After speaking with Guide Luria, Aurora walked up the stairs to the third floor, while passing a few students from Orlea that were reading and talking to each other.

– Okay. Where to, now? – Aurora said to herself, while looking at four corridors that led in completely different directions.

She walked towards the nearest one, right in front of the stairs, but it was full of Baos who stopped talking between them just to look at her like she was some strange and disgusting creature.

– Why are they looking at me like that? Aren’t they supposed to be super nice and stuff? I am not staying here. – she thought, while awkwardly smiling at them and taking a few steps back.

She was completely lost and the only feeling that occupied her head at the time was the one that makes you run without looking back. You can call it terror, or need of survival, but she only felt like running away from the Academy.

But something inside her was tying her to the school and making her stay and forget about escaping. And it wasn’t Guide Luria’s words, or her mother’s wish of her, coming to the Academy just like the rest of the family has for generations. It was something else... something inside her.

And of all a sudden, she felt it. She felt something behind her and it sent shivers down her spine as if it were a small ice cube that lowered her body temperature and disabled her movements. So she turned around, and saw an empty corridor, the one in the very south of the floor, and started walking, like some kind of giant magnet was pulling her. The students’ voices started to become a hypnotizing white noise that only helped to sooth the pulling.

Aurora walked, and walked, until the only thing between this magnetic energy and her, was a door. A small, wooden door with carvings on it. She used her right hand to reach for the doorknob, and after trying to open the door, she noticed that... it was locked. And all of a sudden, the pulling was gone too. The whole thing felt just like a dream and she found herself at the end of a dark corridor on the third floor of Aelhollow Academy.

– What the...? – she thought, while letting go of the doorknob and walking back to the main third floor and looking at all the paintings that used to embellish that place when the area was in its active years.

She got out of the south corridor and noticed a group heading east, so she followed them while trying not to make eye contact with anybody after her encounter with the Gaiakin a few moments ago. And she found herself in front of the “Admission’s Office and Al’kin Quiz Comiteé”. Or at least that was what the sign, beside the arched wooden doors, said.

Aurora entered the office only to find herself at the start of a very wide and really long room, with a couple of students sitting on chairs, on both sides of the room, leaving a sort of walkway in the middle and looking like they were waiting for something to happen. She then noticed that, at the end of the room, there was a wooden desk with a grumpy old man behind it, wearing an indigo robe and looking at every student that came up to him with something alike. She walked up to him, but said nothing, as she didn’t know exactly what to say.

– Are you going to stay there, staring in silence, forever? – he said. – because it’s nearly been ten seconds and I’m already tired of you. –

She for sure didn’t expect such a rude response from him, but somehow understood his way of expressing himself.

– What if I do? You’ll give me some clichéd lesson while turning me into a frog? I, for one, don’t want to be here. But I have to. So please do not make things more difficult for me. – she replied, with a confidence that wasn’t there before, at least not since she arrived at the school.

– What has taken over me? – she immediately thought, after replying. And for the look in the old man’s face, he was thinking something alike.

And just before he could say anything back to Aurora, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Just the touch of it made her feel secure and unstoppable, like the confidence boost she just gained a few moments ago was there to stay forever.

– It’s okay, Solomon. I’ve got this. Please, open the gate now. – said Luria, while smiling at the grumpy man.

– G-Guide Luria, I’m just... I’m sorry, I... Thank you. – replied Aurora, while lowering her head.

– Do not worry, dear. I’m sure Mr. Guhndavaar doesn’t mind at all. After all, it’s not everyday a student dares to face him. – she replied. – Now, Solomon. Please let us in. –

Mr. Guhndavaar looked at them both and nodded, and as a ring of yellow sparks appeared and started spinning around them, they started to vanish and left nothing but an empty space.

The grumpy old man then closed his eyes and slightly smiled with a corner of his mouth. And after returning to his characteristic resting hate face, he called the next student in line.

