Chapter 20: Exam Week
The examination hall was cold. Too cold. Like it had been specifically enchanted to kill motivation and suck the will to live out of your spine.
But there was no magic here.
No enchantments.
Just rows and rows of desks, plain white parchment laid out in front of each student, with neatly placed quills and inkwells. At the front of the hall, a large brass clock ticked slowly. Painfully.
Noel sat near the back, hunched over his blank sheet, glaring at the questions like they owed him money.
"Define the principles of cascading glyph delay in structured barrier spells."
"Compare the theories of elemental origin proposed by Archmage Hurein and the dissenting school of Eastmar."
"Detail the proper mana ratio for a triple-core fire focus spell designed to bypass enchantment resistance."
Noel blinked once.
Then again.
Then lowered his head to the table in total, soul-drained silence.