The usual sounds of wooden swords clashing had been replaced by a frantic tide of whispers.
"Did... did that actually just happen?" an examiner muttered, his jaw still hanging loose. "Philip? The Strict Philip just handed a mastery token to a F rank girl!?"
The examiners were no less stunned. They traded uneasy glances, their eyes darting between Maddy and Philip. One man examiner with a glasses, muttered
"I've seen him fail even S Rank applicants for having a weak grip or a stutter in their step. For him to pass an F Rank... it doesn't make sense. What did he see in her?"
Maddy knew they were talking about her, but she didn't care. Her eyes remained fixed on the final step. She followed the dim corridor until it opened into a vast, circular chamber.
The room was steeped in darkness, save for its center. There, a massive, roaring pillar of fire spiraled upward toward the ceiling, casting long, shifting shadows across the stone walls.