Just for a moment, a brief and short period of seconds, the only thing Aurora could see was a yellow-orange flash of light. And all of a sudden, she was standing in a grass field, next to Guide Luria. A circular field, surrounded by a wall made out of stones, and on the other end, a stone table with some recipients and what looked like weapons.

— Here we are! — said Luria while taking a few steps forward. — Welcome to the Simulus, Aurora. The place where the Al'kin Quiz has taken place for the last nine hundred years. — continued, while lifting her arms and taking a breath of air.

Luria walked towards the centre of the field and looked at Aurora, waiting for a response.

— Are you ready, dear? — she said.

— I've told you already that this is useless, that I have no powers. Please do not make me go through it. — replied Aurora.

— Please, just... give it a chance. You've got nothing to lose, after all. Right? — said Luria.

Aurora rolled her eyes and walked towards her, while noticing that the walls had inscriptions and carvings all over them. It looked like a very old language.

— Wonderful. You see, Aurora, the Al'kin Quiz was made to filter the students that apply to Aelhollow Academy. Of course we don't deny anybody education, but the filter is needed to know which abilities are in the need of improvement. — Luria continued. — So... There are different kinds of tests to let us know what your capabilities are, and since you insist you don't have any abilities at all, we must go through them all. —

As Luria continued talking, the only thought in Aurora's head was running back home. The amount of anxiety that exposing to this test was giving her, was unbelievable. But she tried to resist that urge of escaping.

— There are five different tests that conform the Al'kin Quiz. The first one, physical capabilities. While we do not condone violence, we do believe it's necessary as self-defense. Now, choose the weapon you want to use and prepare yourself. — said Luria while looking at the awkward and confused expression on the girl's face.

— Who am I going to fight? Are we going to fight?! — she replied.

— Oh dear, no, of course not. — replied Guide Luria. She then lifted her arms and, as she did, the floor collapsed, leaving three big holes. After hearing a screeching sound, Aurora saw three stone golems crawling out of the holes. — You're going to fight these cute fellows. — concluded Luria.

— Oh no I won't. Are you actually kidding me? I have to fight three giants made out of stone? How is this not considered torture? Is the government aware of this?! — replied angrily Aurora. — I told you I have no abilities whatsoever and you make me face three killer beasts? — she said.

After her words, one of the golems made a rather sad expression and looked down with his stone head.

— Oh no, Luthard, she didn't mean that. It's only her first day, please. — said Luria while comforting the creature with her hands. — Aurora, these are not killers or beasts. The stone golems have served this school since the very beginning as the front line defense. Don't you dare disrespect them like that. They are really sensitive. And they will not hurt you. We've got that covered. — she said while stepping away from the golems and coming closer to Aurora.

The girl felt bad for what she said and didn't say another word, she only kept looking at Luria. The Guide then took her left hand, and said a few more words.

— I know this is really difficult, but just give yourself a chance. Please. — she said while looking her into the eyes, and watching her nod with her head and slightly smile. — Now, let's find a weapon. — she continued while taking her to the stone table. — Are you more of a sword person? Or maybe bow and arrows? — said Luria while pointing to the different weapons layed on the table.

— Nah, bows are really clichéd. And I've never used any of these, so I don't know. — replied Aurora, while going from one thing to another with her fingers, when she suddenly laughed out loud.

— What? — asked an intrigued Luria.

— You know what? I'll go empty handed. — said the girl.

— Are you sure? — she asked once more.

— Yes. After all, you said they don't mean any actual danger. — replied Aurora.

Guide Luria wasn't really sure about her decision, but something in her heart told her to trust Aurora, and so she did.

— Okay, then. Please stand on the stone circle. — said Luria, while pointing with her hand to the circular pedestal in the middle of the field.

Aurora followed her directions and stood on the stone, while watching how the field started growing bigger and bigger as every second passed, and some structures started building themselves from scratch, to use as a sort of cover, maybe.

