Mom starts crying, and I feel horrified because I believe I did something wrong, but then she slowly takes the flower and puts it in her hair.

"Thank you, my son. It's beautiful!" she happily exclaims with a bright smile while tears still roll down her cheeks.

Yes! I didn't fuck up!

Then I twiddle my padded thumbs as I start to babble stuff about magic because I'm excited about it, "So, I managed to feed my magical energy to the seed, which is really hard since this energy likes to absorb things into it, but I got past that by cutting a… 'root' as it attached to the seed, which made the 'root' belong to the seed. Then I fed it some more energy, and it started to germinate, but I couldn't stop now, so I continued until it bloomed. But the curious thing is that the only one that started glowing was this one, so I'd like to investigate some more, but I don't have a lot of energy left… buut maybe the glowing flower can produce some?"

She nods repeatedly as she cutely listens intently, but the moment I stop, she extends her hand and shows me a pink piece of paper as she enthusiastically exclaims, "This is your ticket to Rediromoh!"

What…

I look at the paper, and I can clearly read the word "Rediromoh" right after the word "Destination."

"You did it!" I roar and my mind goes white with happiness, then I suddenly find myself squeezing her in a hug. Her breasts feel nice, though, so I don't want to stop, but I might be hurting her, so I let her go.

I almost lost it again…

She extends her hand towards me again while she holds her back with the other, and I delicately take the ticket while smiling apologetically.

"The Tunnel… is in a couple of hours…" she whispers as she catches her breath.

"We have to get ready!" Margit suddenly yells, sounding a bit panicky.

"Yes!" I match her panic.

Get a hold of yourself!

 

"I don't need all this money!" I growl and push the pile of leafies back.

"We don't have anywhere to spend it!" Mom yells and pushes it toward me again.

"You will one day!" I refuse and push it away.

She grabs my hand before I release the pile and forces it to go back."And how will you sustain yourself while you wait for classes to start?"

I stand my ground and easily match her strength, leaving the pile stuck in the middle of us. "I'm a cook and a big, strong man. I can find work in Rediromoh while you will be in bigger trouble for a good while! Don't make me say this again because I'm starting to get angry!" I shout as I raise my lips, showing my big white fangs to her.

But it's understandable that Mom isn't scared one bit by them.

"You need some money in case things go bad," Sis surprisingly says something smart.

And Mom takes the opportunity that I'm distracted to push the pile back to me.

I frown at her and count the leaves, then I pull exactly fifty of them. "Five thousand," I declare and sit further away.

Mom cutely scooches forward and pushes the pile to me again. "Ten thousand," she stubbornly insists.

But I just turn away and shout, "Five!"

And she slaps my back with the pile. "Things are more expensive in the capital!"

I cross my arms stubbornly and ignore that. "I just need food and a place to sleep for a little while!"

Then she goes around so she can face me, and we just stare angrily at each other.

"Can't you access her bank account from Rediromoh?" Margit cautiously asks.

"Did you register us in that account?" Sis questions.

Mom puffs up her chest, which is unfortunate because her robes hide her curves, and proudly announces, "I did the moment you were born!"

And I smirk victoriously. "Then five thousand it is. I'll just go to the bank and get more if I need it."

Then her smile deflates as she realizes she was got.

"Fine…" she finally gives in and pouts.

 

I don't have any baggage, really. Just a spare robe, the money, and the two magic sources inside me…

"I went to the church and got incense! It's supposed to help calm you down," Mom suddenly shares and hands me the little sticks.

The fragrant smell immediately invades my nostrils, and I feel a pleasant chill run down my spine. Then a nostalgic feeling starts spreading all over my body, reminding me of the good old days when we could just spend an afternoon in the Dark Forest, just laying down in the moss while the drizzle falls upon our fur…

I smile kindly and hum, "That's a good idea. We should've done that earlier."

And I put the incense in the bag, then we walk out.

 

"Ya leavin'?!" old Yomber blurts out in surprise as we say our goodbyes.

"I have a disease, so I need to leave to get it treated," I kindly explain.

