Quill opened his eyes to ash stormclouds.

  The sky fluttered with volcanic clouds as red lightning crackled within, bellowing a thunder boom that scratched his ears. It was as if he was staring at hell’s ceiling, the eye at the center of the storm. He found himself inside the canopy of a strange forest.

  He pushed himself up, peering left to right at the strange vegetation all around. The trees were pitch black, the twisted branches around reaching for the sky, covered in red leaves and gory vines. Grass and shrubs were painted blood, and the ground itself was soft obsidian, and the smell of iron blood filled the air.

  Quill wandered the forest for a while. With the light of another lightning and the boom of thunder in the distance, rain pitter-pattered on the canopy. When it reached him, Quill could only stare at the blackness of the water pooling into puddles on the ground.

  And that was when he noticed. Skin curled cold, and his bones shivered as if they'd been scratched by a blade’s edge, prompting him to drop to his knees and stare at his reflection in the puddle. He ran his fingers against his face, but there was something strange about his fingers. Distorted by the rain above, it was hard to make his face out from the waves, but he couldn't mistake what he had seen.

  He wasn't human.

  Burning thoughts burned through Quill's head. There was nothing on his face but a featureless canvas. Where his eyes should be, they were replaced by sheep’s horns branching out and curling into themselves. No ears jutted underneath the horns, and only a large mouth adorned the lower half of his face.

  Quill was a demon, seemingly taking the form of one from ancient myths. The ones he had read about from mythical scrolls, now he had taken their form. How was that possible? Even in the face of rejection, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity staring at himself, and when he stared at the red world, it only stared back at him as if he had been here before.

  It was the same feeling of familiarity when he heard that strange voice in the tunnels before.

  A knock on a wooden door shook Quill's senses, and within that moment, the world around him started to fade into nothingness. Trees rolled into stumps, and the clouds hissed into obedience, and when he opened his eyes again, there was only the wooden ceiling of his room that greeted him.

  Quill roused and pushed himself off his bed, finding himself back in the comfort of his own room. As far as he knew, he had never left the place, but a strange feeling tugged at his shoulders. He stared at his hands before then running to the bathroom, and pooling water onto the sink, he saw his elven reflection staring back at him. Pitch black hair and long ears, as it should've been.

  “Fenith... are you there?” A giant’s voice rolled on the other side of the door. It was Rognor, his voice too strong and burly for it to have been anyone else. “You're going to miss the ceremony if you don't wake up.”

  “Shit.” Quill hurried through the room and opened the door for the giant. Rognor started inside, but he wasn't going to wait long. In a flurry of hands, Quill washed his sober face, not enough time to take a bath, before he then donned the freshest clothes he had with him and bolted past the door with Rognor. Rhena was going to make fun of him for being late; he knew it.

  Quill and Rognor dashed through the winding paths of the academy. They eventually arrived at the castle, and inside they made their way through the halls and stairs before finding the Great Hall. Once they opened the doors, Kael was on the stage, having just started with his speech, and it wasn't long until they made their way to their place.

  The great hall was a large and wide room, taking the space of a throne room. Banners and statues of great mages lined the tall walls, and a candelabra hung from the high ceiling to cast light, bleeding to the red carpet leading up to the front stage where the academy officials stood. Quill and Rognor sneaked around the back of the crowd before making themselves aware of where Rhena and Narrah were.

  “You stink of alcohol.” Rhena turned her neck, miming choking her own neck. “No baths for you today, Cranfether?”

  “Spare me the sarcasm,” Quill said. “The academy will hold it against me if I arrive late.”

  “Then you should wake up earlier, idiot.”

  Quill turned to Narrah, asking for reassurance from her eyes, only for her to shake her head in the other direction. Quill sighed. If it wasn't for this cursed mortal body and skin, then he wouldn't have had to smell like dried meat and beer either, and it didn't help that Rhena was egging him to explode.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The opening ceremony went on as expected. The highlight of the event was the awarding of the top students who excelled in the examinations, from the first test to the battlefield. The academy would honor them to stand on the stage to receive their due rewards, and Quill was practically drooling with excitement.

  This was one of the other reasons why Quill had been so eager to get into Gilhem Academy. Aside from an endless supply of books and materials, academy mages were also privy to resources that would otherwise be very, very hard to get in the market. One of them was harvested Cores of magic beasts, and they were fairly hard to come by without hunting each down, even with the right amount of money.

