The Calm Before

It was a time of apocryphal Anthros.

A time after what might be but before the inevitable.

There was a place that excluded most expectations but embraced many dreams. It existed in an age born to nihilism and neglected by faith. It had grown from the ruins that came after life outpaced its value, and it was a place where free will hadn’t been crushed by a cage of rules. The Anthros there called it Shader University, and it was the place that Rain Ström wanted to go most of all.

Rain Ström sat quietly in a large ancient stadium illuminated by a line of torches that lit its aisles and hallways. To take his mind off of his impending Mana Trial, he pondered what it would have been like hundreds of years ago when it had been new and full of humans.

He stared up at the last of the brightest stars that still refused to succumb to the sun’s inevitable victory. Even in the near twilight, Rain could make out the glowing bands of the current auroral storm, one of the many that had raged since his birth. The electromagnetic particles the sun’s weather produced had been bad enough that large sections of the grid were shut down as a precaution. Rain guessed by the faintness of the aurora that the worst of the storm had passed.

The small, thin, but not scrawny Anthro cat boy, had all black fur except for a cascade of sharp irregular white fur flecks that started on his conical right ear atop his head and grew more sparse as it stretched down his face ending on his right cheek. Most Anthros encountering the boy would settle upon the description; cute, a label Rain didn’t often appreciate.

Even seated in a diverse group of more than a dozen other Anthro children, Rain felt isolated. Separated from the rest by both attitude and appearance, Rain’s most outstanding dissimilarity was his stature. He was just over a meter tall, making him at least half a meter shorter than all of the other teens sat nearby.

The diverse set of Anthro species all looked to be at least five years older than Rain. Applicants from all six of the great Anthro factions were present, and Rain had spotted an Anthro rabbit boy whose family must have come from overseas.

All the youth were dressed in similar pants and jackets that suited their different forms, except for Rain who wore denim civilian pants and shirt. Rain’s singular pale green outfit had a color that desperately wanted to match the hue of the others but had failed.

One thing Rain did have in common with the rest of the applicants was they all wore gold or silver collars around their necks.

All the applicants came in and sat down with the acute xenophobic radar of youth. Consciously or otherwise, all the trial applicants avoided sitting next to him. Rain fidgeted in his seat, finding the lack of tail accommodation in the old human made antique annoying. Rain had seen that large sections of the stadium had been renovated but not the part they were all seated in.

Rain assumed the event was running late, as it was nearing the stated time for the trials to begin, and yet there had been no announcements. He squinted in the fading dark. It was hard to see if the judges box was occupied. Although a tad alienated, Rain was glad to be left alone, preferring not to draw too much scrutiny to himself. Rain overheard several students talking about things he wished he had; their advanced classes, their girlfriends, and the thing that Rain coveted most: their Mana coaching.

For years Rain had intermittent or no access to Mana training facilities. He had wanted a real Mana coach, but his adopted father had always insisted that he be the only one to accompany him during Mana training. His adopted guardian, who went by only “Noir,” had Mana powers he could use to heal other Anthros. They were nothing like Rain’s powers, and he wasn’t able to help Rain much in the infrequent training sessions they could afford. Whether it was technically true or not, Rain felt like he had never been properly Mana trained.

Rain rotated his pivotable pointed ears atop his head in the direction of the other privileged Anthros as he strained to listen to their overlapping conversations. Nothing he heard sounded applicable to him, but Rain liked the caliber of conversations concerning Mana. Clearly this was a place where he could escape the common fears and superstitions surrounding Mana users.

Not that those fears were entirely unfounded. Rain had heard the same stories as everyone else about Mana users who suddenly ran away or went mad and killed their entire families.

As the sky ripened into azure Rain could make out movement in the judges box giving him hope that the trials might start soon. Rain guessed that all the trial applicants were here as all the seats in both of the specially assigned rows were taken except for the two to the right of his aisle seat.

