscle.

Wait, he’s not a man at all. Kal’s eyes widened in realization. He wasn’t looking at a man. He was looking at an ogre. L...

[ 27 ] Leaving Ebenshire

The academy exams took place across Lyssia in cities and large towns.

Morington was the closest city to Ebenshire, about an hour away by wagon, and was the trio's designated examination location. 

Morington was located between Ebenshire and Lorran and was a major logistics hub.

Magical examiners visited all the Kingdom's c...