Edin closed the lobby doors and retrieved a key from his pocket. He inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it twice. Click. Click. He gave the door handle a firm shake, making sure it was locked before he pocketed his key and hurried to the car.

Meanwhile, Arden was already inside her car. It was a glossy black sedan whose sleek exterior exuded an understated elegance. On its hood was a recognizable status symbol: a small, silver ornament in the shape of a pegasus.

Arden's car was a Radien Stallion. Radien was a brand of luxury vehicles whose logo was a pegasus standing on its hind legs, and its Stallion line of magical cars was the only model capable of flight and portal-summoning. It was no surprise that it was the most coveted car in Idelhen.

However, since there were never many gifteds in existence, only very few of these could be made at any time. The price of each car was as costly as one could expect. Though exceedingly wealthy ordinaries did have the purchasing power to buy a Stallion, they were not able to get a hold of them; the Guild and the company had signed an agreement to sell Stallions to nobody other than guardians. It was not out of selfishness. The Guild highly valued the feature to summon portals, for it would mean that they could travel to different towns and cities in the blink of an eye. A guardian like Arden could cover a vast amount of territory with a car like this, and with the worryingly small number of guardians left, it had become a necessity. What use would an ordinary have for such a vehicle that would be more important than this? None.

Edin boarded the car, sat next to Arden, and closed the door. He fastened his seatbelt.

She turned her head to face him. "Have you locked the doors?"

"I have."

"Did you check?"

"I did."

She rotated her head once more to look out the windshield. She snapped her fingers.

The ground beneath them rumbled as it rose. A ramp made of gravel, the same gravel that made up the roads, unrolled before them. Arden gripped the steering wheel with her right hand while the other hand grasped the gear shaft and shifted it. She stepped on the accelerator. Edin felt a force shoving him into the back of his seat as the car zoomed up the ramp and leaped into the air. Arden pushed a button, and the car flew. Edin looked out the window, amused by how little everything appeared underneath him. Even Arden's castle became no larger than his palm.

Arden pushed some more buttons and tapped the touchscreen on her control panel. A high-pitched hum sounded from underneath the hood of the car. Arden pressed another button. A beam of light shot from underneath the hood before it stilled in the sky. The light swirled and swelled till it was twice as large as the sedan Arden was driving.

A portal.

Arden depressed the pedal further as they sped into the portal, and soon, bright white light engulfed them on all sides. Edin covered his eyes. He peeked through the slight gaps between his fingers. For a moment they were surrounded by bright white, and before he could ask Arden where they were, a grayish-blue sky swept it away. Edin unshielded his eyes and looked out the window.

A stronghold stood at the top of the hill below them. He knew what it was: the headquarters of the Guild.

The headquarters of the Guild of Gifted Guardians, or HQ as it was often referred to, looked much like Edin imagined it to be. Its exterior comprised a tall and thick wall and an impenetrable dome, forming a hat on the head of a rather tall hill. Unlike Arden's castle, whose granite structure was stark and dark, HQ was built using bright cream concrete, which bore a closer resemblance to limestone than other materials. Edin leaned against the window. He could not tell where the gates were, for it seemed like the outer wall was seamless.

They descended in an elliptical path, circling HQ. Arden pressed another button. Part of the outer wall crumbled to reveal an entrance. She lightly stepped on the brake and rotated the steering wheel as she guided the car through the entrance. After passing through a dim tunnel, they made it to the other side of the wall, and the passage they had passed through resealed itself.

There were about a dozen buildings inside the compound. Three edifices, which were roughly twice as tall as the outer wall, were clustered in the center of the compound. Much smaller buildings were organized around them in a ring. Some appeared to be centuries old—they were made of either red brick or light-colored concrete, and their structures often featured columns holding up elaborate entablatures. The rest of them, which were mainly made of metal and glass, sported a more modern look. In between them were stretches of greenery, vast open spaces, and a web of asphalt roads.

Arden landed the car on one of the roads and then drove toward the nearest building. Its imposing size and classical style made it reminiscent of a courthouse, town hall, or any other government establishment. A narrower path branched from the road they were on and slithered towards that building, forming a loop around its perimeter before returning to the road down the same path. Greenery surrounded it on all sides: trees flanked the building, bushes lined the little road, and short grass filled the remaining space.