As if to contradict him, Rain’s keen ears heard heavy footfalls behind him. He turned his head to the side and out of the corner of his eye saw a giant figure coming towards him. Rain got a better look at the Anthro lizard as he rumbled right up to Rain and squeezed past him while trying to get to an empty seat. Rain lifted his feet off the ground and pulled his knees to his chest to avoid being crushed under the giant leathery boots the lizard wore. The Anthro was massive but had a youthful glow that assured Rain he wasn’t an adult.

As the substantial lizard passed Rain he gave him a simple “sorry” in a register an octave higher than Rain expected, then shoved himself into the seat directly next to Rain. The whole row of seats shifted in response to the impact. “Not as sorry as I am,” Rain thought sourly but said nothing.

This new Anthro addition was by far the largest of the group and made Rain’s small form look even more diminutive. The black lizard sat directly next to Rain and ruled over their shared armrest with impunity. Rain scooted over, conceding defeat and giving the territory up as lost. The lizard immediately became busy talking with the avian girl beside him, their tone of speech somehow similar, leaving him uncaring or at least unaware that his large arms, nearly the size of Rain’s body, were crowding the small Anthro cat boy, leaving him pushed against the far side of his seat.

“At least I’m on the aisle and no one else can mess with me,” Rain thought. This rumination was also quickly contradicted by something hard colliding with the back of Rain’s seat. The impact was hard enough to knock the hard plastic back of his chair into the Null Collar Rain was wearing around his neck. He slouched down and tried to ignore the attack but after several more volleys of kicks his anger overruled his caution. Rain resolved to confront his attacker, and he turned around kneeling on his seat to look over the back of his chair.

Rain’s green eyes looked up to find the hazel-green glare of a grinning deer boy sitting in the seat behind him. Rain could tell by the size and color of the boy’s budding antlers that they were about the same age. The Anthro deer’s digitigrade legs were bent ready to strike another blow to Rain’s chair with his hooven feet, which were bare except for a metallic U shaped strip attached to the bottom of his hoof.

Rain had always been somewhat envious of cervine legs. Unlike his Anthro feline ones, a deer Anthro’s backward “knees,” which Rain knew were actually their heel bones, gave them explosive speed. Rain was surprised that the deer was wearing something on his feet. Anthro deer hooves were well suited for endurance and grip. Hooves also meant that deer didn’t ever need shoes, a feature that had appealed to Rain’s younger self. Back when he had persistent friends, his cervid pals never wore any shoes, even in the snow. They would always run ahead to claim the best balls and playground equipment while he was burdened by the chore of equipping loafers.

“I think you’re in the wrong place, kitten.” The symmetrically featured deer with a custom gold plated Null Collar said with a mocking tone masquerading as concern. The deer gave Rain’s seat a softer tap with his hoof. Rain’s green eyes narrowed and his tail bristled. The deer’s words poked a hole in the dam of his frustrations and Rain’s words flooded out towards him. “Oh, I’m in the right place. I’m here to get a better time than you in the trials. Stop kicking and tiring yourself, that Gold around your neck looks heavy.” The anger in Rain’s words was startling even to him.

The comment visibly upset the deer boy who had clearly not expected such resistance from what looked to be a younger Anthro. The deer sat up in his seat, looking down on Rain, and gave a disapproving chuckle before exclaiming, “The runt speaks! You have no idea who you’re talking to do you? My brother got the first prize six years ago and I’m way faster than he was. Ha! Besides, my mom is one of the judges and she is probably going to disqualify y…”

Cutting the deer off mid rant, an adjacently sat lizard girl sighed at him while tapping him lightly on the back with her long slender tail. “Yes and your dad is announcing the Mana Games later, we know. My parents are incredibly famous as well, but you don’t hear me mandipulating about it all the time. Be a dear and stop dorking around, would you Rodney?” The slender athletic-looking girl lizard’s actions seemed to deflate Rodney’s ball of anger. The deer sat back in his seat and looked away from them both as he muttered to himself.