"How did you get a Tunnel out?" Édis sharply questions. It's something that makes us all stiff because Mom didn't actually explain that to us.

And after a second of silence, she flashes a bitter smile as she whispers, "It wasn't easy…"

Seeing her make such a face gives me dread. I'm not dumb… but do I have the right to ask her?

I can't force her to tell us… to tell me, but the Scriptures of Love say that you should occasionally remind your loved ones you support them in case they forget.

So I swallow my fear and boldly declare, "She's my hero, and she saved my life."

Her beautiful red eyes open wide in surprise, then she looks away and blushes as she becomes bashful. There's still a bit of bitterness left in her her gorgeous, pale face, but I believe it'll leave with time.

And Édis seems to understand that this is a delicate matter, so she just nods in understanding and smiles sympathetically.

"Good luck out'ere, boy. Never stop bein' fear-giving and dat dank capital won'tta getta in ya way!" Yomber cheerfully continues.

So his wife follows up and gives me a gentle pat on the forearm. "Good luck, boy, and please come back. I want to see your big scary fave once again."

And I can't help but smile. "I will… it might take some time, but I promise that I'll come back."

 

We also say our goodbyes to the neighbors, and though they're curious about how I managed to get a way out, they quiet down once we tell them it's because I have a disease that's killing me. Everyone knows I go hit by the cursed blade, so they just assume that's what's killing me, though it does anger me a bit that I can't whine about how the church wouldn't help or how the Crusaders would rather murder me than save me.

I know it's the corruption messing with my emotions, but how many "good deeds" would I need to do for them to actually give me some help? Even the Gods have given a lot of advice, so why are the supposedly pious so… murderous?!

But I'm starting to get agitated, so I breathe in deeply as we walk, and by the time we reach the Waystone Plaza, I'm already back to normal.

This place that I loved so much has now become depressive. No more stalls, no more peddlers, and no more crowds of people hanging around, though there's still the M-TV floating high up on one side of the Stake, but barely anyone even comes here anymore as we're all too busy trying not to starve. There's a good number of buildings that survived the fire, somehow, but I guess it's because all reinforcements came through here, so they managed to save this area.

But still, the only not depressing thing in sight is the inn's crew, which came here because Sis went ahead and called them, so I'm received by a crowd of handshakes and hugs.

"I'm not accepting any gifts!" I shout after the third person tries to give me something. "Y'all need it more than me! I'll be fine!"

"Big scary tiger needs no help!" Aliz playfully shouts and shows me her tongue.

I'll miss this beautiful mature woman quite a lot… but I can't let my cock take over my thoughts right now, so I cheerfully reply, "That's right! Y'all gave me the help I needed, so now you should focus on yourselves to get through these hard times!"

While my words dampen the mood a bit, they understand what I'm talking about, so they keep their little pieces of wealth to themselves. Then the goodbyes proceed faster than before.

I give Emil a tight hug that we couldn't share when I was recovering from my wounds, then I press Huba's little human face against my big, furry, smelly chest just to mess with him.

"Fuck some bitches for me, okay?" Emil coolly requests, then he opens his mouth and starts panting suggestively as he smirks.

"If there are women in the capital that won't break easily, then sure," I answer in kind and smirk back.

Then Huba more seriously encourages me, "You better recover from this or I'll heal you myself."

And I slowly nod at him as I gently whisper, "I'll remember this, comrade."

Then we walk to the area where the Tunnel will appear, and we see a very nervous-looking little Terrier beastman staring at us as we approach. Mom's eyes narrow dangerously once she spots him, and I get a bit of a bad feeling.

"Mister Valvi, this is my son," Mom introduces us, her voice sounding tense, which is very rare for her.

The round, fluffy little man turns to me, and he scans my body from my feet to my head, but then his eyes continue to rise, and he stumbles backward, almost fainting.

He quickly steadies himself again and readjusts his glasses, then starts talking with a fast and trembling voice, "H-he's too big! Too big! He's going to k-kill my magus! T-there's no way! No way!"

