"Now let me show you how a true mage fights," I told the three would-be rogues with a cold smile playing on my lips. Granted, I had no idea how a true mage would actually fight since I never saw it, but they also didn't need to know that.

Unsurprisingly, right after they felt the suffocating embrace of my essence, the boys realized they didn't stand a chance and proceeded to turn tail and run as fast as their legs could carry them.

'That's the first smart decision you made today…' I grinned while watching them with subtle amusement before uttering a short incantation.

Of course, I wouldn't let them run away. If I left them to their own devices, they could either give away our position to others or, even worse, recruit some more idiots and stage an ambush further down the hallway.

Therefore, the prudent choice was to deal with them right here and now while leaving no witnesses. So, with the course of action set, the first thing I did was conjure a gust of wind and send it after them.

It was the same basic spell I used during the acceptance Trial. Only this time, the wind was the speed of a hurricane, catching them in a blink. It then grabbed them from behind and smashed them against the nearby wall before tossing them all into a neat pile on the ground.

Trapped and with no way out, the boys' expressions quickly changed. "L-Let us go! We won't get in your way ever again!"

'You should have thought this before you decided to rob us…' I thought dismissively and then sent a quick fireball to finish them off.

However, just a moment before the roaring ball of flames hit them and they could receive a fatal wound, their bodies shined golden, and they disappeared without a trace. The only thing left was their tokens, rolling down the now-empty hallway.

Watching this strange phenomenon unfold, I couldn't help but nod in satisfaction as it confirmed a few of my assumptions. First, we weren't in any real danger. If something were to go wrong, we would be simply transported out of the illusory realm before any lasting harm could occur.

This was only natural - masters were strict and uncompromising but not cruel; they wouldn't kill off their students during an ordinary test. Second, to pass the test, we had to find either a gate or some other passage. Because, apparently, we couldn't keep the tokens if we died.

I didn't know how much time we had, so the obvious choice would be to stick to blue doors while looking for the gate and see if that would be enough to finish the trial.

Before any of that, though, I hurried over to the spot where the boys' tokens were left and eagerly grabbed them. They had already somehow managed to ammas two of them, thus bringing our total to three.

I then paused, struck by a certain idea. 'Actually, now that I think about it…' What those idiots were doing seemed like a much better way to gather tokens. 'Why bother with some boring tasks if we can just rob anyone we come across?'

Then, I cringed, realizing how hypocritical I sounded when I had just punished the three students for doing exactly this. 'Still, it's a valid strategy; their only mistake was picking the wrong target.' I reasoned.

However, I quickly discarded that idea. After all, since everyone I stole from would still be there after the test was done, such a dishonorable deed would paint me as nothing more than a common thug in the eyes of others, thus ruining my reputation in the process.

Granted, being born a poor peasant turned commoner, who was then run out of his own home and forced to become a wandering nobody. I didn't have much of a reputation to begin with.

Still, I had my pride, and I didn't want to go down the bandit path if I could avoid it. Besides, Mira looked like she wouldn't approve of such actions, and she was pretty useful while solving the last challenge, so I didn't want to part ways with her just yet.

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'Alright! Now that I know everything I need let's get this test done!' I smiled. There was, however, still one last thing I was curious about. "Hey, Mira, any ideas on what's behind the red doors?"

The girl blinked, seemingly still in a stupor over what had just happened with the boys. "Why—do you want to try them?" She then said, looking at me with a frown as if trying to figure out my true intentions.

"Sure! It's either that or we'll be stuck answering magic-theory questions for the rest of the test. I know you probably wouldn't mind that, but as you must have already noticed, I prefer a more… direct application of magic." I replied.

"Maybe one is to test your wits, and the other is more… like this?" Mira then suggested while pointing at the scene of the recent scuffle.

Hearing this, I nodded thoughtfully. I was actually thinking the same thing. "Well, I guess there is only one way to find out." I grinned while pointing at the closest red door.

The girl didn't seem to share my enthusiasm, biting her lip for a bit before uttering a hesitant, "Okay…"

"I'm sure we'll be just fine… It can't be worse than those crawlers we met earlier," I quickly added to ease her worries, to which she offered a weak nod.

Together, we then moved toward the said door, and before any of us could change our minds, I swung it wide open. What met us inside was a room several times larger than the classroom we'd just been in. 'Huh? What's this?'

The walls were lined with ornate shelves full of richly decorated, leather-bound tomes. And in the center of the spacious room stood several large marble pedestals, on top of which were placed many peculiar-looking exhibits.

Looking closely, they appeared to be models of various fantastical creatures. There were wyverns, giant serpents, and much more. The whole thing was like a strange mix between a library and a museum.

It would undoubtedly make for a wondrous sight if the said exhibits didn't suddenly come to life and try to kill us the moment we crossed the room's threshold. 'Crap!' We couldn't even run back to the hallway as the doors swiftly closed behind us with the now familiar click, trapping us inside.

Coming to my senses, I quickly circled my essence, getting ready to fight. The first thing hurtling toward us was the skeleton of a large winged creature—maybe a griffin. It soared through the air with an unsettling speed, catching to us before I could even get a single spell out.

So, I had to grab Mira's hand and dive for cover behind the closest shelf. 'Ugh! That was close.' The griffin's hind legs missed my head by a few centimeters, and I could feel the air pressure as the creature shot past us, crashing into the chamber's wall.

"Well, at least we now know what's behind the red doors," I chuckled before being forced to evade another peculiar construct's fangs. Mira shot me an incredulous look as if I'd lost my mind but quickly shifted her focus to the problem at hand.

But by now, I had finally gotten hold of my essence and was ready to start casting. Uttering a quick incantation for appearance's sake, I shot forth a torrent of flames that washed over half the room in a sweeping arc.

The fire consumed everything in its path with ravenous intensity, and I almost allowed myself a moment of satisfaction until— "They're reforming!" Mira called out in disbelief as I watched the shattered remains of the first griffin begin to reassemble.

Fractured pieces of bone hovered in mid-air, swirling back together with a mocking inevitability. I had to figure out a way to take him out and fast. Sadly, my spell arsenal wasn't very suitable for breaking through solid bone.

'What's this crap…' It was as if this test's every challenge was specially designed to exploit all of my weaknesses.

Of course, at any moment, I could simply drop the pretense and start using my full strength. But the sheer amount of unwanted attention I would get for that was enough of a reason to discard that idea.

A novice who could use all the elements was unheard of, which would inevitably make my already precarious situation even more untenable.

I was almost starting to lose hope. But then I remembered this was just a test, so there had to be some obvious way to solve this. 'Come on, think!'

Any long-term magical construct had to have some sort of power source to keep them running. The most common ones were either essence gems - like the one I used back in Ereneth to power the infusion vessel to make my potions, or some essence-rich liquid, like blood.

Yet I couldn't see any power source anywhere, and even after obliterating their entire bodies, those damn skeletons still seemed to work perfectly.

I wanted to ask Mira about it, but she was too busy staying alive amid the unrelenting barrage of attacks.

Then it hit me. 'The pedestals!'

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