Rain had been so focused on his assailant that he had hardly noticed the white and maroon Anthro lizard until she had started speaking. Rain shifted in his seat to look at the girl, who looked a year older than he was. She was also wearing a custom gold plated Null Collar that had her family seal on the side. A special Null Collar made by the Montaz corporation, it had a headphone attachment and a light on the front, unlike the smaller utilitarian Throtech manufactured models worn by Rain and all the other Anthros in his section. The red and gold scaled lizard’s narrow face supplied him with a dignified nod born of confidence and class.

Unlike the two Anthros behind him who had custom gold Null Collars, Rain’s Null Collar was a generic silver with no special markings. Even with them all wearing the same uniforms, the gold of their collars communicated to all that they were from Gold or even Platinum level households. Regardless of the make, all Null Collars had two separate pieces that were held together by a strong magnetic force. When active the Null Collars severed all communication with the wearer and their Mana, and the ones they all wore were designed to only be removed with permission.

There were three levels of Mana users; minimal, moderate, and Extreme Mana Hazard levels. Most Manaed Anthros fell into the minimal category. They didn’t have to wear Null Collars at all, as their powers were deemed too innocuous to warrant governance. These Anthros could use Mana to lift small amounts of weight, slowly heat up a cup of tea, or produce orbs of light.

Moderate Mana Hazard Anthros had abilities that were potentially dangerous but moderate in scope, like individuals who could create small amounts of fire or chill a cup of nearby water. These individuals were monitored and Null Collared until the age of fifteen and then treated as normal Citizens after that. If a moderate Mana youth was caught not wearing their Null Collar, the offense was treated like an Anthro wearing only their underwear outside. They might get some strange looks and an Anthro with authority might tell them to go put on some clothes, but it wasn’t technically against the law. Some families, especially the more remote settler families, would ignore Null Collar enforcement for Moderate Manaed Anthros altogether.

Less than two percent of Anthros qualified as an Extreme Mana Hazard, and Rain was one of them. Extreme Mana Hazards had cautionary markings on the specially made Null Collars. The sturdy device required a key to unlock and would alarm if removed, warning anyone nearby of the potential danger. All the day’s applicants fell into this extreme category and were treated like live ammunition when not wearing a Null Collar. All extreme hazard youth were required to wear a Null Collar and would face Citizenship fines and eventually jail if they were caught not wearing them. After the age of sixteen, Extreme Mana Hazard Anthros had to keep wearing Null Collars unless they were certified as safe by the government or one of the several universities that had the Shadernaut program.

While Rain hated the inconvenience the Mana laws caused him, they made theoretical sense. It was consistent with Thromerican weapon and gun laws, except his weapon was within the confines of his physiology. His parents had been supporters of the regulation, and his mom had always worn a Null Collar, only taking it off when required by her job or hygiene.

For most Extreme Mana Hazard Anthros the incentive of not having to wear a Null Collar alone was enough to force them to go into Federal service or join an organization that could certify you safe like the Shadernauts. However, to Rain this was inconsequential. He wanted to join the Shadernauts to help Anthros and fight back against the evils of the world; all the other perks held a lesser value.

“As for you little one,” the golden-eyed lizard said to Rain, “What is wrong with being Platinum? We have something more important in common, we all think that the Shadernauts might be able to fix whatever it is we think is broken.”

Rain, feeling increasingly embarrassed by his outburst also felt deflated by the lizard. “Uh, you’re right I was being dumb,” Rain squeaked out, ending his meager statement with a nod before turning around and sitting back in his seat. Rain’s face felt hot and tight as his ears tucked back in regret. “What was that? I’m supposed to be on my best behavior! A Federal official might already be watching,” Rain scolded himself.

