When the array’s light disappeared and the familiar building appeared in front of Belinda, she felt relieved. She never thought after 2 years she would be so fond of this place.

There weren’t too many students who came with them. It was still in the middle of the holiday. It was natural for the older students to play outside.

Belinda happily went to report she came back. After her name was erased from the absent student’s list she wanted to go back to her room but was stopped.

„You are finally back!” Gregori ran to her.

„Huh? Something happened?” she was surprised.

„Something? Do you forget?! We need to register in the Arena during the holiday!” Gregori almost cried. Why was everyone around him so easygoing?!

„Register? Why?” she really didn’t remember about it.

Gregori facepalmed. „After the 3rd year started, every month, we’ll have a duel as an exam! If you don’t want a random opponent, you’ll need to register with your partner before the next semester.”

Belinda was stunned then slowly turned to Horác.

„Hahaha! Maybe there was something like this...”

She gave up to ask anything from him and turned back to Gregori. „The others already registered?”

„Yes. I didn’t think about registering with any of them and they seemed to have the same idea. I met with Ciceró a week before and he told me, they even train together from now on.”

„What about Dárius?”

„He’s with Naómi.”

„Didn’t you train together with them? Why they left you out?”

Gregori was speechless. „Didn’t you saw their duel during the previous exam?”

Belinda tried to remember, but she realized she didn’t pay any attention to the other students. „Sorry, I wasn’t interested.”

„... I can understand.”

They said goodbye to Horác and Bertold and went to the Arena. The registration was easy. They just needed to give their card and it was done after a minute.

„Excuse me!” Belinda said to the employee. „After this, anyone can challenge me?”

„No. You are still a 3rd year student. You can choose to erase your name from that list. But after this year, you’ll need to take part in it.”

„Then, please, erase, thank you!”

Gregori’s eyes lit up. „I want to stay on the list! And can you tell me the rules?”

„The same as during the monthly exams. You can't kill or use poisons. The contract beast can fight with you if your opponent agrees. Skills, spells, and weapons, you can use any kind of, but no talismans or seals until the 6th year! After that, with your opponent’s permission, you can use them without limit... Right now you need to accept the first 3 challenges every month. The rest you can reject or choose a later date.”

„I see, thank you!”

They put away their cards and left. It was still early so they walked around and spoke about other things.

„Right!” Gregori suddenly stopped. „Which classes will you choose?”

„Classes?” Belinda took out a book and opened it.

Only the first 2 years had fixed classes and training. During this time they learned the basic knowledge about almost everything. It could make it easier for them to choose what to learn in the future. Even if Horác personally taught Belinda, she still needed to choose. Only that way she could get access to the related books.

Belinda turned the pages in the book. „I made some beginner arrays before, but it’s hard. I leave it for later... Seals and talismans... I want to try this! It seems easier than the array. Even if I’ll fail I can drop it after a year. And I want to learn about beasts! Every class 2 hours long and you need to go 2 times a week. I’ll continue to train with Bertold and I still don’t know if Horác will give me other tasks... I think it’s enough. How about you?”

Gregori was speechless. He didn’t think about it this thoughtfully. „I don’t know... Zotmund said that he’ll only train us for 1 day every week. The other 2 were happy about it, but I think I’ll need to find a partner. It’s possible to learn spells and skills alone, but you need someone to practice properly...”

Belinda saw him looking at her hopefully and sighed. „... I’ll ask Bertold, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

„Hurray! Thank you!” Gregori smiled happily.

She was sure, Bertold would say no, but she didn’t want to make her friend sad. There were times when she practiced alone. If she invited him over during those times, then it would be okay. Yet it couldn’t be too many times, because she mostly practice with her twin swords and their existence still was a secret.

They spoke about the classes, but Gregori couldn’t choose. He wanted to try everything, yet he felt that he wasn’t enough interested in anything. He wanted to try to refine pills, but there were a lot of herbs whose differences he couldn’t see. It made him frustrated because he didn’t want to create pills with who knows what kind of effects...

Belinda listened to all of his complaints but didn’t know how to help him. The cultivators’ memory would become better with their level grown. So in the end, he chose to wait 2 more years and see if his problem would still exist or not.

They went to eat dinner and ran into Fatima. Belinda didn’t speak with them after the field practicing, but Gregori became good friends with them. They ate together and listened to her complaints.

Belinda learned about a custom. After the second year’s exam, the mentors bought the cheapest egg’s box for their students as a congratulation gift for their hard work.

Fatima was sad because her luck wasn’t good and she got an ugly frog-like pet. She sold the egg and watched the others with envy. The guys didn’t care about what kind of pet it was, they kept it, and Szalvia was the luckiest. She got a little red bird.

Gregori didn’t want any pet, so he just asked for the points. Naómi got a snake, and Dárius a spider.

Belinda remembered about the wolfar and was speechless. It was the most expensive and it wasn’t even a pet!