Uh…

Mom walks forward then kneels before him and presses her nose against his snout. Their faces are awfully close to each other, but I don't know what's happening, so I just stand still in confusion.

"Valvi, you have to find a way…" she slowly whispers with such an intensely stern tone that it gives me chills.

The little Terrier stops trembling, and he even seems to hold his breath, then he steps back and searches for something inside his purple jacket. He suddenly pulls out a little rectangular glass flask with a rainbow-like liquid inside, and my magicsight triggers as he activates the portable M-TV.

He looks down at it and turns around before I can see what image appears in the TV, then he starts to speak just as quickly but without any of the trembling from before, "Listen, change of plans! No armor, and no luggage; that'll have to wait until tomorrow! And, yes, you're working tomorrow! N-…"

A muffled, distorted voice interrupts him, but I can't make out what he's talking about.

"Listen, this is an emergency! There's no arguing, so just listen and do it! There will be compensation, but we'll talk about this later. Let them pass and then keep it open because someone is coming."

The voice interrupts him again for a moment, and they seem to be angry.

"Yes, yes, yes! But like I said, this is an emergency, so adapt! Now's the one time in your life you gotta put your degree on the line, so don't disappoint me! You can open the Tunnel now!"

Then he finally stops talking, now breathing heavily, and it seems like he has turned off the M-TV.

We all share a concerned look, but the problem seems to have been resolved, so we might as well just swallow and get this over with without causing more trouble.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Sis whispers concernedly to Mom, who has a very satisfied smile on her face, which makes her look rather childish and cute.

"I'm starting to have a few doubts myself, but I have faith in little Valvi," she confidently answers.

Then the Terrier man turns around and stares at Mom, looking like he's sweating cold. "I… I did it…" he whispers stiffly.

"Thank you, mister Valvi. You did well…" she kindly replies, and we see his fluffy little tail wag like a loyal puppy.

"What did you do to him?" Sis blurts out, but then she stiffens up as she realizes that this isn't a good thing to ask.

"I just convinced him," Mom calmly answers and her smile becomes suspiciously mischievous, but she doesn't convince us.

Then the air next to Valvi starts to become "wobbly," so everyone moves away to let the Tunnel open up without issue. A little glowing white sphere appears in the air and starts to grow rapidly, then a chaotic mix of colors covers its surface, and once the ball reaches about the size of an average human, the colors stabilize and start forming a picture.

We see a stone plaza full of elegant people of all shapes and sizes wearing flashy clothes of all colors and styles. It's actually so busy the only other thing I can spot are big, ornate, stone buildings towering above everyone far behind them.

Then a line of angry-looking, rugged men start to come out of the Tunnel, and I realize that they're Crusaders.

"Fucking Magi," the first one grumbles, then he gives us a confused look and moves to the side to wait for the rest of his comrades.

The air becomes a bit tense as I think they have an idea why they weren't allowed to bring armor or luggage, so the growing group of men starts to give us dirty looks.

I turn around and give them my compassionate goodbyes again, "Mom, Sis, Margit. Wait for me. I'll come back as fast as I can and help you, okay?" Then I give them the sternest look that I can make, just like when I had to act as the muscle for the inn. "So you have to survive, no matter what!"

Mom kindly nods but then she wisely advises me, "Son, you still have to get it under control. Don't get too careless yet."

Then my eyes are blessed with Sis' famous toothy grin, which I missed so much, especially her cute little fangs. "I know bro will come back, and then we'll fuck the whole Realm together," she boldly declares.

And I grin back at her enthusiasm. Finally, this is the Sis that I knew, not the grim ball of gloom that replaced her these last two weeks.

But I have little time to lose, so I turn to Margit and smooth and seductive as I give her my vow, "I'll come for you and return everything you gave me. One day, I'll take care of you."

She grabs my large, padded hand, and makes me cup her cheek as she smiles adorably. "I'll be waiting, tiger."

"Okay, now's the time! Go! Go! Go!" Valvi suddenly starts yelling, then he grabs my robe and tries to pull me, but his feet just slide in place, unable to even make me budge, and I chuckle.

