Graduation Day

Following our return from Lorewood and the Feywild, we awoke from a long and well-deserved sleep to a message that was waiting for us. Or rather a message that was waiting on Luke specifically. The magical academy of Keralon had decided to accept Luke’s request to prove his worth by taking the examination that would officially recognize him as a mage of the Silver City.
 
Eager to get it over with, Luke immediately set out for the academy. And seeing that he was allowed to hire some minions in order to improve his changes, decided to offer us the position. All for the generous payment of a pint.
 
When we arrived, we were greeted by the assistant to Headmaster Bardus Greyson. For the life of me, I cannot recall the assistant’s name—apologies for that. After a brief exchange, he explained that he would be supervising the test on behalf of the headmaster. The exam, he noted, had two parts: a theoretical section and a practical one, both of which Luke had to pass to succeed.
 
When we arrived at the academy, we were greeted by the assistant of headmaster Bardus Greyson. And for the life of me, I cannot recall the man’s name. So my apologies for that slight oversight. After a brief exchange, he explained that he would be supervising the test on behalf of the headmaster. The exam, he noted, consisted of two parts. A theoretical section and a practical one, both of which Luke needed to pass in order to succeed.
 
Unfazed, Luke declared he was ready, and the assistant led us to a small room where the theoretical portion would take place. Inside, eight objects lay on a large wooden table: a sword, a shield, a skull, a crystal ball, an iron pentagram, a mirror, a strange-looking scale, and a flute. The question posed to us was: Which of these items does not belong?
 
I didn’t really know what I expected from an exam of a magical academy, but a riddle certainly wasn’t it. Regardless, we immediately started inspecting each of the items one by one, hoping for some kind of clue. As we did, we noticed several runes on each of them. Prompting us to realize that each of these items corresponded to one of the eight primary schools of magic: Evocation, Abjuration, Necromancy, Divination, Conjuration, Illusion, Transmutation and Enchantment respectively.
 
Recognizing this however, did not prevent us from falling into the most basic pitfalls of riddle solving. We started to overthink the problem. Luckily, Luke caught on that the question wasn’t about which of the eight items didn’t belong, but rather which one didn’t belong here. Confidently, he turned to the assistant and declared that the answer was the table itself.
 
The seconds seemed to crawl by before the assistant finally confirmed that this was indeed the correct answer and that Luke had passed the first part of the exam. And with a sigh of relief, we were then escorted to the next room for the practical test.
This room contained a teleportation circle that brought us to a large chamber with a magical gate in the center. To pass, all we had to do was open the gate and return to the starting point. And with that, the assistant then retreated back through the gate, which then promptly closed.
 
Our inspection of the gate itself, revealed no immediate mechanism we could use to reopen it. So with little alternatives, we ventured deeper into the chamber, which led to a small hallway.
 
At the end of said hallway, we found a rectangular room with a statue in each corner. Each statue also stood next to another hallway with respectfully a brazier, a fountain, some vines and a sail standing in front of it. But just as we started inspecting them, further, a large earth elemental emerged from the ground, radiating hostility.
 
I instinctively loosed several arrows at it. But to my horror, the arrows merely bounced of some kind of energy shield. We were then joined by a fire, air and water elemental as well, each protected by its own barrier.
 
Seeing that our direct attacks were doing nothing to them, I decided to take a gamble and emptied my waterskin on the fire elemental. With a hiss, the water extinguished its barrier. Thus revealing that in order to defeat these creatures, we first needed to hit each of them with its opposite element.
 
Armed with this insight, we quickly dispatched both the fire and water elementals. However, the earth and air elementals proved more challenging, as we lacked the necessary tools to neutralize their defences. Which proved to be a valuable lesson for the future. Namely the importance of both preparation and versatility. Something that I vowed to address in the future.
 
As we were getting nowhere in our attempts to remove the barrier of the remaining elementals, ventured into the hallway by the vines, searching for a possible solution. And Following his example, I decided to do the same for the hallway next to the statue with the sails.
 