Rain looked back out at the arena. Rays of encroaching light now peeked down onto the stadium floor. Now he could better make out a tangle of treacherous terrain obstacles that made up the course. Rain gave little attention to large roped off areas, instead focusing on the closest section. Sandbag and water filled trenches formed obstacles that created a maze-like path towards a nearby tower, where he could make out some sort of inanimate figure. Even though Rain knew all the objectives of his test would be told to him later, he enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure it out for himself. Plus, it was something to pass the time. He pondered the course for a few minutes, starting his ruminations with the most likely scenarios before drifting off towards improbability.

When Rain emerged from his thoughts he noticed that the spectator section of the arena had started to fill. The last time Rain noted the spectators area it only had a few scattered groupings of Anthros, presumably the families of the participants. The stadium was comparably attended as the last time when Rain made the journey to Shaderton, with hundreds of Anthros filling the seats closest to the trial area.

Rain knew the most likely reason for the crowd’s presence was because the admission trials were scheduled right before the tenth annual Mana Game Championships, and coming early was a good way for Paper and Copper Citizens to get the good unreserved seats.

The Mana Games were started by Shader University over a hundred years ago. It was the first institution to study and later train Mana users. The games had started as routine Mana Practice, then grew into a sport with defined rules, and had now blossomed into one of the most popular spectacles in Thromerica. The Mana Games had taken root with the general public and a few of the old human stadiums had been refurbished and repurposed for Mana Games. Mana wielders going to today’s championships were professionals, whose elevated Citizenship Rank was sponsored by large businesses and colleges from all six Thromerican States.

With every passing second the sun brought more information bouncing back towards Rain’s eyes. Rain knew what games most sections of the arena belonged to because he had attended the Mana Games with his foster father, Noir, a few years ago.

The largest set piece in the middle of the arena was used for a game called the Mana Gauntlet which was a battle between two opposing teams of three. The defenders would load heavy stacks of ice blocks onto a heavy armored wheelbarrow that shielded the pusher. Then they would push the cart through a maze of obstacles. There were different tracks with obstacles to clear or go around while protecting their frozen prize from the attacking team. The attacking team was restricted to a raised narrowing platform course, as they tried to knock off or melt the blocks while not falling. The winner of each round was the one that transferred the largest amount of frozen liquid.

Stretching around the oblong circumference of the arena, Rain could see the track for the Mana Path game. A relay race filled with obstacles that Mana users could clear out of the way to make the next lap easier or chance the extra effort of getting the obstacles over a tall median wall in order to put them on an opposing team’s track.

Rain recognized yet another section, a sandy half-circular clearing on the far side of the arena. It was the area for Mana Skeet. An intuitive game involving the destruction of Mana thrown targets shot by Mana users wielding things like fireballs, plasma blades, lightning arcs, ice lances, and plain old high speed rocks. The entire section of the seats on that end of the arena had been destroyed as a result of the game. What remained of the seats was melted plastic peppered with impact craters, scorch marks, and impaling bits of metal.

Rain’s favorite last year had been Mana Tag, located on the opposite side of the arena, it was one of the simpler-looking sections being a flat area with a few large barrels on either side with goals on the opposite sides of the course. In Mana Tag Teams of two or three players all starting with a flag try to capture the most flags by bringing them to their starting area. To be in the arena, a player had to attach one flag to themselves, and to go into the opponents side of the course, a player needed to attach a second flag. Players grab or grapple flags from one another and some of the barrels hold additional flags if the players can get them open. The winning team was the one that collected all the flags or controlled more flags when the round ended.

Rain liked this game the most because no two matches ever went the same. Some ending in a quick burst of speed and others turning into a trial of endurance.

The last bit of the stadium that Rain recognized was set up for a game called Mana Haul. The game involved a team of Anthros working together to move awkward or heavy objects through an obstacle course while a competing team attempted a mirrored course next to them, the team that moves all the heavy stuff first claiming victory.