Arden shifted her gear and turned on the turn signals before she steered her car to the left. They slowed to a halt in front of the building. There was a soft click as Arden unlocked the car doors.

"We're here," Arden announced.

Edin unfastened his seatbelt and checked his pockets to see if anything had fallen out. Meanwhile, Arden opened a compartment and retrieved a folded sheet of paper from inside it. She handed it to Edin.

"Remember everything I've told you?" she asked him.

"I remember," he replied.

"Then tell me."

"I should go to the front desk and tell them that I have a test with Senior Norman. I should present my ID and this letter. After that, I'll be led to the test location. I should wait for you in the lobby once I'm done."

"Perfect." She patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck. I trust that you'll do well."

Edin thanked her, opened the car door, and got off. He made his way indoors as Arden sped away from him, on her way to work.

A flight of stone stairs led toward the front door. The building looked down on Edin as he ascended the staircase, and the thought of what awaited him dawned on him. Arden had told him that he would have to slay a beast during the final phase of the test. Though she had said that they would choose a small creature for him to slay, the fact that he would have to slaughter something perturbed him. He was not sure if he could come out unscathed if he made it out alive, and whether the same urges he experienced during his maiden battle would return. He touched his forehead. He ought to brush those thoughts away.

Three pairs of ornate double doors stood in his way once he reached the top of the staircase. The one in the middle opened just before he could outstretch his arm towards the handle, swinging inward and without a single sound. He breathed deeply and set foot inside.

The inside was extravagant. Deep shades of brown dominated the interior, contrasted by gold and brass accents. There were chandeliers overhead, and the light they gave out was warm, in sharp contrast to the cold air that filled the room. Edin's eyes scanned the area for the front desk. There was a long, granite-topped counter at the left side a far distance from him, manned by two people. He paced towards it with the letter in hand.

Once he reached the front desk, he dove his other hand into his pocket and retrieved his wallet. He said, "Sorry, excuse me?"

One of the staff members looked up from her screen. She flinched upon first glance.

"S-sorry," he stammered, "I have a test appointment with Senior Norman?"

The receptionist nodded and returned her gaze to her computer. Keyboard clicks filled the awkward air. She then looked at him. "I need your ID."

Edin retrieved his identification card from his wallet and presented it to her. The receptionist checked it. She then furrowed her brows.

"A temporary ID?"

"My mentor and I tried to get a permanent one, but there were some complications." He then handed over the letter. "She also told me to present this letter."

The receptionist unfolded Arden's letter. Her dark eyes drifted down the page. Once they reached the bottom, they widened in shock—it was signed by Arden Mægenstern.

She returned the ID to him. "Give me a moment." She tapped on her keyboard. A few seconds later, she stood up from her seat. "Follow me."

Edin kept his ID in his wallet and pocketed it as he followed the woman. They passed through a wide hallway. There was no object in sight other than the wooden double doors that were framed within the maroon walls. Edin felt the floor vibrating beneath him for a bit as they neared the test location. If experience served him right, one of the rooms was being prepared for a combat session, the same way the rooms in Arden's castle rumbled before he would fight against a golem.

Footsteps sounded from the other side. Edin saw a guardian striding in the opposite direction he and the receptionist were walking in. He glanced at her shoes. Unlike the guardians whom Edin encountered outside of Irien, that guardian had a silver band around her soles instead of a gold ribbon. She was of a lower rank.

The guardian looked in his direction and quivered upon noticing his presence. However, after seeing that he was being accompanied by the receptionist, she recollected herself. Edin did not know how to take it—was his appearance frightening? He held up his hand and smiled shyly. She only acknowledged him with a seemingly bewildered nod.

After a long walk which involved a few turns, the receptionist led him to the room. "Senior Norman and two of his colleagues are already inside. You can enter whenever you're ready for the test," she informed.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure."

She then turned her back and left. Edin faced the door. His heart thumped hard in his chest as he anticipated his test. He stood still, taking a deep breath. His hands, which had gone cold, reached for the door handle. He grasped it, opened the door, and entered.