He releases me once I start moving, so I boldly walk into the sphere, and the moment my hand gets in, the rest of my body is pulled along, then my vision blurs, and it feels like I'm put in a pressure cooker then thrown around like a ball.

After just a few seconds, my feet touch something solid, and I stumble forward, then I hear a grunt of pain and a wave of hot air hits my back, throwing me onto me knees.

"FUCK!" someone swears while the crowd gasps, then I look back and see a ball of blindingly bright, rainbow-colored fire exactly where the Tunnel sphere was supposed to be.

It's a dazzlingly beautiful sight. At one second, the fire looks like it's a pretty, sparkly crystal, in the next, it becomes reflective and moves like oil. But then my magicsight triggers, covering it completely in an indescribable smoke, and then the fire is snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

I look to the side and see a lanky human man in a lavish purple robe and a wide-brimmed purple hat leaning on his metal, jeweled staff while breathing heavily.

"Fuck you… Valvi!" he swears angrily, then he notices me and his glare becomes even more intense. "And fuck you, too…! You're way too big! I almost… lost control!"

And I hastily start to apologize, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry, but this-…"

But the Magus scowls as he whines again, "This is an emergency, yeah, I get it! But you still almost fucked me up!"

I hunch over reflexively in guilt, but then my lips rise reflexively in anger, and I cover my mouth to not scare the Magus. Everyone knows an Aethermagus can erase you with a snap of his finger, so I don't want to die now after coming so far.

He narrows his eyes at me because I'm acting weird, but then he suddenly shouts and extends a hand, "The ticket…!"

"Right, right," I hum, the awkwardness overpowering the anger as I hand him the pink paper, and he rips it in the dotted area then hands one half to me, and now I quickly leave.

But I don't know where to go, so I soon stop to look around.

Unlike Hatarvros, which is only small wooden buildings, mud, and the occasional tarmac road, Rediromoh is made of stone… and also little water channels?

The sound of running water attracts my ears, and I notice that it's coming from the buildings. There are little channels everywhere, even a couple cutting through the plaza, and fast-moving water flows through them all, making this constant sound. It's pleasant, but I wonder for how long…

Anyway, the Stake is also now a proper stake: perfectly vertical and polished until the blue crystal looks like a proper gem worthy of a rich lady's necklace. It even glows with a pretty blue light, and I feel like my "magicsight" is itching to trigger, but it's good that it doesn't or else it'd cover my view.

There are four M-TV's surrounding it, each pointing in a cardinal direction, and they seem to be showing some sort of party along with some nice, upbeat music, but then my eyes spot the wavy image (cause by being inside the Stake's area of influence) of a huge mountain far behind the Stake. It's a colossal white mass that rises up so high that it touches the clouds, and at its peak, I see enough golden buildings to house everyone in Hatarvros.

It's actually so far I can barely spot the royal castle, but then I notice something odd: it's like the peak wasn't wide enough to hold everything they wanted to build, so there's a group of buildings away from the main royal castle that protrudes sideways out of the mountain. That area also seems to have a bush-full of long, pointy towers, for some reason, making it look very chaotic.

But it's hard to see while inside the area that the Stake affects, so I leave the sightseeing for another time.

I… don't know where Nyurga's recruiting office is, so I walk to the nearest guard and politely ask for directions.

"Nyurga's office is down that street. It's golden, and there should still be a line of beastman waiting to get inside, so you can't miss it," the half dogman answers with an uninterested tone.

He's wielding a big halberd and wearing a shiny, red-plumed helmet along a shiny plate cuirass while the rest of his armor seems heavily padded and covered in shiny red leather, so, compared to the shitty brown stuff the militia of Hatarvros wears, the capital is a lot wealthier. But I stop staring at his armor before it gets rude and go toward where he pointed.

The buildings are very tall and stuck to each other, shoulder-to-shoulder, making them look imposing. They also all have at least four floors, three more than the usual one in Hatarvros, but the decorations look very… "grandiose," whatever that word means, it's just the first thing that came into my mind. My point is that I prefer Hatarvros' cute little mossy homes… though they largely don't exist anymore.