  And the academy was going to give these Cores as rewards for the top-ranking mages of the academy, every following month for the next two years as Initiates and Adepts. Any mage worth their salt would take up the chance in a heartbeat.

  The first name to be called to the stage was Narrah. She let out a sigh of relief, turning to Quill and the others with a large smile, before she then stepped forward towards the stage among the claps of the crowd, coming in at eighteenth place. To her credit, Quill hadn't expected her to receive such a high ranking.

  Next came Rognor, with the giant working his way up to thirteenth place. He sauntered down the line of Initiates, bowing his head along the red carpet of the center before basking in the light of the candelabra on top of the stage. He’d earned that spot, given how strongly he displayed his skills on the last exam.

  Rhena followed after, tapping Quill's shoulder with a faint look of a frown before she worked her way to the stage to stand alongside the golden elf Elarah and curly-haired Gerald, taking the ninth, eighth, and seventh place, respectively. The dark elf didn't look all that excited with her ranking, and Quill scoffed it off to pride. She wanted more, he was guessing.

  All that was left now was Quill. He was practically shaking with excitement, his fingers trailing like dancers behind him.

  Depending on your ranking, the rewards for the succeeding spots change drastically. Most of those below the ten spots received ten Cores each, and those below the five spots received twenty Cores. For the cream of the crop of Initiates, the top five will receive thirty Cores, and the highest three will receive a magic item from the academy.

  Disappointment struck him when Quill's name was called next.

  He was only in fifth place.

  Quill sighed before he started. He removed himself from the crowd before walking down the carpet, his outline of clothes glimmering with the light of the candelabra above. The indecisive murmurs and claps from the crowd loomed over the air, but despite that, he could only stare at Rhena, rolling down a cheeky tongue at him.

  “Congratulations.” Kael shook Quill's hand, smiling a professional smile, before another staff member handed him a wooden box adorned with gilded edges. Inside, there were thirty marbles glowing in different colors of Aspects, and despite the disappointment Quill had on him, it was still a great boon to his magic development to be given this many Cores.

  With thirty Cores, he could easily improve his Attributes and stand at the edge of Iron to Bronze Tier. It was disappointing that he couldn't receive the bonus, but it was still impressive that he was able to attain this high a rank with only one a month of prior White Aspect training.

  What would happen after another month?

  Next time, he was going to solidify his spot as the strongest Initiate this academy had ever known.

  The next mages to be called after were the ones who excelled in the exams more than he did. He could hardly swallow that fact, but it was only going to sting for the moment. These Initiates were going to prove as stepping stones, rivals worthy for him to conquer at the next ceremony. He couldn't wait to see how well he would perform then.

  Unsurprisingly, all of the four Initiates above him were mages that he had taken notice of in the duels. They were the ones that stood out, and looking back on their performance, it was only natural for them to be placed so high.

  It wasn't a surprise that they also came from noble families. With the resources they had, it would've been a mockery for them to appear on the stage.

  And that was all the more apparent when the first of them was announced.

  The crowd woke to an uproar when he stepped forward. His hair was polished gold, and there was a scar that blotted his ear and cheek. It was the same mage who contested Quill's win on the field, and he was Elarah's brother. Quill could faintly remember the sinister grin he had with him. It was the same one he was wearing now.

  He took to the stage with a look about him. He looked over the rest of the mages with an arrogant smile on his face. He snickered when he passed Quill, almost as if spitting on his honor, his grin turning goblin the moment their eyes met. “Try harder next time, will you?” He said before he grabbed his box of Cores along with a magic item, almost as if they were rightfully his, before he then sauntered down the row.

  This was the mage who bested everyone in the academy. An arrogant and spoiled mortal, if it wasn't so obvious to anyone who could see. And these people loved him. A strange malady came over Quill when his lips pressed to a sinister smile matching the scarred noble’s.

  He would enjoy trampling this pig.

  That's going to be it for the daily release schedule! To ensure I can continue writing quality chapters (while keeping my sanity as a writer), I'll be transitioning to three chapters per week posted on M/W/F.

  Thank you for the incredible support during the launch. See you next chapter!