After a short run, I encountered a large pit lined with spikes at the end of my path. And to make things worse, every few seconds a deafening thunderclap echoed through the chamber. Looking around, I found another hallway on the opposite side of the pit. Wasting no time, I used my magic in order to teleport myself towards it.
 
The next chamber was relatively small. Holding only an extinguished brazier with a small indentation for some kind of jewel. But sadly no immediate means as to disable the earth elemental. Oher than throwing it into the pit.
 
When I turned to leave, I saw that the Air Elemental had pursued me into the room. And after narrowly avoiding being knocked into the pit, I teleported back to safety with the elemental in hot pursuit.
 
Fortunately, Luke had managed to fill a small vial with some kind of acid which he was then able to use in order to dissolve the air elemental’s shield. It was then only a matter of time before it fell as well.
 
As for the Earth Elemental, Hayley had cleverly managed to transform it into a very angry turtle that was in the process of trying to bite Liliana’s fingers off. Meaning that it was then quite easy to toss it down the pit where the thunderclaps made short work of it.
 
Now when each Elemental was defeated, it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only a simple jewel behind. And based on what I had seen of the brazier, it did not take us long to deduce that we needed to place each gem into a brazier that was waiting for us past the statues.
 
With that completed, the portal opened once more. Allowing us to return to the room with the teleportation circle where the Headmaster’s assistant was waiting on us. He congratulated Luke on passing the final test and escorted us to the headmaster’s office.
 
Headmaster Greyson was sitting behind his desk, his nose buried in a massive pile of papers when we entered his office. He was a bit surprised that Luke had actually managed to complete the exam. Or rather, he seemed a bit disappointed that that he succeeded. Based on his tone and comments.
 
And it is here that I must congratulate Luke on not falling for his petty taunts and barbs. For I am quite sure that had he done so, the headmaster would have used it as justification to withhold his graduation out of spite. No, in not falling for it, he displayed that he possessed the wisdom that was expected of an archmage. A title that he would no doubt acquire in due time.
 
Still, the headmaster’s reluctance to acknowledge Luke’s achievement was telling. From what I understood, their animosity stemmed from Luke’s rather contentious past with the academy. Something that involved his first ex , as I understand it. Also the fact that Luke managed to pass without following their traditional curriculum was no doubt a slap in the face for them. Afterall, pride is a powerful motivator, and no one enjoys seeing it wounded. Especially those in a position of power. Though I did wonder at the time if he would maintain his attitude when it came time to take credit for Luke’s many future accomplishments.
 
But with no alternatives available to him, the headmaster presented Luke with a small, magically sealed box containing his degree. All he needed to do in order to formally pass, was open it. Having reached the end of his patience for this, Luke simple waved his hand and dismissed the magical protection of the box. Thus claiming his degree and title of graduate of the Keralon Magical Academy and mage of the Silver City.
 
Whatever Luke imagined his graduation would look like, I doubt it involved being hoisted into the air by Allistan and Liliana. The martial twins carried him triumphantly through the academy, loudly proclaiming his success as they searched for the nearest bar. It was an amusing, if slightly chaotic, celebration. I made a mental note to ensure at least one Hayley would stand between me and those two should I ever find myself in a similar situation.
 
Now I don’t know exactly how Luke imagined his graduation would look like, but I highly doubt it involved being hoisted into the air by Allistan and Liliana. The martial twins carried him triumphantly through the academy, loudly proclaiming his success as they searched for the nearest bar. An amusing, if slightly chaotic, sight to behold. Though I did make a mental note that if I ever found myself in a similar position, I would ensure that at least one Hayley stood between me and those two. At minimum.
 
And that is the story of how Luke graduated from the academy. And while I do know that the celebration lasted well into the morning, I sadly cannot give you the specifics. As I decided to make myself scarce before they decided to go and conquer the next bar on the list.