Well, at least there is quite a lot of moss here, so I didn't get accidentally transported out of the Kingdom of (Clouds and) Moss. And now I find it curious how the little water channels continue even when I'm out of the Stake's area

What are they for…?

I wish I had paid more attention to my Geography and History classes.

But while I act like the country hick that I am, I suddenly spot a line of beastmen standing outside a very golden building, then I read a sign in black above the black glass double doors that says "Nyurga Military Academy Recruitment Office."

So I step in line behind the last guy, a small, foxy-looking fellow that seems scared of me, for some reason.

Fuck, do I smell?

And then I realize that I'm grimacing, for some reason, so maybe that's why…

 

It's almost the end of the afternoon, so I'm worried about whether the office will close soon or not. The Yellow Lanterns, our somewhat dysfunctional government, has made a law that public workers can't work more than eight hours, but this kind of screws over the laborers since the offices close right when we are coming out of our job, making it a pain to do anything related to the government.

The line seems to move quite fast, though, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Then I hear some heavy footsteps behind me, and I see a big, black full bull beastman with sanded down horns stop behind me. I'm still a bit taller than him (is there nobody taller than me?!), but I'm starting to get thinner, so I bet he's heavier.

He's also wearing a nice blue shirt and brown pants, suddenly making me feel out of place in my ugly gray robe…

"Hey…" he casually greets.

"Hey…" I hum in kind.

Then we fall silent, and I start to feel awkward.

"Where are you from, comrade? I've never seen a tiger beastmen outside the Darkwoods Enclave," he suddenly makes conversation.

Darkwoods is a Fae Realm, but I remember that they're part of the kingdom, too.

"Hatarvros…" I quietly answer, feeling a bit gloomy considering the state of my hometown.

But he shows no reaction. "Oh, I don't know where that-…" Then his jaw falls loose as he freezes for a second. "Wait, isn't that the Dark Forest? That place that got attacked by demons?"

I glance at him then awkwardly look down. "Yeah… the Dark Forest of Hatarvros. I just took a Tunnel out of there."

The fox fellow glances at me, eyes open wide, but then he quickly looks forward again once our eyes meet.

And the bullman's tone becomes gentle. "My condolences, mate. I hope you find a good place in the Royal Army."

I smile bitterly and look at him again as I wistfully remark, "Yeah, that's what I want, too…" Then a bit of pride wells up within me because I'm representing my hometown here, so I boldly declare, "In fact, I want to become a Magus." Though I feel a bit corny for saying that.

But the bull seems impressed, and he causally hums, "Magus? Do you have some magical talent, or something?"

And pride starts to balloon, so I conjure a stone above my palm and brag a bit, "I have two sources inside me and a weak magicsight. I dunno how good that is, but it's better than nothing."

"That's three things better than me, so I like your chances," he cordially remarks.

Then we both chuckle softly and fall silent for a moment.

"What's your name?" he continues.

"Fiubun," I answer, the shyness from before starting to leave me.

"Biko," he follows up and extends a big black hand, so I take it. "I want to become an officer, so maybe you could recruit me if you do become a Magus…" -then he smirks- "but if you don't, then I'm sure someone like you would make a good officer, too."

So I smirk back and joke, "Sure… full beastmen together should be unstoppable."

And he chuckles more loudly this time. "Foknuna, mate!"

Then the line moves, and I'm finally the next to get through the black glass door, just as it starts to drizzle. Now we both fall silent, anxious at finally having our turn.

Suddenly, the double doors start sliding, and a hoarse cry comes out, "Next!" But I'm so tense I jump on the spot, making Biko laugh.

"Good laugh, and relax a bit, Fiubun," he encourages me.

"Thanks, and good luck to you, too," I awkwardly reply with a snort, then I stiffly walk in.

