Seven people

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a sea of white fog.

Thick as milk, it washed over him and clung to his face. It scattered when he moved, only to gather again, as though someone were wrapping him in layer after layer of waterlogged cotton.

Gray flagstones lay beneath his feet, without seams or boundaries. Looking up, he saw that the sky had also been swallowed by fog. Near and far were indistinguishable; only the place where he stood felt solid.

Chen Chuan planted his feet and restrained his aura.

The last time he had entered this place, his feet had felt unsteady, and he had staggered two steps before finding his balance. This time was different. His feet were planted firmly, as though on solid ground.

Several figures stood not far away.

Including him, there were four in all.

Two were human. One was a boy holding a book. The other was a girl dressed in red, with purple eyes.

The other two were hard to describe.

One was short, not even chest-high. He had pointed ears and a long mouth, and held a wooden staff set with a dark green gemstone. His face was covered in wrinkles; he looked every bit like a dwarf who had spent his whole life in a mine.

The other was tall, over three meters in height. Gray bandages wrapped him from head to toe in overlapping layers, concealing his appearance. Whenever he moved, a cracking sound came from beneath the bandages.

There was something else of interest.

The short one stood on the left and the tall one on the right, far apart; the two humans, by contrast, stood close together.

The four figures formed a three-way standoff.

As soon as Chen Chuan found his footing, four pairs of eyes focused on him at once.

"Not bad."

The purple-eyed girl was the one who spoke.

"You should be the fifth to arrive."

Her voice was soft, like a gentle stream flowing into his ears and down to his chest, yet somehow it became unsettling.

Chen Chuan's concentration slipped.

He couldn't help wanting to step forward and get a good look at her.

But in less than half a breath,

it was as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head. He jolted and came back to his senses.

When he looked up again, he had completely suppressed the distracting thought.

...So that was it.

"Using a trick like that the first time we meet? You really don't take people seriously, do you?" Chen Chuan said.

He reached behind him with his left hand, and a military dagger appeared in it. He hadn't raised the tip, yet it pointed straight at the girl.

The boy holding the book beside the red-robed girl stirred his brows slightly.

He knew that the girl had been the first to arrive here.

He had fallen victim to the same trick himself and taken quite a while to recover. But this kid hadn't moved a step or even blinked an extra time.

"Don't misunderstand."

The purple-eyed girl spoke first. A hint of apology appeared on her face, but it faded in her throat.

"My spiritual power is too strong. My clan sealed most of it, but even I have trouble controlling what remains."

She paused.

"But judging by your reaction, you should be fine."

Chen Chuan didn't reply.

He glanced at the boy with the book from the corner of his eye. The boy was expressionless and said nothing.

That was enough.

This wasn't the first time. It was a rule these people had tacitly accepted—a newcomer had to pass a test first.

Some rule.

"You said I was the fifth?"

"That's right." The boy with the book answered him.

He closed the book in his hands. Only then did Chen Chuan see a string of twisted runes curling across its cover, identical to those on the notice.

"There were many examination sites," the boy said. "All of us were the first to come out of our respective sites."

"But," he paused, "not everyone who came first gets to stand here."

Chen Chuan asked no more questions.

He put the dagger away behind him.

"You can call me Will," the boy said. "Her name is Elina."

"And you?"

Perhaps because they were of the same kind, his shoulders relaxed as he spoke.

"Chen Chuan."

Just two words. He didn't want to say more.

At the moment, he had only one thing on his mind: entering the academy and changing classes. Everything else was irrelevant.

Chen Chuan didn't approach them.

He took two steps back, found a spot, and sat down cross-legged. Fog curled around his ankles, and a chill spread up his trouser legs.

Will glanced at him but said nothing.

The dwarf remained silent throughout. His head was lowered and his hands were tucked into his sleeves, fiddling with something indiscernible. The bandaged man stood straight as a post driven into the ground.

Four people, four separate groups, none approaching another.

Chen Chuan closed his eyes, but kept his ears open.

The dwarf rubbed the head of his staff, once, then again, so slowly it was irritating. A cracking sound occasionally came from beneath the bandages. Will turned a page of his book, then paused for a long while.

They were all passing the time.

Not long after Chen Chuan sat down, Will spoke.

"Which plane are you from?"

Chen Chuan didn't open his eyes.

"The Blue Star Federation."

"Never heard of it."

Will spoke casually, without any other intent. He turned a page.

"My plane is called Talin. Are there academies where you're from?"

"No."

"Then how do you know about wizards?"

Chen Chuan opened his eyes.

It wasn't a tricky question. But he didn't want to answer. He knew nothing about these people, and saying one word too many could get him killed.

"The notice said I could change classes if I passed the exam," he said. "So I came."

Will smiled and asked no more.

But there was a hint of deeper meaning in that smile.

About an hour passed.

A girl came first.

Her entire body was covered in scales. They were on every exposed part of her, including her elbows, wrists, and neck. Each blue scale was as smooth as polished stone. She walked without a sound.

A man followed her. He was tall, thin, and expressionless. He swept his gaze over the group as though looking at a pile of stones.

Elina tried it on him once, too.

He showed no reaction. Without stopping, he walked to one side and stood there.

Six people, each with their own methods.

"Thump. Thump. Thump."

Three sounds.

Like three bronze gongs, they came from the fog. Each one struck them in the chest.

The fog receded.

It did not dissipate. Rather, it withdrew inward from the middle, layer by layer, as though someone unseen were rolling up a sheet of white cloth.

When the fog had cleared, a person stood before them.

A brown hooded robe covered him from head to foot. His hood was pulled low, hiding his face.

The person raised a hand and pushed back his hood.

It was the face of a middle-aged man. His brows drooped, and his eyes seemed to hold a sorrow that would not fade.

"Greetings, Black Wizard Seeds."

"Welcome to the third trial."

"The academy's two-way selection."

His voice was flat, as though he were reciting a script he had long since memorized after a thousand repetitions.

"There is no need to worry. Of the two hundred and forty-six testing grounds, the seven strongest Black Wizard Seeds are all here."

He paused.

"This trial holds no danger for you."

Seven people.

Chen Chuan counted them in his head. Himself, the purple-eyed girl, the boy with the book, the dwarf, the bandaged man, and the newly arrived blue-scaled girl and cold-faced man. No more, no fewer—seven.

"I am your guide," the man said. "You may call me Kras."

He slowly swept his gaze over each person in turn.

"As Black Wizard Seeds, you have the right to choose your own academy."

Black Wizard Seed.

Chen Chuan had never heard those words before.

From the notice to the black stone hall, and from the hall to the plaza, no one had mentioned "black wizard" along the way. Now, those words had struck him out of nowhere.

His expression didn't change.

But his thoughts turned.

Black wizard.

Then, were there white wizards?

"Now," Kras said, "each of you may ask me one question."

Silence filled the fog.

None of the seven figures spoke first.

The others' eyes shifted.

Chen Chuan could see it too.

Ask too early, and the question might be wasted. Ask too late, and someone else might ask what he wanted to know.

He went over the questions he wanted to ask in his mind.