Test 1

Evan headed home, his mind wondered to all of the ways that what he had just done could have gone wrong. He sprung up details about Sophia's past out of know where. This could have easily gone bad.

People react differently when their weak points are touched, some would see you as a threat, and others will succumb. Luckily Sophia had succumbed, but Evan knew that she would become weary of him when her mind cleared up. Things had only played the way they did because she was caught in the moment of her breakdown.

At that moment, when he struck her weakness her heart began searching for comfort, comfort the he was there to give. Normally a leader should not be this easy to manipulate.

'Someone is pulling strings, maybe they even put her there for their agenda. The shadow song is not simple at all. Still I need her, she is a delicate piece of my plan. I will just have to show her that I seriously want to further her agenda, gaining her trust.'

The biggest gain he had gotten today was the spell, with it he would be able to pull strings in the council training. Step one was almost complete.

***

The day of the test was here. Evan had not seen the other three since that day of the meeting, but today they would be taking the test. Evan found Ray and intercepted him before he could reach the others, saying he had something important to tell him.

They got into a nearby restaurant, ordering some wine for both of them, Evan began.

"Ray, I need your help for something very delicate when we get to the council training."

"What could you possibly need me for?"

"Information gathering. If we are to come out on top, we will need to have information on all cadets in the training, and if possible the instructors as well."

Ray who was leading the cup of wine to his mouth stopped, he looked at Evan to see if was joking. When he saw that he was serious, he placed down his cup and folded his arms. "Why did you not ask Jade for help, she is the smartest?"

"You can drop the act Ray. You are the most conniving and dangerous amongst the three of them." As he said this, Evan readied himself, this could go very bad.

Ray's eyes turned cold. "I know you aren't stupid, so you must have a something good enough to stop me from killing you."

Evan smiled, "If you help me, I'll owe you a favor." Evan produced a soul binding contract, he had used nearly all his money to get one.

"I have written the deal. You help me gather information for the duration of our training, and I'll owe you one favor, aside from straight out telling me to kill myself that is."

Ray took the contract and went through it. Everything was as he said, Ray looked at Evan before biting his finger and dropping blood on the contract. Evan collected it and did same.

When the both finished, they felt a burning pain on their chest. A black dot with two centimeters diameter appeared on their chest, signifying the completion of the contract,

Evan stood up, looking at Ray he said. "Now let's go get the test over with."

The two walked side by side in the direction of the test. Evan looked at Ray. There was no way he would let such a tricky person have a hold on him, that is why he had planned to take care of Ray before the finished the three year training. The deal said that he would owe Ray a favor, if he gave him information for their duration in the training. Evan planned to get rid of Ray before the three years rounded up, freeing him from the contract.

***

The two finally reached the venue for the test, it was like a public square with a large raised platform at the center. Leo and Jade were already there.

"What took both of you so long?" Leo asked.

"We met on the way and decided to have some wine before heading here." Ray responded.

"And you guys left me out?" Leo asked a rhetorical question with a face of betrayal.

"You drink too much for your own good." Evan said.

"What do you mean? Ray does the same yet you went with him, that excuse is not valid."

"Shut up you three, it's starting." Jade told the boys.

A man wearing a suit stepped up on the raised platform which was most likely a combat platform. Suits were not rare, only that mages preferred robes, but for special occasions, they all used suits

"I am Fredrick Anderson, the fourth son of Count Anderson. I have been graced with the opportunity to anchor this test by the governor. I will proceed to give the rules of this test. The test will be combat oriented, I have chosen to remove anything theoretical this year."

As soon as he said that, angry murmurs erupted all around the square. Seemingly, some people were unsure of their strength, so they wanted to use the theory to cover up.

"There will be random wooden tags shared to all of you, on them is a number. We will call out one number and then call out another one. This will be the random method for picking opponents. I will like to say that winning is good, but if you lose it does not mean you are completely out. As long as your skill and strength impress me and my judges, you can still have a chance. We are taking a hundred of you to the three year training of the council, so good luck."

When he finished he walked to a table were three other people sat, two men and a woman. Most likely they were judges. Soon some people came distributing wooden tags.

"What's your number?" Ray asked Evan.

"32."

"It seems we are bound by fate." Ray showed him his own tag that held number 33, while laughing.

"We should just hope none of us have to fight each other." Leo spoke, his number was 324."

"Jade what is yours?" Ray asked.

She showed them her tag showing a large number 1, and as if on cue the first fight was announced.

"Number 1 vs Number 80."