The inside of the office is just like any other Yellow Lantern building: simple and full of chairs for people to sit on, but these chairs are golden, and the cushions look so soft they remind me of Mother's massive breasts. They're also occupied by half beastmen as they quietly write on a piece of paper clipped to a board.

But I don't have time to observe as the rat half beastman behind a golden counter is staring sternly at me, making me hurry up.

"Are you here to conscript into the Royal Army?" he flatly asks just like any tired public servant.

I don't know what I should say, exactly, but since Biko is here to become an officer, I decide to be precise, "I want to join the Nyurga Military Academy and become a Magus."

The rat frowns skeptically, which annoys me a bit. "Magus? Do you have experience with magic?"

"I do. I have two sources in me and a weak magicsight," I repeat my previous brag and then conjure a stone.

And the little man seems impressed. "Hmm… well, you have to pass a magic test for the Magus position, but first, you must fill out this form." Then he hands me a board with a piece of paper clipped to it. "Can you read and write?"

"I can…" I answer, a bit hesitatingly. It's not that I'm bad at either, the problem is my calligraphy.

"Is your calligraphy bad…?" he reads my mind.

"It is… I'm sorry…" I embarrassedly admit and look down.

He sighs and takes the board back. "Don't be. Everyone else's is also bad."

Then I glance back and see that the beastmen in the lavish chairs are all writing in a similar board and paper as mine.

So he awkwardly adds, "I meant for full beastmen. Those big hands of yours make writing hard."

"They do…" I agree with the same tone.

Then he clears his throat and assumes a more professional tone. "Alright, let's start this. Name?"

"Fiubun," I answer in kind.

"Location of residence?"

"Dark Forest of Hatarvros."

He stops and raises his eyes at me. "The one that was attacked by demons?"

And my face stiffens grimly. "Yes…"

His tone becomes sympathetic and he tactfully continues, "That's… too far. Do you have a residence here?"

But I shake my head. "No… I just came from Hatarvros through a Tunnel."

"Oh…" he hums, then he looks away as he seems to reflect on something for a moment before he becomes professional again. "If you conscript into the Army as a soldier, you'll be given a place to sleep and basic training."

"But I want to be a Magus," I repeat.

And he nods, making his large rat ears sway. "If you pass the Magus test, you'll be instantly promoted to the Magus program."

That… may be a good thing…

But before I commit, I have to make everything clear, so I hesitantly admit, "I… I also have a health problem." Then I extend my bandaged hand and unravel it a bit until he can see my black, scarred palm. "I got wounded by a cursed demonic blade, and I'm having… problems because of it. The Gods told me you could help if I joined."

He suddenly leans back once he hears the "cursed demonic blade" words, clearly afraid, so I pull my hand away from him.

Then he clears his throat as he recomposes himself and continues, professional again, "Yes, indeed, we have a Restrain and Harness program for Morphism and magical disabilities, and… demonic wounds are also included. No matter if you're a public servant, a soldier, an officer, or a Magus, everyone is eligible for it. The Royal Army values experienced and brave warriors, after all."

And I breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay, then… I guess conscripting as a soldier is fine."

He nods again. "Very well. I'll just write it in your file, and you'll be directed toward a specialist for that."

Then I give him some more details about my life, like family, detailed health condition, and bank account number for my salary.

"You don't have a last name?" he curiously questions.

And I become embarrassed. "No… not that I know of."

So he kindly advises, "You should get one, then, especially if you do pass the Magus test."

"I'll think about it, then…" I hum back.

And he snorts, then sends me to the second floor.

 

I feel like an unwashed barbarian walking across a castle with how spotless and shiny everything is. And I'm not even that far from the truth since I just barely qualify as "washed."

Then I enter a wide corridor full of statues and paintings of generals, and a line of wealthy-looking young men and women humans and halves sitting in lavish chairs. Of course, anyone that qualifies to be a Magus would be wealthy, and someone like me, a filthy, backwater hick, is the extremely rare case.

But still, I hoped to find another full like Biko, but I guess I'm just going to have to be the giant among little ones… again…

I get some dirty looks, then some girls start to whisper to each other and giggle while staring at me, so I just take a seat far away from anyone. I need to prepare myself mentally for this because I have no idea what this test will be about.