The crowd continued to grow and now Rain was starting to feel nervous about all the potential onlookers. “I wish they would just get on with this already,” Rain thought, shifting in his seat to try and get comfortable without touching the scaled arm of the giant boy lizard next to him. Rain felt a pang of relief when he heard the school anthem wheeze out of the tired refurbished speakers that were still clinging to functionality. Rain never understood why it was that all anthems had to be such stodgy stilted things. His parents had played him some human anthems and they were equally glum. When the anthem came to an end a familiar figure got up from the judges table and walked into the dirt field in front of the teen Anthros.

Like a large natural spotlight, the sun peeked over the walls of the stadium, shooting beams of light onto a white-furred Anthro and the smattering of ditches, moats, and sandbag laden trenches surrounding him. Dressed in an olive service uniform like the rest of the judges at the table, Noir had the green and gold Medical College insignia on his arm and his gold pips indicated he was a dean. All Rain could make out from where he was sitting was that the other judges had different color armbands, probably each having their own different symbol of their college or area of oversight.

In his standard splendid speech Noir addressed the group Rain was a part of, “Hello applicants, I am Dean Noir.” A microphone allowed his words to be carried through the once colorful, now graying stadium. Noir turned his tall slender form and directly addressed the seventeen applicants sitting in the first two rows. Rain knew that Noir was probably trying to do his best to look at anyone other than him.

The dean’s speech was grandly pronounced and included dramatic flair wherever possible, rarely missing the occasion to roll an R. Rain had known him long enough to believe it was as authentic as it was eccentric. “Here at Shader University we pride ourselves on being the finest Mana Universitiy in all of Thromerica. You are here today to prove that you are worthy of our institution and the title of Shadernaut it can bestow. Some of you are here today because you got recommended by your teachers and Mana coaches, while others may be here by way of familial donation or birthright.”

“Well none of those apply to me,” Rain thought reflexively.

Noir’s gold eyes rested on Rain for a moment before flicking away as if to avoid looking at the sun. Rain knew the stressful and conflicting reasons for the cat to ignore him.

For the last six years Noir had been the only consistent Anthro in Rain’s life, the only one he could trust with his secrets. He first knew Noir as a family friend and physician, but after the worst day of Rain’s existence, he knew Noir as a guardian and savior. Noir wasn’t generous with his affection but had been the only one in his life to show him any for quite some time.

Noir was a Mana healer and he would often have to go on extended trips to help needy Anthros in distant Copper and Paper districts. During these trips, which would sometimes last several months, Noir would have Rain stay in different group homes. Because of his secret, he could never go back to the same group home again, and Rain could only stay in Copper or Paper districts that didn’t have the same level of what Noir had called “bureaucratic scrutiny”.

Noir had stepped in on multiple occasions to shield Rain from blame and culpability during his time in group housing. In one of the more serious incidents, Rain had been falsely accused of locking two other children in a side room during a routine fire drill. The event was taken seriously, as the children would have been legitimately endangered if there had been an actual fire. Several of the boys that liked to bully Rain had gotten together and told the staff that they saw him near the room in question. Rain had been accused, interrogated, and despite his consistent denial, the staff felt confident he was at fault. If Noir hadn’t intervened, Rain would have been flagged as an Unstable Mana User and his secrets would have started to unravel.

Noir was a sufficient but distant guardian, with one example being that Rain didn’t know his full name or how old he was. Rain had asked Noir once but he flatly ignored the information request. This, and a moat of other silences, maintained a distance between them, and while Rain was grateful for all of Noir’s help and attention, he never felt worthy of it. Rain wasn’t convinced that he deserved Noir’s strange devotion to him, like he was accruing some sort of life debt he could never hope to repay.

For years Noir had ignored his talk of going to Shader University, but then about three months ago he had finally relented. Noir came up with a plan for Rain to attend by becoming a ward of Shader University. Without Noir, Rain would never have been able to navigate a sea of paperwork to find the harbor of successful application.

