The Hall of Test had begun to empty.
Yet outside its gates the excitement of the announcement continued to spread through the streets of the Club Kingdom. Merchants stood beside their carts discussing the seven-day examination. Parents gathered in groups wondering whether their children would return home as Bronze Dravons. Young students argued about what the first round might involve.
Nobody knew where the examination would take place.
Nobody knew what they would be asked to do.
Nobody knew why Renix had changed the rules.
For Ekki that uncertainty was more exciting than frightening.
He stood beneath one of the crystal pillars outside the Hall staring at the structure. Sunlight passed through the stone and scattered across the pavement in fragments of blue and gold.
"" Taki said, breaking the silence "we came here expecting to take an exam today and instead we got seven days of suffering announced by a man who refuses to explain anything."
Sero laughed. "You make it sound terrible."
"It is terrible."
"We haven't even started."
"Exactly! That's what makes it terrible."
Ekki smiled,. His eyes remained fixed on the Hall.
Seven rounds. Seven days.
Whatever waited for them he intended to face it.
"Come on " Sero said, nudging his shoulder. "Lets find out where we're supposed to stay. I heard the kingdom has prepared accommodation for students coming from villages."
Taki immediately straightened.
"Accommodation? With food?"
"That's what you're worried about?"
"Of course. If they expect me to survive seven days of examinations they had better feed me."
The three boys joined the stream of students moving toward the courtyard.
Beyond the Hall of Test stood a collection of buildings unlike anything Ekki had seen before. Some were constructed from stone, others from dark wood and several had roofs covered in small crystals that shimmered whenever the wind changed direction.
At the centre of the courtyard stood a fountain shaped like an open hand. Water flowed between its fingers rising into the air before falling into a pool.
Ekki slowed down.
"Is that magic?" he asked.
Sero followed his gaze. "Partly. The water is drawn from a spring but the fountain uses wind crystals to keep the streams moving in different directions."
Ekki watched the water spiral upward.
"So even buildings can use magic?"
"Almost everything can, if someone understands how to make it work."
For a moment Sero seemed to realize what he had said.
He looked at Ekki.
". That doesn't mean everything needs magic to be useful."
Ekki turned toward him.
Sero shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. "I mean look at your swordsmanship. You trained for a year before any of us could see what you were capable of. That's not nothing."
Taki folded his arms.
"He's right. Although I still think it's unfair that you can cut through my flames with that sword."
"You were the one throwing fire at me."
"I was testing your abilities."
"You nearly burned my trousers."
"An important part of the test."
Sero burst out laughing.
Ekki joined him.
For a while the examination seemed far away.
Then a voice called from behind them.
"Excuse me. Are you three from the school?"
A girl stood beside the fountain holding a folded sheet of paper. She wore a blue uniform with silver buttons and her long black hair was tied neatly behind her head. A thin chain rested around her wrist ending in a crystal that glowed faintly.
"Yes " Ekki answered. "We're from the district school. Our teacher is Sensei Ria."
The girl checked her paper.
"Then you're the students listed under her school group."
She glanced at the three of them.
"I'm Mira. I'm from the branch of the same school."
Taki blinked. "The northern branch?"
"Not every student studies in the building " Mira explained. "The kingdom has schools under the same teaching authority. Some focus on combat some on control and others on strategy and defensive techniques."
Ekki listened carefully.
He had attended his school for years. There were still parts of the kingdom he knew only through rumours.
Mira pointed toward a building on the far side of the courtyard.
"The examination candidates have been asked to gather. Teams will be recorded before the round."
"Teams?" Sero repeated.
Mira nodded. "Didn't you hear? Renix said the first round would test more than strength. The registration officers are arranging candidates into teams."
Takis expression changed.
"Wait. Teams? Are we allowed to choose our own?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm going there."
She. Started walking.
Sero immediately followed.
"Then we'd better find out."
Ekki and Taki exchanged a glance before following them.
***
The registration building was much quieter than the Hall of Test.
Long wooden desks lined the walls each attended by a Dravon wearing a uniform marked with a rank insignia. Bronze badges gleamed on some chests silver emblems on others while a handful of officers wore gold.
At the end of the room a broad staircase led to a balcony overlooking the courtyard.
A large map of the Club Kingdom covered the wall beneath it.
Ekki stopped before the map.
The kingdom was far larger than he had imagined. Mountains marked its border forests stretched across the west and a wide river divided several of its eastern districts. Small symbols indicated villages, training grounds, watchtowers and Dravon fortresses.
"This is the kingdom?" he whispered.
"Not quite " Mira said, appearing beside him. "This map shows the territories administered directly by the Club Kingdom. There are settlements beyond the marked borders but the map doesn't include every road or outpost."
Ekki traced the river with his eyes.
His parents had been lost to a river.
He wondered whether they had travelled through one of the places shown on the map whether they had seen these mountains or whether their lives had ended somewhere beyond the territory he knew.
He quickly pushed the thought away.
Today wasn't the day to dwell on the past.
Today was the beginning of something
"Candidate group!" a registration officer called.