 

One by one, names are called, and when we're well into the night, the corridor empties up completely, then the double white doors suddenly open, and a stern male voice calls my name, "Fiubun! Enter and wait for instructions!"

Mom, Sis, Margit… I actually do hope that you're praying for me right now.

I enter the test room, then the doors silently close behind me, and I find myself inside a painfully white room, except for a large, rectangular, black glass that almost fully covers the wall facing me… and a white pillar table in the center of the room that I almost missed.

The voice said to wait, so I stay in place, stiff and tense, but then an awkwardly long minute passes, and I start to get nervous.

Suddenly, I hear some muffled voices coming from the black glass wall, then a gentle female voice finally reaches my ears, "Examinee Fiubun, your test will begin now. You must destroy the glass sphere that's on the table before you."

"Wha-…" My magicsight triggers before I can finish speaking a word, and a puff of indescribable smoke comes out of the table, but it feels extremely similar to the smoke that covered the… "fire" after I crossed the Tunnel. "It's invisible…?" I blurt out and slowly approach the table.

Then something hard hits my forehead and I groan as I step back.

"The fuck?!" I swear angrily, and I instantly feel the agitation wake up inside me, so I reach inside my bag and quickly pull out a calming incense, then I sniff it deeply. The flowery smell is instantly calming, and it even helps me concentrate, so I take another sniff just for good measure.

Then I realize I might be looking like an addict, so I quickly put the incense back inside and recompose myself.

It doesn't seem like something was thrown at my forehead, so I extend my good hand, and I immediately touch something hard.

"The fuck…?"

It's like there's an invisible wall before me, but it feels cold, and there's also a weird sensation, as if I was touching running water… then I see a difficult-to-describe smoke come out as I rub my finger against it. The smoke reminds me of ice, but there's something about it that feels… "spicy."

Beast-me's first instinct is to throw a stone at the wall, then scholar-me's instinct kicks in and tells me to punch it, instead, but then my third instinct makes a daring suggestion: use the Strangler energy on the magic wall.

Magus-me is born!

I press my palm against the wall, then I push my "veins" out, and the moment they touch it, the cold, watery sensation starts to seep into them.

It's a magical energy… but I have no idea how to use it!

And I realize that I'm about to kill myself by messing with a completely unknown energy.

No, no, no! It's an energy that creates walls, so I just need to move the wall away from me!

I very carefully and with a very large amount of detail, imagine this invisible wall simply tilting to the side, as if it was merely a large, invisible sheet that I lift up and take out of the way then lean it against the other wall.

The energy immediately reacts and starts to seep out of the veins, then I see a trail of ice-like smoke come out of my hand and fly to the wall. Little by little, something that looks like flowing water starts to form on the wall.

Cool…! Heh!

But then another sensation enters my veins, and I find this one even harder to describe. It's like… the swan illusion in front of the inn!

Suddenly, a little swan appears in front of my palm, making me feel very embarrassed at letting a magical energy run loose.

Hopefully, this won't cost me points… but will they even realize that this was a mistake…?

I'm starting to get distracted, and that's just going to make things worse, so I focus back on the wall, but now there's also the illusion magic energy mixing in.

Fuck m-… don't fuck me!

But then the swan turns into my cock, and I'm thankful that my furry cheeks can't blush.

Get it together, Magus-me!

I breathe in deeply, then I clear my mind to calm myself down. I wish I could light the incense as that'd increase its potency ten times, but I'm not that desperate yet, and it takes me only a short moment for me to regain my focus.

I'm getting good at controlling my emotions, I guess.

The illusion energy is still coming in, and the Scriptures of Magic say that it's not a good idea to mix magical energies, so imagine a little sphere of very bright light appearing behind me, and the energy obeys. I don't know how to store either of these energies, so it's best that I don't even try since I'm already doing something stupidly dangerous.