Rain had been living under a subtly different name to avoid the things that were searching for them. Noir had made a new identity, Rain Storm, a slight enough difference that he said they could claim it was a clerical error if confronted.

As part of the effort to get Rain into Shader University, he would have to start using his original name. The only way Noir could figure out how to cover up this malfeasance was to infiltrate the college itself. Fortunately, Noir’s resume was such that he was able to apply for and fill the position of dean of the Shader University Medical College. A role that had been left vacant by the disappearance of the last dean. Noir had left weeks ago to apply for the position and had left Rain in a foster home several towns away while he completed the preparations for Rain’s ward petition.

Rain had learned most of this in a letter that had been secretly stuffed in with the ward application acceptance from Shader University. The letter had read:

Rain,

I’m pleased to report that I will be taking a new position at Shader University. One of my responsibilities will be to judge at the Mana College admittance trials. My previous relationship as your guardian complicates your admittance profoundly. I’m afraid the best course of action is for us to avoid drawing attention to our previous relationship.

I have also come to understand that the Federal Government was notified of your unique Mana abilities so there will be a Federal representative at your meeting. Don’t let him provoke you!

I know you are practiced in the art of discretion so I hope this isn’t too great a burden for you. This letter is private and should be properly disposed of after reading.

Dr. Noir

Rain had indeed gotten good at the art of “discretion” as Noir put it for good reason. Staying in group homes where he couldn’t talk about what happened to him and his family made Rain a practiced liar. Even though he had to do it all the time, Rain hated lying and would opt to stay quiet whenever he could.

But saying nothing about the “accident” that killed his family and left him “ageless” had alienated the other Anthros around him. Rain watched them grow bigger and stronger while he had remained the same size. His diminutive proportions and acute voice would have been enough to set him apart from other Anthros his temporal age, but his silence fed rumors that Rain was cursed. The result was that most of the Anthro children he came in contact with had been told to stay away from him, the fear of him codified by parental instruction. In his last group, whenever he was physically bullied, the staff had all looked the other way.

The medical dean’s speech continued, “You have all shown prowess in feats of strength, agility and destruction.” Rain was the only one there that knew Noir well enough to feel like he seemed to linger on the word “destruction” like he had some affection for it. “This challenge hopes to showcase your abilities so that we can assess them while giving the public a bit of a show.”

Noir continued, “When your name is called, make your way into the starting area here.” The cat gestured to a plain dirt patch with a white chalk box with five-meter sides containing only a small table in its center. “When you are instructed to do so, you may remove your Null Collar using this Null Key,” he said walking over and picking up the small red and silver metallic monolith off of the table and holding it up. “And place the items back on the table,” the pale-furred Anthro said, returning the key to the table. “Then wait for our signal to begin your test. Your signal to begin will be a single chime of the bell.”

Noir took a deep breath and projected his speech while walking around the course. “You must retrieve two keys, one blue one red. Each is buried inside of one of these straw Velops.” Noir pointed to a simply fashioned canvas and straw Velop mannequin located on the far side of the course and then another in the opposite direction.

Like most Anthros, Rain had never seen a Velop in person. Going by the photographs of dead Velops, and the depictions of live ones he had seen, the Velop dummies on the course were crude but passable. Velops were long-bodied quadrupeds with large narrow jaws and venomous bites. Most terrifying, their bodies were made up of a mass of undulating tendrils that defied normal biological explanation. As Rain understood it, Velops were notoriously hard to kill because they could regenerate large portions of their bodies if damaged. Rain had heard the only way to kill one for sure was to destroy a sturdy bone core located in the center of their tendriled bodies.