Students gathered around a desk.
The officer was a middle- man with a scar running from his left cheek toward his jaw. A silver badge rested on his chest.
"My name is Daren " he announced. "I am responsible for recording the teams participating in the round. Listen carefully. Your school affiliations will be recorded,. You will compete as teams of three unless the examination instructions state otherwise."
A murmur spread across the room.
"Three people?" someone asked.
"Yes. Your team must be registered before the bell tomorrow morning. Once the bell rings no changes will be permitted unless authorized by an examiner."
Ekki exchanged a glance with Sero and Taki.
There was no need for a discussion.
"We're together " Sero said.
"Obviously " Taki replied. "I refuse to spend seven days explaining my strategies to strangers."
"You have strategies?" Ekki asked.
"Several."
"Name one."
"Survive."
Sero laughed hard that Mira looked at them in confusion.
The three boys approached the desk.
Daren studied their names.
"Ekki. Sero. Taki. Eastern district school."
He paused briefly at Ekkis entry.
"Your record states that you have no registered affinity."
The words were spoken without mockery. Ekki still felt the familiar tension in his chest.
"Yes, sir."
Daren looked up.
"Your team is responsible for its cooperation. During an examination a candidates limitations are not automatically a teams limitations. Make sure you understand that."
Ekki stared at him.
The officer had already moved to the form.
Those words remained.
A candidates limitations are not automatically a teams limitations.
Ekki had spent long thinking of his lack of magic as a wall that he had rarely considered what might exist on the other side of it.
He followed Sero and Taki away, from the desk.
Their team was registered.
Whatever happened tomorrow they would face it together.
***
Near the wall three girls were having a very different discussion.
So we have seven days, unknown challenges and a kingdom full of students who think they know whats coming.
Sero leaned back on his hands.
"Sounds exciting."
"You find everything "
"Not everything."
"What doesn't excite you?"
"Listening to you complain."
Taki tossed a folded piece of paper at him.
Ekki laughed, then fell quiet.
"Do you think the first round will be about fighting?"
Sero shrugged.
"Maybe.. Renix specifically mentioned endurance, strength and spirit. That sounds like more than beating someone."
"Then we should be ready for anything " Ekki said.
Taki looked at him.
"You're serious aren't you?"
"About what?"
"About becoming a legend."
Ekki's smile faded a bit.
For a moment he saw the classroom again. The laughter, the words that had stuck with him for years.
No magic. No future. No place among the strong.
"Yes " he said. "I am."
Taki looked down at his hands.
"I used to think you were crazy for wanting it."
Ekki waited.
"I thought someone without magic could never stand beside the warriors. When that creature attacked I ran. You didn't."
Taki's voice was softer now.
"I still get scared. I probably will tomorrow too.. I don't want fear to make every choice for me."
Ekki looked at him surprised.
"You don't have to stop being afraid " he said. "You just have to decide what you do when you're afraid."
Taki looked up.
Sero smiled faintly.
"Listen to him. He's been practising speeches all year."
"I have not."
"You absolutely have."
The three boys laughed again.
Taki kept thinking about Ekki's words.
For the time he got it. Courage wasn't about never feeling fear. It was about not letting fear run your life.
Above them the sky changed from blue to amber.
A bell rang somewhere inside the Hall of Test meaning the time to register was over.
The courtyard slowly grew quiet.
Then a messenger appeared at the top of the stairs holding a sealed notice with Renix's symbol.
"Attention, candidates!"
Everyone stopped talking.
"The teams for the round have been chosen. Final lists will be posted at sunrise. All candidates must gather outside the Hall of Test before the bell."
The messenger paused.
"The location and rules for Round One will be announced when the test starts. No candidate may enter the testing grounds before then."
A wave of voices spread through the courtyard.
"That's insane " someone whispered.
"That's the point " another answered.
Ekki stared at the sealed notice.
Tomorrow the waiting would end.
Tomorrow he would stand beside Sero and Taki. Not as the boy everyone had ignored,. As someone who had earned the right to try.
He knew he wasn't the strongest.
He knew he didn't understand the sword at his side.
He knew there were students here who were far more powerful than he was.
For the first time those facts didn't make him feel small.
They made him want to keep learning.
As the crowd began to break up Ekki looked toward the mountains beyond the kingdom's walls.
Out there were places he'd never visited paths he'd never walked and secrets he'd never imagined.
Maybe the test would lead him to one of them.
Maybe it would show him something about the stone, the shadow sword or the power that had awakened inside him.
He didn't know.
For the first time he didn't have to know everything before stepping forward.
"Ekki!" Sero called.
Taki was already heading toward the accommodation building.
"Coming!" Ekki replied.
He took one look at the Hall of Test.
Its crystal pillars caught the setting sun, glowing like seven flames, against the darkening sky.
Seven days.
Seven rounds.
A thousand dreams.
One boy who had spent his whole life believing he was meant to stand outside the world of magic.
Ekki gripped the strap of his sword tighter.
"Tomorrow " he whispered.
Then he walked with his friends into the gathering dusk while above the kingdom the first stars began to appear.