The first thing that Edin noticed was the wooden table at the far end of the hall. Seated at it were three guardians: two men and one woman. The woman was seated at the right; she had long mahogany hair that was tied into a ponytail, round eyes the color of walnut wood, and skin that was as light as white oak. The man at the left reminded Edin of Arden—his short hair and monolid eyes were a deep shade of black, contrasting his rather fair skin. At the center of the table was a bald man with a dark bronze complexion and russet brown irises. Though Edin knew that all three of them were of the same rank, he felt that the man in the center had a more authoritative presence. From the way Arden had described Senior Norman to him, Edin deduced that the bald man was in fact Senior Norman.

Senior Norman held up a sheet of paper. "Name: Edin. Surname: unknown. Birthdate: unknown. Age: twenty-three. Residence: Irien, Asdur. Wielder of fire and lightning. Proficient in swordsmanship." He lifted his chin and looked at Edin. "Are all those details correct?"

"Yes, they are," Edin replied, nodding.

He placed the sheet of paper down. He picked up a pen, and the other two guardians followed suit. "We'll start with fire. Please stand inside the red circle."

Edin looked at the floor. A red circle was painted at the center of the hall. He paced towards it. Once he stood inside it, a ring of unlit lamps sprung from the ground and surrounded him. There were twenty-four of them. Some were as tall as Edin was, others were as high as his hip, and a couple of them oscillated in height.

"Light all the lamps in clockwise order in two minutes or less. You have only two tries per lamp; if you fail to light one, move on to the next one. Time starts now."

A test of accuracy. Edin shifted his right leg backward. He folded three of five fingers on each hand, took a deep breath, and aimed. He recoiled his right arm and then thrust. Fwoosh. A little flame launched from his fingertip before it landed on the candlewick. One down. He moved on to the next ones. Arms shifted back and forth as he lit them. He missed the sixth one. He thrust his left arm. It lit. He resumed. He lit all the lamps in a minute.

The next set of tests was as straightforward as the first. They instructed him to strike targets, moving or motionless; summon the biggest flame or strongest lightning bolt, using either his bare hands or his enchanted sword; and perform a set of techniques, sometimes in a specified order, with his sword and without. They had tested his accuracy and precision, his raw power, and his proficiency in recalling and executing certain forms. What they were yet to assess was whether he could use all those skills to slay a beast.

The room shook. Edin turned his head and gasped silently—part of the floor was sinking. Out of the newly formed hole crawled a beast, and around its neck was a metal collar that was linked to a chain. It was far smaller than the glæsseling he had slaughtered, but its presence was still enough to make his blood run cold.

The three guardians got up from their seats and stood in three different corners of the room, backs against the wall, positioning themselves so that they were equidistant from each other.

"And now the fun part begins," said the female guardian, though her tone bore no traces of humor. "Identify the beast in front of you."

Edin scrutinized the creature, looking for any distinguishing features that could help him identify its species. It had a very wide mouth with two rows of triangular teeth. Viscous, green-tinged saliva dripped from its mouth as it growled and drooled. The tips of its claws had the same greenish tint. Green. The color was a clue.

"It's an ætterhund," Edin said.

"Correct," the female guardian confirmed. "Now slay it."

The metal chain vanished. The ætterhund bolted towards him.

Edin drew his sword and pointed it at the beast.

The ætterhund halted once it saw his blade. It refused to go near him. It snarled in its spot, crouching as if it was about to pounce at him.

Edin did not dare to point his sword away. The ætterhund crawled sideways. He swiveled in his spot, directing his sword towards it. It crept in the opposite direction. He rotated again, blade keeping it at bay. For many moments, man and monster refused to close the distance between them.

The beast encircled him, crawling more quickly now, and soon he was spinning faster and faster in his spot, trying to keep his sword in line. He would go dizzy anytime soon—and once he did, he would be dead. He had to kill it now. Now. Now.

Edin enwreathed his blade in lightning. It was already aimed. All he needed was to thrust.

And thrust he did.

Crack!

The bolt felled the beast in a flash. He kept his guard up, peering at the creature. Its body was still. He struck it with another lightning bolt for good measure. Once he was confident that it was dead, he let his sword fade into thin air.

He looked at the guardians. Senior Norman showed a satisfied smile; the other two were expressionless.

"The test is over," he announced. "We'll tell your mentor whether you've passed or not. You may leave."

"Thank you."

"Our pleasure."

The doors opened at once. Edin gave a short bow as a sign of respect before leaving the hall. Once he was outside, he breathed a sigh of relief.