[You do realize you’re making a mistake right?] Void, who had been quiet during the whole ordeal, asked him.
"If it’s done intentionally, it’s not a mistake," Octavius replied, suppressing a smile that almost broke through.
A gunshot rang through the air, and a portal ca forth, just as the Mage had said.
****
The Portal shimred and pulsed with a soft glow, finally releasing them into a spacious room that buzzed with anticipation. Seated on the high chairs surrounding them were three council mbers, each adorned in intricate robes that reflected their status and authority.
Eriol was the only Mage missing from the trope.
In the middle of the room stood seven other contestants, each showing a range of emotions—so appeared anxious, while others seed confident. However, they all recognized the significance of the gathering.
But upon the new contestant’s entrance, the others reacted with visible displeasure.
One of the Council mbers, recognized by his long hair as the Mage of the Healers faction, spoke up.
"Why are there five more of you?" He turned to Ery, the Architect Mage, and added, "I thought it was made clear that only ten people could enter."
Ery chuckled nervously and quickly glanced at his daughter, who had just walked in alongside the others.
"The others weren’t complete," he explained. "So it seems fitting to remove three people from the group that just arrived."
"Not so fast," a commanding yet lodic voice rang out, its source belonging to the enigmatic mage of the Conjurer faction. The intensity in her gaze was unmistakable as she regarded the group. "We don’t even know if they have the stones yet."
Ery imdiately stood up, and positioned himself at the forefront of the assembly of mages, and turned to face the contestants gathered before him.
His voice resonated with authority as he proclaid, "Bring forth your aetherstones."
The air was thick with anticipation as each mber of the group fumbled through their satchels, and brought forth their aetherstones.
As they held them aloft, the aetherstones emitted a brilliant light that pierced through the surrounding darkness, casting intricate patterns that danced across the faces of those present. The radiance of the stones was a testant to their authenticity, each flicker and shimr speaking of the power they held within.
Amidst this display, the Council mbers exchanged furtive glances, their brows furrowing in a complex web of unspoken thoughts. Each subtle shift of their expressions hinted at sothing only they knew of.
Marilyn spoke up, asserting confidently, "We have the real stones." Her voice held a weight that drew the attention of everyone in the room. Then, with a asured glance, she turned to the other contestants who had been there before they arrived.
"But we can’t say the sa for them because the ones they have with them are all duplicated fakes. So we all deserve to be among the top ten while not subtracted."
As Marilyn spoke, Octavius’s attention drifted away, his gaze locking onto a contestant he was certain he had never seen before, at least not among the grouped contestants.
Because if he did, he would have tailed him back at the forest and made sure he didn’t make it back with them.
The boy’s face was unmistakable, etched in Octavius’s mory as one of Thorne’s friends – the sa one who had brought Octavius to the cave, leading him to his downfall.
Octavius’s jaw clenched in suppressed anger. He was torn between confronting the man and maintaining his composure.
But then, he felt a strange sense of gratitude toward Void, who currently controlled his body. Void’s presence was the only thing holding Octavius back from unleashing his fury upon the man.
Octavius’s gaze swept across the remaining contestants, his eyes scanning their faces with growing unease. He was certain that so of the individuals standing before him had not been part of the original group.
The Healers Mage’s voice cut through Octavius’s intense gaze, drawing his attention back to the conversation.
"...We saw the Stones ourselves, and the sa glow emanated from it, just like it did yours. Unless you’re calling the Councilors liars..."
Marilyn opened her mouth to say sothing, but the glare she got from Ery made her swallow back her words.
Octavius had long affird their relationship as father and daughter, since he set eyes on both of them. When his late father was still alive, his father would take him to visit his fellow Mages’ houses, and he’d get a chance to have a brief chat with their children.
Octavius had never been close to Ery’s daughter Marilyn, but his late sister had been. And he was previlaged to co across her few hours before so people attempted to kill him.
"But we will give you flowers for attempting the challenge and getting the Aetherstones," the Conjurer’s Mage added, drawing Octavius out of his reverie again.
"We don’t want flowers; we want to be in the top ten to enter the Academy," Otto spoke up for the first ti since they got there. "For getting the Aetherstones, you can at least do us that much."
Ery moved closer to the other mages and his voice dropped to a whisper.
"We cannot deny that every single one of them holds great potential for being able to find the Aetherstone. Not one but five. Even we weren’t able to get a hold of one. If not for the late mage guidance, we would have never known what they looked or feel like. Indeed, those stones from the other groups were fake, so how about we issue—"
Before Ery could finish, the Conjurer’s Mage cut him off with a rude tone. "Whoever told you your opinion is relevant in this matter, Ery?"
Ery’s lips pursed, his anger simring just below the surface, but he bit it back. He had grown accustod to the disrespect, and he knew better than to argue with the Conjurer’s Mage.
"Perhaps you’re forgetting that I own this faction," Ery let out cooly.
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