— Are you ready? — asked the Guide one last time?

— As ready as I can. — said Aurora while nodding with her head.

— Let the Al'kin Quiz begin. — shouted Luria.

The golems then looked at Aurora, and started running towards her. She started running left while searching for cover, sort of panicking. The stone creatures were pretty fast for being made out of rocks, but still she managed to outrun them. Her urge to escape was really useful.

When she finally arrived at the first structure, she took cover behind it, being that it was big, it should give her some sort of advantage, it was as big as a two-story house. But all of a sudden, a giant rock smashed it, taking out half of it with one hit. Aurora watched the structure vanish while looking absolutely shocked and scared.

— And that's supposed to be not dangerous at all? — she shouted in hopes of Luria hearing it.

She then looked behind the wall and saw how one of the golems was creating another rock with it's hands, and she knew that her side was next. Therefore, she started running as fast as she could towards the next structure, that was at least three hundred feet away, when she heard the rock smashing her old cover spot.

Aurora looked quickly behind her to only notice that the giant stone and the structure's fallout was coming towards her. She started panicking and didn't know what to do, so when the rock was basically in front of her, she knew that things were going south.

She looked at the multiple objects coming towards her, and let a tear drop, like accepting something, but little she knew how this would impact her actual self.

— No! — exclaimed Aurora, with a calm but somehow rushed tone, while lifting her arm.

Luria was speechless, as she saw the girl who claimed to have no abilities at all, create a pure energy barrier around her just by lifting an arm. Every object that hit the shield would disintegrate to dust.

The barrier started to disappear as Aurora came back to herself.

— What... happened? — asked a confused Aurora.

— Thank you for your service, my dears. — said Guide Luria, while the stone golems went back underground and she walked towards Aurora.

— Are you okay, darling? — she asked her.

— My head hurts a lot. What happened? Did the rocks hit me? — Aurora said.

— You don't remember any of it? Not even what you did? — replied Luria, while helping her up.

— No... Why? Should I? What did I do? — the girl said.

— I'll tell you everything while the field gets ready for the next test, okay? Now come, let's eat something. — said the Guide, while taking her towards the main area of the arena.

When Aurora returned to the Field's core, she let herself fall to the floor as she had no energy left in her body. She had no clue of what had happened just a few minutes ago. She didn't remember any of it either.

— Oh no, dear, you can't let yourself stay so beaten now, okay? — said Luria helping her stand up.

— Will you tell me now what happened over there? Because I feel so tired I can't feel my legs. — replied Aurora.

— I've seen a small number of cases of late bloomers throughout all my years supervising the Quiz, but this sort of amnesiac state is new to me. — said Luria. — You see, Aurora. When the boulder was about to hit you, you stood up to it and with just one hand... created a shield all around you. And not just any shield. You created what conjurers call "protecto agura". A barrier that disintegrates everything that touches it. It's a sort of advanced magic because of the danger it implies. — she continued.

— Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me I just used majka?! — Aurora replied with tears in her eyes.

— Yes, you did. But you did not conjure it. It appeared out of nowhere, almost like you summoned it, so we could assume you have some innate ability involving magic defense. — replied the Guide, smiling at her. — But, still, I can't think of any reason for you to not remember any of it. What's the last thing you remember? — she asked the girl.

— I... I don't know... — she replied, wandering off in her thoughts. — I remember running away from the stone house when the second rock was about to be thrown, and then I turned around... and that's it. That is all I remember. — she said, while looking Luria in the eyes. — Although... there was a strange and almost new feeling. I felt it before, when I replied to Mr. Guhndavaar's attitude. — Aurora added, wandering off again. — This urge to defend myself. But it didn't feel like my own. It's like someone else was trying to defend me. And I would feel this warmth... all over me. — she continued.

Luria looked her in the eyes, and knew something was strange about it. But now was not the time to theorize, as the test needed to continue.