There’s a lot I can say about the prince but, I’ll say it later, for now, I’ll focus on the part where I ran away. 

I ran straight through the aura field, continuing the interrupted path of the faun, and burst through into the forest. His aura was thicker than I expected because it took some effort to completely get out of it. The best comparison to what I felt is when you pick out the pieces of pineapple in gelatin using your fingers. It’s that resistance from the pineapple in its place, yea that feeling. I was the pineapple trying to escape the gelatin prison.  

The second I was outside the aura field, I cast another swift spell along with a shadow slip. The spells combined strength allowed me to cover a lot of ground, but I could still be attacked by anyone camping near the finish line. So then, as a precaution against that, I used one of my sigils.  

Carefully I removed the seam ripper from my hat as I ran and ripped one of the tethers on a wind sigil. The original purpose of this sigil was to keep me cool in case we were taken to a desert. In other words, it was a sigil that created a gust of wind. Since I thought it would be better for it to be a strong gust of wind, I traced over the design with a bit of mana. The result of this bad decision sent me flying to the very top. The speed wasn’t incredible, but it was enough that when I came to a sudden halt by smacking face first into one of the trees designated as the finish line, I felt it for days. 

I stumbled back, then doubled back on myself in a failed attempt to move forward, twisted myself around, and fell backward into the finish line. The world in front of me took some time to get into focus. I wouldn’t have known I had passed right away if a proctor from the test hadn’t said congratulations. 

What happened next is still to this day a blur. I vaguely remember someone propping me up to my feet and taking me to a table. There they verified all the scrolls I had with me. Every single one was counted from the ones in my hat, the ones tied to my body, and the last one I had stored in my shirt, which did leave a mark. The mark did fade along with many of the surface scratches on my skin but some scars, like the one on my hand, are still present.   

Unbelievably the total count came to six scrolls. Let me repeat that so I can believe I had passed that terrifyingly difficult test with six wonderfully hard-earned scrolls. I swear I heard applause in my head as I was taken to the healer’s tent.  

Inside I received treatment for my wounds, heartier congratulations, and some advice.  

“You burned yourself badly on this hand,” a female water healer began, can’t remember her name. I also don’t remember if she told me or didn’t. “Even if you’re healed later by an earth mage it won’t erase the scar.”  

“I saw how you got that.” A male light healer chimed in as he placed a book down. Here was where I found out the proctors, teachers, and healers were watching the test through a looking glass. I felt my ears and cheeks burn.  

“Are all the teachers watching?” I asked while I prayed Professor Dr. Efril had not seen that mess. Professor Efril is a dragon who came to teach at Knoles Academy from the Dragon Kindom. He specializes in and teaches combat strategies. I was really hoping to take his course either in the first or second term. I actually had most of my schedule already planned with many of the courses designed to tackle my weaknesses. 

“Most of them are,” the male light healer stated as he stood up. “They’re mostly watching the top contenders for five stars like the Prince.”  

“Oh,” I squeaked out recalling how I must have looked fighting the prince. I still remember thinking clearly if Dr. Efril will still take me as a student after watching that horrible match. Spoilers! He did.  

“Congratulations though. I thought you were done for, with the wolf but then you did that thing with the runes. No one uses those anymore for obvious reasons,” he pointed to my right hand.  

“Thanks...” It was so awkward, too awkward.  

“But what I should congratulate you on is well done with the prince. Over half of us were watching it. When he set up the aura field, we were thinking he was going to wait there for the saintess, but then he started fighting anyone who got caught in it. Some didn’t last a second in there with his aura pressure.” 

The prince’s aura is still very impressive.  

“Was he taking the scrolls from-” 

“Only from those that couldn’t last inside his aura, for those that could withstand it, had to fight him. You had to fight him in there, tell me how did it feel?”  

“Heavy, strained... scary.” 

“I figured, I’m a light mage and I wouldn’t want to go up against the Prince. Still good job for getting away but using that faun...” I was expecting to be scolded by a light mage who potentially came from the temple, but he surprised me. “Bad execution of your strategy, got some good results, but you’re going to get a nasty glare from one of the teachers. You’ll see who I mean later, might want to lay low when you meet them.”  

I found out who he meant when I had to take a mix-culture class in my third term. She remembered me as the one who used her nephew as a shield. Passing that class wasn’t easy and it did harm me in the end when it piggybacked on another incident that.... well, I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself.  

“You’re all done,” the water mage stated interrupting the light mage. “Here is your number back, go to the food wagon to get something to eat. The next portal back to the academy will activate in two hours.” 

She told me the last part while pushing me out of the tent. The last thing I heard from her was a well-done and a 'good luck' from the light mage. I don’t remember seeing her again, but the light mage was and still isn't associated with the temple. In actuality, he’s the head healer for Knoles Academy. I was never personally healed by him because light practitioners can’t heal dark practitioners, but several of his assistants did. I learned his name during our second meeting so for now he’s just the male light healer.  

Outside the tent, my exhaustion hit me all at once. But I should eat, but I should rest, but eating is important, but I was about to pass out. I quickly made the decision to postpone getting some food for some good rest.  

I collapsed at the trunk of a tree that faced the finish line mostly because it was the closest and I was curious to see who else would cross. Okay, I wanted to see the prince cross the finish line along with the faun. They were the ones on my mind at the time, though I guess I should have also wondered about the harpy and the water nymph. Not the wolf though, I just figured he’d pass because he surely has a pack, right?  

But like the limes life gave me, I can’t always assume things are a certain way. We’re all intricate beings living from the past of our parents and moving toward our own unique future.