“...Imperium is continuing to monitor the front of Nox approaching from the north. No warnings have been issued yet, but experts are watching closely. You can see the heavy gathering of Nox in these images from Juno’s new satellite, Eclipse One, as the storm moves down the coast. Eclipse One, since its launch two months ago, has continued to provide invaluable data on...” 

The TV in Nova Lux’s common room is left on, but mostly ignored. There’s a general feeling of relief that permeates premises, here at the end of the exams. A sense of accomplishment too—while the girls here are still a ways from becoming full-fledged Ars Magi, they’ve all just taken one huge step forward on that journey. 

For the past few days the common room has been a place to gather and swap stories of how each cadet fared in her examination. Most stories are those of success, and most are wildly different from one another despite some shared mentors.

Priya tells the story of how she was disarmed and forced to make her way through an obstacle course of traps and snipers. Her lesson seems to have been the inverse of Dana’s: Priya is a close-range fighter and learning to deal with foes at range seems to have been a large part of her test. She’s quite proud of her performance and happy to tell anyone about her mentor, the sharpshooter Amara Volkov (notable for a cameo in Gunslinger Alexis).

Nicole isn’t the only one who got a teamwork exercise either, though it’s unclear if Amanda’s indicates a future leadership role. The bow wielding cadet begrudgingly describes her test as something more of a logistics exercise, taking control of a team and putting them to their best uses.

Blair’s greatest trial, of course, was a test of adaptation. Not unlike Penny. The hot-headed cadet faced down Erika Yun, The Shield of Calcaria, a foe that could easily deflect any attack no matter how devastating. Blair describes, profanely, that the way she eventually won out was by putting a halt on her relentless offense and accepting a grievous blow in exchange for the opening she needed.

For the next few days common room is full of other Ars Magi looking to swap stories and gossip. It's crowded there lately, due to one very important factor: It’s break time.

After the grueling tests and exercises, Nova Lux’s cadets have been given a two week rest period. They’re still allowed to use the facility and there are remedial classes still being taught, but for the most part the future Ars Magi are taking a well-deserved break. 

This means different things for different cadets, of course. Priya’s set up an exercise group for more self-directed Ars Magi, along with Vanna’s roommate Nora. Both Penny and Dana are invited. Amanda is spending most of her time in the academy library, while others are following in Nicole’s footsteps and taking the opportunity to enjoy Palmyra and what it has to offer.

Nicole herself, as the end the two-week break approaches, receives a very important series of text messages: 

[quote]𝙳𝚘𝚕𝚌𝚎𝚣𝚣𝚊. 

𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚝. 
𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚢. 
𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜. [/quote]

Aiya, it seems, is using her time off wisely.