Then the flowing water finishes covering the wall, and my veins stop absorbing any more energy, so I pull my hand back and carefully step toward the pillar table.

There seems to be nothing else in the way, so I extend my hand… then a horrible pain suddenly makes my whole arm tense up, and I jump backward in surprise. It hurts enough to make me scream, but not bad enough to make me scared of trying again.

And notice a wisp of smoke come out of my hand, but this one feels just… "spicy," like… like thunder…! No, lightning, actually.

Well, electricity is going to be harder to absorb than that watery wall, I assume, so conjure a stone on one side while I position my hand on the other. Hopefully, there's only lightning protecting the invisible glass sphere. Then I launch the rock, and it gets zapped by something, but it continues on like nothing and hits something that shatters into hundreds of pieces of glass.

Did that do it?!

I raise my head, hopeful, but all I hear is silence… and it stretches for painfully long seconds.

Maybe it's not over, yet…?

Suddenly, a glowing sphere appears in front of the black glass, and it stretches into an oval shape in a second, then it takes the shape of a person, and the glow quickly fades. It's like a Tunnel but faster, and it ends with an old, gray Magus staring amusedly right at me while holding his hands behind his back.

His purple robes are full of golden embroidery, and I even see what looks like to be sources sewn into the cloth. As for his face, it's a bit cat-like, especially with the dignified way he carries himself, and he even has whiskers, so he's obviously a half, while the bushy and gray combo of beard, mustache, eyebrows, and hair makes him look quite puffy.

"Examinee Fiubun, show me your cursed hand," he requests with a compelling tone.

I stiffen up and raise it, but then I grab the bandage as I wait for the confirmation.

And he nods. "Yes, unravel the bandages."

So I do as I'm told, now starting to sweat at the pressure this Magus commands. But once the bandages are gone, he stares at my hand intensely, then his gaze seems to soften, somewhat.

"Grimoire," he softly calls, and the air near his right shoulder distorts, then a thick black book also covered in magical sources appears from nothing and hovers in place, perfectly still. "Detect demonic corruption," he orders, then the book opens up and starts to leaf through the pages on its own.

Once it stops, I sense a silvery smoke come out of it, just like when the Crusaders used their Benison magic, and I hold my breath…

Then I suddenly feel like I'm naked. Well, I like being naked, but I guess a better description would be that it's like I'm spreading my butt cheeks wide while he closely inspects my asshole… then the feeling goes to my stomach, then my chest, then even my brain.

But after a few seconds, the rather disgusting sensation fades away, then the Magus raises his eyes to me and states, "Your arm isn't corrupted, your soul is."

And I stiffly explain, "Yeah, Gra-ah and the Goddess Mother told me that when I met them in the Dream Realm, but I… thought that it was easier to just show my arm instead of trying to explain things."

His whiskers twitch as he hums, then he nods. "I understand. You also showed a lot of restraint with your emotions, even if you had to… sniff an incense."

"It happened two weeks ago," I blurt out.

He raises a bushy eyebrow. "You're doing well for two weeks."

"Thanks. It was… hard," I bashfully reply as I smile, a bit proud of his praise.

And his tone softens, but only for a second. "I imagine. But becoming a Magus will be harder, though less bleak."

"I can handle that," I confidently reply.

And he hums in approval, "Good. Now, boy, don't disappoint me in the written test. You've already been admitted into the Magus program, but I want to see you in the Elite class."

"I…" This is too much of a surprise, so my mind hangs up before I can form a full sentence.

Then he introduces himself with an elegant nod, "I'm Headmaster Zsolt. Consider yourself honored. And now, I'm taking my leave."

"Y-yes…" I mumble sheepishly.

The air around him and his grimoire start to blur, then it flashes, and they disappear into nothing.

"Examinee Fiubun, return downstairs and you'll be guided to your accommodations," a gentle female voice echoes across the room.

And I let out a long sigh of relief.

I did it… Wait, no, there's still the written test in a week, and I feel like it'd be bad if I disappointed the Headmaster after he came to talk to me personally.

But I was never really that smart about anything not related to magic…