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I nod. "That sounds reasonable."

"He also said last year's first-years had to survive three days in a frozen cave."

Nyra's eyes widen.

Selena sighs. "Then he asked whether we packed fur-lined underwear."

I close my eyes. "Right."

We begin walking toward the central courtyard. Students move around us in anxious currents. Every conversation returns to the Trial.

A human first-year claims his sister faced an illusion of her worst fear.

A Medusa insists the Trial measures manifestation potential. Someone else says there are no magical abilities involved at all.

Another student swears that first-years are divided into groups and left somewhere beyond the Academy grounds without food. No two stories agree. That somehow makes all of them more believable.

"Maybe the upper-years are forbidden from telling us," Nyra says.

"They are," Selena replies.

We all look toward her. She adjusts the strap of her satchel. "My cousin attended Varethia."

"And?" I ask.

"He refused to discuss the Trial until the day he graduated." She answers.

"What happened after graduation?" Rowan asks.

"He still refused."

"That isn't helpful." I sigh.

"It was not intended to be."

I glance toward Selena. "Did he pass?" I ask.

"Yes." She shrugs.

"How?"

"He said the Trial taught him that confidence and preparedness are not the same thing."

Rowan frowns. "That sounds ominous."

"It sounds rehearsed," Aricia says.

Nyra looks toward me. "What do you think it is?"

I consider every rumor. The cliffs. The forest. Illusions. Combat. Leadership. Fear.

"Something we cannot prepare for."

Rowan looks offended. "That is a terrible answer."

"It is also probably correct." Selena nods once.

The fact that she agrees does not comfort anyone.