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The days that follow are busy.

With the exercise completed there’s naturally a mass of debriefs that follow. Each cadet is taken aside and given both a cross-examination and evaluation. Hours are spent pouring over footage captured by both the enemy drones and cameras set up around the military zone, analyzing each decision and combat maneuver in excruciating detail.

The members of Team 3 – Team Radiant Storm – are awarded top marks for their efforts. They were, they find out later, one of the three teams to take out a heavy combat unit—the building-sized mecha that Penny blew a hole through. Team 2—Amanda, Priya, and Blair—get partial credit, but most of the accolades go to Radiant Storm.

With the exercise complete the next month passes uneventfully—the usual drills and classes, but no joint exercises or big excursions. The main focus instead is on preparing for the Field Readiness Examination—a group of written tests and smaller live exercises that will determine if a given Ars Magi is cleared to be sent on real (supervised) missions. 

A grueling series of weeks pass by; long nights studying, endless magical exercises and a battery of preliminary tests fill each Ars Magi’s schedule. There’s barely any time left for their own devices, whatever they may be.

Time passes quickly—until, finally, it’s time.

The written portion of the exams have fill up about a half-days worth of work. The real test, however, comes after:

Each cadet is assigned a senior Ars Magi to supervise their test, and each has a challenge crafted for their specific skill set. The exercises are designed not just for the cadets to show off their strengths, but also to determine how well the Academy’s training has hammered out their weaknesses thus far. 

And they begin—

Now.