In the late afternoon of that day, the tower issued a confined-to-quarters order. All apprentices were forbidden from venturing beyond the shadow cast by the tower, and no one was allowed to linger outside their dormitories after sunset.
It was several days later before Carter Bill pieced together the full story from snippets of gossip he heard around the other apprentices.
It seemed a Dark Wizard apprentice had disguised himself as a prospective wizard and sneaked into the Tower of Shadows. He then spread rumors of a discovered relic, luring a group of apprentices out of the tower grounds.
By the time the tower authorities realized something was amiss and dispatched a search party, the apprentices were already gone. To this day, their whereabouts remain unknown—most likely abducted by the Dark Wizards.
Dark Wizards are a collective term for a faction of wizards in the wizarding world. Obsessed to the point of fanaticism with their pursuit of arcane power, they stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Ruthless, cruel, and twisted, they are nothing short of madmen.
These maniacs often subject apprentices to unspeakably cruel experiments. When they run out of their own apprentices to torment, they kidnap from other wizard organizations—and the White Wizard factions are their favorite targets. Incidents like this are far from uncommon.
There was no need to imagine the fate that awaited Chris and the others who had been taken.
In the days that followed, Carter Bill met up with Subaru and Carl for a meal. As they discussed Chris's disappearance, all three still felt a lingering sense of fear—Carl most of all.
He had been incredibly tempted when Chris had invited him to join the expedition. He'd hesitated for hours after going back to his dorm, and had almost given in at the last minute, right before Chris and the others set off.
"Close call! So close!"
The thought of how death had brushed so near sent a cold sweat breaking out across Carl's forehead.
"This world is truly brutal!"
Shaken by the narrow escape, the three of them couldn't help but sigh—Carter Bill included.
Aside from the assassination attempt he'd survived not long ago, this was the first time in his two years in this world that he'd faced such immediate peril and the threat of death.
"Be careful. More careful than ever."
He silently committed the lesson to heart, a solemn vow etched deep in his mind.
The tower's confinement order lasted for over half a month before it was gradually lifted. In the meantime, numerous tower activities were disrupted, including the highly anticipated Inner Circle Apprentice Assessment.
Originally scheduled to take place in less than two months, the assessment was postponed by three whole months.
The news sent wails of despair through the ranks of senior apprentices who had been waiting years for this chance. For them, the delay was nothing short of agonizing.
For Carter Bill, however, the news came as a welcome relief—if not an outright blessing.
After all, he hadn't been practicing for very long. An extra three months of preparation time was exactly what he needed.
With the commotion finally dying down, Carter Bill returned to his usual routine, throwing himself into relentless training to make the most of the extended lead-up to the Inner Circle Assessment.
[Meditation Proficiency +1]
...
Time flew by in a blur of incantations and meditation, and before anyone knew it, the long-awaited day of the Inner Circle Assessment arrived.
Dawn broke over the Tower of Shadows.
A raven circled the tower's spire before gliding down to land on the long corridor, where nettle vines climbed the walls. It brushed aside the foliage covering the ground and dug out a fruit hidden beneath the soil.
Down in the corridor, young apprentices hurried past, their arms full of spellbooks, chattering animatedly about the topic on everyone's lips—the upcoming assessment.
"Brian, how are your preparations coming along? Do you think you've got what it takes to pass?"
"You bet I do! I've been training hard for this. I even transplanted treant cells into my right arm—on command, it can morph into thorny vines to fight for me. That'll definitely help me nail the assessment!"
"Ugh, I'm in such a mess. I still haven't perfected my signature spell."
With the assessment looming, the apprentices' conversations revolved around little else. No matter where you went in the tower, you could hear discussions about it echoing through the halls.
Carter Bill, who had just collected his assessment task scroll, made his way through the corridor and into the garden up ahead. Subaru and Carl were already there, waiting for him. They'd agreed to meet before the assessment to go over their final plans.
"Well, Carter? Did you get your assignment? What is it?" Carl asked eagerly, rushing up to meet him as soon as he spotted him.
Carter Bill nodded and pulled the scroll out of his pocket. "I need to collect ten vials of Soul Sparks from the Blighted Woodlands."
"The Blighted Woodlands, huh?" Subaru nodded thoughtfully. "Not too bad, all things considered. My task is to catch three Blacktooth Fish from the Silent Lake. Shame our destinations don't align—we could've teamed up for safety."
As Carter Bill and Subaru chatted away, Carl stood off to the side, his brow furrowed deep in thought. He still hadn't made up his mind whether to sign up for the assessment at all.
"Come on, don't be such a worrywart," Subaru urged, clapping him on the shoulder. "Even if you don't think you're ready, you should at least give it a shot. You'll gain valuable experience even if you don't pass—and opportunities like this don't come around often!"
In the wake of the apprentice abduction incident, the tower authorities had announced that they would be lowering the assessment difficulty slightly, in an effort to pass more apprentices than usual.
The news had reignited the hopes of many apprentices who had originally planned to sit this one out—and Subaru was one of them. He'd never intended to participate until he heard about the eased requirements.
That left only Carl on the fence.
He'd decided long ago that he wasn't going to take the assessment this time around, so he'd slacked off on his training these past few months. Now, he was completely unprepared, and the thought of stepping into the assessment field filled him with dread.
"I told you, buddy—fortune favors the prepared," Subaru teased, grinning. "Take a page out of Carter's book. He's been grinding nonstop every single day. If you'd put in half the effort, you wouldn't be stuck in this dilemma right now."
Carl let out an indignant huff, rolling his eyes. "Did all that fat clog up your brain? Weren't you the one mocking him just a while back for being such a stick-in-the-mud?"
Subaru's expression didn't so much as flicker. He puffed out his chest and said with a straight face, "I was just motivating him. Tough love, y'know?"
Carl scoffed and turned away, too annoyed to argue further. He retreated back into his own head, the weight of regret weighing heavily on his shoulders.
Subaru was right, of course. Fortune favors the prepared. If he hadn't let himself grow complacent, if he'd kept up with his training like Carter Bill had, he wouldn't be standing here now, too scared to seize the golden opportunity right in front of him.
And now, it seemed like there was nothing he could do but wallow in his own remorse.
"What's there to hesitate about?" Subaru pressed, undeterred. "You're already this far—might as well take a chance. The tower said they're making it easier this time. Even if you don't pass, you probably won't get hurt. And hey—what if you do pass? That'd be the score of a lifetime!"
After a few more minutes of Subaru's relentless persuasion, Carl finally caved and agreed to sign up for the assessment.
With that, the first major trial of Carter Bill, Subaru, and Carl's journey as wizards was about to begin...