The first target was located behind an encampment of sandbags surrounded by a small shallow moat located thirty meters east of the starting area. The target Velop had a crude-looking metal armored body and tendrils and was the size of a large Anthro in both height and girth. The second straw Velop was located twenty meters east of the starting area, seated atop a raised wooden tower. The tower had modular interlocking scaffolding arranged around it, forming irregular steps. The frail-looking scaffolding in the front of the tower beckoned only the acrobatically skilled to ascend, while a more stalwart but distant metallic ladder, attached to the rear of the raised structure, offered passage to the more commonly skilled. The target Velop that sat atop the tower was shorter and thinner than the first and was protected by leather armor.

“The Keys in the center of each Velop are made of a tungsten alloy so that they should withstand any destructive forces you might throw at them. But remember your goal is to retrieve the keys.”

“You may use the Blue Key to unlock the cage located at the bottom of this pool.” Noir’s words sounded carefully chosen. Rain wondered if his statement was manufactured to give some contestants, like himself, a strategic edge.

“You may,” Noir said and this time Noir looked right at Rain as he said “may” and Rain was sure he was trying to give him a clue, “use the Red Key to unlock the chain on this weighted net covering the pool so that they can be removed.” Noir gestured to a heavy metal and rope net stretched across a giant aboveground pool with transparent sides. One side of the pool had a ramp that led up to the top of the far side that made it more accessible. The net stretched across the pool was held in place by heavy chains with a large lock.

Rain suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Of course he knew he would have to find a clever way to leverage his powers to complete this test. He had read everything he could about them and had interrogated an avian letter carrier when he had overheard the Anthro say he had attended the trials as a spectator last year. Rain knew that the exam was about more than merely completing the objectives, but also a chance to show precision and creativity. Rain was confident that he could demonstrate both.

“The cage contains a rubber twenty kilograms mannequin named: Wolfey.” When Dean Noir said “twenty,” Rain’s heart sank. He had heard that the mannequin weighed fifteen kilograms last year. At twenty kilograms the mannequin weighed half as much as he did. He had struggled to drag fifteen-kilo sacks around and he wasn’t sure he could move something that awkward and heavy.

The cat Anthro continued. “You must return to the starting box with both keys and Wolfey then reattach your Null Collar to complete this test which will be signaled by two chimes of the bell.”

The Dean of medicine let his words steep in silence before continuing. “This test is timed and while that is an important factor it’s far from the only metric we are testing. We judges will be scoring you on strength and speed. Precision and process. Show us what your Mana powers are and how well you are able to wield them.”

The next words Dean Noir spoke were fast paced and had none of the flair of the ones before, as if a heavy burden had suddenly returned to him. “Weapons are made available near the starting area for each applicant.” Noir gave a small gesture towards a rack a few meters away with a sword, spear, bow, and knives arranged neatly. “Yesterday’s general admission applicants scored an average time of three minutes, with the best time being one minute and fifty-eight seconds.”

The flame in the doctor’s words rekindled as he finished, “I expect you Mana wielding youth to surpass these times.” Noir’s speech soured slightly. “Of course completing the trial safely is each applicant’s primary responsibility. Mana wielding docents are here to ensure the safety of all involved. If at any time you hear three bell chimes, it is a sign to cease all activity, as it has been deemed no longer safe to proceed with the trial.”

“Lastly,” Noir concluded, “I would like to take a moment to commend all of the proctors, both students and faculty, who have generously donated their time to make this event possible. Let’s give a quick thank you to our skilled volunteers that are here today to help ensure everyone’s safety.” The crowd gave a polite clap that faded quickly. “Thank you everyone, the trials will begin shortly.”

Seemingly finished, Dean Noir walked back to the judges box, his long white tail swaying behind him. About halfway to his destination Noir stopped abruptly and said, “Oh and I was asked to add a quick note about Wolfey the mannequin. Please do be gentle with Wolfey. He is on loan from the science department and is simulating someone you are rescuing, so please be careful not to harm him as this will also factor into the judges appraisal.”

“Great,” Rain thought, “So I guess it’s not a great strategy for me to drag or roll that heavy thing. So that means…” Rain’s mind immediately began constructing several creative solutions, all of which would test his limits.